I javen;t done a lot of PPC in the past, but have started recently with some success.

Are Toys R Us really content to lose business to others operating in the Toy space? If affiliates are operating via PPC in the Toy space, then that naturally means that we take business away from Toys R Us … are they stupid?

Thanks Again
RwShepherd

Agreed, you (and Kieron) make valid points. Regarding #2, it’s a stipulation made by the merchant and we did indeed inform them that this is not standard practice (but neither is budgeting or limiting the number of affiliates) and is also difficult to police. So whilst we will try to get affiliates to adhere to these T&C’s by their strict and unconventional nature it is nigh on impossible. This is the juxtaposition for us in that it is these very affiliates that will allow us to prove why TrU will be gaining additional presence from this exposure. We have already assembled a presentation for the next review to tackle this head on and I’m sure we’ll make headway. The programme still has a significant number of non PPC related affiliates with sales spread across the majority.

Regarding #3 and ASOS, AW did indeed take a stance. One of our super affiliates (a brand in its right) was keen to work with ASOS on a closed partnership basis and asked us to facilitate this. After the Nick Robertson comment we declined to take this forward. Word on the wire is that more then one network offered a deal to ASOS to handle their programme.

On the other hand I would still welcome the opportunity for the affiliate arena to ‘educate’ Nick which in essence means to prove him wrong. I still stand by my reply post on the a4u thread which highlights that ASOS was grown by affiliates and I would be interested to see how ASOS would fair against a new competitor in the market who uses affiliates as a growth channel.

In a recent issue of Retail Week there was a feature entitled ’10 easy steps to online failure’. Nick Robertson was cited as number 5, Using Affiliate Marketing. This is one of the reasons why I feel a process of education can help otherwise peoples negative perceptions will continue to pervade a much wider audience.

As a final note, I can’t and wouldn’t want to prove you wrong. I would like however, for TrU to see they’ve been too restrictive and resolve this at source. Time will tell if we are successful.

Thanks for your reply. Just a couple of points…
1 – I and other affiliate know how the affiliate business model operates and as such we understand where we lose out, a network also loses out on revenue.

2 – I appreciate that overtime TrU has grown, however I would suspect that a lot of this is due to many affiliates PPC’ing their websites, unaware of the T&C’s. Many people expect not to be able to PPC direct to merchants, or on merchants names/brands, but to not be allowed to PPC your own website on terms such as CHRISTMAS TOYS this is NOT industry standard. Was this communicated to TrU or was it not challenged?

I know of many affiliates who are pushing TrU yet are unaware of these T&C’s, and if you were to take all these affiliates out of the equation, the program will most probably fall flat on its face!

3 – I appreciate how ALL networks work, and do their best for affiliates and merchants where possible and wouldn’t let 1 program change my perception as you can see from my stats this month. However I do sometimes feel that AW shoot themselves in the foot at times. A prime example of this was the response to ASOS coming back into the affiliate market following their NMA article. Many big affiliates said they hoped ALL networks would stick together and tell ASOS to sling their hook. AW response was that us affiliate should see this as an opportunity to ‘educate’ ASOS!

As I say, I would be very interested in #2 of my comments, and would be only too happy to be proven wrong.

It is frustrating, but surely anyone can see that from a network perspective we lose out too on the revenue potential, but that’s better than losing a brand against uncontrolled affiliate activity or uninformed senior management. It’s less to do with a ‘big shiny trophy’ client and more to do with the fact that affiliate marketing makes up a smaller proportion of online sales for many merchants and an even smaller share against all sales. This merely indicates why it is often either over looked or considered an ‘addition’ to traditional forms of marketing and the budgets and attention these receive. Over time, the TrU programme has grown and will continue to do so. The performance is inline with the merchants expectations and we will see this develop further as they see the affiliate channel to be truly incremental business, so far.

Chris, I hoped you would be one to know that at AW we do our best for both affiliates and merchants where possible, but we are still all human. It often feels like 2 steps forward, 1 step back but we persevere for all parties concerned. Don’t let one issue (however annoying) paint a picture for a whole network, everyone at AW has worked extremely hard over the last 2 years to address concerns and issues but we only have influence over so much. I appreciate transparency, hence adding our own feedback to this blog.

Again, from an account management perspective we have looked to address previous issues. Self managed accounts now benefit from support via the account development team. Contact Peter Owens, Head of the account development team on peter.owens@affiliatewindow.com and he will offer some assistance.

It could be that Affiliate Window have tried to educate them, and Toys R Us don’t want to listen. If this did happen, I doubt Affiliate Window would want to lose the relationship so just work on their terms.

Kerry, your comments on contact are interesting. I know over the past couple of years most networks seem to have upped their game and offer different levels of ‘management’. Unfortunately I’ve seen occasions where if a merchant isn’t on one of the better ‘management plans’ the contact is limited.

I must say though, from my point of view Affiliate Window have been great – we were one of the early merchants when they set up, and since I joined Buyagift 3 years ago the service has been superb.

Graham

sidenote: interesting that toys r us don’t even seem to bid on their own brand terms?

You’re mention of account management is interesting. I have often said to a few networks and consultancies in the business that I truely believe there is room for a new position or role. Basically a direct go between for merchants and affiliates.

Some may argue that this is the role of an account manager, but I see it failing all too often for one reason or another, not necessarily due to the person in the role, maybe its more to do with work loads etc. At the recent Buy.at Speakeasy event, the emphasis was on COMMUNICATION between all parties. It is something that I find to have declined quite recently.

Luckily I am in direct contact with a small number of merchants, however I appreciate this isn’t alway possible. I really do think that more can be done if networks employed an affiliate, possibly on consultancy basis to liaise and explain from an affiliates POV problems or issues with a particular merchant. Sadly I think Merchants listen too much to networks, many of which don’t have a true understanding or grasp of what or where affiliates are coming from.

Its also interesting to hear from a Merchant that they too think there is room for improvement when it comes to Account management. Who knows what the future holds? ;)