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Let’s Argue About Affiliate.

Three motions.
Two sides.
You decide.

  • Free to attend | Limited to 100 attendees
  • 15 April 2026 | WPP Campus, Manchester
  • From 3.30pm

We’re putting the industry up for debate.

 

GET MY TICKET

 

helen southgate acceleration partners at affilifest

Affiliate has never been bigger.

Budgets are rising.
Revenue is growing.
The channel is now firmly on the agenda in boardrooms.

But maturity means asking harder questions.

Where are we pushing the channel forward?
Where are we repeating the same playbooks?
And how do we talk about affiliate with real clarity when the stakes are higher?

The Affiliate Debate Series is a new event format designed to challenge how our industry thinks. We're bored of polite panels and playing it safe, so we’re putting some of the most controversial topics in performance marketing up for debate.

No vague answers allowed.

GET MY TICKET

 

What To Expect

April 15
WPP Campus, Manchester

Each motion will be debated live on stage.

The format:

  • Opening argument from each side
  • Rebuttals and counterpoints
  • Audience questions
  • Final vote from the room

Expect strong opinions, sharp arguments, and probably a few uncomfortable truths.

This is a safe space for the industry to challenge itself and sharpen how we talk about affiliate in boardrooms.

GET MY TICKET

 

debate

The Debates

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This House Believes Affiliate Has Gone Backwards in the Last Five Years

Affiliate revenue is up.
Budgets are up.
The industry is bigger than ever.

But has it actually evolved?

Are we truly innovating, or just repackaging the same tactics with better decks and bigger claims? Has the channel moved forward strategically, or are we still stuck in old models while the rest of marketing races ahead?

This House Believes Influencer Marketing Does Not Belong in the Affiliate Channel

Influencer and affiliate have increasingly been pushed together under the banner of performance.

But are they fundamentally compatible?

Is this a natural evolution of the channel, or a forced merger driven by budget pressure and reporting convenience? Are creators thriving inside affiliate frameworks, or being squeezed into a model that was never designed for them?

This House Believes Affiliate Has Become a Copy-and-Paste Channel

Same partner types.
Same commission models.
Same playbooks.

Are we building strategy or just cloning what worked for someone else?

Has affiliate become overly templated, overly reliant on “best practice”, and resistant to real experimentation? Or is consistency actually a sign of maturity and discipline?

Event Details

3.30pm Arrival 

3.45pm Debating begins

5.30pm Drinks 

Once the final motion has been decided, we’ll move to the bar.

Stick around for a glass of wine and continue the arguments, unpack the debates, and see where the room really landed once the microphones are off.

drinks

Get Your Ticket

Join us at WPP Campus Manchester for the first edition of The Affiliate Debate Series.

Expect the kind of conversations our industry needs more of.