CJ Announces the 2023 CJ Excellence Awards Winners at CJU23

SANTA BARBARA, CA – September 13, 2023 – CJ announces the winners of the 2023 CJ Excellence Awards.

In their 24th year, and as part of the 25 years of CJ, the CJ Excellence Awards acknowledge advertisers, publishers, and agencies for their accomplishments in affiliate marketing. The award winners were acknowledged at an awards ceremony held on Wednesday evening during the annual CJU (CJ University) conference, which was hosted at the Hilton Santa Barbara Beachfront Resort in Santa Barbara, CA.

2023 CJ Excellence Award Winners

New to 2023! CJ Leads Campaign of the Year: Auto Trader

The CJ Leads Campaign of the Year celebrates campaigns that exemplify CJ Leads' core values: growth, consistency, and engagement. Auto Trader demonstrated mastery of CJ Leads, combining strategic brilliance, technical expertise, and relentless execution. Auto Trader, the UK's largest digital automotive marketplace, aims to enhance the online buying and selling experience while building stronger partnerships with CJ and publishers to achieve its growth ambitions.

New to 2023! CJ Influence Pack of the Year: Gluten-Free Vegan Dessert Recipes

Perlu "Packs" are groups of influencers and content creators, curated and organized into niche micro-communities by subject matter experts, in which influencers can connect, network, and collaborate to drive mutual growth and success. The CJ Influence Pack of the Year award is given to a pack of quality creators, curated by a subject matter expert, and has shown active engagement and collaboration.

New to 2023! Advertiser of the Year – SME: ZOOT

ZOOT is a fashion e-shop that originated in the Czech Republic in 2010 and has expanded to 14 countries over the years. Born from a passion for fashion, it has evolved into a global destination for trendy clothing and accessories.

Advertiser of the Year – Large Enterprise: IHG Hotels & Resorts

PartnerConnect, the IHG Hotels & Resorts affiliate program, has generated tremendous growth for their global business. With four collections, 19 brands, and over 6,000 locations, an increased focus on expanding strategic partnerships, data-driven testing, and media efficiency has propelled their program to be one of the most competitive and successful programs in the industry.

Publisher of the Year: Capital One Shopping

Capital One Shopping uses best-in-class technology to help users get the most out of their time and money while shopping online. Our experience provides web and mobile-accessible Cardholder Offers, Shopping Rewards, Price Comparison, Alerts, and Coupons—all of which create high visibility and marketing opportunities for our partners.

Agency of the Year: Assembly

Assembly is the modern global omnichannel media agency, bringing together an ‘assembly’ of data, talent, and technology. Purpose-driven at its core, Assembly pioneers in social and environmental impact. They are a proud member of Stagwell, the challenger network built to transform marketing, and their mission is to find the change that fuels growth for the best brands on the planet.

Best Content Strategy: KiwiCo

With a visionary touch through CJ Influence (CJI), KiwiCo harmonized with a diverse array of creators to pioneer fresh strategies for optimum campaign impact. Embracing the entire creator economy, the campaign transcended traditional partnership by introducing novel techniques such as clickless tracking and an ambassador program, infusing each campaign with an eclectic mix of creators spanning blogs, newsletters, TikTok, and YouTube sensations.

High Commendation: Nike

Best Cross-Channel Strategy: Expedia Group and NBC News Digital

Expedia Group and NBC News Digital captivated audiences with their groundbreaking achievement: launching a new custom commerce franchise called Jet Set TODAY on TODAY.com. All teams ingeniously harnessed marketing tools, including QR codes, to seamlessly guide the audience towards 'shopping the segment.' Transforming digital content into tangible experiences, the campaign offered a curated selection of travel packages on Expedia, complete with exclusive codes tailored for the TODAY viewers.

High Commendation: Barclays

Best Global Excellence Strategy: Autodesk and UpSellit

With a dynamic collaboration spanning into new global programs, UpSellit and Autodesk forged an alliance that conquered price sensitivity and minimized abandonment. Through strategic redirection to country-specific websites and highlighting enticing deals, UpSellit propelled Autodesk to achieve a striking conversion rate, coupled with Autodesk's exceptional surge in year-over-year growth and UpSellit's remarkable increase in revenue.

High Commendation: Savings United

Best Innovative Affiliate Strategy: USAA

USAA's innovative approach to commissioning publishers rooted in lifetime value and demographic insights resulted in a remarkable triumph. Through precision targeting of high-value customers and the artful customization of marketing endeavors, USAA has harnessed the power of data and analytics to steer exponential growth and enhanced profitability.

High Commendation: Woot

Best Partner Diversification Strategy: Google Workspace

The Google Workspace affiliate team orchestrated a transformative approach to recruitment, seeking out non-traditional affiliate partners aligned with Google's B2B products. Through strategic education of internal teams, they harnessed the affiliate channel to foster growth, tapping into resource-efficient strategies, deepening relationships with existing customers, and empowering partners to enhance their site monetization. 

High Commendation: LG

The Collaboration Award: Capital One Shopping and Verizon

Understanding the customer journey to purchase is critical to increasing conversions. CapitalOne partnered with Verizon to improve conversion rates by investing and developing new targeting techniques and content experiences to meet the customer where they were in their shopping journey. The outcome was extraordinary, as CapitalOne spearheaded a remarkable +775% surge in Verizon orders compared to the prior year.

High Commendation: Bank of America and Launch Potato

--

About CJ

From helping to invent the affiliate industry to performance marketing and what comes next, we’ve earned a reputation for maintaining the largest and most reliable partnership-based platform and sterling service with a personal touch. Founded in Santa Barbara, California in 1998, CJ (formerly Commission Junction), continues to lead the industry as the largest, most established name in global performance marketing, specializing in affiliate marketing technology and services.

As part of Publicis Groupe, aligned with Publicis Media, we leverage unparalleled data, technology, and strategic expertise to bring a truly customer-centric approach to performance marketing. In an industry with much-uncharted territory, trust a steady hand. For more information, please visit cj.com.

About CJU (CJ University)

CJU is CJ's annual client conference that brings together 1,000+ performance marketing professionals for a multi-day event filled with networking, compelling content, learning opportunities, and more.

Hosted in the beautiful beachside town of Santa Barbara, California—where CJ first started—CJU is widely regarded as the top event in the affiliate industry. Our clients and teams love the opportunity to network with new and existing partners, learn best practices, and develop forward-thinking strategies for Q4 and beyond. For more information, visit www.cj.com/cju.