UK Aff Network you so did not just do that
Jess- “Hi, just returning your call, sorry I missed you. I understand you were calling about a merchant called xxxxx”.Network – “Yes, I was calling to tell you they have suspended there affiliate program through network xxxx and we are now managing the program and if you could swap your links to ours?”
Jess “Where did you get my details from, how do you know I am an affiliate of merchant xxx? I have generated in total about five sales for merchant xxx in the past year, and I rank for nothing in the SE’s, so Im wondering, how did you get my details, how did you know that I used to be an affiliate of merchant xxx?”
Network “The in-house affiliate manager passed us the data she pulled off the other network and your details were on it.”
Jess “I see, are you aware you have just broken the data protection act in the fact that you are knowingly using data that has been extracted and used without the consent of the former network, without my consent. The in-house affiliate manager has broken the former networks terms and conditions? Theft springs to mind too.That what you have just done is not just illegal, it’s unethical and could be a potential law suit.”
Network “Oh Im really sorry.”
Phone call ends and Im thinking, she had no clue who I was because if she knew anything about affiliate marketing, and in particular, if she had knew the history of the company, done a bit of reseach on the company, I would be the last person she would be calling.
After a flurry of emails to the merchant the official story is. The affiliate manager of the network that called me was a junior member of staff and she had got her wires crossed. That the data was already in the possession of the in-house affiliate manager and there fore it belonged to them in order to pass over to the new network.
I think Im more annoyed as the reason why the merchant jumped from one network to another is because they thought the grass maybe greener, well they maybe in for a bit of a shock and find, they were better off with the former network (Ill come back to this a bit later and explain why). The former network knows and of course all doors will now be shut to them should merchant xxxx wish to return, as I predict they would have done.
The networks should by now have their own relationships with key affiliates.
There should be no reason why a network should be touching a competitors data in order to be handed some one else’s hard graft to them on a plate. A network is performance based just like affiliates in terms of network account management, which is essentially what merchant xxx is paying for through their new network. An irony here is that it is evident that the junior member of staff that called me, has no experience. So the merchant xxx is paying £2k? maybe? For what they thought was an experienced affiliate manager. The conversation I had with the lovely (she was) but utterly clueless affiliate manager demonstrates that this network is prepared to break the law, be underhand and devious.This also clearly demonstrates a lack of procedures, interdepartmental communication and clear guidelines as to how to deal with new merchants coming onto the network migrating from another network. Another irony here, this network, its not the first time they have been pulled up for such practices and worse.
Im not so naive as to think this does not happen all the time, I know it does. There are ways and means of migrating from one network to another if needs must. But.. to confess to using stolen data (if its true or not) is not just shocking but is asking for trouble. I could have been anyone, that’s worrying.
By the nature of what affiliates do, chances are most of the established networks will be sharing the same affiliates any way. And in this case I know it to be true. This is not uncommon when a merchant migrates from one network to another. Taking data with them. So question… who owns the affiliates?
This is a tri party affiliate marketing agreement. All networks clearly state, layman’s terms, if the merchant did not have the affiliate relationship, contact details, telephone numbers, email addresses prior to joining the affiliate network. The data belongs to the affiliate network.
The relationship fostered throughout the running of the affiliate program between the merchant and the affiliate, that’s something else again and believe whilst important and some what vague, the issue is ultimately about passing confidential competitor data from one party to another without prior written agreement from either the former network, to the new network and via an intermediate (namely the merchant xxx inhouse affiliate manager)
Now it could be argued that as I was already known to merchant xxx before I joined their program, so Im going to give merchant xxx the benefit of the doubt. But this sentence does not sit well with me at all “Network “The in-house affiliate manager passed us the data she pulled off the other network and your details were on it.”
“I think Im more annoyed as the reason why the merchant jumped from one network to another is because they thought the grass maybe greener, well they maybe in for a bit of a shock and find, they were better off with the former network (Ill come back to this a bit later and explain why)”
Is the grass going to be greener by migrating to another network. There are arguments for and against. But let’s dispel any myths that if one network has more affiliates then others its going to yield better results. Is simply a red herring. Any merchant buying into this line, forget the numbers. In any case its not about how many affiliates a network has, how many of those affiliates are going to join your program is what counts and what you do with them once they have joined. So does the argument stand up that more affiliates mean more sales? Again this will depend on the popularity of your product, commissions but all means jack without good overall website conversions.
Of course if I were a merchant selling xxxx and never having set up an aff program before, then I would be swayed to launch in a network that has my competitors. Affiliates are already there. But if you cant compete with your competitors in terms of website conversions, commissions and product demand, then choice of network should come down to reputation, tools, cost and gut instinct.
Affiliate management is about growing an affiliate program, its always going to be about what you do with the affiliates that you have. Affiliate recruitment, plays a role but is not the be all and end all.
In this case merchant xxx had an established affiliate program with established relationships. The program had been maturing over a few years. Organic growth was now kicking in. Proactive affiliate manager, so I don’t understand the need to migrate.
The merchant xxx has now just ruined everything they have worked so hard for by making one decisions based on the grass will be greener. Getting affiliate to swap over links, that’s such a hard thing to do, some will, some wont.They have probably lost a lot of their affiliate relationships now and are starting to feel the pinch. There are other implications too, which Ill leave you to think about.
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Comments
http://www.timesonline.co.uk
/tol/comment/columnists
/alice_miles/article2910272.ece
Arrrgg trying to post an HTML link
I Give up 😉
Hey James :0)
You are correct, if the merchants in-house affiliate manager had contacted the affiliates directly then, this would have been fine. You cant start waving a legal stick at relationships that have formed, grown and flourished with affiliates over a number of years and months.
The former aff network may have been the introducers, but it’s the merchant’s in house aff manager that has taken the relationship to a higher level. So I don’t think anyone would have had an issue with this at all, in fact it would have been the way to go.
I can tell you now, as you may already know. The task to migrate affiliates and get them swapping links is a lost cause unless those affiliates were really making substantial sales for them to make the effort. If I look at past events like this, we have seen affiliate sales drop off when links change. We see stats go down for a few months. Its almost like starting from scratch, that whole bedding in period. In time sales will come back from new affiliates that may join the program, which they would have gotten, in this case, had they remained where they were.
This issue is about affiliate data primarily, under no circumstances should a competitor network have had my details unless I was already previously known to them as an affiliate that was generating sales for that merchant. As I said, I have generated next to nothing and I don’t register in any SE’s. They could only have known about me because my data was given to them either on purpose or accidentally.
If this was the US, this would be a lawsuit and of this I am certain.
I could have sued, the former network could have sued.
Another point, this highlights the whole issue about how we handle data, day to day and storage of, whilst this was on such an unprecedented scale of incompetents, at least they can claim it was an accident http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/alice_miles/article2910272.ece
We have to be careful, diligent and I have to ask myself, if the new network has to stoop to using illegal data (regardless of how they obtained it) what message is this sending out to the big brands and small to medium merchants that we are trying to convince about how our industry is cleaning up its act? I hope a lesson has been learnt, I doubt it some how and its just a matter of time before it happens again.
This is always a slighty contriversial topic as it really depends on how much recritment was or is being done by the inhouse affiliate manager. We do pretty much all our recruitment ourselves and if we were to switch a program from one network to another (again the reasons could differ here) and had direct relationships with the affiliate of course we would let them know about the move. Would it have made any difference if the contact was from an inhouse manager and not the network? Interesting stuff as always jess! J x