Philips was falling short of its lead generation goals. Traditional channels were costly and underperforming, while affiliate marketing was not being used to its full potential for lead generation. Together, we identified an opportunity to expand this channel. By working with a dedicated team, carefully selected partners and optimised CPL affiliate campaigns across seven European markets, affiliate marketing became an effective driver of qualified leads at scale.
European affiliate marketing across seven markets
CPL affiliate campaigns delivering €1.54 average cost per lead
Stronger cost efficiency compared to traditional channels
GDPR-compliant lead generation at scale
The challenge
How do you design an effective B2B lead generation strategy for multiple European markets while keeping CPL under €3?
The solution
Establishing a dedicated lead generation team to expand affiliate marketing lead generation across seven European markets, supported by structured testing, transparent communication and thoughtful partner selection to deliver qualified leads at scale.
Philips x iO
Philips is a Dutch electronics company founded in 1891 and today primarily focused on health technology. With more than 77,000 employees worldwide, Philips is a leader in medical devices and consumer health products.
During a routine affiliate meeting, it became clear that Philips' lead generation targets were at risk. At that point, the potential of affiliate marketing for lead generation had not yet been fully explored. This insight marked the start of a longterm collaboration focused on developing affiliate marketing as a lead generation channel across Europe.
Why traditional lead generation channels were not delivering
Philips aimed to introduce its Personal Health and Domestic Appliances business units to consumers across Europe. The markets included the UK, Spain, Italy, France, Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands. The objective was to build CRM databases with optedin, qualified leads.
Traditional channels such as display advertising and paid social were generating leads, but at costs that were difficult to sustain across multiple markets. To support a scalable European B2B lead generation strategy, a more costefficient approach was required.
Why affiliate marketing works for lead generation
Affiliate marketing is often associated with online sales, but its performancebased model also lends itself well to lead generation. Advertisers only pay for results, partners are incentivised to deliver quality, and campaigns can be scaled across markets with relative efficiency.
For Philips, this approach meant working with publishers specialised in email marketing, sweepstakes and incentivised formats, all operating on a CPL basis where payment was tied exclusively to validated, GDPRcompliant leads.
Building affiliate marketing across Europe
Scaling affiliate marketing lead generation across seven countries required careful coordination. Each market has its own publishers, consumer behaviour and regulatory considerations.
Our approach focused on:
Selecting partners capable of delivering both volume and qualityManaging budgets tightly to optimise performance by marketIdentifying partners active in multiple countries to support international scaling
Testing and optimisation
Campaign performance was driven by continuous testing. Different creative formats, target groups and incentive models were evaluated across markets and business units.
One key insight was that a fixed €10 discount consistently converted better than percentagebased incentives. This learning was applied across all active markets.
GDPRcompliant lead generation
All leads generated through affiliate campaigns complied with GDPR requirements, including explicit optin consent and transparent data usage. Throughout the programme, Philips had full visibility into lead sources and consent flows, ensuring confidence in the usability of the generated leads.
The numbers
1+
Leads generated
€1
Average cost per lead (CPL)
1
European markets activated
Affiliate marketing as a reliable lead generation channel across Europe
Affiliate marketing evolved into a reliable lead generation channel for Philips across Europe. By applying a performancedriven model, Philips was able to generate qualified leads at scale while improving cost efficiency compared to traditional channels.
This case study shows how a structured affiliate marketing approach can support B2B lead generation across multiple European markets.
