Ceej Johnson, Author at intent.ly

From clicks to clarity – affiliate marketing’s most important era yet

Ceej Johnson — Tue, 03 Feb 2026 15:35:51 +0000

There’s been a lot of conversation recently about one thing affiliate marketing has never been particularly good at…

Storytelling.

It’s something I’ve personally been banging on about for a long time, even in 2019 during my time at Groupon I was referenced in an Awin report tackling the familiar “affiliate marketing is dead” narrative. Not because the channel was dying, but because it’s never really known how to talk about itself beyond spreadsheets and CPA charts.

Above, Awin article from 2019.

And here we are in 2026, still having the same conversation albeit it with slightly better alcohol-free lagers and slightly worse cookies.

I heard it came up as a focal point again last week at the Agency Advisory Board (AAB) inaugural meeting (congrats to Jess Smith and Kirsten Jayne Black on getting that off the ground – big moment, and seemingly long overdue).

But the theme was clear – affiliate is brilliant at delivering outcomes, yet seemingly still considerably rusty at backing itself whilst doing it. Which might explain why year after year we keep finding ourselves politely assigned the conference equivalent of the graveyard slot.

You know the one. The agenda reads:

Influencer Marketing (with mood lighting)
TikTok Creators (with a hype reel)
Brand Storytelling (with a founder doing barefoot keynote energy)
Affiliate Marketing’s Success Stories (Day 2 of 2, 4:45pm, in Room C next to the fire exit)

Not because the channel is less important, but because it’s historically been less well voiced.

And that’s starting to matter.

Storytelling now needs better data.

I’m going out on a (20+ career year) whim here – but from my perspective affiliate marketing doesn’t struggle with storytelling because we lack personality. If anything, this industry is full of smart, social, entrepreneurial people not exactly short of opinions, energy, or conference bar stamina.

The challenge is how we translate all that into a narrative the ‘outside-of-affiliate’ world buys in to. We struggle because for years we’ve largely only been able to describe ourselves through simple performance shorthand:

Last click
CPA
ROAS
“Revenue delivered”

And while those metrics are useful, they don’t create narrative. They don’t explain influence. They don’t capture decision-making. You can’t build a compelling industry story if the only chapter you ever read is the final line of the receipt.

If affiliate wants to be taken seriously as a strategic channel and not just a conversion mechanic, we need a more grown-up approach to measurement.

That means moving beyond CPA spreadsheets and into:

Behavioural insight
Intent signals
Contribution across the journey
Incrementality, not assumption
Understanding why something worked, not just that it worked

Better storytelling is inseparable from better data maturity. Because in today’s increasingly measurable world, the story has to be true.

2026 has to be the year of action for affiliate marketing.

I’ve sat on this post for about a month, partly because I wanted to properly reflect on what I heard at the first industry conference of the year, and also because the early tone coming out of affiliate in 2026 is noticeably different to previous years. AI is also the new asteroid heading toward the affiliate traffic model, forcing us to collaborate in ways we haven’t had to before.

That’s why a recent panel moderated by Moonpull’s Steven Brown at Affiliate Summit West stuck with me.

Above, panel at ASW26

It featured Adam Ross (CEO of Awin Global) and Santi Pierini (CEO of CJ), leaders from two of the industry’s most integral businesses. And if anyone has earned the right to comment on where this channel is going, it’s them.

That’s why it was worth highlighting some of the key discussions from that panel.

1. Affiliate marketing isn’t being disrupted. It’s maturing

The core takeaway from the panel discussion was quite straightforward, and I wholeheartedly agree in that affiliate marketing is not being disrupted, it is maturing.

For years, the channel has been judged by a familiar set of questions:

Did the click convert?
Did the sale track?
Did CPA deliver on our budget expectations?

And for a long time, that has been enough. But the panel made it clear that those comfort metrics are starting to show their age. Because brands are now asking harder questions. Better questions. More grown-up questions.

2. The end of comfort metrics

Clicks, impressions, last-click attribution. They’ve been affiliate marketing’s security blanket. Easy to report, to compare and to wave around in QBRs.

But brands are now asking things such as:

Why did the customer convert?
When did intent actually form?
Which partner influenced the decision, rather than simply converted it.

Because being present at the end of the journey isn’t the same as shaping it.

And in a world where budgets are tightening and scrutiny is rising, that distinction matters more than ever.

3. Intent is becoming the new currency

A central theme throughout the conversation was intent.

Not anonymous clicks moving through a funnel, but real behavioural signals:

What content did a shopper engage with?
How long did they spend considering options?
What actions suggest genuine purchase consideration?

These signals sit much closer to decision-making than traditional affiliate metrics ever have. And crucially this isn’t about invasive tracking.

It’s about first-party behavioural data, the information brands already own, but haven’t always known how to translate into insight.

4. Privacy isn’t killing affiliate, it’s forcing it to get smarter

Rather than treating privacy regulation and cookie deprecation as existential threats, the panel positioned them as catalysts.

A push toward better measurement. Better practice. Better trust.
The challenge now isn’t access to data. It’s interpretation.
It’s turning behaviour into understanding. And understanding into value.

5. Partner value is being redefined

The panel also explored how this evolution is reshaping relationships across the ecosystem.

Historically, partner value was often defined by scales of volume, conversion and revenue. But volume without context is losing its shine.

Brands are prioritising partners who can demonstrate:

Quality over quantity
Insight beyond attribution shortcuts
Meaningful contribution to the journey

The ecosystem is shifting from transactional delivery to consultative partnership – and I like that. A lot.

6. Data continues to increase, but we’re short of narrative

One of the biggest points that stuck with me is that brands aren’t short of dashboards, they are short of clarity. Affiliate marketing has never lacked performance but it has lacked storytelling.

The positive in this from what I can see is that the better we get at mining intent, measuring contribution and understanding influence, the easier the storytelling becomes.

Because suddenly affiliate isn’t just a channel that “drives sales”, it’s a channel that helps explain how customers decide. And that’s a much bigger story.

An industry growing up. Now it needs to speak like one

The tone of the panel was overall optimistic and it was a great way to kickstart the year. To reassure anyone that’s still reading, affiliate marketing isn’t declining, it is however evolving into a more intelligent, intent-led era where clarity matters more than clicks, and because agentic commerce is growing and driving clicks down, contribution will begin to matter more than convenience.

But if we want to increase our seats at the “grown-up marketing table” and not the fire exit breakout room, we need better voices, better narratives and better storytelling around what this industry actually does.

It’s one of the most commercially accountable engines in digital marketing. Now we just need to start talking about it like that.

Follow Ceej on LinkedIn.

Ceej Johnson

Chris ‘Ceej’ Johnson is CMO at intent.ly. With over 15 years’ experience in digital, affiliate and performance marketing, he has a passion for all things consumer behaviour and innovative advertising.

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Advertising’s beige decade and the return of storytelling

Ceej Johnson — Mon, 06 Oct 2025 15:34:17 +0000

This week I had the chance to present at our own intent.ly Live! event, and the theme I kept hitting replay on was what I can only describe as the beige decade. Ten years where advertising slowly measured itself into blandness. Campaigns got safer than Rory McIlroy with a nine iron (EURRRROPE). Clean, polished, polite… and utterly forgettable.

Beige became the default. Not because marketers suddenly lost their spark, but because every idea now has to survive an assault course of metrics before anyone dares to sign it off. Will it shift brand intent by 2.3 per cent in Bristol? Does it align with the brand health tracker? Will the dashboard smile politely at it? By the time a campaign clears those hurdles, the life has been ironed out. What’s left is something that looks lovely on a PowerPoint slide but has all the charisma of a cancelled train at Swindon.

At intent.ly Live! I reminded everyone of the ads that did burn themselves into memory… and not one of them would make it past today’s measurement mafia. Smash robots. Peter Kay’s John Smith’s “Ave it.” Drumming Gorrillas and Cadbury’s eyebrows. None of them ticked the sensible boxes. All of them were gloriously ridiculous. And that’s exactly why they lasted. You can still hear the robots cackling. You can still shout “Ave it!” on a Sunday league pitch and get a laugh. You can still raise your eyebrows in the mirror and look like an idiot. That’s culture. Beige doesn’t get a look in.

Now here’s the twist. Storytelling isn’t dead. It’s been buffering on 1% for a decade, and Gen Z are finally hitting refresh for us. This is a generation raised on scroll speed. If your ad is beige, it’s gone before the logo even appears. They demand personality. They demand story. They’ll forgive clunky, they’ll forgive cringe, but they won’t forgive beige. What they love is when a brand has clearly tried.

Look at the brands thriving through them. Duolingo with its deranged TikTok owl. Ryanair with the sassiest social team since airlines learned how to tweet. Even Jet2 Holidays somehow going viral because people started taking the mick and then couldn’t stop watching. None of this is beige. It’s loud. It’s weird. It’s alive. And brands stepping into the Gen Z era have to accept they won’t control the whole narrative. It will live (and mutate) in consumer hands. Brands must accept loss of narrative control but gain cultural participation.

And that was my point on stage. Measurement still has its place (of course it does) but it should become more of the backstage crew, not the headline act. The star is the story. Always has been, always will be. When measurement hogs the spotlight, we get the beige decade. When we put story first, culture does the measurement for us.

So maybe Gen Z are the ones saving us from ourselves. Maybe they’re forcing us back into bold storytelling because they simply won’t tolerate corporate wallpaper and ‘salesmanship’. Maybe, just maybe, that’s exactly what we need.

Beige is out. Colour is in. Or the ‘Reawakening Era’ – as I like to call it!

Ceej Johnson

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Affiliate marketing: 12 months into the AI crystal ball

Ceej Johnson — Thu, 21 Aug 2025 13:22:29 +0000

It has been a while since I’ve shared some musings from the Affiliate ecosystem. Whilst I can’t claim to be the all-encompassing artificial intelligence source of knowledge for said Affiliate market, there have been some clear noises made during recent travels and conversations that I do think need addressing. Let’s begin with a recent trip across the pond…

Affiliate Summit East. Bright lights, loud rooms, lots of calls for traffic and wide-ranging company merch (IYKYK). Amongst the noise, one theme cut through: AI. Not whether it’s coming, that ship’s long since sailed, but what it’s actually going to do to the affiliate market over the next year.

At the moment it feels like AI has arrived at the party, found the drinks cabinet, and is now standing in the corner chatting up everyone’s best clients. Brands are fascinated by it, want to be doing more with it, but seemingly don’t have the in-house talent or speed to develop much themselves. So what happens next?

AI’s role in search is exploding. Between January and May 2025, referral traffic from AI-generated answers grew by over 500% across a sample of sites. That’s not a gentle uptick; it’s proof that consumers are increasingly happy to let a machine do their Googling for them and in many cases, stop right there without ever clicking through.

Which brings us neatly to the big, ugly question: what happens when AI isn’t just pointing people to affiliates, but effectively is the affiliate? If an AI tool can recommend a hotel, a pair of trainers, or a SaaS platform with an affiliate link neatly tucked in, does it start competing with the very partners who’ve historically driven that traffic?

That’s the existential debate. Search affiliates, coupon sites and non-social content partners rely heavily on traditional search. And now, that search behaviour is being hijacked by AI overview boxes, zero-click results, and chat interfaces. To make it worse, nearly 60% of searches already end without a click. AI isn’t building you a funnel; it’s becoming the whole conveyor belt.

Calm down Ceej, I hear you saying. Let’s not panic just yet. Studies show that only a small fraction of AI answers are (currently) genuinely transactional. Most are still top-funnel snippets: quick definitions, instant answers, the sort of info that ends the session there and then. That means high-intent commercial content such as comparison pages, reviews and voucher codes (for example) still have a role. In fact, it’s often the very content AI cites when it does provide a source. So if you’re building for both humans and machines to pick up, you’re not out of the game.

Of course, there’s a catch. Being cited in AI answers doesn’t guarantee traffic. The challenge for affiliates is to create content strong enough that, when AI does scrape it, users still want to click through. That’s the new arms race: “Generative Engine Optimisation” or GEO if, like me, you’re collecting new buzzwords to confuse your friends and family who still don’t know what you do for a living, even more.

Comparison sites in particular will need to rethink. Will AI summarise your carefully-crafted Top 10 broadband deals page into a neat three-sentence box and leave you nothing but tumbleweed? Possibly. But if your data is solid and your page offers a reason to engage (interactive tools, live pricing, exclusive offers etc) then you’ve got a fighting chance.

And let’s not forget the other conversation still humming in the background: regulation. Last year it was data. This year it’s AI. Spoiler alert next year it’ll probably be data and AI, wrapped up in a compliance bow no one asked for. Tracking, consent, attribution models – they’re not going anywhere, and they’ll continue to shape what “performance” even means.

So, where will we be in 12 months?

Here’s my take from all our discussions at ASE and in recent months:

AI won’t replace affiliates entirely. It will chip away at the easy wins, but the performance model is resilient. Affiliate marketing has survived cookies crumbling, browsers sulking, and regulators sharpening their pencils. It will likely survive this too.

Traffic will shift. Expect fewer casual clicks and more filtered, higher-intent visits. That’s not necessarily bad news – it might even improve conversion rates.

Winners will adapt. Affiliates who treat AI as another distribution channel by optimising to be cited and building content that’s AI-friendly will continue to grow. The ones who bury their heads in the sand will end up writing LinkedIn posts about “the good old days of SEO.”

Brands will lean harder on partners. If AI innovation isn’t happening in-house, they’ll want affiliates and tech partners to fill the gap. That opens the door for anyone offering tools, integrations, and smarter tracking. (Yes I work at a tech partner business and it’s a shameless plug – but it’s a true and relevant statement).

So should you be worried? Only if you think doing nothing is a strategy. The affiliate market a year from now won’t look unrecognisable, but the centre of gravity I can see will have shifted. More AI in the mix, fewer lazy clicks and tougher competition for space in those AI-generated answers.

The trick will be treating AI as an amplifier, not an enemy. Work out how to be visible, how to be the source of truth, and how to add value beyond what a one-liner summary can deliver. Do that, and in 12 month’s time you can still be cashing in commissions even if the funnel looks a little different.

OpenAI to be 2026’s Super Affiliate? WDYT?

Ceej Johnson

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Scott Galloway at Awin Global ThinkTank 2025: Vulgar, vital, and very much on point

Ceej Johnson — Wed, 21 May 2025 11:15:11 +0000

There’s no easing into a Scott Galloway keynote. You’re thrown straight into a high-speed blender of profanity, sharp wit, and unapologetically bold takes. In the first of four keynotes at this year’s global ThinkTank the NYU professor, entrepreneur, and serial truth-bomber delivered a keynote that was part economics lecture, part stand-up comedy, and part wake-up call to every marketer still coasting on cookies and clichés.

AI: Apocalypse or acceleration?

The heart of Galloway’s message was AI – but not the usual fear-mongering doom scroll. No, in classic contrarian fashion, he argued that AI won’t be the job-destroying overlord it’s been made out to be. “It’s going to create more jobs than it kills,” he said, acknowledging that some industries will indeed be “wrecked” but insisting the net effect will be opportunity – if we’re brave enough to grab it.

He compared the AI revolution to previous waves of disruptive tech – from the internet to mobile – and predicted a flood of new companies and business models. If you’re a recent graduate, he reckons now’s the time to jump into AI, not run from it.

The “big four” and the attention economy

Of course, no Galloway talk is complete without skewering the Big Four. Meta, Google, Apple, and Amazon all took their fair share of hits. “We’ve gone from information democracy to information feudalism,” he quipped, pointing out how a handful of platforms now command attention like medieval lords hoarding land.

The implication for B2B marketers? You can’t outspend these giants – but you can outsmart them. Own your narrative. Create IP. Build direct relationships. Be more than an algorithm’s afterthought.

On the future of work: “middle management is toast”

Galloway made it clear: if your job is to “move boxes from one side of the PowerPoint to the other,” AI’s coming for you. But if you’re a creator, a connector, or someone who can build – you’re golden. He urged brands to foster internal talent and ditch performative culture. No more “Zoom theatre,” no more “we’re a family” nonsense. Instead, build real businesses with real impact.

Tough love for marketers

For anyone working in marketing, the message was equal parts roasting and revelation. “Most marketing today is just trying to distract people long enough to shove a product in their face,” he said. The future lies in authenticity, utility, and yes – balls. Not the anatomical kind (though he’d definitely mention them) – but the creative courage to say something worth hearing.

His challenge to the room was simple: use AI to elevate, not replicate. Use data to inform, not conform. And above all, remember that good marketing isn’t about manipulation – it’s about meaning.

Final Thoughts: A Shot of Espresso and a Slap in the Face

In 30 minutes, Galloway managed to be offensive, inspiring, terrifying, and hilarious – all at once. He reminded us that we’re not just riding the waves of change; we’re shaping them. And in a world where B2B often stands for “boring-to-boring,” his call to make marketing braver, smarter, and more human was exactly what the room needed.

If you’re still waiting for permission to innovate – Galloway just revoked your excuse.

More from Awin Global ThinkTank 2025:

Dr Karen Nelson-Field: Marketers need to stop counting eyeballs and start earning them

Lily Ray at Awin Global ThinkTank: SEO is dead, long live SEO

Rory Sutherland at Awin Global ThinkTank: A mind-bending closing keynote on psychology, perception, and peculiar bees

Ceej Johnson

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Surviving the privacy apocalypse: Key takeaways from ASW’s slightly terrifying keynote

Ceej Johnson — Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:54:22 +0000

Another year, another Affiliate Summit West, where a global industry entourage descends upon Vegas to discuss the future of affiliate and performance marketing alongside, naturally, to see how long we can survive on nothing but coffee, networking and Vegas-priced cocktails. This year’s keynote was a sobering reminder that, much like my ill-advised blackjack strategy, tracking and attribution in affiliate marketing are under serious threat.

After a hyped-up, on-stage DJ attempted (and despite best efforts in my opinion, failed) to rally the morning troops from their jet-lag / late-night slumber / morning “Vegas” mood, Steve Brown, CEO at Moonpull was joined on stage by Santi Pierini, CEO at CJ, David Lloyd, Chief Customer Officer at Awin and Garth Harris, General Manager at CAKE, to discuss the ongoing impact of privacy regulations, the crumbling effectiveness of tracking, and how we, as an industry, can pivot before we all collectively crash into a compliance-shaped brick wall.

Here’s what went down – and why it matters.

1. Privacy regulations: digital marketing’s favourite nightmare

If you thought GDPR was just an annoying consent modal that users blindly accept, think again. Between Europe’s stringent data protection rules and the patchwork of US state regulations (CCPA, CPRA, VCDPA – you get the idea), marketers are facing stricter enforcement. Consent is king, and if your tracking strategy doesn’t align with new regulations, your legal team might start twitching uncontrollably.

2. The great traffic disappearance act

According to the panel, up to 50% of traffic (30% in the US, 50% in Europe) can be affected, depending on the consent mechanisms deployed. With browsers tightening privacy restrictions and ad-blockers on the rise, businesses are struggling to attribute revenue accurately. The message from the panel? Adapt or risk losing measurement entirely – leading to revenue loss, inaccurate attribution, and some very awkward performance reports.

3. Consent: no longer just a checkbox

The days of the default opt-in are over. Now, users need to actively say, “Yes, please track me” which, let’s be honest, most won’t. That means brands have to work harder to build trust and offer value in exchange for data. The key takeaway? Transparency isn’t optional – it’s survival.

4. EU vs. US: who’s got it worse?

The short answer? Everyone. The EU’s GDPR is ruthlessly strict but at least consistent. Meanwhile, the US has a ‘choose-your-own-adventure’ approach to privacy laws, with different rules for different states, however the CCPA is generally seen as the ‘starting point’ for said adventures. The panel references the teams of people they’ve had to hire and departments they’ve had to create in order to deal with data compliance.

5. Affiliate marketing’s identity crisis

Without reliable tracking, how do we prove conversions? If no one gets credit for the sale, does the sale even exist? The industry is scrambling; refining tracking models to ensure sales are accurately credited, preventing lost revenue and maintaining confidence in performance marketing.

6. The first-party data land grab

With third-party cookies crumbling like my post-conference stamina, brands are racing to collect first-party data. The catch? Users are getting stingier with their personal info, so incentives need to be smarter. No, a 5% discount won’t cut the mustard – start thinking of VIP access, exclusive content, and rewards worth remembering.

7. AI: the rebel tool against the tracking crackdown?

There was growing chatter during the panel that AI and probabilistic tracking might be the industry’s secret weapon against the tightening of tracking capabilities. With traditional methods becoming increasingly restricted, AI-driven models and data science could offer ways to maintain attribution accuracy without breaking privacy laws. While some see AI as another overhyped buzzword, others believe it could be the key to keeping performance marketing measurable and profitable in a post-cookie world.

8. Industry unity: a rare but necessary concept

The panel stressed that tackling privacy challenges isn’t a solo mission. Ad networks, publishers, brands – everyone needs to work together. That means lobbying for fairer regulations, sharing best practices, and maybe even agreeing on some universal tracking standards (gasp).
There was a shout out at this point towards the significant work that Kevin Edwards has been putting in since founding the Affiliate & Partner Marketing Association (shameless plug – intent.ly is a founding member), unifying industry stakeholders in order to lobby with regulators and showcase the value that the affiliate and performance market drives.

9. eCommerce woes: conversions in crisis

Brands are feeling the sting, with conversion rates slipping thanks to tracking limitations. Without personalised targeting and retargeting, customers are slipping through the cracks, taking their wallets with them. Marketers need smarter, privacy-safe strategies to keep shoppers engaged.

10. Fines: the scary bit

Ignore privacy laws at your peril – regulators are handing out fines like conference swag. The stakes are high, with penalties reaching (unbeknownst to me) up to $7,500 per single violation in the US. In other words, make sure your legal team isn’t spending too much time at the ASW happy hours.

What next? 5 actionable steps for survival

So, what’s the playbook for the affiliate and performance marketing industry, and for those within that who are tasked with navigating this chaos?

1. Invest in first-party data
If you’re still relying on third-party cookies, stop. Build your own data strategy, find ways of rewarding and incentivising users to share information, and nurture those direct relationships.

2. Adapt your attribution models
Experiment with probabilistic attribution, AI-driven models, and new tracking solutions to bridge the tracking gaps. As an example – more info on Awin’s new conversion protection initiative (CPI) here.

3. Work with regulators, not against them
The industry needs to stop treating privacy laws as an enemy and start collaborating with policymakers to create practical solutions that work for everyone.

4. Educate customers on data transparency
Users aren’t anti-tracking; they’re anti-creepy-tracking. Be clear about what data you collect and how it benefits them, and you might just win them over.

5. Collaborate as an industry
Brands, publishers, and networks need to work together to create new standards, share data responsibly, and ensure performance marketing doesn’t become a relic of the past.

Final thoughts: no one’s safe, but we must adapt

Let’s be honest – tracking and data protection aren’t exactly the sexiest topics, especially not at 10am in Vegas when half the room is still clutching an espresso like a life raft. But credit where it’s due – this session was well-moderated, engaging, and genuinely insightful. Turns out, discussing the slow demise of traditional tracking can actually be interesting… provided you throw in a bit of existential dread and a lot of caffeine.

The days of frictionless tracking and free-flowing data are gone, but affiliate and performance marketing isn’t dead – far from it. If we innovate, adapt, lobby and maybe say a small prayer to the compliance gods, we can turn privacy challenges into opportunities.

Ceej Johnson

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Supermarket Christmas adverts of 2024: unwrapped!

Ceej Johnson — Wed, 20 Nov 2024 15:58:34 +0000

The 2024 Christmas adverts from UK supermarkets like Tesco, Morrisons, Aldi, Lidl and Sainsbury’s utilise a blend of psychological heuristics and behavioural norms to resonate with audiences emotionally and socially, enhancing the holiday magic while appealing to shoppers’ values and memories.

1. Sainsbury’s

Featuring a beloved cultural character, the BFG, the ad leans into nostalgia and familiarity heuristics. By connecting to a cherished childhood story, Sainsbury’s taps into positive associations from the past, creating a feel-good effect that encourages trust and comfort. The storyline of giving back also plays on the norm of altruism during the holidays, and features a real-life supermarket worker, Sophie.

2. Morrisons

The ad brings back its popular singing oven gloves, which now perform “Give a Little Love.” This leverages the mere exposure effect, where familiar elements become endearing over time. Using the theory of ‘compound creativity’ and familiarity bias, the return of these characters builds on established audience fondness. The cheerful gloves act as mascots to lighten the pressures of holiday hosting, and also uses anthropomorphism – assigning human qualities to inanimate objects – which can create a playful bond with the audience.

3. Tesco

Tesco’s advert about “Feeding Your Christmas Spirit’, is another one tapping into nostalgia to evoke warm memories of traditions like building gingerbread houses, while the familiarity bias reinforces comforting Christmas staples. The ad fosters togetherness with community-focused storytelling and enhances engagement through anthropomorphism, animating gingerbread characters with playful charm to strengthen the emotional bond with the brand.

4. Aldi

Aldi’s Kevin the Carrot character was first brought to life in 2016 so his return now continues to foster emotional connections, while the nostalgia bias evokes holiday traditions. The adventure story focuses on community and goodwill to promote social proof, aligning Aldi with values of togetherness and giving, reinforcing its brand identity.

5. Lidl

Lidl’s ad blends nostalgia and humour by mimicking an iconic Christmas ad from a famous drinks brand. By tapping into the familiarity of a beloved festive symbol, Lidl brings a smile to viewers’ faces while showcasing its commitment to quality and value. The clever parody evokes warm holiday memories while delivering Lidl’s message: you don’t need to spend big to feel the Christmas cheer. It signals humour and self-awareness, increasing viewer engagement and making the ad more shareable.

Each of these supermarket ads leverages emotional cues, whether through nostalgia, humour, or familiarity, and appeals to behavioural norms that are heightened during the festive season – such as giving, hosting, and celebrating – effectively combining these to enhance viewer engagement and strengthen brand loyalty.

Back to journal to read more

Ceej Johnson

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10 types of overlay – and how to use them to build an effective full-funnel strategy

Ceej Johnson — Mon, 19 Aug 2024 14:06:02 +0000

Website overlays are powerful tools for engaging visitors and driving desired outcomes – such as to make a purchase or sign up to a newsletter. Understanding the different types and how to use them to target all stages of the shopper journey will help you build an effective full-funnel strategy, and enhance the sales potential of your website.

Here are ten common overlay types and when to deploy them:

1. “Welcome Mat”: Sometimes a full-screen overlay, target new visitors to make a strong first impression or highlight your most important offers. It’s ideal for showcasing your brand’s unique value proposition.

2. Exit-Intent Overlay: Trigger this when a user is about to leave your site. It’s perfect to rescue cart abandonment, capture leads or offer special discounts to keep shoppers on the purchase path.

3. Time-Delayed Overlay: Set this to appear after a shopper has spent a certain amount of time on your site. Use it to engage users who have shown interest by browsing for a while, or redirect them back to their original product search, for example.

4. Scroll-Triggered Overlay: Activate this when a user reaches a specific point on your page. It’s great for offering content upgrades or related product recommendations.

5. Bundling/Upsell Overlay: You can influence a buying decision by offering rewards that complement an item in the basket – and boost AOVs in the process.

6. Gamified Overlay: Implement this to add an element of fun and interactivity. A great way to offer purchase incentives or data collection, such as ‘spin the wheel’ campaigns, product quizzes, or seasonal competitions.

7. Video Overlay: Deploy this to showcase product demonstrations, testimonials, or brand stories. It’s effective for capturing attention and conveying complex information quickly.

8. Survey Overlay: Use this to gather customer feedback or conduct market research. It’s best used after a user has had a chance to interact with your site and has completed set actions to ensure it doesn’t distract from the conversion goal.

9. Social Proof Overlay: Showcase customer reviews, testimonials, or user statistics. This builds trust and can be particularly effective on product pages or during the checkout process.

10. Broadcast Overlay: Use this to highlight important news, limited-time offers, or upcoming events. It’s perfect for creating urgency or informing regular visitors about updates.

By strategically implementing these overlay types you can personalise the shopper experience, boost engagement, and drive higher conversions on your website. Remember to always test and optimise your overlay campaigns for maximum effectiveness, and to ensure seamless shopper journeys.

Whether your goal is to increase sales, boost AOVs, acquire new customers, manage inventory, or all of the above, our intelligent technology and technicians (including CRO experts and designers) can help you achieve them – book a demo to or download our case studies to learn more.

Back to journal to read more

Ceej Johnson

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Heuristics Series Part 1: Scarcity

Ceej Johnson — Tue, 23 May 2023 14:14:24 +0000

Heuristics can help us understand shopper behaviour and what influences buying decisions. In this blog series, we explore how seven of these mental shortcuts can be used as powerful conversion tools during different stages of the shopper journey.

What are heuristics?

Heuristics are mental shortcuts or rules of thumb that our brains use to simplify decision-making and problem-solving processes. They are cognitive strategies that allow us to make quick judgments and navigate the complexities of the world around us. Instead of engaging in lengthy and resource-intensive analytical thinking, heuristics help us make efficient decisions by relying on patterns, past experiences, and readily available information. These mental shortcuts serve as cognitive guidelines that guide our thinking and behaviour. They are developed based on our personal experiences, cultural influences, and social norms. Heuristics can be useful in situations where time is limited, information is incomplete, or the decision-making process is complex. However, they can also lead to biases and errors in judgement, as they may oversimplify or overlook important information. One of the best examples of a heuristic that we can all relate to is quite simply catching a ball that is thrown or hit in the air. If you were to actually calculate where to place your hands to correctly catch that ball, you’d be attempting to do some quick fire A-level maths to work out the height of the ball, the speed it’s travelling, its peak trajectory, and so on. The reality is by the time you’d worked that out the ball would’ve landed about 10 minutes prior. To combat this, we have learned the ‘gaze heuristic’, which at the most basic level, ignores all casual relevant variables (the maths!) to make quick gut reactions and adjustments that enable you to successfully catch the ball within the given timeframe.

The scarcity heuristic

One of the most common heuristics that is extremely commonplace across marketing disciplines is the scarcity heuristic. The scarcity heuristic is a cognitive shortcut that leads us to believe that something is more valuable or desirable if it is rare or in limited supply. This heuristic can be seen in many areas of our lives, from the way we shop in stores for groceries to the way we shop online.

In stores, the scarcity heuristic can be observed when shoppers rush to buy items that are advertised as being in limited supply. For example, if a grocery store puts up a sign that says “limited time only” or “while stocks last” next to a particular item, shoppers are more inclined to believe the item is rare or hard to come by, and they will be more likely to make the purchase immediately. The scarcity heuristic can lead to impulse buying, where shoppers make purchases based on emotions rather than rational thought.

In online shopping, the scarcity heuristic is often used by e-commerce websites to create a sense of urgency among shoppers. For example, online retailers may use countdown timers or “low stock” warnings to encourage shoppers to act quickly if they want to buy a particular item. A recent campaign test revealed a 10% increase in conversion rate by adding countdown messaging to the overlay.

When used appropriately as part of a shopper’s journey, the scarcity heuristic can be a useful conversion tool. For example, it can be used to motivate people to take action or to make decisions that are in their best interest. If a person believes that a particular opportunity is rare or hard to come by, they may be more likely to take advantage of it. In this way, the scarcity heuristic can be a useful motivator.

With scarcity being such a common heuristic, it can be observed in many areas of our lives. While the scarcity heuristic can lead to cognitive biases and irrational decisions, it can also be a useful tool when used within the context of a shopper journey. By understanding the role of the scarcity heuristic in our lives, we can make more informed decisions and avoid the potential pitfalls of this cognitive shortcut.

Look out for our next blog on the second heuristic that can influence shopper behaviour – complementarity – coming soon.

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Ceej Johnson

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