Impact, the global leader in partnership automation, has been shortlisted for ten awards at this year’s Performance Marketing Awards (PMAs), for work with brands such as John Lewis, TUI, Eve Sleep, Penhaligons and QVC.

We caught up with Smita Pillai, Customer Success Director, EMEA about the upcoming awards…

How did you feel about being shortlisted for ten awards at this year’s ceremony?

We are delighted to receive such phenomenal recognition at the PMAs for our work with a variety of brands and agencies during a challenging year. It seems that the pandemic has helped to illustrate the power of partnership marketing in a year of transformation like no other.

Can you tell us a little about your role?

I work closely with Impact’s agency partners to deliver results for their clients. As client needs evolve rapidly – especially at times like these – agencies need partners that pay attention, provide active support and innovate with the times.

This is what my team and I aim for, day in, day out. Partnering with Impact should allow agencies to manage their portfolios more easily thanks to constantly innovating technology, a customer-driven product roadmap, and the flexibility and data they need to succeed.

We work with boutique and large-scale agencies alike to actively manage, scale and optimise clients’ partnership programmes. Agencies migrate their programmes to Impact because of the flexibility offered in contracting and payments, data transparency, robust reporting, and streamlined workflows that make their jobs easier and their efforts more fruitful.

At the same time, we rely on our agency partners to provide the full suite of services to our shared clients, and they appreciate being true partners and essential players in our ecosystem.

Tell us about the shortlisted entries – is there any work that you’re particularly proud of?

One of the shortlisted entries is for Impact’s work with home shopping channel, QVC. This was done alongside agency Performics, with the aim of helping QVC to relaunch its affiliate programme. Working together to set measurable objectives, the first step was to identify key partners to recruit. Our technology helped Performics automate and streamline outreach, with QVC being connected with 90 publishers within just four weeks. Meanwhile, a robust commission structure drove incredible incremental revenue by incentivising publishers, leading to exceptional ROAS.

Sounds great. Do you work in a variety of sectors and industries?

Indeed we do. Working across verticals and sectors means no two days are the same, and we especially enjoy supporting our clients and agencies in responding to changing market forces and organisational goals.

A great example of this was our recent work with luxury British perfume house, Penhaligons. Along with Starcom, Impact worked with Penhaligons to offset the dramatic loss of retail activity during lockdowns, whilst tackling the logistical challenge of selling perfumes online. The aim was to build a best-in-class programme that would continue to deliver results far beyond the pandemic. The tone had to be pitch perfect for the luxury brand, and not dilute its image in any way – rather, it needed to strengthen it.

The Starcom team utilised Impact’s advanced technology stack to help quantify the projected effect each partner would have on performance, and in combination with Impact’s dynamic contracting and publisher finding tool, Penhaligons was able to gain immense insights on how to scale the programme for growth whilst maintaining high profitability – generating an ROAS which was almost twice as high as the target set.

In another example of phenomenal success, along with Eve Sleep and agency Scale, Impact helped the retailer launch a new partnership programme in the peak of the January sales period. Automation led to significant gains, delivering benefits from the outset such as significant time-savings. This meant that team members could focus on scaling the program, strengthening publisher relationships and identifying new opportunities, with improved publisher relationships undoubtedly at the heart of the resulting, dramatic revenue increases.

What’s your advice to others looking to achieve similar success?

Never underestimate the benefits of operating as one tight-knit team. 

We always start with the client’s objectives and KPIs, joining forces with our agency partners to lead on strategy and partner relationships, and using the technology and automation capabilities of the Impact Partnership Cloud to deliver desired outcomes at scale. 

Focusing on building relationships across the board and aligning ourselves with our client and agency partners allows us to strike a fine balance between technology and engaging with partners on a human level. The results speak for themselves.

Don’t forget to check out the PMA website for more information about next week’s awards, and stay tuned for more exciting news as we approach the ceremony by signing up to our newsletter.