Web Affiliate Marketing Blog

In this weeks Marketing Week there’s a number of interesting articles discussing and questioning the use and effectiveness of discount codes and vouchers, both on and offline.

I was interviewed a number of weeks ago by Marketing Week, and it’s interesting to hear other peoples opinions, in particular:

Consumers expect year round discounts.
Two-thrids (66%) of UK Retailers feel that customers expectations have changed so much that larger price cuts are required to achieve an uplift in sales.

Who really beneifts from your vouchers?
A question and viewpoint raised by a merchant, who experiecned odd redemption patterns inconsistent with brand sales when it came to offline voucher management.

Create element of excitement
As the recession continues, brand loyalty goes out the window meaning consumers are willing to experiment. Innovation and emotional factors are now just as large a driver for sales and new customers, as price cuts we 12 months ago.

On a final note…
Birds Eye have re-introduced the Arctic Roll… Created in 1961, the delicious ice cream and sponge dessert is soon set to decome a teatime favourite all over again! Absolute Class!

I know it’s a little bit on the sad side, but with other half in London walking around in her Bra for charityand me staying at home due to work and oncall commitments, I found myself tuning in to Eurovision. Don’t laugh!

This year, new voting rules aimed at ensuring that the 54th Eurovision was a song contest, rather than a test of which country has the most allies, seemed to work. Marks awarded by national juries judging musical merit were combined with public votes before each nation awarded its points.

This resulted in the Top 5 countries being somewhat different to 2009;
1st Norway (previously placed 5th)
2nd Iceland (not in 2008 final)
3rd Azerbaijan (previously placed 8th)
4th Turkey (previously placed 7th)
5th United Kingdom (previously placed 25th)

The winning song “Fairytale” is quite strange number, written and sung by 2005 Norwegian Pop Idol Alexander Rybak who is classically-trained violinist so not your usual trashy Europop (although there was plenty of that… wasn’t there Germany?). Apparently he originates from USSR (now Belarus) which explains the Russian undertones the song has got and actually has a pretty good voice as is shown in this clip where he does a Jason Moraz number.

If you haven’t yet heard the song – its here on Spotify!

As stocks tumble all around us, there is one thats increasing in public interest. The UK Laughing Stock!

Yep I’m talking about those people who we chose to represent us, and our future with a view of distributing our hard earned taxes fairly, in order to beneift those that need it and invest in our services. However, as the NHS is once again having to cut costs and staff numbers, our Members of Parliment think nothing of claiming a £50 call-out fee to fix their home cinema sound system and expecting us UK tax payers to pick up the bill.

What planet do these idiots live on?

Take Lord Foulkes for example… firstly what has he ever done to be graced with the title of Lord – other than sit in his big fat ass eating far to many pies. Lord Pucker maybe more appropriate! A nerve was obviously hit when he was interview by BBC News and rather than answer the question being posed, turned it on the TV presenter Carrie Gracie. See Interview.

He for one, I would like to see brought to justice if there is a case against him, by the Daily Mail’s Members of Parliment – Bring them to justice Order campaign. In my opinion Lord Fucks is simply using up oxygen that could and should be saved in order to help reduce green house gases. After all shit does produce carbon dioxide doesn’t it?

So what action will be taken?

Well, as expect pretty much nothing. Despite overwhelming evidence of crooked expenses claims among MPs, legal experts think it highly unlikely that police and the Crown Prosecution Service will bring criminal charges against any of them. And the police wonder why they have such a bad reputation lately?

If the government truely listens to what the people, whom it is meant to represent, want then they have to act accordingly. The general consensus is that prosecutions are brough against these money laundering tossers, as the polls show.

Therefore the Daily Mail and the Tax-Payers Alliance have launched a campaign for the private prosecutions of backbenchers and ministers who have pocketed thousands of pounds through dishonest claims. Why is it Police are arrested for inflating expenses, yet MP’s aren’t despite a poll showing what the public think!

• MPs Expense scandals published on Twitter
• An online petition calling for Gordon Brown to resign
• Daily Mails Campaign For Justice aimed at prosecuting MP’s

What do you want to see done?
What if you’re not from the UK – what do you make of all of this?
Most importantly… what should I have for my tea? :)

Nothing special, nothing to do with affiliate marketing but I liked it all the same. Wish I had the patience to make a movie like this as it must take up most of a day, capturing loads of single frame images.

Very much like the product itself, you’ll either LOVE these innovations, or HATE them. Whichever you decide, I’m sure the French will have something to say about one of them!

I’m not sure how long the boffins at Marmite have been experimenting, mixing the lush black tar with cheese or champagne, but these are new products to us up North – well certainly in my local stores! Strange considering they were developed by my previous employer!

The champagne version was apparently introduced in time for Valentines day 2008 although I’ve only ever seen it once. The cheese, again although new to me, has been spotted in stores since December 2007! Why on earth have these two fantastic innovations taken such a long time to head up the M6?

The champagne was apparently a limited edition of only 600,000 which no doubt were snapped up extremely quickly similar to the Guiness version introduced in 2007. Originally on sale at £2.99 per jar, it appears the only place to get your hands on one is eBay and pay the inflated price.

The cheese however, is widely available and after spending a night munching through a pack, followed by some serious nightmares, I hope it’ll be a permanent fixture on our supermarket shelves.

If you’ve not yet tried it, then what are you waiting for? Get your ass down the shops now!