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Itay Paz

Tell me about your Affilicon?

Affilicon www.affilicon.com is a company who was founded with a clear mission to become a bridge for advertisers and publishers worldwide by organizing a series of international conferences and exhibition related to affiliate marketing. Being affiliates for the last 10 years and spending most of my time traveling to the US in order to get updated about online marketing emphasized the void in the international market and we decided to fill the gap.

What is new in affiliate marketing events?

We have decided to take a risk and explore new markets. While Europe is no brainer we are planning to have conferences and exhibitions in Mumbai and Beijing, where 1000s of active affiliates are active but they and affiliates programs as well as affiliate networks never had a chance to meet.

What was your biggest challenge getting into affiliate marketing events?

Well, it is very tough like in any new business. You need to develop brand before people will commit to come, attend and exhibit. We had to prove that we can get the right content ( with the right presenters) we had to demonstrate that we can gather 100s of people for an event and we had to demonstrate that we know how to organize. I feel that we crossed this point. Our past events were excellent and our future ones will be even better. We always say that the enemy of good is the better.

What are the main things merchants do that you wish they wouldn’t?

Merchants are our strategic partners. The event is planned to bring them together in the same place with the affiliates who are their bold system. None of these 2 parties cannot live without the other. Don’t get me wrong! It’s a win-win situation and there is not tension or conflict between the two ( beside day to day business related issues).

What are the main things affiliates do that you wish they wouldn’t?

Affiliates , in general, are a group of entrepreneurs, innovative, smart people. You cannot success and you would not enter this market if you do not have these 3 ingredients. I love them, otherwise I would do something different.

Where do you see growth in the affiliate marketing events?

We see the growth coming from two directions. One- internal growth at each location (we experience 50% growth from first to second event in the same location) and we expect to explore and get new places to hold our events in years to come. We see a clear trend where niche markets events fold into our general purpose one.

What do you do to improve the world?

Hmmm, tricky question. The internet is, in my mind, the second industrial revolution. It eliminates a lot of traditional jobs. However, it creates millions of new jobs. Our events are aimed in educating and improving the performance of these new created jobs. We understand this responsibility and do not save any effort in getting the best people and the best merchants. We believe that we have a pivotal job here. The better we do, the better people will perform.

What do you do that is green?

Green, in our world has two connotations. One is being ethical. The internet, being a young and uncontrolled industry can be misused. We do our most to educate for moral and ethical activity.
As part of the Internet community we are paperless, we get many processes to be done electronically and we save gas. Most of the affiliates work from home!

What is one thing about you that not many people know?

I love kids! I have two and I don’t get to see them enough. Kids get you to be more relaxed, warm and forgiving. And maybe another one… I never hold grudge… even if I am mad at someone, it goes after a few hours…

What is on your iPod?

I love seeing movies. Thanks god I have enough flights, and long ones to see many of them. so no iPod for me (yet)…waiting for iPhone 4G  

What’s your favourite book?

The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement
by Eliyahu M. Goldratt
http://www.amazon.com/Goal-Process-Ongoing-Improvement/dp/0884271781

What are your contact details (email, company, blog, facebook, myspace, forums etc) ?

Website: www.affilicon.com
Tel: 44-(0)7624-317768/ 972-54-7229919
Email: Itay @affilicon.com
Skype: itaypaz77
MSN Instant Messenger: itaypaz77 @hotmail.com
Follow me on Twitter: twitter.com/itaypaz
Become my Facebook Friend
Affilicon FB Group
My Linkedin

What events do you go to?

I try to go to all events, I like to reach to people, know new ones, network, learn on new technologies, so you can find me in all of them

Who would recommend you and why?

I get a lot of awesome feedback from many international affiliates, merchants and affiliate network. We clearly fill a void in the international market and people do appreciate it.
http://blog.mediatrust.com/2009/06/dissecting-affilicon/

Who would you recommend and why?

I would recommend the big US guys (MediaTrust, ebay, amazon, CJ and alike) to be more proactive within the international market. We give them a fantastic vehicle to recruit top notch affiliates.

What one thing can people do to help you?

My philosophy is helping people without looking for a return, something like a good Karma. It is working well so I am leaving other people to decide themselves what they can do… but support is always welcomed!

Thank you Affilicon Founder Itay Paz

http://www.murraynewlands.com/index.php/2009/08/affilicon-founder-itay-paz-an-interview/

Affilicon Germany, Affiliate Marketing Conference & Exhibition will we see you there?

Affilicon October 20-23

For Advance Registration http://www.affilicon.com/Europe/events-information.html 

Your opportunity to meet face-to-face with top international people in the business. Affilicon Europe is the premier yearly event for European Affiliates, Global vendors, affiliate networks and specially German vendors who look to extend their business over the InternetWho Should Attend?
 
 Experienced and new affiliates from all around Europe.

 Vendors looking to extend their reach and cooperation with affiliates from Europe. These affiliates are known for their quality and high performance.

 Local vendors planning or already active in the affiliation market.

 Internet players (Media, ad agencies, bloggers, SEO and SEM experts, etc’).

 
Affilicon Europe is the first event dedicated to affiliates and their respective partners to be held in Germany, Europe. We look into conducting this event once a year and turn it as the premier event for affiliates in this region.

OVERIJSE, Belgium/PRNewswire/ -- 

- After a Year of Solid Growth With Over 100 Campaigns for Top Brands in its Home Market, Pumbby Opens an Office in Paris. Next on the List: UK 

Concept: earn money by looking at mobile ads 

Pumbby subscribers receive advertising messages on their mobile phone via SMS or WAP Push free of charge and without obligations. By watching the advertisement they earn up to EUR0.35 per ad. The money can be transferred to a bank account or used to buy from the Pumbby shop: from movie tickets to phone credit. 

Pumbby is available to every user regardless of the mobile operator or mobile phone he or she uses; ads can also be viewed through the Pumbby website. 

Excellent targeting capability, strong results 

In Belgium Pumbby has 183,000 members out of a population of about 10 million. New members subscribe via http://www.pumbby.com and fill in a questionnaire. Age, gender, location, occupation and education information allow for highly targeted campaigns, making Pumbby a very versatile marketing tool, capable both of mass and niche communication. 

In the past year, Pumbby has successfully delivered over 100 campaigns for companies such as Nike, Fiat, Phone House, Coca-Cola, EA Games, cinema chain Kinepolis and Carrefour supermarkets. These campaigns show an unprecedented level of engagement from the members: 71% of the ads will be viewed, and the click-through rate of banners and newsletters counts up to 15%. 

Expansion 

Pumbby's success in Belgium opens doors to other markets: "France is the first step in our plans for international growth," says Jean-Paul de Ville, Manager Europe at Pumbby. 

About Pumbby 

First created as a student project in 2002, the Pumbby concept won a prize at the Eurowards in the category Encouragement. With support of several private investors, the company was launched in Belgium in January 2008. 

In the first year, Pumbby delivered campaigns for top advertisers such as Nike, Fiat and Coca-Cola to 183,000 Belgian consumers. 

In April 2009, Pumbby opened the French office in Champs Elysées in Paris. 
   
  For more information, please contact: 

  Trimedia
  Els De Ceulaer
  edeceulaer@trimedia.be
  Tel.: 32(0)2-713-016

  Pumbby
  Jean-Paul De Ville
  jp.deville@pumbby.com
  Tel. : 32(0)2-223-72-17

Distributed by PR Newswire on behalf of Pumbby

http://www.prnewswire.co.uk/cgi/news/release?id=254684

Dublin, Aug 24, 2009 (M2 PRESSWIRE via COMTEX) -- Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/0fdce5/belgium_mobile_m) has announced the addition of the "Belgium - Mobile Market - Overview, Statistics & Forecasts" report to their offering.

Adopt a Unified Approach to Address Convergence of IT and OSS White paper Learn more, download free white paper. 


Belgium's mobile market is served by three main operators and a growing number of MVNOs. Two operators, Proximus and Mobistar, have extensive 3G networks which have been upgraded with HSPA technology. Mobile TV offerings are available but have yet to make an impression on consumers. This report profiles Belgian's mobile market in 2009, providing the latest statistics on the main players, as well as the most recent developments on HSPA roll-outs, emerging data markets and data services such as SMS, i-mode and mobile TV. It also provides ARPU and 3G forecasts to 2013.

Key Topics Covered: 1. Synopsis 2. Overview of Belgium's mobile market 2.1 Mobile statistics 2.2 Operator market shares 2.3 Mobile ARPU forecasts to 2013 3. Regulatory issues 3.1 Spectrum regulations and spectrum auctions 3.1.1 GSM 3.1.2 Third Generation (3G) mobile 3.2 Roaming 3.3 Mobile termination rates 3.4 Number portability (NP) 4. Mobile technologies 4.1 Digital 4.2 Third Generation (3G) mobile 4.3 UMTS forecasts to 2013 5. Major mobile operators 5.1 Proximus 5.2 Mobistar 5.3 BASE 5.4 Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs) 6. Mobile voice services 6.1 Prepaid cards 7. Mobile data services 7.1 Short Message Service (SMS) 7.2 SMS over fixed networks 7.3 Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) 7.4 General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) 7.5 Enhanced Data for GSM Evolution (EDGE) 7.6 High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) 7.7 High Speed Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA) 7.8 i-mode 7.9 BlackBerry 7.10 Mobile TV 8. Mobile applications 8.1 Location-based services 9. Related reports For more information visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/0fdce5/belgium_mobile_m CONTACT: Laura Wood, Senior Manager, Research and Markets Fax: 1 646 607 1907 (US) Fax: 353 1 481 1716 (Rest of World) e-mail: press@researchandmarkets.com ((M2 Communications disclaims all liability for information provided within M2 PressWIRE. Data supplied by named party/parties. Further information on M2 PressWIRE can be obtained at http://www.presswire.net on the world wide web. Inquiries to info@m2.com.

http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/2009/08/24/4336808.htm

Some interesting facts & figures of the use of Mobile Internet in France.

One out of 3 mobile users (between 15 and 50) have connected to the Mobile Internet in the past 6 months :



Especially the age group 25-34y are becoming more active on the Mobile Internet, with an increase of 10% :



51% connects to the Mobile Internet at least once a week :



3 out of 4 mobinauts surfs with a clear idea what he’s looking for :



The Mobile Internet is mostly used to check news headlines and e-mails :

 
http://blog.mobileweb.be/2009/07/23/some-mobile-internet-facts-figures/

We wanted to know what impact the recession has had on shopping habits so we created a survey to find out.

The results show that in the 5 Ciao countries across Europe, there are major differences in the way people have reacted.

Across the board people are spending more time researching before making a purchase. In the UK, one in five will no longer make a purchase without extensive online research. In Germany, this figure rises to 27%. In France it is 13%, while in Spain and Italy one in ten people said that their research had increased.

Most affected overall by the credit crunch are Brits and the Italians. 82% and 86% respectively said that they felt the economy had affected them personally. The most resilient nation is France, where an impressive 63% said that they had yet to really feel the downturn. This is very much the exception: for most people, the priority is in saving money and using the internet to do so.

The good news for Brits is that we’re getting a better long-term view: 54% of people are making a conscious effort to save more money. In Germany, only 29% are focusing on savings, a figure that rises to 57% in Spain and 41% in France and 65% in Italy.

Here are some more facts we found interesting:
The credit crunch is actually improving the nation’s health: one in three Brits is saving money by cutting back on their smoking habits. 
The Germans are cocooning themselves away from the economic impact: one in ten Germans has prioritised home decoration as their top money spending activity (more than twice the number of any other European country).
One in four Italians are spending their time volunteering instead of shopping.
36% in France said they are responding to the credit crunch by spending more time partying with their friends!

Source: http://socialmedia.ciao.co.uk/news/

In our latest research into purchasing influences we wanted to spot the impact of the current economic uncertainties on people’s purchase decision.

The results have highlighted the impact of online peer reviews on sales, with 76% of respondents admitting changing purchase decisions after reading online reviews of the product they were looking to buy. 

The survey, which polled 1,223 users, also brought bad news for shop assistants who were deemed as having the least influence on purchases. Only 2% of respondents citing them as having an impact on what products they selected.

There’s an interesting preference for online reviews even over those from your friends: 34% of people said they would choose reviews by people who owned the product over recommendations from friends (19%) when purchasing goods. 

Brand names are still an important factor in buying products though, especially in beauty and electrical goods. 80% of women will only purchase branded beauty products, and 83% cited the strength of the brand as a guide when deciding to purchase electronic products such as DVD players and Satellite Navigation devices.

Some more quick facts from the survey:
61% choose to purchase CDs, DVD and Books online to take advantage of cheaper prices 
22% use online shops for clothes, compared to 67% of users in high-street stores
Overall online spending was still strong, with 25% of Ciao users in UK spending on average £1000 or more per year, followed by 22% spending £500 to £999, 35% £100 to £499 and 18% spending less than £10.

Expert comment: Tom Hyde, E-commerce team leader at Ciao
"People are becoming savvier than ever when it comes to purchasing a product. User review sites are a great way to get impartial information from people who have genuine first-hand experience of the product or service. The fact people are changing their purchase decisions because of what they read in reviews is testament to their success. Brands now more than ever need to be aware of what customers are saying about them online, and take advantage of online communities to interact and engage directly with consumers to address any issues or concerns and secure better reviews in future."

Source: http://socialmedia.ciao.co.uk/news/

With Father’s Day coming up on June 21st, there are some shocking results for UK parents in our recent Ciao community survey: most Europeans shower mums with gifts to say sorry for lack of face time on Mother’s Day while the French are the most dedicated in terms of spending this important annual occasion with their mums.

Our members in France, Spain, Italy and Germany bought gifts to compensate for face-to-face time when it comes to Mother’s Day, which occurs on different days between March to June across Europe. French children take Mother’s Day most seriously, outshining European peers:
46% spend the day with their mums
71% surprise them with a gift
26% invest more than 50 Euros to show their mums how much they care, far more than children across the rest of Europe. 


Bringing up the rear are the Germans – only one in three of them saw their mum on the day itself.

When it comes to the type of gift, there were two clear favourites:
45% planned to buy their mum a creative gift and 
41% planned to buy flowers.
Chocolates , beauty products and vouchers are the least favourite presents.


Harald Schiffauer, our Sales Director E-Commerce Europe, gave his opinion: "We know that family culture is important in Europe and it seems that the French are taking this important occasion more seriously than anybody else in Europe. It’s official, French mums are Europe’s most cared for!”

Source: http://socialmedia.ciao.co.uk/news/

Germany named the least popular holiday destination

New research from the Ciao community shows how Europeans really feel about each other's countries.

We asked our members in the UK, France, Germany, Italy and Spain how they really feel about visiting each other’s countries. The results were clear: Germany is Europe’s least favourite holiday destination, and it’s all thanks to the people!

Key facts
The most popular countries in Europe are Spain (28.8%), Italy (25.4%), France (21.2%), the UK (15.4%) and Germany (9.2%)
The things people liked most about their chosen country are the landscape (43%), the weather (19%), the people (16.8%), the food (16.6%) and the nightlife (4.6%)
Asked for the least popular holiday destinations people chose Germany (30.4%) the UK (26.6%), Italy (22%), France (13.8%) and Spain (7.2%)
Things people do not like in the country they chose not to go to are the weather (31.6%), the people (31.4%) the food, (17.6%), the nightlife (12%) and the landscape (7.4%)


30% of respondents across Europe named Germany as their least favourite destination and claimed that the unfriendly people were the reason for their choice. The only exception was made by the Germans, 40% of whom named the UK as their least favourite destination and claimed the weather was the reason.

Respondents from Britain, France and Spain rated their own countries as their favourite place for a European holiday. For the Brits and the Spanish it’s the beautiful landscapes and rolling hills that make them want to stay at home – while perhaps unsurprisingly the French rate their own cooking more highly than the rest of Europe and would much rather stick with what they know!

The countryside was rated as a high driver in the holiday decision making process and may explain why the Germans and Italians prefer to go abroad: the Germans to Italy and the Italians to Spain.

Source: http://socialmedia.ciao.co.uk/news/

Internet monitoring company StatCounter this week displayed results showing that Bing saw again an increase of market share in the US. With a market share of 9,41% in July they were up 1,18% compared to a month earlier.

In Europe however Statcounter is giving us some very different Bing-numbers. With a market share of 1,52% they are down, only a little (0,04%), but down. The numbers also show that Google is losing market share, even a bigger percentage then Bing, they lose 1% but are still market leader by far with 93,15%.

In Europe Statcounter provides these numbers when it comes to market shares in July 2009:

Google: 93,15% (-1%)
Yahoo: 2,06% ( 0,1%)
Bing: 1,52% (-0,04%)
Seznam: 1,27%
Yandex: 0,73% (-0,02%)
Ask: 0,41%
Other: 1,27% ( 0,1%)

The loss in market share is remarkable but is mainly caused by a huge gaining of market share by a 'local' search engine: Seznam. This Czech search engine now has a market share of 1,27%. The share is mainly caused by the large amount of Czech users. In Czech Seznam is the biggest search engine with a market share of 57,28%, where Google only sees a share of 42%. This is a huge difference with the month of June when Google was the biggest in Czech with 62,75%, while Seznam only had 35,91%.

The reason for this remarkable growth is not clear, so it is not clear either if we should 'believe' the numbers Statcounter is giving us.

The numbers do suggest that compared to Google Bing is also gaining market share in Europe. This is remarkable because Bing in most countries still uses the 'old' Live Search and doesn't have the features the US does. Only in the UK users get more functionalities. That doesn't really show in the user statistics so far, only a growth of 0,01%. Though in the UK Google is losing slightly, 0,28%.

In other countries Bing's growth is minor as well, 0,12% in Germany, no growth in France and even a small decline (0,05%) in the Netherlands.

The Google dominance stays big in Europe, but July was a month with some movement in the market. Though the movement was minor.

Source: http://www.searchcowboys.com/research/856

LONDON - The cold data and direct mail sector in Germany will soon be heavily restricted when a new law requiring opt-in for use of personal data in marketing is introduced.
Berlin's Brandenburg Gate: Germany switches to opt-in


The law, a revision of the Federal Data Protection Act that was passed by the German Bundestag last month, comes into effect on 1 September 2009.

It requires brands to get a consumer’s permission to use their address data unless 
– that brand has an existing relationship with the consumer or 
– if the source of the third party data is clearly stated on the direct mail envelope. 
   
These two exemptions were the result of lobbying by the German Direct Marketing Association, and the data broking sector in particular – keen to minimise the law's impact on direct mail and list broking. 

The total exemptions to the opt-in rule negotiated by the German DM sector are as follows:

- B2B marketing;
- marketing to existing customers;
- using data from public directories to market a company's own products;
- charity direct marketing;
- political direct marketing;
- cold prospecting if the mailing clearly states where the data was first collected.

"The German rules will allow use of data for marketing if the course of the data is made clear on the marketing material so the new rules do not mark the death knell for the list broking industry," said Susan Singleton, principal solicitor at Singletons Solicitors. "But clearly will make it much harder to engage in direct mail in Germany."

Failure to comply with the law will result in fines up to 300,000 euros. "With this fine and possible rights to confiscate profits made the [new] laws appear to have teeth," Singleton said. She advised companies with a major German presence to seek legal counsel in Germany.

Sue Barnes, managing director of STB Direct Marketing, a UK firm specialising in sourcing data and doing direct marketing across Europe, said the law could have significant effect on consumer marketing.

"There will be extra things brands have to do in campaigns and will result in added cost, for instance of having to put the source of the data onto the envelope," she said. 

European DM body FEDMA said the new law would be "burdensome for direct marketers as well as creating a significant degree of legal uncertainty".

A transitional period until 31 August 2012 applies to data that were collected prior to September 2009. 

The revision was brought in after a number of high profile data security breaches and aims to "restrict the illegal trade in personal data" as well as giving data subjects more control over the processing of their personal data. 

The new law doesn’t relate to e-communications in Germany, which already requires opt-in.

Gunnar Brune, managing director of Lowe Deutschland, said the German list industry would be "badly hit" by a shift to opt-in and that "data sources will shrink. 

Germany’s biggest data suppliers, Schober Direct Media (part owned by German mail order giant Otto) and Bertlesman, are likely to be reviewing that side of their businesses.

However Brune suggested that while it will be hard to persuade consumers to opt-in, those brands that have their own customer data "will have a definite competitive advantage in their markets".
Q&A

Why did the Germans crack down on data selling?
Germany has always had tight privacy controls on unsolicited direct marketing. But the revised law was drawn up by Germany's Interior Minister, Wolfgang Schäuble, last year after a data scandal involving call centre worker Detlef Tiegel, who handed a CD containing the banking details of some 17,000 German citizens to the German authorities. 

The data had been obtained or purchased by the unidentified company that employed Tiegel. The initial 17,000 records were only a fraction of the roughly 1.5 million records Tiegel claimed he could produce.

Schäuble vowed to introduce opt-in legislation that would allow companies to share data of consumers only if they had specifically agreed to it.

http://www.marketingdirectmag.co.uk/news/924948/German-direct-marketers-grapple-new-opt-in-law/

Affiliate marketing took off late in Germany. The breakthrough came in Spring 1999, when several large brand name merchants launched their programs.

As of today there are 368 German, 15 Austrian and 10 Swiss affiliate programs listed at Partnerprogramme.com the largest German directory of affiliate programs. Due to the quality standards required for inclusion in this directory the total number of existing affiliate programs in the German speaking countries is much higher and can be estimated at 1500 programs.

The majority of these programs are pay-per-click, outnumbering pay-per-lead and pay-per-sale programs by approx. 5:1.

While affiliate programs are widespread for certain product categories (especially books and telecommunication products) there are German affiliate programs in all product categories.

Very few German merchants run their affiliate programs in-house. Those that do, mostly rely on American software solutions (Groundbreak and MyAffiliateProgram being the most popular). 

The market is dominated by four affiliate networks: Affili.net, Vitrado.de, Zanox.de and Tradedoubler.com

Affili.net, launched in July 1999 and was the first German affiliate network. With it's easy set-up procedure and no set-up fee it grew to be the largest German affiliate network. In February 2001 Affili.net had 630 active merchants and 50,500 affiliates. Affili.net supports pay-per-click, pay-per-lead and pay-per-sale programs. Affili.net charges 30 percent transaction fees on commissions paid.

Vitrado.de, launched in July 2000, with a product/offer oriented approach rather than a merchant program oriented approach. Links are always created for a specific product/offer rather than a merchant home page (somewhat similar to the approach of Onresponse.com). Vitrado has about a dozen merchants and 25,000 affiliates (January 2001). Currently there are only pay-per-lead and pay-per-sale offers at Vitrado. While no fees are published, Vitrado usually charges no set-up fee. Transaction fees are negotiable.

Tradedoubler.com is a European affiliate network, which has separate entry portals for every nation. Launched in Germany in July 2000, they have attracted some well know brand name merchants. However many of the merchants that started with high pay-per-click offers (up to 0.25 Euro per click) have reduced these rates in several steps to a fraction of the initial value leading to some affiliate frustration. About 25 merchants (February 2001) use the German portal of Tradedoubler. I estimate that over 10,000 German affiliates use Tradedoubler. Tradedoubler supports pay-per-click, pay-per-lead and pay-per-sale programs. Tradedoubler has not released prices, aims to win the Top 500 European companies as clients.

Zanox launched in June 2000, currently a German network with plans for further European expansion. Zanox has about 20 merchants (February 2001). I estimate the number of affiliates to be 5000. Zanox allows many reporting features the other networks do not have and supports pay-per-view in addition to pay-per-click, pay-per-lead and pay-per-sale. The transaction fee is 30 percent on commissions paid. The set-up fee is well over 1000 Euro.

All 4 networks aggregate commission payments and pay affiliates monthly with the exception of Tradedoubler who are paying quarterly. 

There are a few additional service providers. A complete list can be found at:

www.partnerprogramme.com/p30.htm

The American networks (CJ, Be Free, Linkshare) have not had much success in acquiring German merchants so far. Bol.de, Dealtime.de and Gateway use Be Free. A few small German merchants selling products to an International audience also use CJ.

Finally there are a couple of issues to mention:

Nobody pays by check. Direct deposit is used. Upon registration the affiliates bank account number is requested. 
'Buchbreisbindung' a German regulation requiring all booksellers (offline and online) to sell German books at fixed prices, set by the publishers, to consumers, raises difficult legal issues for booksellers drafting affiliate agreements. 
The German affiliate market is growing at fast pace with the networks mentioned above doubling their affiliate numbers every 6 month.

http://www.affiliatemarketing.co.uk/germany.php

With the highest mobile-Internet penetration in Europe, as well as being one of the world’s Top 10 nations for .mobi registrations - Spain is an attractive bet for mobile marketers. 

With the highest mobile-Internet penetration in Europe, as well as being one of the world’s Top 10 nations for .mobi registrations - Spain is an attractive bet for mobile marketers. mobiThinking caught up with Alberto Benbunan co-founder of award-winning agency Mobile Dreams Factory to get the low down on mobile Internet in Spain.
Starting out in Madrid four years ago Mobile Dreams Factory now also has offices in New York and Mexico, with plans to open offices in London and Paris shortly. It has worked with Diageo; Vodafone; Coca-Cola; Cepsa and Caja Madrid among other big brands. 
See this interview for more on the Mobile Dreams Factory campaigns and The Top Ten mobiThinkers 2009 for more on Mobile Dreams Factory story.



Q1: How big or advanced is mobile Web in Spain v rest of world? What is the potential? What are the latest statistics?
According to a 2008 study from the European Commission, Spain has the highest mobile-internet penetration of any country in the European Union, with 19.5 percent of the Spanish population using mobile broadband.

Q2: What is driving growth? What is holding it up?
Growth is greatly helped by the fact that three of the biggest operators in the world — Telefonica, Orange and Vodafone — all operate in Spain.
Growth is held back by the traditional agencies that, either due to ignorance or fear of new media, discourage their clients from mobile marketing. They don’t integrate mobile into the marketing mix and keep clients in the dark about the potential of new technologies. [See discussion here].
However brands that are prepared to challenge the status-quo, have discovered that mobile is both an efficient communication channel and a powerful tool for interaction 

Q3: Which industries/sectors have shown the most interest? Is interest from local or international companies?

Q3: Which industries/sectors have shown the most interest? Is interest from local or international companies?
Technology may be global but advertising needs to be local; the more focused it is, the more efficient it is.
The companies that have shown the most interest in mobile are those that sell premium content, but among real-world companies, banks and mass-consumer brands are the most active in mobile marketing.

Q4: Which brands are the most innovative and which spend the most on mobile marketing? Who isn't interested that should be?
To date, Coca-Cola, Diageo, Heineken and other mass-consumer brands have been the most innovative mobile marketers. This is maybe due to these companies knowing their markets best and the deep influence that mobile can have on their target audience. They also have the biggest budgets to try new things, experiment and innovate.
But it is in the interest of all companies to invest in mobile marketing, in order to establish one-on-one conversations with their clients and embrace the media that consumers keep with them 80 percent of the time.

Q5: What are they doing – mobile Web site, banner ads, text campaigns?

SMS has been used in Spain for more than a decade, but traditional pull-push text campaigns are on the decline. The most innovative campaigns such as those using redeemable mobile coupons, Bluetooth and RFID are beginning to be more dominant. 

Mobile sites are a “must” in any mobile marketing campaign. 

Q6: Are these long-term or short-term campaigns; who is integrating site, ads and text; and who is integrating with other media, such as billboard, TV, press campaigns?
In general, we see short- to medium-term campaigns. But where mobile-marketing agencies, together with clients, convince traditional agencies to integrate mobile into broad marketing campaigns, there are both longer-term and 360-degree campaigns (with mobile as one part of an integrated media campaign). 

Q7: What are the best mobile sites in Australia? What makes them stand out?
Newspapers (Marca, Expansión, Sport) have made a very strong effort to build their mobile audiences, but the operators have surpassed them, both in terms of capturing content and traffic. Vodafone Live! has done particularly well, building a content base for diverse audiences.

Q8: What type of site is most popular with a) consumers and b) business customers?
Regarding consumers, sport is king, such as Marca. It’s probably the same for business clients as well, though many will also check the general press and finance newspapers El Mundo or Expansion.

Q9: Who are the most innovative / powerful players on the supply side: a) creative agencies b) advertising networks. And who are the gurus?
Who are the most innovative / powerful players on the supply side?
In terms of creative agencies, Mobile Dreams Factory obviously gets my vote without a doubt. Not just because I work there, but it has also won as many awards as any agency worldwide.
As for advertising networks, Vodafone has certainly done an impressive job recruiting both advertisers and third-party sites to its network. Nokia Interactive Advertising has also done very well recruiting new sites.

Q10: What makes mobile marketing different in your country compared to abroad?
Having the three biggest operators in the world, one of the highest adoption rates, and the most innovative and creative campaigns in recent years makes the mobile marketing in Spain one of the most advanced in the world.

Q11: What is the most exciting thing about mobile?
Our mobile phones are with us 80 percent of the time. We leave it on when we sleep; it’s the last thing we check before we go to bed and the first thing we look at when we wake up. The mobile is simultaneously a communication channel and a communication tool. Mobile is the best of all media because it unites penetration, frequency and affinity and, most importantly, it’s measurable.

Q12: What do you do better than the rest of the mobile marketing world?
Creativity in mobile marketing doesn’t only consist in taking advantage of the 160 characters of an SMS, but in knowing about new technological possibilities that allow you to reach clients effectively: creativity technology. But the most important part is knowing how to integrate it to traditional and digital media.

http://mobithinking.com/interview-transcripts/the-insider-s-guide-mobile-marketing-spain?dm_switcher=true

The Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) has confirmed that its next industry event will be staged in Germany in September.

Berlin will host this year's Mobile Marketing Forum Europe conference, which will bring together representatives from across the sector, including mobile operators, brands, content providers and media companies.

Among the topics set to be on the agenda are the outlook for the mobile marketing sector and how Coca-Cola has successfully used this channel to engage with consumers.

Delegates at the conference will also look at how specific industries such as publishing and aviation are making use of the mobile channel and how they could expand it further.

It will be staged on September 8th-10th in Berlin and is being sponsored by organisations including mobile marketing specialist Velti.

The MMA recently predicted that the mobile channel will buck the trend of decline across the advertising sector as a whole this year.

Estimates from the group suggest that mobile marketing will expand by about 26 per cent during 2009.

What type of mobile marketing do you think is effective? 

By Neil Hill

http://www.velti.com/index.cfm/_MobileMarketing/index.cfm?page=1411&articleID=19276455

A virtual mall has launched this week that hopes to become a destination for consumers to browse stores on the web in a similar way to how they would in real life.
Mallplace.com, which has been developed by Pollock New Media, features high street and online stores. The company has developed affiliate relationships to earn money when consumers click through from the mall onto retailers’ sites to purchase items.

The company has active affiliate links with retailers including Currys, PC World, Argos, Game, HMV, New Look, Dorothy Perkins, Carphone Warehouse, Asda and Woolworths.

Consumers can browse different areas of the mall such as fashion or electricals, then click through to individual retailer pages, where Mallplace provides further details of the retailer as well as any special offers they are running on their sites. From there the consumer can enter the retailer’s site and most sites will run in a window that allows the consumer to return to the mall.

Both 3D and 2D views of the mall will be available and consumers can also use a search facility to navigate to a particular retail brand.

Pollock New Media founder Ken Lemond said that the company intends to make use of viral marketing and blogging to promote the site.

He added that as well as generating income through the affiliate marketing model, the site will let retailers pay to boost their presence within the mall, through bigger or better stores and advertising opportunities within the mall.

http://www.retail-week.com/mallplacecom-virtual-mall-launches-with-affiliate-offer/1928447.article

Best Buy may be delaying its UK debut, but it got a lot of attention this week when it formally launched Best Buy Remix, a long-promised service that lets third-party web developers create new ways of displaying the retailer’s product catalogue online.

After six months of beta testing, Best Buy unveiled the site this week at the South by Southwest Interactive conference in Texas.

Best Buy Remix is an application programming interface (API) that gives third-party web developers access to Best Buy’s entire product catalogue database.

Private APIs have long been used inside retailers to link software with external systems, like suppliers’ databases or externally hosted third-party applications. Open APIs do the same on the public-facing web, opening some of a company’s databases to outside programmers so they can create innovative services.

Amazon has been making similar services available to its affiliates for years, but the idea seems to be catching on.

http://www.retail-week.com/website-of-the-week-remixbestbuycom/2013778.article

Karen Millen is to relaunch its website within the next three months to introduce a more personalised customer experience.

The website will upgrade to a newer version of the BT Fresca Commerce platform, and will be redesigned.

The upgrade will give the retailer access to functionality including enhanced category merchandising, personalised content and the ability to show videos.

Karen Millen also launched an affiliate marketing programme in April to introduce new customers to the site. It is the first time the retailer has marketed its brand in this way, working with affiliate marketing network LinkShare.

Karen Millen e-commerce manager Emma Bonar said that the programme has been a success so far, allowing the retailer to get visibility on fashion sites and providing a better return on investment than other forms of digital marketing.

Other initiatives to bring customers to the site include web-only products that are selling very fast. Bonar said that more and more products are being designed exclusively for the site, and often they are limited runs of designs in additional colours to those sold in stores.

http://www.retail-week.com/multichannel/online-retail/karen-millen-to-boost-experience-with-site-revamp/5003478.article

Sometimes it takes a market-leading brand to adopt an innovation for others to take the plunge.

They don’t get much bigger than Tesco, so a more public relaunch this week of its API, or application programming interface, could be a watershed moment for the idea that retailers can increase online sales by providing programmers outside their organisation with controlled access to their databases in order to build new consumer-facing applications highlighting their offering.

Encouraging third-party innovation by providing public-facing APIs has become a common approach on the web. They are a key feature of many of Silicon Valley’s current dotcom darlings, from Google on down. The meteoric microblogging service Twitter, for example, recently revealed that just 20 per cent of its traffic came via its own website, with third-party applications powered by its API — like iPhone apps and desktop clients — accounting for 80 per cent.

For retailers, an open API strategy should be a no-brainer. Existing affiliate programmes already encourage third-party website publishers to drive traffic to retailers’ transactional sites. Giving them more advanced tools to create innovative ways of improving these services or rapidly bringing them to new platforms benefits both the retailers and the affiliate. But, with a handful of exceptions — Amazon, eBay and Best Buy have been pioneers — few retailers have taken the leap.

Tesco.com R&D head Nick Lansley has been developing the grocer’s API for some time. Last November, the grocer unveiled Tesco @ Home, a desktop gadget built using the API and Windows Presentation Foundation. But now, as Lansley wrote on his blog last week, the API is is being revamped and changes to its terms will allow developers to release consumer-facing applications they have built using the tool.

And Tesco isn’t just taking a “if you build it, they will come” approach; it is taking positive steps towards nurturing a community of outside developers who might be interested in using the API. This week, it invited developers to “T-Jam” , a Tesco “innovation day” to be held at Microsoft’s London offices in early August.

It will be fun to see what innovations spring from a community of developers coming up with new ways to bring groceries to online consumers.

And with any luck Tesco’s success will spur similar approaches to encouraging third-party innovation from Tesco’s retail rivals.

http://www.retail-week.com/every-little-innovation-helps/5004497.article

Tesco.com is providing third-party programmers with access to some of its data to ensure the site becomes available on the growing number of devices that consumers use for internet access.

Using an application programming interface (API), developers will be able to write applications for websites and internet-enabled mobile devices that allow customers to sign into Tesco.com, search its product database and add items to a shopping basket. However, to ensure that it remains compliant with the payment card industry data security standard, shoppers will not be able to pay for items using these applications.

“We want to get applications in front of customers on whatever their favourite device is as soon as possible,” said Tesco.com head of research and development Nick Lansley, who has been overseeing a private trial of the API since late last year.

Lansley said releasing the API is the foundation for enabling “little and often shopping”. Rather than selecting dozens of items in a single internet session at a desktop PC, Tesco expects future consumers will gradually fill their basket throughout the week using a variety of websites and mobile devices.

The growing variety of internet-connected devices had presented an obstacle to that vision. Instead of “betting Tesco.com money on apps for a whole load of different phones”, Lansley hopes to enable developers specialising in different devices to create their own, while encouraging the creation of commercially viable applications by paying according to performance.

Tesco’s affiliate scheme is being extended to cover applications created using the API. Details have not been finalised, but developers could earn about £5 for new customer referrals and 10p for each checkout for which their application was primarily responsible.

At present, applications using the API can access product descriptions and images, Tesco product and barcode numbers. Additional functionality will be added as Tesco.com moves to “Project Martini”, its new web platform, over the next two months.

Tesco has invited developers interested in the scheme to register for T-Jam, an invitation-only “innovation day” to present customer suggestions and demonstrate how the API can be used in various programming languages, scheduled for August 5.

http://www.retail-week.com/technology/e-commerce/tesco-opens-website-to-developers-of-applications/5004677.article

Advertisers and affiliates will be offered free advice to assist their affiliate marketing activity at the Affiliate Surgery, a new feature of the A4U Expo in London on 13-14 October 2009.
The Affiliate Surgery will be held over both days of the fully-inclusive affiliate marketing conference event, and will feature a host of different experts who will investigate any problems, advise on any issues and help alleviate any concerns.
The Surgery will cover optimising affiliate activity, search-engine optimisation and conversion, as well as give guidance on successfully integrating complimentary channels such as e-mail and social media.
It will run on a 'no appointment necessary' basis and experts will be rotated throughout the event so that delegates can tap into a range of helpful advice.
The two-day event, which takes place at Excel London, provides everyone working in or around the UK affiliate marketing sector with a focused platform for learning, networking and deal-breaking.
Its conference programme will feature a collection of industry experts from across the UK and international online marketing sector, with presentations, panel debates and hands-on workshop sessions.
The accompanying exhibition will also feature a specially-selected group of UK and European exhibitors, while there will also be networking parties after each day's formal programme.

http://www.marketingservicestalk.com/news/aff/aff105.html

Chris Bishop, former Online Acquisition Manager for House of Fraser has launched digital marketing agency 7thingsmedia.

Offering eCommerce trading and marketing services to advertisers, 7thingsmedia’s core focus will be on affiliate and search channels. 

 

The agency will offer clients a range of services, including outsourced affiliate management and consultancy and full service paid search campaign management.  

 

Bishop said: “In the current economic climate companies are looking to streamline business models by turning their attention to digital marketing activity, which offers measurable results and a significant return on investment. 7thingmedia has been set up to offer advertisers the most direct route to market, helping to scale online operations via cost effective marketing strategies. “

 

Chris Bishop recently won the Commission Junction European Marketing Show award for “Outstanding Personal Contribution to Affiliate Marketing” for his work at Hotel Chocolat and the 2008 A4Uawards “Best Use of Affiliate Marketing as Part of an Integrated Campaign”.  

 

He has also been shortlisted on two occasions for “Affiliate Manager of the Year”.

 

www.7thingsmedia.com

http://www.netimperative.com/news/2009/may/7thingsmedia-debuts-affiliate-and-paid-search/?searchterm=affiliate

International affiliate network Webgains has been appointed to manage the first global affiliate programs for Wolverine World Wide, owner of footwear brands including Hush Puppies and Cat Footwear. 

Wolverine World Wide’s brands, which also include Merrell, Sebago, Bates and Harley Davidson, are carried by retailers in the U.S. and globally in 180 countries and territories. 

 

Wolverine World Wide aims to increase its brands’ online sales and international web presence during the downturn. 

 

The Hush Puppies website launched in 2003 and Cat Footwear website launched at the end of 2008. Both are quickly growing their number of unique visitors per month.  

 

Jez Wilson, European ecommerce manager at Wolverine World Wide, said: “Affiliate marketing is a new channel for us and we believe it is one of the best ways to recruit new customers with zero risk associated and nominal costs. 

 

“We needed to make sure we worked with a network which gave brand protection top priority and one that had an international reach. Webgains has tools and resources to monitor our brand assets. It operates in ten countries and also has an excellent reputation amongst affiliates.”

 

Econsultancy estimates that the UK affiliate market was worth £3.82bn in 2008, a 22% increase from £3.13bn in 2007. An estimated £227m was paid last year in commissions and fees to affiliates and networks (Econsultancy Affiliate Network Buyers Guide 2009) 

 

Robert Glasgow, managing director of Webgains said: ‘We are proud that Wolverine Worldwide has chosen Webgains as a partner to promote their affiliate marketing efforts for Hush Puppies and Cat Footwear. In general, digital is seen as the best way to access new customers, and affiliate marketing – given its focus on the CPA (cost per acquisition) model – allows complete visibility for advertisers of the return on their marketing investment. The Webgains team is very focused on building quickly and efficiently the Hush Puppies and Cat Footwear affiliate marketing programs.”

 

 www.webgains.com

 

 www.wolverineworldwide.com

http://www.netimperative.com/news/2009/may/hush-puppies-hires-webgains-for-first-affiliate/?searchterm=affiliate

Expedia Affiliate Network (EAN) has reported a 50% rise in demand for its affiliate and private label solution from potential new business partners across EMEA in the first quarter of 2009 compared with the same period in 2008. 

EAN believes this increase in interest comes as economic conditions continue to put pressure on businesses across Europe, encouraging people to evaluate and maximise all possible revenue streams.

 

Tamer Tamar, vice president and managing director EMEA, EAN, commented: “In this economic climate it is more important than ever for businesses to look at the efficiency and profitability of their online offering. Partnerships with online experts, such as ourselves in the travel arena, is one way in which companies can look to monetise their website with little or no additional investment required.” 

 

“Our team are able to work with individual organisations to ascertain their key business requirements. Because of the breadth of our offering we are able to tailor our solution to meet these companies’ needs. The technology we use means a fast and efficient set up and recent results from our existing partners really speak for themselves,” he continued. 

 

Norwegian Air Shuttle has recently renewed their partnership with EAN following three consecutive years of growth. The partnership which was initially signed in 2005, has been so successful that hotel sales through the site have risen 40% year on year over the past three years*. bmi experienced a threefold increase** in hotel bookings and revenue via its website in the first three months after commencing a white label partnership with Expedia Affiliates Network in March 2008.

 

Expedia Affiliates Network is the global market leader in affiliate and private label travel solutions offering market-leading packages, over 90,000 hotels worldwide and competitive pricing and availability.  

 

Currently EAN works with more than 10,000 private label partners across the globe including Eurostar, Lonely Planet, Formula1, fish4 and Sky as well as 19 airline partners throughout EMEA including Pegasus Airlines, Norwegian Air Shuttle, SAS and bmi. 

 

Recent signings also include the environmentally friendly web portal Click4Carbon.com further enhancing EAN’s growing number of partners outside the travel arena.

http://www.netimperative.com/news/2009/april/expedia-sees-50-rise-in-demand-for-affiliate/?searchterm=affiliate

Payments are a major concern for affiliate marketers, according to recent research.

The study, from EntroPay conducted at the A4U Expo in October 2008, reveals a disconnect between affiliates and merchants in the way that payments are made, with only 23% of affiliates happy with the way they are paid, compared to 62% of merchants who are satisfied with current payment processes for affiliates.

The administrative costs for merchants when making global payments are often as high as £25 per transaction, but surprisingly 67% of respondents were unaware of these charges.

Failure to address this is a major obstacle for the growth of affiliate marketing in 2009.

The research also highlights that decreasing marketing budgets are the biggest concern for the industry in 2009. But it’s not all doom and gloom, with half of the respondents stating that the credit crunch will help increase demand for affiliate marketing, with almost 50% predicting it will drive growth of vouchers and discount affiliate marketing online.

Commenting on the research, Alex Mifsud, CEO of EntroPay said: “Affiliate marketing is one of the most popular sales and marketing channels in the online sector. But current payment methods are creating a barrier to affiliate marketing growth, with a divide in the way that affiliates and merchants view payment processes. Of all affiliates surveyed, the second biggest challenge to the industry is the speed of making payments, following decreasing marketing budgets.

“The growth in social networking and blogs has led to the rise of micro-affiliates who are not able to meet high payment thresholds imposed by merchants and can therefore miss out on regular payments, or may not even get paid at all. While this will clearly cause frustration for the affiliate, it represents a vast missed opportunity for the merchant. But on the merchant’s side, businesses also need to feel confident that they are not wasting money on administrative costs associated with payments, especially in today’s economic climate.  

“The results highlight a clear need to introduce a global standard for  such payments, ensuring rapid and efficient payments across the world regardless of how small each transaction is. Payment is an important part of increasing brand loyalty and ultimately helps drive sales back to the merchant’s site. In today’s environment, merchants cannot afford to waste money on costly administrative charges when making global payments. Prepaid open-loop cards – those that operate with the international card networks such as Visa and MasterCard – offer  a cost effective, simple and secure way to pay affiliates quickly and efficiently, overcoming currency conversion and administrative issues across the world.”

EntroPay surveyed delegates at the A4U Expo 2008 including affiliates, merchants, networks, agencies and other industry figures.

Source: www.entropay.com

http://www.netimperative.com/news/2008/november/3rd/payment-disputes-2018obstructs-growth-of-affiliate/?searchterm=affiliate

Designer retailer Karen Millen has appointed Linkshare to run an affiliate marketing campaign.

LinkShare will support Karen Millen’s digital strategy by extending its online presence through strategic implementation of their affiliate partnerships.

The appointment follows a raft of high street wins for LinkShare including Shoe Studio and Lipsy.

Karen Millen will use LinkShare’s affiliate marketing network to drive traffic through special web offers as well as promoting new collections and designs.

The move ties in with the explosive growth of online shopping, supported by the latest IMRG Capgemini e-Retail Sales Index, which states a 14 per cent increase in online retail sales in the last 12 months.

Emma Bonar, e-commerce manager at Karen Millen said: “E-commerce has gone from strength to strength with growing numbers of consumers turning to internet shopping.  We want to maximise the returns from this channel by extending our reach online, and affiliate marketing is an effective way to do this.

“We are already seeing returns in terms of traffic to the site, especially with web promotions, after just a few weeks. LinkShare has been instrumental in selecting the right affiliates which match our brand values and deliver the best returns.”

LinkShare also announced its selection by leading women’s retailer Lipsy and high street shoe specialist Shoe Studio, continuing the ongoing success for LinkShare in the retail sector.

“Retailers are starting to realise the gains to be had from online, not only in supporting their bricks and mortar stores, but in producing high revenue gains,” said Liane Dietrich, managing director for LinkShare UK. “We recently carried out research with analysts Penn Schoen & Berland Associates, which showed that people are searching harder and longer online. As the competition increases, a wide online presence is vital to the success of retail brands. We are pleased to be working with such a high number of leading retailers, and look forward to carrying this momentum into the next quarter.”

http://www.netimperative.com/news/2009/may/karen-millen-appoints-linkshare-for-affiliate/?searchterm=affiliate

Leading car hire comparison site Carrentals.co.uk strengthens affiliate programme for UK business with new Trade Doubler agreement and 5% commission 

SURREY, ENGLAND, June 10, 2009 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Leading car hire price comparison site Carrentals.co.uk is expanding its affiliate offering for UK businesses - offering 5% commission and a market leading conversion rate of 4% - through a new agreement with Trade Doubler.

The announcement comes following the company's launch of its affiliate programme earlier this year. The new agreement with Trade Doubler - Europe's most extensive and successful affiliate network - is designed to extend the reach of the Carrentals.co.uk affiliate programme further to a growing range of businesses looking for new revenue streams.

Gareth Robinson, managing director of Carrentals.co.uk, says: "In the current market a growing number of British businesses are recognising the potential of becoming an affiliate to boost revenue from new sources. Carrentals.co.uk is the UK's most successfulcar hire price comparison site, with our sales converting at around 4% - three times higher than any of our competitors.

"The affiliate programme has proved increasingly popular since we launched, and the agreement with Trade Doubler will extend our reach to a wider audience. With a 5% commission rate for partners, and an easy to integrate and track solution, becoming an affiliate has never been simpler."

Carrentals.co.uk was voted Best Car Hire Website in the 2008 Travolution awards, and compares prices from leading rental providers including Alamo, Budget, Holiday Autos, and Thrifty. 

Through an affiliate deal any business can now feature a Carrentals.co.uk banner on their website, which visitors click on to make their car hire booking. All reservations are made through the Carrentals site, with clear tracking and reporting of booking figures and commission levels. 

The affiliate programme will run on the Trade Doubler network and will be managed by award winning affiliate management agency, Arctic Sunrise. 
 
Keith Budden of Arctic Sunrise adds: "Affiliate programmes offer businesses an extra element to their websites, but the key is to ensure they are easy to integrate and manage. The quality of the Carrentals.co.uk affiliate product, combined with the broad market that car hire attracts and the 5% commission structure has resulted in a very strong proposition, and this will grow further with the new Trade Doubler agreement."

To find out more about the Carrentals.co.uk affiliate solution visit http://www.carrentals.co.uk/about/become-an-affiliate

About Carrentals.co.uk
Carrentals.co.uk was launched in February 2003 and grew to become one of the UK's leading online car hire companies by 2006.
In 2007 the company re-launched its site to create the first major online price comparator in the travel industry. Using the latest technology the Carrentals.co.uk site now searches up to 35 different car hire websites, providing an impartial comparison of the best prices available in over 9,000 locations. 
Websites searched include Alamo, Budget, EasyCar, Ebookers, Hertz, Holiday Autos, Opodo, Sixt and Thrifty, with the Carrentals.co.uk site quickly comparing prices and allowing customers to refine their search by car type. 
The Carrentals.co.uk site also features over 5,000 pages of travel information in a mini-guide format. 
In 2008 Carrentals.co.uk was voted Best Car Hire Website in the Travolution Awards. To book or for further information visitwww.carrentals.co.uk

About Arctic Sunrise
Award winning agency Arctic Sunrise provides affiliate management services for over 60 clients across a broad range of market sectors. Their 'hands on' approach, combined with unrivalled knowledge of the UK affiliate marketing arena, enables them to provide cost effective outsourced affiliate management.


Press release service and press release distribution provided by http://www.24-7pressrelease.com

Carrentals.co.uk is expanding its affiliate offering for UK businesses - offering five per cent commission and a conversion rate of four per cent - through an agreement with Tradedoubler.

The agreement is designed to further extend the reach of the Carrentals.co.uk affiliate programme to a growing range of businesses looking for new revenue streams.

Through an affiliate deal any business can now feature a Carrentals.co.uk banner on their website, which visitors click on to make their car-hire booking.

All reservations are made through the Carrentals site, with clear tracking and reporting of booking figures and commission levels.

The affiliate programme will run on the Tradedoubler network and will be managed by affiliate management agency, Arctic Sunrise.

London, 17 April 2009 – TradeDoubler, the international digital performance marketing company, today announces that it has been appointed by Singapore Airlines to exclusively manage its affiliate programme in the UK and Ireland. The world's largest airline by market value, and the most awarded airline, aims to boost its Internet presence and sales in the increasingly competitive travel market through TradeDoubler's extensive affiliate network.

Singapore Airlines has seen a substantial increase in online sales via its ecommerce channel, singaporeair.com, over the past year due to enhancements in its product and service offering, including competitive fares, online seat reservations and stopover holiday packages, and, in light of the current climate, Singapore Airlines is ramping up its online activity further.

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TradeDoubler, the international digital marketing company, today announces that it has been appointed by leading international airline, Scandinavian Airlines (SAS), to manage its affiliate marketing programme. Northern Europe's largest airline aims to boost its internet presence and sales in the increasingly competitive travel market through TradeDoubler's extensive pan-European affiliate network.

The deal sees TradeDoubler initially launch the programme in the UK and Ireland and continuing to roll out across Spain, France and The Netherlands in the coming days.

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Bigmouthmedia reports Britain's top companies stand to lose out on a potential online revenue stream worth over £370million

PRLog (Press Release) – Mar 26, 2009 – Bigmouthmedia reports Britain's top companies stand to lose out on a raft of sales in 2009 after an analysis of the FTSE 100's digital marketing activity revealed that some of the country's biggest brands are missing out on a potential online revenue stream worth over £370million. 

While the majority of the UK's leading companies run successful affiliate marketing campaigns responsible for increasing internet sales on average by 15%, many major corporations are still failing to exploit the channel. Now, after extensive research bigmouthmedia has revealed that based on available figures, a raft of household names stand to lose potential affiliate revenues of £376.3 million in the next year alone. 
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Barcelona, Spain and San Francisco, April 14 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Private Media Group, Inc. Internet adult store GameLink.com, part of the Online Division of Private Media Group, has announced plans to expand its platform into Europe. The GameLink.com website, which features over 70,000 adult movies, will be available in multiple languages, currencies and pricing options, exponentially expanding GameLink's reach to its target audience. In addition, GameLink will aggregate incremental select European content and increase their international billing options, offering a uniquely robust, customizable VOD portal.

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Venda, which powers ecommerce sites for brands including Monsoon, Superdrug and Urban Outfitters, has made a move into affiliate marketing after signing a deal with ValueClick.

Venda will push product feeds from clients - which also include The Body Shop, Heal's and Wickes - to the premium retail partners of ValueClick's affiliate network Commission Junction.
These include ValueClick-owned Pricerunner, MSN Shopping, Nectar eStores and large affiliate sites. Venda clients have previously been able to give their product feeds to third parties, but this is the first time Venda has done it for them.

Andy Houstoun, Venda's head of marketing for EMEA, said the deal is designed to help its clients enhance their online offering and will enable more affiliates to gain access to Venda clients' products.

"It's the first time we've looked to connect clients with third-party sites, with the intention of driving incremental growth," Houstoun said. "We are always looking to create a better value proposition for clients."

Alison Guise, UK country manager for Commission Junction, said the move signified ValueClick's focus on expanding its retail offering.

"Six months ago we looked at how we could get access to more product feeds and this is part of that," she said. "Additionally, for affiliates to use Commission Junction to develop more partnerships themselves is really important for us."

Last month Ebay left Commission Junction to launch the Ebay Partner Network, an in-house global affiliate network. Guise said the Venda deal was in no way a reaction to that.

"Not working with Ebay frees up a lot of resources for us," she said.

Commission Junction has 40 UK staff, with clients including Argos, HSBC and TUI. Last month Pricerunner began serving its products and offers on the MSN Shopping portal. (news source nma.co.uk)

May 29, 2009, UK startup Imagini has launched the private beta version of its VisualDNA Shops widget to help monetize blogs and websites through a unique take on affiliate sales. The widget adds personalized product recommendations to any site, and immediately starts generating detailed demographic, psychographic and behavioral analytics of its visitors. It does this using the company’s VisualDNA concept; working out people’s personality types based on the pictures they choose. Imagini draws the data from its consumer facing personality test site, Youniverse, which has profiled more than 15 million people since 2006.

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May 06, 2009, A piece of research published this week by Forrester and Shop.orgabout the mix of online marketing tactics retailers plan to use this year caught myeye. How does actual consumer behavior compare with how marketers plan to allocate budgets?

The following chart shows the online marketing mix for our Retail 500 Index, a custom category of 500 leading retail websites..

Forrester/Shop.org research found that retailers plan to scale back on expensive search marketing campaigns while expanding efforts on social media such as blogs and social networks. As the above chart illustrates, social networks account for a relatively small share of traffic to websites in the Retail 500 Index, at 4.9% in April 2009. By contrast, Search Engines accounted for 30.9% of upstream visits, 23.9% of which was paid traffic.

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