Nick Robertson, No Misquote

Posted on 19 Mar 2007 in Merchants | 0 comments

Further to my ASOS Clanger post regarding the ludicrous comments about the affiliate industry, by Nick Robertson, the lovely Jess Luthi forwarded an email that read as follows;

The editor of NMA, has just confirmed that the outrageous remark given by Nick Robertson of ASOS.com re “Grubby Affiliates” (NMA 08.03.07) article was no misquote.

Said Justin Pearse, editor of NMA “I was though, very unhappy with the multiple claims on blogs that it was a misquote, as our reporters do not misquote people and would no longer have a job here if they did.”

A phenomena as never seen before in the affiliate marketing industry occurred when affiliates used their blogs and even youtube in order to counter attack the ill thought through choice of words that Nick Robertson of ASOS.com had said when referring to the very people that had helped build up his company in the early years.

Mr Robertson’s comments were even more surprising as it was in the context of ASOS.com re-launching their affiliate program next year. “I’m not saying we couldn’t do more in the online marketing space. Next year we’ll reintroduce affiliate marketing, but as it should be. No silly commissions being paid to grubby little people in grubby studios growing income at our expense, getting in the way of genuine sales.”

Affiliates immediately set about using their blogs and forums to tell the world what they thought, it caught many people in the online industry off guard and is a testiment to the power that affiliates have. Said Mr Pearce of NMA “I too was surprised by the reaction, it demonstrates the real passion in the affiliate marketing industry I was unaware of.”

Nick Robertson has received many calls asking for a statement, thus far it’s been “no comment” Nick Robertson is believed to be out of the country.

I suspect we have not heard the last about this incredible faux pas!

So there you have it! Many people in the affiliate industry thought it may have been a misquote, yet somehow I never imagined it to be, basing my thoughts on how ASOS previously handled their affiliate scheme towards the end. We now have it from the editor of NMA that it was written exactly how it was said.

ASOS New PR Contact

The way the affiliate industry blogged and reported about this even surprised Justin Pearse, saying even he “was surprised by the reaction, it demonstrates the real passion in the affiliate marketing industry I was unaware of”. Maybe NMA should publish how our industry reacted to the quote, after all blogging is a form of new media