CJ’s Linda O’Connell: Does Affiliate Marketing Need a Rebrand? How Influencer Commerce Became Performance Marketing and What AI Means for Publishers

James Little and Hannah Wharrier Reveal How They Built Affilifest To Become The Glastonbury Of Affiliate Marketing

James Little and Hannah Wharrier are the founders of Affilifest, the UK affiliate marketing event bringing festival energy, community and creativity into a traditionally corporate conference world. Hosted at Dreamland Margate, Affilifest has become one of the most talked-about events in the affiliate and performance marketing industry, combining serious business networking with rollercoasters, tattoos, beach breakfasts, live panels, karaoke, brand activations and a completely different approach to industry events. If you are looking to unlock the internet’s fastest growing marketing channel, connect with the team at RevWise: https://revwise.com/ James and Hannah break down how Affilifest started, why they chose Dreamland Margate, how they built a standout event brand, and why memorable experiences create stronger business relationships than bland conference rooms. They also explore the wider affiliate marketing landscape, including cashback incrementality, publisher discovery, cookie consent, ICO guidance, AI tools, media mix modelling, Women in Affiliate, leadership, personal branding and why brands need to think differently about partnerships. We will be doing an episode of Marketing Over Milkshakes live from Affilifest, so if you would like to be in the audience live, get you tickets to at www.affilifest.com/register James and Hannah share: * How Affilifest became one of the UK’s most talked-about affiliate events * Why Dreamland Margate became the home of Affilifest * How “festivalisation” is changing affiliate marketing conferences * Why memorable experiences create better business relationships * Why Affilifest is free for advertisers and publishers * How AI is helping founders, events teams and affiliate businesses move faster * Why Women in Affiliate became one of Affilifest’s proudest projects * Why brands need better ways to discover new and innovative publishers Key Moments: 00:00 - Affilifest, Dreamland and the festival energy 03:17 - Work hard, play hard and affiliate industry culture 07:14 - Introducing James Little and Hannah Warrior 08:39 - Building the UK’s most talked-about affiliate event 09:43 - The story behind the matching tattoos 13:11 - How the idea for Affilifest started 16:44 - Taking Affilifest to the USA and Australia 17:06 - Why affiliate events matter to new agencies 19:49 - Keeping Affilifest free for brands and publishers 22:09 - Hannah’s journey from Affiliate Summit to AffiliateFest 24:06 - Why Dreamland Margate became the home of Affilifest 29:07 - Why work events should feel like Glastonbury 30:55 - Making events fun and valuable for business 35:10 - Bringing Affilifest to Manchester 36:45 - Brand roundtables and putting advertisers first 39:08 - Using ChatGPT to find event speakers 41:05 - The business model behind events 43:15 - Building a culturally confident brand 44:13 - Creating bold event formats that build brand 45:37 - Why not everyone has to like your brand 47:24 - Designing events for the next generation 53:28 - Platforming new affiliate industry voices 56:35 - Why Affilifest does not sell sponsored talks 57:26 - Using AI to improve live events 1:09:07 - James on TopCashback and cashback marketing 1:15:15 - The debate around cashback incrementality 1:18:05 - ICO guidance, cookies and cashback tracking 1:21:35 - Why better tracking can increase conversions by 30–40% 1:25:22 - Why passion matters in affiliate marketing 1:30:00 - How Hannah’s fiance used ChatGPT for engagement proposal 1:32:34 - How AI helps startups move faster 1:38:41 - Launching Women in Affiliate 1:42:16 - James’ proudest AffiliateFest moment 1:45:11 - Personal style, confidence and standing out 1:51:23 - Why Hannah changed her mind about panels 1:53:51 - What leadership really means 1:57:45 - The biggest opportunities brands are missing 1:59:37 - Why brands need better publisher discovery

Sole Supplier CEO George Sullivan on How Sneaker Culture Became Performance Marketing and What AI Means for Fashion Publishers

Can a sneaker publisher become one of the most powerful brand growth partners in ecommerce? In this episode of Marketing Over Milkshakes, we sit down with George Sullivan, Founder and CEO of The Sole Supplier to explore how sneaker culture, streetwear, affiliate marketing, community, content and AI are reshaping the future of performance marketing. If you are looking to unlock the internet’s fastest growing marketing channel, connect with the team at RevWise https://revwise.com/ George built The Sole Supplier from a personal obsession with trainers into one of the UK’s most influential sneaker and streetwear platforms, reaching millions of consumers every month and driving more than £350 million in tracked GMV for retail partners. In this conversation, George shares how his love of hip hop, Air Force Ones and sneaker culture became the foundation for a media, commerce and community business that now sits at the intersection of content, cultural influence and performance. We go deep on why George believes the term “affiliate” no longer reflects the value publishers like The Sole Supplier create, why brands need to think beyond last-click attribution, and how culturally authentic publishers can influence demand long before a customer converts. George also explains why The Sole Supplier now positions itself as a brand growth partner, how content franchises, community and app-based first-party data are shaping the next phase of the business, and why AI will not replace human-led inspiration, cultural credibility or authentic product discovery. Key Moments: 00:00 – George Sullivan on The Sole Supplier, sneaker culture and affiliate marketing 06:00 – From recruitment to building a sneaker and streetwear publisher 10:00 – Air Force Ones, Jordans, Timberlands and the evolution of sneaker culture 18:45 – Why streetwear consumers now value outfits, quality and cost per wear 22:34 – How The Sole Supplier drives ecommerce sales without holding stock 25:29 – Why affiliate marketing needs a rebrand beyond vouchers and cashback 29:43 – The Merrell campaign, 180% sales growth and untracked publisher influence 33:38 – Why brands need marketers who understand youth culture and streetwear audiences 36:41 – Building a culture-led, data-led marketing team at The Sole Supplier 41:49 – Leadership, self-esteem and psychological safety in a fast-growth business 48:47 – First hires, founder mistakes and lessons from scaling The Sole Supplier 51:56 – Financial discipline, budgets and navigating ecommerce market pressure 58:45 – Why George believes affiliate should become brand growth marketing 1:01:55 – Cultural growth, partner marketing and the future of affiliate networks 1:06:48 – How global brands limit publisher growth through affiliate budgets 1:10:37 – TikTok Shop, halo effects and measuring ecommerce influence 1:15:26 – Affiliate revenue, fixed-fee brand partnerships and publisher monetisation 1:16:29 – Trend or Trash, This Not That and The Sole Supplier’s content franchises 1:17:17 – The Sole Supplier app, first-party data and in-app community strategy 1:18:40 – AI commerce, human taste and why cultural inspiration still matters 1:20:00 – ChatGPT shopping, CPA checkout and the future of AI ecommerce 1:23:11 – ChatGPT, Google, Claude and the changing AI search landscape 1:25:00 – AI influencers, brand credibility and cultural risk for fashion brands 1:31:00 – Content, community and commerce as the future of publisher platforms 1:32:30 – Reddit, bots, LLM citations and the trust problem in AI search 1:35:40 – Why brands are paying publishers for LLM visibility and AI discovery 1:39:09 – AI fear, bad incentives and apocalypse-style marketing content 1:43:41 – George’s childhood, ADHD, business growth and personal reflection 1:47:11 – Dale Carnegie, The Power of Now and leadership lessons 1:50:45 – Why unified marketing teams are the biggest opportunity for brands

CJ’s Linda O’Connell: Does Affiliate Marketing Need a Rebrand? How Influencer Commerce Became Performance Marketing and What AI Means for Publishers

Is affiliate marketing overdue a rebrand? In this episode of Marketing Over Milkshakes, we sit down with Linda O’Connell, Senior Vice President of UK and Ireland at CJ, to explore how affiliate marketing, influencer commerce, content publishers and AI-powered discovery are reshaping performance marketing. If you are looking to unlock the internet’s fastest growing marketing channel, connect with the team at RevWise https://revwise.com/ Linda has spent more than 20 years at CJ, one of the biggest and most established affiliate networks in the world, helping brands grow through performance-led partnerships across retail, travel, tech and ecommerce. In this conversation, she shares her perspective on how the affiliate industry has evolved from voucher codes and cashback into a far broader ecosystem that now includes influencers, content commerce, card-linked offers, creator partnerships and AI-driven product discovery. We go deep on why the term “affiliate” may no longer reflect the true value of the channel, why brands should stop treating affiliate as a silo, and how the smartest marketers are now using it as a strategic growth lever across the full customer journey. Linda explains how CJ thinks about connected commerce, why publishers are becoming even more valuable in an LLM-driven world, and how content sites are increasingly shaping what consumers discover through AI search experiences. KEY MOMENTS: 00:00 – Why affiliate marketing may need a different name 01:10 – Linda’s background, Dublin life and the CJ introduction 06:16 – Linda O’Connell’s 20-year journey at CJ and the scale of the business 07:36 – How big CJ is, major global brands and what makes long-term client retention work 10:00 – Why the best affiliate partnerships behave like extensions of the brand team 13:30 – Building a senior leadership career while raising three boys 15:10 – Being the first woman at CJ to go on maternity leave and shaping family policies 18:53 – International growth, relocating back to Dublin and making career progression work 21:28 – Stepping into leadership, remote management and overcoming imposter syndrome 23:53 – Balancing work, motherhood and identity beyond your career 26:02 – Burnout, overwork and why unplugging matters for high performers 27:55 – The early days of CJ, startup energy and the evolution of affiliate marketing 30:04 – How publisher types changed from voucher codes to a much broader partnership mix 32:43 – Why networks helped build the affiliate industry and still drive innovation today 35:25 – Consumer behaviour, influencer growth and the changing role of publishers 37:12 – What CJ means by connected commerce 39:18 – Why many brands still misunderstand affiliate’s role in the wider media mix 40:57 – TikTok Shop, halo effects and how one channel can improve performance elsewhere 45:00 – Amazon, attribution and why brands need to follow customer behaviour 47:53 – How CJ trains teams to communicate an evolving performance marketing story 50:00 – CJ’s global footprint, growth markets and expansion opportunities 54:00 – CGU, industry events and why relationship building still matters 1:02:31 – Women in Affiliate, representation and supporting female leadership 1:07:13 – Imposter syndrome, ambition and advice for women building careers in the industry 1:09:43 – Should influencer marketing now sit inside affiliate? 1:12:05 – Affiliate’s reputation problem and why the industry may be its own worst enemy 1:15:00 – Why Linda sees affiliate as performance marketing, not just last click 1:18:37 – The rise of content commerce and why publishers matter more than ever 1:22:55 – AI search, LLM citations and how content publishers are winning visibility 1:24:46 – ChatGPT, monetisation and why affiliate could play a major role in AI commerce 1:25:49 – Quick fire: career growth, leadership and what brands are still missing 1:32:45 – The single biggest opportunity most brands are overlooking right now

Redbrain CEO Jared Owen: How Google Shopping CSS Drives £1BN+ in Sales, Why Most Brands Misunderstand Cannibalisation and What AI Means for Ecommerce

What if one of the biggest untapped growth opportunities in ecommerce was hiding in plain sight inside Google Shopping? In this episode of Marketing Over Milkshakes, we sit down with Jared Owen, CEO of Redbrain, to unpack how CSS, Google Shopping, affiliate attribution and AI-driven product discovery are reshaping ecommerce growth for brands and retailers. If you are looking to unlock the internet’s fastest growing marketing channel, connect with the team at RevWise https://revwise.com/ Redbrain is one of the biggest success stories in the affiliate and performance marketing space. The business processes billions of product offers every day, works with over 12,000 retailers, is eBay’s largest CPA partner in Europe, and last year alone drove more than £1 billion in sales through Google for its retail partners. Jared explains how Redbrain evolved from a price comparison and content arbitrage background into one of the most important players in comparison shopping services, and why CPA-led Google Shopping is still widely misunderstood by brands. We go deep into the real mechanics of CSS, including what comparison shopping services actually do, why the “no cannibalisation” pitch is often oversimplified, how brands should think about cost of sale versus incrementality, and why transparency matters more than ever. Jared also shares sharp insight into feed optimisation, attribution, affiliate innovation, Google’s dominance, AI-powered commerce, LLM search behaviour and why brands need to stop relying solely on marketplaces like Amazon if they want to build long-term customer value. KEY MOMENTS: 00:00 – Selling helicopters, £300k watches and the scale of Redbrain 01:05 – Introduction to Jared Owen, Redbrain and £1BN+ in Google-driven sales 02:32 – The Redbrain origin story and Doug Scott’s startup-style environment 06:46 – What Redbrain actually does and how CSS works in Google Shopping 10:23 – The European legislation that opened Google Shopping to CSS partners 15:11 – Cannibalisation, incrementality and the truth about CSS performance 22:19 – What makes Redbrain different from other CSS providers 23:39 – Transparency, dashboards and solving the CSS black box problem 24:53 – Why some retailers can scale without running their own Google ads 32:53 – Why too many CSS partners can damage performance 36:11 – How Redbrain decides whether a retailer is worth testing 39:18 – Expensive products, luxury clicks and strange things sold through the model 45:27 – AI, trust, creators and the future of ecommerce discovery 50:17 – LLMs, product research and what happens next to search traffic 55:19 – Will Google still dominate product search in 10 to 15 years? 58:33 – Where the affiliate industry fits into AI-powered commerce 1:00:18 – Why outcomes-based marketing is becoming more important than ever 1:06:16 – Attribution problems, GA4 and why affiliate still gets misunderstood 1:13:50 – Why CSS should sit closer to the internal paid media team 1:17:01 – Hiring, customer success and scaling Redbrain’s growth 1:18:28 – Leadership, pressure and the reality of being a CEO 1:30:09 – When CSS does and does not work for retailers 1:34:20 – Amazon dependency, brand-owned growth and the future of ecommerce 1:52:03 – The single biggest opportunity most brands are still missing

How AI Will Reshape Affiliate Marketing and Partnership Growth with Anthony Clements, Country Manager (UK) at Impact

Affiliate marketing is entering its biggest transformation in over a decade. In this episode, we sit down with Anthony Clements, Country Manager at Impact, to explore how partnership marketing, influencer commerce and AI-driven discovery are reshaping the affiliate ecosystem. If you are looking to unlock the internet’s fastest growing marketing channel, connect with the team at RevWise https://revwise.com/ Drawing on more than 20 years in the industry, Anthony breaks down the three major shifts that have defined affiliate marketing so far, from search and desktop commerce, to mobile and social, and now the next wave: agentic AI and large language models changing how customers search, discover and buy online. The conversation goes deep on why last-click CPA models no longer tell the full story, how creators and content publishers drive value beyond clicks, and why brands must rethink how they measure and reward performance marketing. We also explore Impact’s role as one of the world’s leading partnership marketing platforms, operating across 20+ countries and processing billions of partner touchpoints annually. Topics include creator monetisation, influencer marketing, loyalty and referral models, AI-powered discovery, attribution challenges, and what ecommerce brands need to do now to stay competitive as search traffic declines and AI-driven commerce accelerates. KEY MOMENTS: 00:00 – The Evolution of Affiliate Marketing & Rise of Agentic AI 04:02 – Personal Reputation and Industry Reflections 06:47 – Impact’s Technology and Marketing Philosophy 08:32 – Growth and Challenges in Influencer & Creator Marketing 12:34 – Referral and Loyalty Marketing Insights 15:04 – Professionalisation and Major Shifts in Affiliate Partnerships 22:51 – Future-Proofing Affiliate & Influencer Attribution with AI 24:11 – Building Sustainable Teams & Leadership in Affiliate Marketing 34:58 – Case Studies: Scaling Influencer Marketing and Transactional Insights 36:03 – Rethinking How We Measure Marketing Value 46:07 – Compliance, Curiosity & Industry Pitfalls 48:16 – Navigating Uncertainty & Career Growth 54:40 – Advice for the Next Generation of Leaders