Interview with Anne Ginestet, Digital Acquisition Manager at JouéClub
Can you tell us more about your role and the challenges you face in your position?
Since joining the JouéClub digital team in November 2022, my main role has been to drive traffic to our website and increase footfall in-store. To achieve this, I work across several key areas, including affiliate marketing, Google Ads campaigns, email marketing, and retargeting. I’m also involved in certain aspects of SEO, especially the technical side, internal linking, and netlinking, as well as web traffic tracking and analytics.
The core challenge of my role is to generate high-quality traffic and improve conversions in a highly competitive market. Our aim is not just to keep up with major players in the toy industry but to outperform them where possible.
It’s also important to note that JouéClub is a cooperative based in France. At headquarters, we coordinate national advertising campaigns and provide marketing materials to our independent store owners — but they can choose whether or not to use them. This means our marketing budget largely depends on the participation of those store owners, and all projects need to be validated by the cooperative.
What is the main challenge for JouéClub when it comes to implementing your online acquisition strategy?
JouéClub faces two key challenges. First, there’s a strong focus on in-store retail over e-commerce. Second, we operate in a very competitive online space where both specialized and non-specialized retailers constantly expand their strategies and budgets to gain market share.
Introducing affiliate marketing wasn’t an obvious step for the brand. It required alignment across all stakeholders to really understand the value it could bring. We had to demonstrate that affiliate marketing could also drive traffic to physical stores, not just online purchases.
Affiliation offers nationwide visibility and helps strengthen brand awareness with our target audiences. It was critical to show that online and offline sales can coexist and even complement each other. For this reason, we avoided using promo codes and tailored our approach so as not to compete with physical stores.
We initially tested a year-round affiliate program outside the Christmas period to maintain better control over our budget. A fixed budget was allocated, aligned with our broader acquisition strategy. Transparency was key: store owners needed to clearly see the costs and the ROI of every campaign.
What motivated you to launch an affiliate marketing program?
I had already gained significant experience running affiliate campaigns in the past, so I quickly realized this was a missing — and essential — lever for the JouéClub brand. Given the strong ROI potential, launching an affiliate program became a strategic move that made complete sense.
We discovered Affilae through a competitive RFP and benchmarking process involving several providers. The main advantage of Affilae was their ability to meet our budget constraints while delivering on our expectations. Their commission-sharing model also appealed to us, offering flexibility and fairness in the partnership.
Another factor that influenced our decision was their status as a French company. With the Affilae team based in Bordeaux, meetings and communication have been easier and more accessible, and the team has always been friendly and available.
What are the main benefits of working with a platform like Affilae?
There are several key benefits to working with a platform like Affilae:
Commission-sharing model: Affilae’s model offers both flexibility and fairness in how affiliates are compensated, which helps build strong, mutually beneficial relationships.
Flexible and scalable tool: One of Affilae’s strengths is its ability to evolve with our needs. We’ve benefitted from tailored developments, such as improved capping management. This adaptability helps us continuously refine our affiliate strategy.
Proactive capping management: Affilae stands out for their high standards in managing capping limits. They allow mid-year adjustments to maximize performance — ensuring efficient use of our resources all year long.
Affiliate communication monitoring: The platform lets us securely monitor conversations with affiliates. While Affilae’s team typically manages these interactions efficiently, we can step in if needed. This transparency and oversight have helped build a strong sense of trust.
How does working with Affilae contribute strategically to productivity and competitiveness?
Affilae plays a key strategic role in increasing our productivity and boosting our competitiveness in several ways:
Diversifying acquisition channels: Affilae enables us to diversify beyond our existing acquisition levers, which is essential for expanding our reach and maximizing impact in a competitive landscape.
Exceptional performance: Performance metrics, particularly those tracked in Analytics, are critical. With Affilae, our ROI has been outstanding. We initially set a ROAS goal of 12, and we’ve far exceeded that.
Reduced reliance on major players: By expanding our marketing mix through affiliation, we’re less dependent on the big industry platforms. This allows us to reach different target groups and position ourselves more effectively.
Complementary marketing levers: All of our acquisition channels work together. With Affilae, we’re able to combine targeted audience segmentation with contextual placements, allowing us to reach very specific customer segments effectively.
For example, partnering with platforms like Capital Koala helps us reach niche audiences and broaden our overall impact. In short, Affilae strengthens our marketing strategy by opening new opportunities for growth and competitiveness.
Are you satisfied with the results?
The results have far exceeded our initial expectations:
- At first, the program was only meant to run from April to September 2023, excluding the holiday season. But thanks to the strong results, we extended the campaign through to Christmas. We actually doubled our performance during the regulat period from March to September.
- Our affiliate budget now represents around 10% of our total acquisition budget, which highlights its growing importance within our overall strategy.
- Looking at paid channels overall, we’ve seen a 15–20% increase in sales, well above our original targets. This clearly shows how effective the combined Google Ads and affiliate approach has been.
- From an ROI perspective, we had initially set a goal of 12, and we’ve gone well beyond that.
If you had to sum up your collaboration with Affilae in one or two sentences, what would you say?
Our partnership with Affilae is marked by attentive listening, mutual trust, and open communication. Marine, our Account Manager, brings valuable insights and helps keep us focused on our ambitious goals, a key factor in delivering results beyond what we initially hoped for.
Want to learn more?
Discover the full success story in our JouéClub case study.
