Cellar Rats are on a mission to demystify the intricate aspects of wine discovery.
Acknowledging that many consumers may enjoy wine without fully understanding their preferences, Cellar Rats have created a playful approach to make the learning curve that bit more enjoyable.
Their innovative six quarter-bottle monthly subscription presents a delightful route into the world of wine, bridging the gap in the market between appreciating different varieties and grasping their artistic essence. By letting their subscribers take their journey glass by glass, Cellar Rats bring a fresh perspective to an industry rooted in tradition.
The brand’s creativity has also been evident in the way they land new customers. Here’s how Awin helped Cellar Rats create a powerful and cost-effective acquisition channel through brand partnerships and ‘gift with purchase’ technology.
The challenge
Like any SME subscription brand, continued new customer acquisition is the single biggest challenge for Cellar Rats.
One of the trending strategies for driving new sign-ups in the affiliate channel is to partner with non-competing brands to target shoppers already active in another purchase journey.
Cellar Rats became aware of the value of brand partnerships after noticing that some of their competitors were already utilising this as a core strategy. Awin gave Cellar Rats instant access to an extensive range of brand partnership opportunities, which raised their chances of unearthing good-fit partners and audiences.
Seeing equal importance between their short and long-term requirements, Cellar Rats had two challenges:
- Acquire new customers
- Create a cost-effective, scalable acquisition channel
The solution
Cellar Rats strategically leveraged brand partners with a focus on identifying audience overlaps. Recognising the importance of avoiding biases, the brand actively collaborated with a diverse range of partners where they anticipated their product would resonate well.
An inclusive approach allowed Cellar Rats to target a wide spectrum of partnerships while maintaining flexibility and openness to new customer audiences.
Leading brands such as Currys, Wild, and Secret Sales were identified and soon promoting Cellar rats via gift with purchase widgets.
In most cases, an offer from Cellar Rats was pushed on the customer’s basket where they had the option of adding ‘free gifts’ to their order. After making their selection and completing their purchase, customers simply received their redemption details via email.
To maximise their impact, Cellar Rats offered a free first month of wine subscription, consisting of six quarter-sized bottles, provided the customer paid for shipping.
Their new subscribers weren’t the only ones testing and learning. The intention behind offering a gift was to validate the effectiveness of each partnership post-campaign. Cellar Rats could then refine their approach based on the outcomes and ensure alignment with their goals of acquisition and generating awareness.
The results
Teaming up with Awin's brand partners gave Cellar Rats access to a high-quality and engaged user base in their target demographic.
Their investment in brand partnerships turned out to be more cost-effective than traditional advertising channels. Notably, Cellar Rats observed a significantly lower cost per acquisition (CPA) with brand partnerships compared to their other paid marketing channels.
By strategically collaborating with several of Awin's brand partners, Cellar Rats achieved noteworthy results that significantly impacted their acquisition and awareness goals over a four-month period. They included:
- Building brand awareness by attracting over 15,000 website visitors
- Adding over 2,000 new customers to their subscriber base
- Creating scalable partnerships with 8 premium brands
Being a start-up, the affiliation with premium, trusted, and established brands brought substantial value by enhancing Cellar Rats' image in the competitive wine market. This not only boosted the brand's visibility but, in considering the reduced CPA compared to other channels, underscored the success of their strategic partnership approach.
"We started off a little skeptical at the efficacy of brand partnerships but since working with Awin the value has become really clear. The channel has grown significantly month over month and now is a core part of our acquisition strategy. The brands we've worked with have had great synergy and has meant we both benefit significantly from any partnerships we do. I look forward to seeing how partnerships will develop for us over the coming years."
Matthew Davies, CEO & Founder
