The partnership and affiliate category continues to strengthen its reputation among marketers, achieving greater visibility and prominence within the marketing mix as a high-value, full-funnel channel for measurable revenue, traffic growth, and brand awareness. However, the channel has also gained greater attention at a C-level, as business leaders realise the value of strategic partnerships as a key driver for global market expansion and operational growth.
Leading Enterprise brands like Expedia Group are leading the charge in this area. In 2022, the group set out on a multi-year operational change and transformation journey, led at C-level, focused on the organisation’s future strategy and operating model for strategic partnerships and affiliate. With Expedia Group transforming its partnership business from a marketing channel to a strategic growth driver for the business, brands with a mature partnership approach and similar growth ambitions around the world are sitting up and taking note.
In this session, Clayton Nelson, VP & GM of Strategic Partnerships & Affiliates @ Expedia Group, shares firsthand how Expedia’s technology-first mindset and partnership business transformation is pivotal to the group’s current $18bn valuation. Learn about the challenges overcome, opportunities unlocked, and deep learnings Expedia Group gained throughout the process, including how the Group:
- Rebuilt the partnerships model, shifting partners from transactional vendors to strategic partners, creating equitable relationships, exceptional experiences, and rich opportunities for revenue growth.
- Separated the business into distinct growth channels and organised resources to effectively manage and optimise partners and partner types across different geographies.
- Embedded Good Governance at scale across the business, ultimately doubling revenue from the partnership channel.
- Entered brand new markets and built a rich pipeline with bespoke tactics and strategies for each geography, via a network-agnostic approach, including working with corporations that need education and technology support within the partnership and affiliate channel.
- Continue to provide their people with the right resources, tooling, data and insights to succeed at scale with strategic partnerships and affiliate.
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Clayton Nelson VP & GM Strategic Partnerships & Affiliates |
