Sep 16, 2026
Written by
CJ
SANTA BARBARA, CA – September 16, 2026 – The 2026 CJ Excellence Awards winners are here!
The CJ Excellence Awards returned to CJU this week to honor the best and brightest in performance partnerships. This year's winners were revealed Wednesday evening at the CJ Excellence Awards ceremony, held in Santa Barbara, CA. Congratulations to all our winners and their incredible achievements.
Bank of America's affiliate program is built on a foundation of partnership, innovation, and data-driven decision making. We collaborate closely with publishers to test emerging opportunities, embrace industry change, and create strategies that benefit both partners and customers. Their hands-on approach enables them to stay ahead of evolving trends while maintaining strong relationships that fuel sustainable growth, innovation, and performance.
Iberostar Beachfront Resorts has built one of the fastest-growing travel affiliate programs within the CJ network. By embracing a global affiliate strategy, investing in strong publisher relationships, and continuously optimizing performance, the program has delivered sustained growth while expanding its presence across key international markets. Their commitment to partnership, innovation, and customer experience has made them a standout success in the travel sector.
For over 19 years, Gen3 Marketing has excelled in the partner marketing ecosystem, delivering exceptional returns and customer engagement for its clients. Gen3 leverages advanced data analytics and a wide network of publishers to craft and implement innovative strategies that drive measurable results, earning multiple industry awards along the way.
Affinity is a Commerce Media Network and a CJ Performer Publisher for the last 5 years. It drives $4Bn+ in annual sales for 3,000+ merchants through its two networks, VEVE and SitePlug. Affinity connects intent to discovery, discovery to commerce, and commerce to growth, across Browsers, Mobile & TV makers, Search and Answer Engines, and the wider Affiliate ecosystem.
TurboTax and CJ built and scaled a creator-powered growth engine during one of the most time-sensitive moments of the year. In an 11-week window ahead of Tax Day, the TurboTax Creator Program exceeded its recruitment goal, onboarding 212 creators who generated 2,006 pieces of content, 6.3 million impressions, and more than 11,000 shares — turning creators into trusted educators who helped consumers navigate tax season with confidence. To fuel that growth, the team launched an innovative creator referral strategy alongside paid partnerships, gamified challenges, and performance-based incentives. Resulting in 18,294 clicks, 2,954 conversions, and $459,933 in tracked revenue.
Expedia Group, one of the world's largest online travel companies, looked to diversify customer acquisition across its six travel brands beyond paid search and social, on a strictly pay-for-performance basis. Partnering with Affinity, Expedia Group activated two complementary channels: VEVE, which reaches travelers through browser and device placements, and SitePlug, a lower-funnel channel that captures them at the point of intent. Over twelve months, the program grew the active publisher base by 78% and qualified monthly traffic by 92%, with VEVE's display sales up 350% and conversions up 400%. Every dollar of publisher payout returned more than 26x in booking value.
High Commendation: Antonioli + SPRNV
Luxottica transformed 28 affiliate programs across 15 global markets into a unified growth engine by leveraging CJ's global infrastructure, localized expertise, and scalable technology solutions. The team accelerated growth across North America, EMEA , Australia, and Brazil while creating a repeatable framework for international expansion. The strategy delivered standout results, including Ray-Ban US up 40% year-over-year, Spain up 85%, LensCrafters US up 32%, the Netherlands up 27%, and Ray-Ban Brazil up 22%.
CJ's Tag technology transformed Autodesk's performance marketing, starting with a CPA model for Connected TV with strategic partner tvScientific by Pinterest — turning a traditionally upper-funnel, $72 billion industry into a measurable performance engine. By eliminating the need for additional publisher tracking, CJ's UT was as simple as "flipping a switch," giving Autodesk the flexibility to quickly launch tvScientific by Pinterest while maintaining the accountability standards of its affiliate program. This delivered a scalable new acquisition channel that generated more than $5.5 million in attributed revenue, a 9.64x ROAS, over 8,200 conversions, and more than 20.2 million consumers reached. The initiative also established a repeatable framework for CJ's UT, opening the door to new markets and additional channels.
Macy’s partnered with Capital One Ads to execute a fully customized campaign supporting their 'Bouquet of Deals' promotion focused on customer journey, user continuity and exposure. Through creative collaboration anchored on first-party data insights, Capital One Ads exceeded all campaign goals, proving that a targeted partner strategy can simultaneously drive high-impact brand storytelling alongside high-efficiency conversions.
High Commendation: Minty
CJ is the performance commerce platform powering the next chapter of Connected Commerce. We unify affiliate, creator, marketplace, lead generation, and commerce media strategies in one system—delivering measurable growth through connected data, intelligent commissioning, and compliance-first infrastructure that protects brands, partners, and consumers at scale.
As part of Publicis Groupe and Epsilon, CJ bridges identity, media, and transaction, enabling brands and partners to Connect, Amplify, and Grow across every stage of the customer journey. With the largest, most reliable partnership platform in the world and unmatched expertise across verticals and regions, we help clients transform performance marketing into a scalable growth engine.
Learn more at cj.com.
CJU is CJ's flagship annual event, bringing together 1,000+ global leaders in performance partnerships to shape the industry's future.
Hosted in Santa Barbara, CA—where CJ began—CJU blends high-impact networking, strategic content, and hands-on learning. It's where brands, publishers, agencies, and technology partners come together to connect, amplify performance, and grow through new partnerships, shared insights, and innovative strategies.
From product innovation showcases to vertical-specific sessions, CJU equips attendees with the knowledge and relationships to unlock Connected Commerce's full potential in their programs.
For more information, visit cj.com/cju.
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