dreamwork.01 / ACQUISITION ECONOMICS
Rising acquisition costs
Front-end lead generation had become expensive. The business needed alternative approaches to reach relevant audiences and generate leads at a more sustainable cost.
OUR WORK / FINTECH & EDUCATION / 8VI
Building a growth engine beyond paid advertising.
How performance marketing, celebrity and influencer partnerships, and an in-house affiliate ecosystem helped 8VI reduce acquisition costs, achieve 5.3× return on ad spend and scale across Singapore and Taiwan.
In-house marketing and growth leadership · Singapore & Taiwan
INTEGRATED ACQUISITION / 8VIThree growth engines.
One connected strategy.
One connected strategy.
Performance media · Celebrity & influencer partnerships · Owned affiliate ecosystem
01Paid mediaOptimise & scale
02InfluencersTrust & reach
03AffiliatesReferrals & systems
5.3×Reported return on ad spend
−92.6%Influencer-led front-end CPL
−59%Affiliate customer acquisition cost
The context
Growth needed more than another advertising campaign.
In the competitive financial education industry, acquiring customers requires more than generating clicks and enquiries. Building brand credibility, earning consumer trust and converting interest into revenue are essential to sustainable business growth.
8VI operated in the financial education and investment learning space, with Singapore, Malaysia, China, Hong Kong and Australia as its established markets and Taiwan representing a significant opportunity for regional expansion.
While direct-response advertising played an important role in generating leads and acquiring customers, relying heavily on conventional paid media created challenges around rising acquisition costs, audience saturation and efficient scale.
As the business expanded, the opportunity was to move beyond individual advertising campaigns and establish a more diversified customer acquisition system.
The ambition: build a scalable growth engine that could acquire customers efficiently, create new revenue opportunities and support expansion across markets.
The challenge
Scaling customer acquisition without depending on paid media alone.
Increasing advertising budgets could drive more traffic and leads, but higher spending did not automatically translate into greater profitability or stronger business performance. 8VI needed to improve acquisition efficiency while reducing its dependence on traditional direct-response advertising.
02 / AUDIENCE TRUST
Credibility in a considered category
Potential customers needed confidence in the brand and its financial education offerings before taking the next step.
03 / CHANNEL DIVERSIFICATION
New customer acquisition capabilities
Paid advertising remained important, but the business also needed additional acquisition channels that could be developed, measured and scaled.
04 / REGIONAL EXPANSION
A different market requires a different approach
Entering Taiwan required locally relevant acquisition strategies, coordinated execution and operational capabilities.
The objective was not simply to optimise existing advertisements. It was to develop new acquisition capabilities while improving the commercial performance of the marketing operation.
Our approach
Diversify acquisition. Build trust. Create growth that scales.
Rather than depending on a single customer acquisition channel, the strategy connected three complementary growth engines, supported by regional market development and continuous optimisation.
01 / PERFORMANCE MARKETING
Strengthen the paid media engine
Combine multi-channel acquisition, audience segmentation, creative optimisation and commercially driven budget allocation.
02 / CELEBRITY & INFLUENCER
Build a new partnership programme
Initiate and develop an endorsement-led acquisition programme, leveraging trusted personalities and their audiences to improve credibility and front-end lead efficiency.
03 / AFFILIATE MARKETING
Own the referral ecosystem
Build an in-house affiliate programme with partner recruitment, contractual frameworks, referral funnels, tracking and performance dashboards.
04 / REGIONAL GROWTH
Localise for expansion
Adapt marketing strategy for Singapore and Taiwan, connecting local insight, channel delivery and team coordination to commercial objectives.
The goal was to make these initiatives work as a connected growth ecosystem rather than isolated marketing activities.
What we did
01 / MULTI-CHANNEL PERFORMANCE MARKETING
Optimising an established acquisition engine
Developed and managed campaigns across Google, Meta, YouTube, LinkedIn, Taboola and Outbrain, connecting channels to customer intent and stages of the decision-making journey.
- Developed channel-specific acquisition strategies and audience segments.
- Managed media budgets and allocation according to performance.
- Tested creative concepts, advertising messages and targeting approaches.
- Optimised landing pages, conversion journeys, acquisition cost and ROAS.
02 / CELEBRITY & INFLUENCER MARKETING
Building a new acquisition channel from the ground up
Initiated, developed and managed the celebrity and influencer programme end to end. This went far beyond buying placements: it involved creating the partnership and campaign operation itself.
- Strategy: Defined the acquisition approach, audiences, partner objectives and KPIs.
- Sourcing: Researched, approached and evaluated celebrities and influencers.
- Commercials & contracts: Managed negotiations, terms and contractual arrangements.
- Creative & funnels: Developed endorsement-led concepts, content directions and acquisition journeys.
- Delivery: Coordinated schedules, partner communication, deliverables and approvals.
- Optimisation: Measured front-end lead performance and refined campaigns.
BEFORES$272Cost per lead
→
AFTERS$20Cost per lead
−92.6% front-end CPL
Reported result associated with celebrity and influencer-led acquisition.
03 / IN-HOUSE AFFILIATE ECOSYSTEM
Turning referrals into a measurable acquisition channel
Initiated, built and managed an owned affiliate marketing programme, including the infrastructure and processes required to operate referrals as an ongoing acquisition channel.
- Programme model: Defined the strategy, referral structure and operating framework.
- Partners: Sourced, evaluated, negotiated with and onboarded affiliates.
- Contracts: Managed commercial terms and partnership arrangements.
- Funnels: Developed affiliate-specific referral and conversion journeys.
- Tracking: Established partner attribution and acquisition measurement.
- Dashboards: Built performance reporting for partner activity, leads, cost and conversion.
- Operations: Managed ongoing partner communication, reviews and optimisation.
Reported result: −59% affiliate customer acquisition cost.
04 / MEDIA & CONVERSION OPTIMISATION
Making marketing investment work harder
Managed significant monthly media investment and continuously refined targeting, creative, landing pages and acquisition journeys. Evaluated campaign effectiveness through acquisition economics, conversion efficiency, reported ROAS and business outcomes.
05 / TAIWAN MARKET EXPANSION
Leading growth into a new market
Led the expansion of marketing operations into Taiwan by developing locally relevant go-to-market and customer acquisition strategies. Adapted messaging and campaigns to local market behaviour, supported market planning and coordinated execution between Singapore and Taiwan.
06 / REGIONAL TEAM LEADERSHIP
Connecting strategy and execution across markets
Coordinated campaign execution, aligned priorities, monitored results, supported local market development and maintained accountability for marketing activities across Singapore and Taiwan. The focus was on consistency between strategic decisions and day-to-day execution.
The impact
Three acquisition engines. Measurable commercial outcomes.
By connecting paid performance media, celebrity and influencer programmes, and an owned affiliate ecosystem, 8VI developed a more diversified approach to acquiring customers and supporting regional growth.
INFLUENCER ACQUISITION−92.6%Front-end CPL · S$272 → S$20
AFFILIATE CHANNEL−59%Customer acquisition cost
PAID MEDIA5.3×Reported ROAS
BUSINESS REVENUES$1.5MS$1.5 million in monthly business revenue
TAIWAN GROWTH10×Reported ROI
CONVERSION PERFORMANCE+32%Reported conversion rate improvement
Additional reported marketing performance included a 17% improvement in click-through rate.
These outcomes reflect different initiatives and measurement periods, rather than a single combined campaign. Monthly business revenue is not presented as revenue attributable solely to advertising.
Don't just optimise existing channels. Build new engines for growth.
Beyond the metrics, the work helped establish new acquisition capabilities through influencer partnerships and affiliate infrastructure, connecting marketing, commercial relationships, technology and regional execution.