Affiliate and digital partnerships that
build a scalable revenue channel

We manage two distinct channels, affiliate marketing and direct publisher partnerships, as a full-funnel, pay-for-performance revenue driver that complements every other part of your media mix.

Trusted by top marketing teams

Who are our certified partners?

Platform partners

Preferred partner

Premier partner

Certified partner

Partner

Who is this built for?

Brands outgrowing last-click affiliate.

You have an affiliate programme running but it’s heavily weighted toward coupon and loyalty partners, and you’re not confident it’s driving net-new customers rather than rewarding purchases that would have happened anyway.

You want to access premium publisher inventory, custom sponsorships, and direct integrations that aren’t available through programmatic buying, without the complexity of managing publisher relationships yourself.

You’re spending on paid search and paid social but haven’t fully activated affiliate and direct partnerships as a complementary, always-on channel that diversifies your acquisition mix and reduces reliance on platforms you don’t control.

How do I unlock the next stage of growth?

Partner for audience quality, not click volume.

Most programmes are built around whoever generates clicks rather than partners whose audiences have a genuine propensity to buy. That means budget going to coupon sites that intercept customers at the moment of purchase rather than influencing them, content partners chosen for traffic rather than audience quality, and no clear view of which activity is genuinely incremental versus what would have converted through another channel anyway.

We approach affiliate and direct partnerships as a full-funnel, audience-led strategy. Content publishers introduce your brand at the discovery stage. Review and comparison sites support consideration. Loyalty partners help close the sale. Every partner has a strategic purpose, a clear role in the customer journey, and is selected for audience alignment rather than volume alone.

What results can I expect?

Dramatic scale and acquisition cost reduction.

See customer stories

A major financial services organization's affiliate strategy was limited to rate table partnerships with minimal reach. Brainlabs expanded the programme into full direct media activations, negotiated CPC deals to drive significant media savings, and built publisher relationships that unlocked inventory and integrations previously out of reach.

Leading Financial Services Brand

-77%

acquisition costs in year one

76%

net new customers.

How we do things differently

Full-funnel mapping, premium inventory, proven incrementality.

We manage affiliate as a full-funnel strategy, not a last-click tactic.

We map partners to the specific stage of the customer journey where they add genuine value. Content affiliates for discovery, review and comparison sites for consideration, loyalty and deal partners for conversion. Every partner is selected for brand alignment, audience quality, content credibility, and proven performance, not just reach.

We unlock premium publisher inventory through direct partnerships.

Direct media buying gives you access to high-impact placements, homepage takeovers, sponsored content, custom publisher articles, and co-branded integrations that are never available on the open programmatic market. You know exactly which site, which section, and which ad unit your budget is buying, with full transparency and guaranteed share of voice. We manage the entire process from negotiation and insertion orders through to campaign optimisation and reporting.

We measure incremental revenue, not vanity metrics.

Affiliate is one of the harder channels to prove out, and we don't pretend otherwise. We build measurement frameworks that track real incrementality, connecting affiliate activity to net-new customers and revenue rather than last-click attribution that overstates the channel's contribution. We also provide continuous education to internal stakeholders on how attribution works and how affiliate integrates into the broader marketing mix, so you can defend the investment confidently.

What your first 90 days look like

Audit, recruit, prove incrementality.

Audit and build your partner framework.

We audit your existing affiliate programme, if one is in place, assessing the current partner mix against audience composition, content quality, brand alignment, and true incrementality contribution. We identify where budget is going to partners intercepting demand rather than creating it, and where the gaps are in your full-funnel coverage. For direct partnerships, we map premium publisher opportunities against your audience and campaign objectives.

Recruit, negotiate, and activate.

We recruit and vet new affiliate partners against your bespoke criteria framework, covering audience demographics, content credibility, performance history, and brand safety. Commission structures are modelled to align partner incentives with your actual business goals. For direct partnerships, we negotiate placements, manage insertion orders, and activate high-impact inventory across the publisher sites most relevant to your audience.

Optimise and prove incrementality.

We analyse partner performance against true business outcomes, scale the partners driving net-new customers, and renegotiate or remove those that aren't. Reporting is built to show stakeholders exactly where revenue is coming from, how it connects to the broader media mix, and what incremental contribution the channel is making beyond what other channels would have delivered anyway.

Where can I learn more?