Case study · Food & beverage

DTC beverage brand · First affiliate program

$5.87X ROAS in year one · majority of top-100 food & beverage publishers recruited.

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Challenge

An established premium beverage DTC brand sought to launch its first affiliate program on its ecommerce site. The brand was already recognized across retail and online channels — acquiring new direct customers through select affiliate partners that would be a natural extension of its reputable brand at a high ROAS was the primary goal.

With leadership coming from retail-grade brand backgrounds, there were stringent expectations on allowable partnerships, types of offers, imagery, and margin goals.

Solution

Surge worked with the client to identify a flexible network to test partnerships as a proof of concept, and launched a comprehensive affiliate program within two months. The agency prioritized high-margin offers, new publisher recruitment, showcasing new products with rich imagery and approved ad links, and consistent affiliate optimization to increase revenue contribution toward high ROAS goals.

Performance was measured in-channel with UTMs tracking in Google Analytics to analyze performance alongside other paid media efforts.

How it works

Month-over-month goal attainment

The program ramped from sub-50% of goal in month one to over 200% of goal by month six — proof that disciplined recruiting compounds.

  1. 01

    ~47% of goal

  2. 02

    ~63% of goal

  3. 03

    ~76% of goal

  4. 04

    ~98% of goal

  5. 05

    ~172% of goal

  6. 06

    ~202% of goal

Year-one results

$4.61X ROAS

in the first 90 days, including all channel fees.

$5.87X ROAS

over the full first year of management.

Half of top-100

food & beverage publishers activated within 90 days.

Majority of top-100

food & beverage affiliates recruited in year one.

Discounted onboarding

fees for high-end partners — driven by Surge network relationships.

Stringent margin goals

maintained throughout — retail-grade brand standards held.

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