The Fashion Afternoon, by CJ 2023: A Well-Rounded Affair

Fantastic weather, fashion-focussed affiliate marketers from all over Europe, and an exclusive Parisian location. On the event’s fifth anniversary, everything fell into place at The Fashion Afternoon, by CJ.

The event is a solid institution on the calendar for affiliate marketers within the fashion, apparel, and accessories sectors. And this year was no different! On June 1, 2023, we welcomed over 100 advertisers, publishers, and agencies to the beautiful ambiance of Les Salons Hoche to discuss affiliate and wider-industry trends, plus collaborate on future business opportunities.

The agenda was packed, starting with a welcome from CJ leaders Linda O'Connell, SVP UK and Ireland, and Tobias Allgeyer, SVP EMEA. A keynote from Vogue Business’ Bella Webb kicked off the content, followed by a fireside chat with TikTok’s Alice Worley and CJ’s Jessica Wong. A case study on Italian boutique fashion brands was presented by Jacopo Tarantini of Cooder and finally, a panel discussion led by CJ's Hanna Wannerström featuring Mytheresa's Anja Münch, Stylight's Pauline Reuter, and Hollie Macdonald from Incubeta: "Harnessing Performance Marketing to Drive Revenue Despite Tighter Consumer Budgets". CJ's charming host Anna Marecka tied the afternoon’s content together as the afternoon’s compere.

Highlights & Insights from Fashion Afternoon

Vogue Business’ sustainability editor, Bella Webb launched the day into deep discussion, delivering her talk: "The Sustainability Opportunity: From Surviving to Thriving". Talking through the many facets of sustainability in fashion, where the limits and opportunities for businesses and marketers lie.

In a sector faced with increasing public scrutiny, and forthcoming enhanced regulation on how an organisation’s sustainability credentials are communicated, Bella’s sincere talk gave the audience valuable insight to help shape their performance marketing and the communication of their or their partners’ products and businesses.

Next, TikTok's Alice Worley and CJ's Jessica Wong considered how content creators can create credible and authentic communications with Gen Z audiences. Performance marketing and influencer marketing are converging and performance-driven models offer better measurability, scalability, and strategic targeting, leading to greater ROI potential.

Jacopo Tarantini from Italian boutique agency, Cooder, was up next, presenting insights into the Italian fashion market and the growing importance of affiliate marketing for boutiques in the luxury segment. For the many fashion brands originating in Italy, there’s a high demand to build brands and sell across national borders worldwide. Affiliate marketing scores here due to the broad publisher base, transparency, local-level insight into global markets, generally lower risk, and its ability to increase results across the wider marketing mix. In order to counter increasing competitive pressure and price wars, retailers should also behave like brands in order to retain customers, says Jacopo.

In the final panel – moderated by CJ’s Hanna Wannerstrom - Anja Münch from Mytheresa, Hollie Macdonald from Incubeta, and Pauline Reuter from Stylight shared their experiences of how to achieve growth with affiliate marketing despite tighter consumer budgets.

The panellists discussed in detail how diversity in publisher models and the use of data, alongside transparency, play a decisive role, with affiliate enabling insight into the entire customer journey.

Following the presentations and talks came the opportunity for one-to-one talks between advertisers and publishers, and the opportunity to take part in roundtable discussions focussed on uncovering opportunities for fashion-focussed advertisers and publishers within influencer marketing and lead generation.

For many, the afternoon did not end with the final champagne reception; some took the opportunity to explore Paris or intensify business relationships over dinner.

Interested in joining The Fashion Afternoon, by CJ in 2024? Reach out to your CJ account team!