UNiDAYS Industry – Digital Marketing/AdTech
“ELEVATING UNIDAYS’ RETAIL PARTNERSHIPS THROUGH BAI
Overview UNiDAYS is the world’s leading student loyalty platform, connecting Gen Z with exclusive retailer offers. In early 2024, they came to Agile Comms with one clear mandate: spark meaningful engagement with top retail and performance-marketing teams so UNiDAYS could expand its brand partnerships—and prove that winning students’ loyalty today drives higher lifetime value tomorrow.
Solution We began with a deep-dive into UNiDAYS’ ecosystem—running interviews with retail category managers and performance-marketing directors, and mining platform engagement data to map how Gen Z students discover and redeem offers. That research surfaced two critical insights: performance-marketers prioritised measurable ROI and data-driven proof points, whilst retailers wanted fresh ideas to engage the student audience at pivotal moments (back-to-campus, Black Friday planning, end-of-year gift guides).
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Agile's strategic approach transformed how retail partners perceive student marketing. Their data-driven content and targeted outreach didn't just raise our profile—it provided concrete evidence that student loyalty drives genuine lifetime value. The results speak for themselves: more partnerships, higher conversion rates, and partners seeing real ROI from student acquisition."
Head of brand partnerships
To keep every tactic accountable, we tailored our proprietary Brand Awareness Index (BAI) to measure UNiDAYS’ visibility and credibility amongst retail and performance-marketing decision-makers. By combining share of voice in trade media, branded search lift, site traffic, social buzz and direct survey feedback from performance marketers, the BAI gave us one unambiguous score to track progress from kickoff to contract sign-ups.
Armed with these findings, we designed a rolling 12-month PR and content roadmap that aligned with both the retail buying cycle and performance-marketing budgets. Every quarter, we produced data-rich reports, actionable case studies, performance marketer briefings, and creative campaign assets. We rolled these assets out via targeted outreach to retail trade outlets (Retail Week, The Grocer), performance-marketing publications (Marketing Week, PerformanceIN) and executive podcasts.
Throughout the year, we monitored our adapted BAI on a monthly cadence. When branded search spikes followed a report release, we ramped up paid amplification; when social mentions flattened, we adjusted our webinar topics to focus on “Maximising Student CLV.” This real-time feedback loop kept momentum high and our narrative razor-sharp.
Results:
In 12 months, our integrated approach delivered exceptional outcomes that proved building affinity at the student life stage delivers measurable, long-term revenue growth:
• 40.7-point BAI increase from 45.0 to 85.7 amongst retailers and performance-marketers
• 25 new retailer partnerships signed, including five global brands
• 200+ marketing executives attended “Gen Z Spend Trends” webinars
• 50% uplift in pitch-to-contract conversion rate with performance-marketing teams
Brand Awareness Transformation: UNiDAYS’ BAI amongst retailers and performance-marketers rocketed from 45.0 to 85.7, reflecting dramatic gains in both awareness and credibility. Share of voice climbed from 7% to 23%, branded search lift hit 170 (normalised), traffic growth reached 130, impressions climbed to 140 and social mentions settled at 155.
Partnership Development Success: Our data-driven case studies and performance marketer briefings directly contributed to 25 new retailer partnerships signed, including five global brands. The strategic approach resulted in a 50% uplift in pitch-to-contract conversion rate with performance-marketing teams, demonstrating the campaign’s ability to drive genuine business outcomes.
Thought Leadership Impact: Over 200 marketing executives attended our “Gen Z Spend Trends” webinars, positioning UNiDAYS as the authoritative voice on student consumer behaviour. Survey-based brand familiarity rose from 12% to 38% and preference jumped from 6% to 28%—showing that decision-makers weren’t just aware of UNiDAYS, they were choosing to work with it.
Customer Lifetime Value Validation: Early partners reported an average 28% increase in CLV for student-acquired cohorts within six months of launch, providing concrete proof that winning students’ loyalty delivers measurable long-term revenue growth for retail partners.