Shopthru: From Start-up to Standout

Working as an extension of their in-house team, and in close collaboration with their CEO, CCO and COO  we defined their category, refreshed the brand identity and refined their core messaging - delivering a polished pitch deck, and at lightning speed!

The market opportunity for Shopthru is immense. Estimates put global affiliate spend at $14b in 2024, but with some $2.8–$4.2b lost annually to attribution hijacking. Shopthru’s offering promises to reverse those losses and reward those who really drive intent.

They now have a powerful proposition that sets them apart in a highly competitive landscape and inspires confidence across their internal team, prospective investors and external partners.

The Challenge

Shopthru had ambitious plans to scale their e-commerce and affiliate marketing platform but were ready to elevate their marketing with a more strategic approach to get investor-ready.

Their brand identity was ready for a refresh to better reflect their vision. They knew they had a product with huge disruptive potential, but needed a simple yet powerful narrative to differentiate them in the market. They had reached a critical inflection point and were ready for the next stage of their growth.

Solutions

Distilling the story and defining a new category

We had to create a narrative that would make investors sit up and listen. We began with research. First we reviewed the competitive landscape. Next we analysed and synthesised every reference document Shopthru used. Very quickly we saw that Shopthru was pioneering an entirely new type of e-commerce.

But how to describe it? This is where collaboration proved critical. With input from Gillian Fallon of Thinking Content, M+M introduced a new category, ‘Channel-less Commerce’. This became the foundation for a clear and compelling company narrative, enabling us to define Shopthru’s mission, value proposition, vision, audiences, and points of differentiation.

The new narrative illustrates Shopthru’s unique role in simplifying affiliate attribution and bringing fairness to the murky world of e-commerce commissions. Both internal and external audiences could now understand Shopthru’s purpose at a glance.

Brand refresh, visual strategy and pitch preparation

Collaborating with Jamie Solomon of Studio Solv as Creative Director, M+M led a rapid brand refresh that delivered a new visual identity including logo update, colour palette refinement, and art direction to modernise and professionalise the look and feel of the business. To support investor conversations, the team partnered with Spencer Lambert of The Slide Clinic.Together they created a cohesive, polished pitch deck aligned with the new brand and narrative.

Impact

Working as an embedded extension of the Shopthru team, M+M delivered the following outcomes:

• Delivered brand guidelines and high-impact marketing templates for the Shopthru team to ‘self-serve’ and execute in-house, saving them time and money
• Facilitated key and personal introductions to the Mavens + Mavericks network to kickstart fundraising efforts
• Supported Shopthru to achieve ‘cut through’ in the complex world of e-commerce and affiliate marketing