Case Study: Frank Darling diversifies luxury partner mix with Rakuten Advertising

Frank Darling boosts top publisher partner performance by 185% with Rakuten Marketing

Frank Darling, a bespoke diamond jewelry brand, faced a challenge with an over-reliance on a limited mix of affiliate partners, particularly loyalty and sub-affiliate networks, which accounted for nearly half of their program's revenue. To create a more cost-effective customer acquisition strategy that better aligned with their brand goals, they partnered with vendor Rakuten Advertising and their agency DMi Partners.

The solution implemented by Rakuten Advertising involved a strategic optimization of the entire affiliate program. This included adjusting commissions on a partner-by-partner basis, analyzing which partners delivered the most incremental impact, recruiting new content publishers, and leveraging Rakuten Advertising's global network and benchmarking technology. As a result, Frank Darling saw a 185% increase from their top publisher partner, a 56% increase in publishers driving traffic, and a 57% increase in publishers generating more than one sale.

Frank Darling