Chris Bishop, E-commerce and Digital Director, SQUATWOLFSQUATWOLF, the Dubai-born premium performance-wear brand, is launching its first ever global affiliate marketing network programme and is aiming to lead the way for the GCC region.
For a Middle Eastern-based gym brand to move first at this scale, marks a significant step in the evolution of performance marketing locally – especially at a time when many of the region’s largest brands have yet to build mature, structured affiliate strategies.
The formal affiliate programme, being launched on the CJ Affiliate (CJ) network, is being led by Chris Bishop, SQUATWOLF’s E-commerce and Digital Director, who brings to the role more than two decades of affiliate and performance marketing experience.
With affiliate marketing in the Middle East still relatively immature versus Western markets, SQUATWOLF’s launch aims to professionalise the channel locally and demonstrate how partnerships, content and commerce can drive sustainable brand growth for all in the ecosystem.
Campaign Middle East speaks to Chris Bishop about his long-standing belief that affiliate marketing, when executed properly, can deliver incremental sales and full-funnel brand impact – not just last-click, discount-heavy conversions.
Affiliate marketing in the Middle East is still underdeveloped. What is broken in the region, and what are you trying to change?
In Western markets, affiliate is a mature, full-funnel growth channel. It includes a healthy mix of content creators, media owners, loyalty platforms, comparison engines, and strategic brand partnerships. Locally it is still largely perceived as a last-click, coupon-only channel, often not even tracked digitally and instead managed manually offline through code redemptions.
One of the biggest immaturities in the region is that manual code redemption model. It only rewards a fraction of the true performance publishers drive. We want to move beyond that by bringing in a network that tracks all clicks and sales, not just those tied to coupon usage. The goal is to empower publishers to realise their full commercial value and be fairly rewarded for the demand they create across the funnel, not just at the point of discount. I trust that publishers in the region will welcome that shift.
That is not a technology problem. It is a mindset and capability gap, for brands but also for publishers and agencies.
With SQUATWOLF, we want to set a different benchmark and make affiliate a strategic growth lever. That means building a curated publisher eco-system, rewarding incremental value, closing publishing income leakage, and integrating affiliate into our broader brand and go-to-market strategy.
If we get this right, we are not just building a new marketing channel for SQUATWOLF, we are helping modernise performance marketing standards across the region.
Why is SQUATWOLF launching a global affiliate network now?
SQUATWOLF is at an inflection point in our growth journey. We have built strong brand momentum in the GCC, we are scaling physical retail, and we are expanding in the region and going into international markets. To support that, we need to explore a more diversified digital strategy that goes beyond paid social and search.
Affiliate is a natural next step, but I want to go beyond what is known in the region. With launching on CJ, we are bringing the gold standard for enterprise-grade affiliate marketing – for the brand and also importantly publishers. I first started working with CJ – known as Commission Junction then – back in the early 2000s, so for me this is both a full-circle moment and a strategic choice.
We want to build this properly from day one, with transparency, governance, and long-term partnerships, not just a discount-driven channel. For a brand like SQUATWOLF, which sits at the intersection of gym, hybrid-athletes, and lifestyle – the channel also gives us a powerful way to partner with content creators and gym communities who genuinely influence how people train, shop, and live.
You have a long history in affiliate marketing. How does that experience shape this launch?
Affiliate has been a core part of my career for nearly 20 years, from being publisher and brand-side to leading a global media agency that specialised in affiliate between 2009 and 2016.
Back then, it was about convincing luxury and premium retail brands that were sceptical of the channel of the incremental benefits that could be achieved, and shifting the narrative from just vouchers and cashback to content, partnerships, and full-funnel performance.
At SQUATWOLF, we will apply that same philosophy from day one. Clear brand controls, publisher curation, and strong commercial frameworks – with a focus on long-term partnerships, not short-term arbitrage.
What does success look like for SQUATWOLF’s affiliate programme, and for the wider region?
For SQUATWOLF, success means building a meaningful and scalable marketing channel that complements our other growth channels. It means attracting high-quality publishers who add value to the brand by driving incremental customers and acting as a route into new international markets.
For the region, success is broader. It is about proving that affiliate marketing can be a sophisticated, data-driven growth channel in the GCC, just as it is in Europe and North America.
If SQUATWOLF can demonstrate that model at scale, it will encourage other regional brands – and publishers – to invest in partnerships, tracking, and attribution.
Long term, I want to see true affiliate marketing in the Middle East viewed as a strategic pillar of performance marketing, not a manual codes. Just as gyms have evolved from weight rooms into hybrid performance – affiliate marketing in this region can evolve into a modern, full-funnel growth engine.
This launch is our first strong rep towards that.
