Marketing Olympics​. To the trophy with profitable affiliate heptathlons

At Balkan eCommerce Summit 2026, Marina Kostkova presented affiliate marketing as a performance-driven growth discipline that resembles competitive sports, where success depends not on a single tactic but on mastering multiple interconnected disciplines. Through the “Marketing Olympics” analogy, she explained how affiliate marketing can help eCommerce brands build scalable, measurable, and long-term growth through strategic partnerships and diversified publisher ecosystems.

Affiliate Marketing Is Built on Systems and Performance

Kostkova began by simplifying the concept of affiliate marketing and emphasizing its core principle:

partnerships based on performance.

Just as athletes prepare for competitions through:

• structured training
• discipline
• and long-term systems,

affiliate marketing also depends on:

• structured cooperation
• clear goals
• and consistent execution.

The key difference compared to many traditional marketing channels is that affiliate operates on a:

commission-based model.

Brands pay publishers only when:

• measurable results
• and confirmed sales
  are generated.

This makes affiliate marketing:

• performance-oriented
• highly measurable
• and comparatively low-risk for merchants.

If there are no sales:

there are no affiliate costs.

Affiliate Is Already Powering Major eCommerce Brands

To demonstrate maturity and scale, Kostkova highlighted brands already using affiliate programs successfully, including:

• Tefal
• Notino
• About You
• Dormeo
• Footshop
• Pink Panda
• Lelosi
  and many others.

She also introduced:

CJ & VIVnetworks

VIVnetworks, headquartered in Prague, specializes in affiliate marketing across Central and Eastern Europe and operates as part of:

CJ Affiliate,

one of the largest global affiliate networks.

Their ecosystem currently includes:

• over 2,000 active eShops in CEE
• more than 15,000 result-generating publishers
• and around 50 local affiliate managers supporting market growth across Europe.

Over the previous 12 months alone, the network generated:

€412 million in revenue

for participating eCommerce businesses.

Customers Encounter Brands Throughout the Entire Journey

A major theme of the presentation was:

customer journey visibility.

Kostkova explained that consumers rarely purchase after a single interaction.

Instead, they encounter brands across multiple touchpoints:

• influencer recommendations
• review sites
• loyalty programs
• comparison portals
• newsletters
• and promotional platforms.

The challenge for merchants is:

being present wherever customers are.

Otherwise, competitors may capture attention first.

She cited Google research suggesting that:
in 87% of cases,
a strong competing message appearing during the buying journey can permanently redirect a customer toward another brand.

The Four Main Publisher Groups in Affiliate Marketing

Kostkova outlined four major publisher categories that support affiliate growth:

1. Content Publishers

Including:

• bloggers
• influencers
• review sites
• know-how portals
• and editorial content creators.

2. Coupon & Cashback Publishers

Focused on:

• promotions
• discounts
• cashback incentives
• and deal-driven conversion.

3. Catalog & Price Comparison Platforms

Helping consumers:

• compare products
• evaluate prices
• and shortlist options.

4. Technology Publishers

Using:

• automation
• AI
• targeting technologies
• and advanced acquisition models.

Each group supports different stages of the customer journey.

Affiliate Marketing Is a “Heptathlon” for eCommerce

The central metaphor of the presentation compared affiliate strategy to:

an Olympic heptathlon.

According to Kostkova, eCommerce growth requires mastering multiple disciplines simultaneously.

She identified:

seven key “marketing disciplines”

that brands must address.

1. Generating New Traffic

The first challenge is:

acquiring new visitors.

For this, technology publishers play a major role.

One example highlighted was:

lookalike targeting technologies,

which identify users similar to a brand’s highest-performing customers and attract:

• fresh
• qualified
• conversion-ready traffic.

Importantly, she distinguished this from:

• retargeting,

stressing that the goal is:

entirely new customer acquisition.

2. Building Brand Awareness

Kostkova emphasized that:

people trust people more than brands.

This makes:

• influencers
• creators
• and content publishers
  critical for brand awareness.

Affiliate ecosystems allow merchants to cooperate with:

• hundreds of creators
• across multiple markets
• through centralized reporting and measurable performance models.

The recommendation was simple:

let trusted creators speak for your brand.

3. Preventing Cart Abandonment

The third discipline focuses on:

retaining existing visitors.

Affiliate technologies can help reduce cart abandonment through:

• urgency messaging
• overlays
• in-page promotions
• shipping reminders
• and scarcity signals such as:
  • “Only 3 left”
  • “Sale ends tonight”
  • “Free shipping expires soon.”

The objective is:

increasing conversion from existing traffic,

rather than simply acquiring more visitors.

4. Increasing Reach

To scale visibility, brands need:

high-reach publisher partnerships.

Kostkova highlighted:

• CSS publishers
• Microsoft Ads partnerships
• and large-scale distribution channels.

Although some publisher formats remain underdeveloped in parts of the Balkans, she argued that merchants should prepare for future expansion and wider affiliate ecosystems.

Affiliate Is Long-Term, Not One-Off Campaigning

A recurring message throughout the session was that:
affiliate marketing should not be treated as:

• isolated campaigns
• or short-term promotions.

Instead, once effective publisher relationships are established, they often evolve into:

long-term partnerships

that continuously support:

• growth
• brand visibility
• and sustainable revenue generation.

Key Takeaways

Marina Kostkova positioned affiliate marketing as:

one of the most measurable and scalable performance channels available to eCommerce brands.

Its main strength lies in:

• paying only for real results
• leveraging trusted third-party relationships
• and covering multiple stages of the customer journey simultaneously.

The presentation challenged brands to stop treating affiliate as:

• a secondary sales tactic
  and instead view it as:

a complete marketing ecosystem.

Success, much like in Olympic sport, comes not from excelling at one activity alone but from:

combining multiple disciplines into a coordinated growth system.

For eCommerce businesses seeking:

• scalable acquisition
• stronger brand presence
• higher conversion
• and sustainable performance,
  affiliate marketing may be less about individual campaigns and more about:

building a profitable long-term “marketing heptathlon.”