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177. Bull, Bear & Beyond – Tradedoubler: executive interview
6 Plays21 days ago
In this interview, Matthias Stadelmeyer, CEO of Tradedoubler, discusses industry dynamics, including how AI is bringing about a new wave of rapid transformation to the industry and how Tradedoubler is leveraging it. He discusses the relationship between affiliate networks, affiliates and advertisers, noting that affiliates often work across multiple networks, while brands prefer single-network partnerships for simplicity and scale. He emphasises AI as a transformative force for Tradedoubler, driving internal efficiencies, predictive analytics and new traffic sources. The company is launching AI-based platform features in early 2026 and sees opportunities to move higher up the customer funnel as journeys shorten. Matthias underscores Tradedoubler’s resilience to disruptions like AI, GDPR and cookie deprecation, thanks to its strong network, technology and expertise.
Tradedoubler (Nasdaq Stockholm: TRAD) is a pioneer in performance-based digital marketing, operating in more than 90 countries with over 3,000 brands.
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Transcript
Introduction to Matthias Stiedelmeier and Trade Doubler
00:00:06
Speaker
Hello and welcome to Edison TV. Today I'm joined by Matthias Stiedelmeier, CEO of Trade Doubler. Trade Doubler is a listed online marketing and technology company operating globally. And today we're focusing specifically on the market environment, the company's products and services, and also the company's deployment of artificial intelligence.
Dynamics of Affiliate Networks
00:00:29
Speaker
Matthias, many thanks for joining me today. Can you start by discussing um a little bit the dynamics of the industry? In particular, affiliates often say that they use multiple affiliate networks, whereas you don't hear that from advertisers. um Is that true from your experience? And can you explain why there would be an imbalance there?
00:00:52
Speaker
and Yes. and Well, affiliates, um so the partners we're working with, they kind of like always work across all the networks. um They want to monetize their inventory.
00:01:03
Speaker
um The only exception is maybe that the really large ones, like take Microsoft, take Klarna, take Payback in Germany, PopCashback in the UK or similar ones, they usually only work with the larger networks and not with the smaller ones. That is just like for the admin.
00:01:19
Speaker
So if you are as large a larger network, there is certainly um some scale effects and some benefits because you have all the partners on board, but affiliates usually work across all the networks.
00:01:30
Speaker
For brands, that is usually maybe not the case, um but still it happens quite regularly. But then when it's really down to individual circumstances, so for example, market coverage,
00:01:45
Speaker
um If they prefer to work with an open network in one market, um if they um the network of their choice is only active in certain markets and they need another partner in other markets.
00:01:55
Speaker
But usually um there is not so much reason why you would work with different networks because as I said, you get all the affiliates if you work with one of the major networks.
00:02:07
Speaker
We, ourselves, see us being strong here because we combine this global global global reach um in service um with this local expertise in the different markets.
00:02:19
Speaker
And then we have all the large partners onboarded onto to our system. So this combination makes us a reliable single network partner for many brands.
AI Opportunities for Trade Doubler
00:02:29
Speaker
And now turning specifically towards artificial intelligence,
00:02:32
Speaker
Obviously that's impacting all industries to a greater less extent and the marketing services sector is obviously nos no exception. Where do you see the opportunities and the challenges for Trade Doubler?
00:02:45
Speaker
And also what action are you taking to manage these and and to benefit from these trends? We see it as a huge opportunity for us. um AI will become a new traffic source for our partners and we're working on three areas basically.
00:02:59
Speaker
The one is internal efficiencies, automating processes um that we have. Partner marketing in itself, influencer marketing as well, is not the most automated businesses because it means being involved with many people on the brand side, as well as on the partner and influencer side, you bring them together, they collaborate, um where there is a lot of human touch points.
00:03:19
Speaker
um You obviously have inefficiencies, but um AI is prone um to help us on that because it is so good in dealing with data and and and and complex input.
00:03:31
Speaker
We're working on functionalities in the platform, so AI-based functionalities is in the platform that can, for example, be partner recommendation, predictive analysis, forecasts, et cetera, based on the data.
00:03:43
Speaker
And then, as I said already, with the last question, AI-driven traffic sources, where we actively work on our platform being accessible. But then, of course, as well with partners that are AI traffic-first partners.
00:03:58
Speaker
We are ourselves, our AI ready. We have created a large data lake. um So put all the data into one place so that AI can work with that. We have first automated workflows. And as I just said, um we have first AI based functionalities to but ah be available in the interfaces um from the first quarter of 2026. Next now is to continue to build on that, basically expanding further and further, generating efficiencies and realizing this upside potential.
Shortening Customer Journeys and New Media
00:04:28
Speaker
and And so looking into your crystal ball, what do you think a customer journey will look like in a few years? And then will Trade Doubler fit into that evolving journey? Customer journeys for sure will become much, much shorter.
00:04:42
Speaker
and We are already seeing these unit user journeys getting much shorter as people are searching more detailed already. So we see a big shift in consumer behavior.
00:04:53
Speaker
Our platform is built to capitalize on this shift because with these new traffic sources coming in, which are usually much more media and content related, it allows us in the user journey to go rather upwards and not only work on the last click and the last action before the sale, but it allows us to expand upwards, with which is exactly the reason and why this is becoming so exciting for us.
00:05:19
Speaker
So your your industry is characterized by rapid technological and regulatory change and AI, I guess it's just the latest and largest revolution.
Adapting to Industry Changes
00:05:27
Speaker
And looking back at previous disruptions, third party cookies, GDPR, ad blockers,
00:05:35
Speaker
google Google Analytics, etc. um Your business has survived and performed well through through those transitions. um What enables you to cope with these challenges better than like many of your peers? And can you give an example of adapting to to a major industry change? It goes back to the three assets that we have.
00:05:55
Speaker
The largest asset we have is obviously the network. I'm working in trade-applers, so in partner marketing for almost 20 years now. And when I compare what the network has looked like some 20 years ago and what it looks like today, it's completely different.
00:06:10
Speaker
So the the type of partners, the verticals that we're working with um and utilize their inventory for our brands has changed a lot, which means that the network itself provides this constant innovation and this constant reinventing um of business models and advertising models basically.
00:06:29
Speaker
And our brands working with us kind of like naturally benefit from that. The second is obviously the technology. There has been many, many changes and we need to make an effort and we always do that.
00:06:41
Speaker
to stay at the forefront when it comes to tracking, and when it comes to analytic analytics, um etc. But our our technology platform is actually a huge machine and we've always been in advance.
00:06:52
Speaker
Like we are, for example, prepared if there wouldn't be any cookies anymore, so we are still able to track. um That's the two main reasons. On top comes comes the service and the expertise that we have. We know everything about performance marketing and we know everything about how to make campaigns convert and being successful.
00:07:11
Speaker
um This is, I think, um the main reason why partner marketing itself is so resilient.
00:07:18
Speaker
And then finally, in our last conversation, you confirmed that M&A is part of your growth strategy. um Do you see AI as presenting an opportunity for industry consolidation?
00:07:29
Speaker
um For example, will the higher bar make it harder for small affiliate networks to compete? A bit yes and no. On the consolidation itself, I don't think that it changes so much. um But on the one hand, obviously, smaller companies will be more agile and flexible to come up with new solutions, um for sure.
00:07:50
Speaker
um On the other hand, the big assets of an established partner marketing company are the network and the technology. So when you just like think about the technology every month, we track something like 500 million clicks. That's a huge amount of data.
00:08:04
Speaker
um We have all these different functionalities like payments, tracking, etc. um So that's a big entry hurdle. And then obviously um you need to build a network, right? So and you need to have the partners on board.
00:08:17
Speaker
um That's the key and that's difficult to replicate. Fascinating stuff. Matthias, many thanks to join me again. Thank you very much, Dan.