Activewear
Scaling Mid-Tier Influencers for Fabletics UK
Fabletics was seeking to scale performance through a channel it had yet to fully crack in Europe: mid-tier influencer partnerships.
With proven success in top-tier ambassador campaigns and in-house seeding, Fabletics came to Augmentum to run a UK-focused pilot. The goal: test whether a small group of storytelling-led, mid-sized creators could match (or beat) the performance of large-scale ambassador deals - while staying brand-safe and hands-off.
Fabletics was seeking to scale performance through a channel it had yet to fully crack in Europe: mid-tier influencer partnerships.
With proven success in top-tier ambassador campaigns and in-house seeding, Fabletics came to Augmentum to run a UK-focused pilot. The goal: test whether a small group of storytelling-led, mid-sized creators could match (or beat) the performance of large-scale ambassador deals - while staying brand-safe and hands-off.
The Challenge: Test The Mid-Tier Segment
While Fabletics had deep experience running high-profile ambassador campaigns across Europe, scaling their mid-tier influencer approach had always fallen to the bottom of the priority list.
The UK team lacked the time to explore the segment in depth, but wanted to understand if a curated group of 5–10 creators could deliver results comparable to bigger names.
Our challenge was to:
Source creators who embodied the “fashion meets performance” angle across lifestyle and fitness.
Negotiate high-quality rates during peak Q4 season.
Handle the campaign end-to-end, with minimal lift from the internal team.
Ensure native, performance-driven content that could be repurposed into ads.
Our Approach: Relationship-Led Paid Partnerships That Convert
Creator Identification & Vetting
Sourced relevant profiles to assess fit for the brand’s hybrid fashion-performance positioning.
Prioritised creators with strong personal brands and storytelling content.
Chose creators who could integrate Fabletics organically into daily routines, beyond just gym content.
2. Strategic Negotiation & Booking
Focused on high-trust, high-efficiency deal-making with known creators and talent managers.
Secured discounts of 30–40% on standard rates during Q4, reducing average CPMs significantly.
Activated 6 highly-specific mid-tier creators for the campaign.
3. Hands-Off Campaign Execution
Managed everything from outreach to briefing, delivery tracking, posting schedules and performance reporting.
Average content turnaround time of 4–5 days post-product delivery, with some going live within 24 hours.
Managed dropouts and swaps rapidly (e.g. replacing one creator same-day due to personal emergency).
Performance-First Content Strategy
Briefed creators to produce high-converting lifestyle-led content, aligned with Fabletics' wider creative direction.
Ensured story-first, native video formats to maximise reach and authenticity.
Collected and reported first-party insights directly from creators for higher data accuracy.
Key Results
£16.34 CPM → 18% stronger than target.
5.3% average engagement rate across mid-tier creators vs 1.5-2% benchmark.
Average follower count of 235k across influencers activated for the campaign.
77% female audience reached, above 70% target.
Other Highlights
4–5 day average content turnaround during Q4 peak.
30–40% average discount on creator fees via relationship-first negotiations.
Majority of creators expressed interest in future collaborations.
Content quality rivalled top-tier ambassadors in performance.
The Challenge: Test The Mid-Tier Segment
While Fabletics had deep experience running high-profile ambassador campaigns across Europe, scaling their mid-tier influencer approach had always fallen to the bottom of the priority list.
The UK team lacked the time to explore the segment in depth, but wanted to understand if a curated group of 5–10 creators could deliver results comparable to bigger names.
Our challenge was to:
Source creators who embodied the “fashion meets performance” angle across lifestyle and fitness.
Negotiate high-quality rates during peak Q4 season.
Handle the campaign end-to-end, with minimal lift from the internal team.
Ensure native, performance-driven content that could be repurposed into ads.
Our Approach: Relationship-Led Paid Partnerships That Convert
Creator Identification & Vetting
Sourced relevant profiles to assess fit for the brand’s hybrid fashion-performance positioning.
Prioritised creators with strong personal brands and storytelling content.
Chose creators who could integrate Fabletics organically into daily routines, beyond just gym content.
2. Strategic Negotiation & Booking
Focused on high-trust, high-efficiency deal-making with known creators and talent managers.
Secured discounts of 30–40% on standard rates during Q4, reducing average CPMs significantly.
Activated 6 highly-specific mid-tier creators for the campaign.
3. Hands-Off Campaign Execution
Managed everything from outreach to briefing, delivery tracking, posting schedules and performance reporting.
Average content turnaround time of 4–5 days post-product delivery, with some going live within 24 hours.
Managed dropouts and swaps rapidly (e.g. replacing one creator same-day due to personal emergency).
Performance-First Content Strategy
Briefed creators to produce high-converting lifestyle-led content, aligned with Fabletics' wider creative direction.
Ensured story-first, native video formats to maximise reach and authenticity.
Collected and reported first-party insights directly from creators for higher data accuracy.
Key Results
£16.34 CPM → 18% stronger than target.
5.3% average engagement rate across mid-tier creators vs 1.5-2% benchmark.
Average follower count of 235k across influencers activated for the campaign.
77% female audience reached, above 70% target.
Other Highlights
4–5 day average content turnaround during Q4 peak.
30–40% average discount on creator fees via relationship-first negotiations.
Majority of creators expressed interest in future collaborations.
Content quality rivalled top-tier ambassadors in performance.
The Results
Lower Rates Negotiated
Lower Rates Negotiated
30-40%
30-40%
Engagement Rate
Engagement Rate
5.3%
5.3%
Organic CPM
Organic CPM
£16.34
£16.34
Why It Worked
Relationship-led creator management → Strong rapport enabled fast turnaround, deeper buy-in, and favourable pricing.
Native-first content strategy → Prioritised storytelling and real-life usage moments over overly produced posts.
Hands-off delivery → Fabletics had minimal admin load while campaign was executed end-to-end.
Fast recovery protocols → Creator dropouts and issues were resolved within 24 hours without brand involvement.
Performance insights built-in → First-party screenshots used for more accurate reporting than platform estimates.
Why It Worked
Relationship-led creator management → Strong rapport enabled fast turnaround, deeper buy-in, and favourable pricing.
Native-first content strategy → Prioritised storytelling and real-life usage moments over overly produced posts.
Hands-off delivery → Fabletics had minimal admin load while campaign was executed end-to-end.
Fast recovery protocols → Creator dropouts and issues were resolved within 24 hours without brand involvement.
Performance insights built-in → First-party screenshots used for more accurate reporting than platform estimates.
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