A01 chaf6542 06 se fm indd

Brand protection activities

•  Social media monitoring

  and response:

•  Influencing media owners

  & blogger relations

•  Negative SEO

•  PPC protection

Online

PR

4 Defensive/

Crisis

1 SEO-r

elated

activities

3 Building

Campaign

Buzz

2 Engagement &

Dialogue

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Chapter 9  Customer relationship management

Amazon was one of the earliest adopters of affiliate marketing and it now has hundreds of 

thousands of affiliates that drive visitors to Amazon through links in return for commission 

on products sold. Internet legend records that Jeff Bezos, the creator of Amazon, was chat-

ting at a cocktail party to someone who wanted to sell books about divorce via her website. 

Subsequently, Amazon.com launched its Associates Program in July 1996 and it is still going 

strong. To manage the process of finding affiliates, updating product information, tracking 

clicks and making payments, many companies use an affiliate network or affiliate manager 

such as Commission Junction (

www.cj.com

) or Trade Doubler (

www.tradedoubler.com

).

Some of the issues with balancing spend between affiliate marketing and other online commu-

nications techniques and offline communications techniques are illustrated by Mini case study 9.5.

Mini Case Study 9.5

Technology e‑retailer dabs.com has traditionally used these as their main communications tools:

● 

Search engine marketing (the main investment)

● 

Referrals from affiliates (this has been reduced)

● 

Online display advertising on  third‑  party sites (limited)

● 

PR.

Jonathan Wall, Dabs marketing director, explains (New Media Age, 2005a) how dabs.com reappraised their 

use of e‑communications tools. He said:

We stopped all our affiliate and  price-  comparison marketing in February because we wanted to see what 

effect it had on our business and if we were getting value for money. It was proving a very expensive chan-

nel for us and we’ve found [stopping] it has had virtually no effect, because we’re seeing that people will 

still go to Kelkoo to check prices and then come to our site anyway. It’s like they’re having a look around 

first and then coming to a brand they know they can trust. We’re continuing with  paid-  for search on 

Google, but that’s all we’re doing with online marketing at the moment.

New Media Age (2005a) also reported that Empire Direct had adopted a similar approach to its communica‑

tion mix, reporting that its co‑founder and sales and marketing director, Manohar Showan, had revealed that 

the company has significantly moved from online to offline advertising. He said:

We’ve moved a lot more into national papers and specialist magazines. Two years ago, if you’d asked 

me where we marketed and advertised ourselves, I would have said the majority was online. But now it’s 

turned right round and online’s the minority.

Electronic retailers cut back on their e‑communications spend

Figure 9.14

The affiliate marketing model (note that the tracking software and fee 

payment may be managed through an independent affiliate network 

manager)

Visitor

PC

Visit

Affiliate

site

Click

Tracking

software

Re-direct

Merchant

site

Sale or lead

Network?

Commission fee

Creative

Sets time-limited cookie

Checks present on purchase

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