As one of the world’s leading hospitality groups, IHG Hotels & Resorts set its sights on accelerating growth across Southeast Asia and the broader APAC region.
Results Summary
In the period January to June 2025, IHG's collaboration with Shopback through the CJ Platform delivered:
13X
|
234%
|
267%
|
ROAS
|
YoY Revenue Growth
|
Increase in Bookings
|
Key Learnings
- Localization Wins: Tailoring campaigns to regional travel behaviors, languages, and booking patterns is critical for conversion success.
- Publisher Collaboration Matters: Trusting local publisher teams like ShopBack’s to test new placements led to consistent uplifts across markets.
- Agility Drives Scale: Continuous iteration, backed by CJ’s real-time data and flexible models, kept campaigns efficient and relevant.
The Challenge
IHG Hotels & Resorts wanted to accelerate growth across Southeast Asia and the broader APAC region — markets characterized by diverse consumer behaviors, varied levels of affiliate maturity, and strong competition from OTAs and other global hotel chains.
To succeed, IHG needed to:
Entering these markets at scale required a trusted regional performance partner capable of combining deep local insights, advanced technology, and measurable performance outcomes.
Solution
IHG partnered with ShopBack, the leading rewards and discovery platform in APAC, through CJ’s affiliate network. The collaboration brought together IHG’s strong brand presence, ShopBack’s extensive user base and local market knowledge, and CJ’s performance technology and strategic expertise — creating a powerful ecosystem for regional growth.
Together, the partnership focused on:
- Localized, high-impact activations in key markets (e.g., Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, Australia).
- Data-driven campaign optimization, powered by CJ’s real-time tracking, flexible commission models, and dedicated account support.
- Strategic testing of new placements and ad formats, led by ShopBack’s in-market teams, to align with consumer behaviors and booking trends.
Results
Through coordinated strategy, local execution, and continuous optimization, IHG achieved significant regional growth and record-breaking ROAS across ShopBack markets.
From January to June 2025, IHG’s collaboration with ShopBack delivered:
- A remarkable 13x Return on Ad Spend (ROAS).
- +234% YoY revenue growth
- +267% increase in bookings.
Top Performing Markets
Market
|
Percent of Revenue
|
ROAS
|
Uplift (YoY)
|
Singapore
|
13%
|
15.7X
|
+252%
|
Taiwan
|
8%
|
11.7X
|
+481%
|
Australia
|
6%
|
11.4X
|
+99%
|
Korea
|
5%
|
9.7X
|
+164%
|
Emerging markets such as Thailand demonstrated the scalability of localized affiliate strategies when combined with agile optimization.
Driving Growth Through Localization
ShopBack’s localized approach was key to success across diverse APAC markets:
- Korea – Leveraged in-app push notifications and Premium Upsize Placements to capitalize on growing KOL and travel traffic, achieving +107% revenue uplift and +154 incremental orders month-over-month.
- Taiwan – Combined Post-Search Banners and a multi-surface strategy (App + Web + EDM) for 34% revenue uplift and 10.97 ROAS.
- Singapore – Focused on Homepage Top Deals and Category Features, driving 153% uplift and 14.03 ROAS.
- Vietnam – Achieved +2188% YoY revenue growth by leveraging cashback promotions and mobile-first engagement targeting domestic travelers.
"We at IHG sincerely appreciate the ongoing support from CJ and ShopBack in driving growth across our regional affiliate performance. CJ’s innovative platform and collaborative approach have been instrumental in developing campaigns that resonate with customers and deliver measurable results. Their dynamic tools and strategic insights have helped us navigate a complex market and optimize our affiliate initiatives. Meanwhile, ShopBack has been a key partner, consistently demonstrating agility and innovation aligned with our goals. This partnership goes beyond transactions – each placement and campaign is a shared opportunity to expand our impact and reach new audiences.
Together, ShopBack and CJ Affiliate are vital to our regional affiliate strategy, built on trust, creativity, and a shared vision for success. We look forward to building on this foundation and achieving new milestones together."
— IHG AMEA Team
CJ’s Role in Scaling Success
CJ’s technology and regional expertise underpinned the partnership’s scalability:
- Real-Time Tracking & Reporting – Enabled faster optimization across campaigns.
- Flexible Commission Structures – Supported market-specific incentive models.
- Dedicated Account Support – Delivered insights, benchmarking, and strategy refinement tailored to IHG’s objectives.
Together, CJ and ShopBack empowered IHG to optimize efficiently, scale locally, and achieve incremental growth with confidence.
"Our partnership with CJ on the IHG program has been rewarding. Over the past year, we’ve been able to unlock new APAC markets and deliver strong, sustainable growth for IHG through ShopBack’s ecosystem. CJ’s platform transparency and team support have been helpful in optimising across diverse markets, while their collaboration has allowed us to scale quickly and effectively. This partnership signifies how strong alignment and shared goals can drive meaningful impact. A big thank you as well to our dedicated ShopBack teams, who continue to innovate and execute campaigns that bring value to both IHG and our users."
— Hazel Then – Head for ShopBack APAC Performance Team
Looking Ahead
IHG plans to further deepen its partnership with ShopBack and CJ through:
- Localized CPA initiatives encouraging domestic stays (e.g., Australians booking within Australia).
- Seasonal and destination-led campaigns tied to IHG’s property network.
- Situational commissioning aligned with market seasonality and travel trends.
This forward-looking approach ensures IHG continues to scale performance-driven, locally resonant marketing across APAC.
