How AU Vodka Became The UK’s Fastest-Growing Drinks Brand: Charlie Morgan on Viral Product Drops, Celebrity Marketing and Building A Cult Brand

How Nutriseed Turned TikTok Shop Into A £200K/Month Growth Channel: James Green on Creator Affiliates, DTC Growth and Scaling A Bootstrapped Health Brand

Can TikTok Shop really become one of the most powerful growth channels for a direct-to-consumer brand? In this episode of Marketing Over Milkshakes, we sit down with James Green, Founder of Nutriseed, to unpack how a bootstrapped UK health and wellness brand went from kitchen table startup to a fast-growing DTC business using cold pressed juices, customer loyalty, creator partnerships, TikTok Shop, Amazon and performance marketing. If you are looking to unlock the internet’s fastest growing marketing channel, connect with the team at RevWise https://revwise.com/ James shares the full story behind Nutriseed’s growth, from his early career as a magician selling tricks in Hamleys, Harrods, Selfridges and Toys R Us Times Square, to launching a lifestyle magazine, building a health brand from scratch, and scaling Nutriseed through Groupon, ecommerce, cold pressed juice cleanses and repeat-purchase products. The conversation goes deep on how rising customer acquisition costs forced Nutriseed to rethink its entire growth model, why TikTok Shop became a major top-of-funnel awareness engine, and how aggressive creator sampling, affiliate content, live shopping and channel-specific product strategy helped the brand reach around £200,000 in TikTok Shop GMV in January alone. James also breaks down the hidden “halo effect” of TikTok Shop across Amazon, Meta ads, creator content and customer acquisition, including why brands need to stop judging TikTok purely as a last-click sales channel and start understanding how it drives discovery, trust and long-term customer value. Key Moments: 0:00 – James Green on TikTok Shop, rising CPA and Nutriseed’s £200K month 03:17 – Introducing James Green, Founder of Nutriseed 06:45 – From magician to entrepreneur: Hamleys, Harrods and Toys R Us Times Square 14:39 – Launching a lifestyle magazine and learning the realities of business 17:44 – How Nutriseed started from a failed business and a passion for healthy living 19:40 – Using Groupon to scale a superfood product into 14 European markets 21:28 – Moving from marketplaces to DTC and owning the customer relationship 22:26 – Building a vertically integrated health brand and manufacturing in-house 28:29 – Why rising acquisition costs forced Nutriseed to rethink growth 34:50 – How TikTok Shop became a top-of-funnel growth engine for Nutriseed 37:43 – Losing money on TikTok Shop but winning through Amazon and repeat purchase 41:16 – The three biggest tips for winning on TikTok Shop 43:03 – Scaling production to 24-hour operation to meet demand 43:42 – Turning creator affiliate content into Meta ads and lowering CPA 45:56 – Why live shopping could be the future of ecommerce 50:20 – What TikTok Shop agencies get right and wrong 54:28 – Which brands can win on TikTok Shop and why product strategy matters 1:01:29 – Building long-term creator relationships and ambassador communities 1:05:46 – Nutriseed’s 30,000-customer community and the power of DTC feedback loops 1:11:56 – The plan to reach £1M a month on TikTok Shop 1:15:46 – Leadership, honesty and managing through difficult growth periods 1:19:14 – Why TikTok Shop is still the biggest opportunity most brands are missing

How AU Vodka Became The UK’s Fastest-Growing Drinks Brand: Charlie Morgan on Viral Product Drops, Celebrity Marketing and Building A Cult Brand

How did two young founders from Swansea turn a gold vodka bottle into one of the most recognisable drinks brands in the UK? In this episode of Marketing Over Milkshakes, we sit down with Charlie Morgan, Co-Founder of AU Vodka, inside the brand’s incredible Swansea HQ to unpack the story behind one of the most explosive growth journeys in British drinks, ecommerce and culture-led marketing. If you are looking to unlock the internet’s fastest growing marketing channel, connect with the team at RevWise https://revwise.com/ Charlie shares how AU Vodka started with just 2,000 gold bottles, no major marketing budget, and a simple belief that the brand had to look, feel and behave differently to every other alcohol company in the market. From early struggles selling a premium vodka nobody had heard of, to the breakthrough launch of Black Grape, the Charlie Sloth partnership, the ecommerce explosion and the relentless problem-solving that took AU from hundreds of thousands in revenue to tens of millions, this is a proper founder story. Charlie also breaks down the Tango collaboration, selling 3 million cans in three days, why AU cans have become the UK’s best-selling ready-to-drink alcohol brand by volume, and how product taste, cultural relevance and customer obsession have helped AU compete with some of the biggest drinks brands in the world. The conversation also covers the infamous Eden Hazard ball boy moment, working with names like Snoop Dogg, Jake Paul, Fredo and the future of RTDs, international expansion, building a global brand from Swansea, and why the biggest opportunity for food and drink brands may still be direct access to their customers. Key Moments: 0:00 – Charlie Morgan on AU Vodka, viral growth and the Tango launch 6:50 – Launching AU Vodka with 2,000 gold bottles and no marketing budget 11:10 – How flavoured vodka, Charlie Sloth and Black Grape changed everything 18:03 – The Fredo campaign, COVID growth and AU’s £43.3m revenue year 25:23 – Scaling through chaos, supply chain problems and hands-on leadership 31:08 – AU Tango, selling 3 million cans and becoming a major RTD alcohol brand 35:48 – The Eden Hazard ball boy story and building a legacy beyond it 46:04 – Turning AU Vodka from a Swansea brand into a global drinks business 51:23 – Taste, flavour development and building customer loyalty in drinks marketing 53:37 – Influencers, ambassadors, Snoop Dogg and authentic brand partnerships1:04:00 – Jake Paul, Tommy Fury and the viral AU Vodka tattoo campaign 1:17:23 – Liquid on lips, sampling strategy and why product taste drives growth 1:23:10 – How AU became the UK’s number one ready-to-drink alcohol brand 1:28:36 – Creating a new vodka category instead of chasing drinks industry trends 1:31:51 – Why AU rejected fake heritage and changed vodka marketing 1:36:16 – Growing AU Vodka globally and the ecommerce opportunity for food and drink brands

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