Merchants signing exclusive deals with networks - have you done it and why?

[Malcolm Cowley]

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Hi all

Predominantly I am looking for merchant replies with this post but as a lot of blue chips and agencies will just read this and think about it but not post then its more than likely it will turn into what affiliates think about the same situation which could be interesting as well.

At the buy.at network many people will have noticed this year how many programs have been slimming down the amount of networks they deal with and some like Egg , Butlins and now T-mobile have chosen to work with just one network- buy.at - these are not exclusives - these are consolidations with an open door to work with other networks if they wish and there is a big difference . I just wanted to make that clear first.

What some merchants do though under advice from some networks is to sign up to the network of choice with a 12 month exclusive or more .

It tends to be the network that pushes for this and I always wondered why merchants agree to it .

In all the consolidation chats I have had this year I never mentioned exclusivity - I think its weak to need to as it shows a certain level of insecurity on the networks side imo to have to have it as part of the contract.

Imagine if Egg had been exclusive to one network then they wouldn't have met buy.at who were last in of 3 neworks or T-mobile who chose us as a second network to compliment what they were doing less than a year ago and liked it so much they now are putting all their business through us and leaving Tradedoubler.

Both of these companies would have been stuck with one program if they had exclusives.

It seems that the value in exclusives to me is only with the network and not really with the merchant - but am I wrong? I would love to hear from Merchants who have done it and think it was the best move for them and why?

I think that some companies can really benefit from working with only one network or I wouldnt be consolidating so many through buy.at , but I also think its wise to leave the door open incase plans change , the network your with changes , affiliate opinion of the network changes or your business objectives re align and the network no longer fits well with that.

These are all good reasons not to tie yourself down in a contract to only working with network x .

Ill be honest and say there are definately some companies as an affiliate manager that Id love to work with and plenty where I see a lot of gaps that the merchant could be filling and making their programs better for it but aren't and yet they are exclusive and so until their contract is up for renewal they are off limits.

Great if your the network thats got them but not so good for the merchant or me :-)

Ill be very interested to talk to some of the merchants who have gone down the exclusive route and get their views on the value they got from an exclusive relationship where they were contractually tied in for a certain amount of time.

Ill be curious to see if anyone would do it again because it worked so well and the network they did it with bent over backwords to help them acheive their targets - hmmmm I wonder

Apologies for the eye strain you will no doubt have if you made it to the bottom of this post :-)

Thanks

Mal

[KieronD]

Good post Malcolm, and while my intention isn't to hijack it I was wondering what everybody's thoughts on a related topic are:

Affiliates signing exclusive deals with networks - have you done it and why?

I'm sure I'm not the only affiliate to be approached by networks asking to sign a contract that locks me in to only using their links for any advertisers that are on multiple networks.

What are the benefits of doing this? While there are some fringe benefits the main benefit has to be a bonus scheme that allows you to earn some quite generous money over and above what you earn as an affiliate.

What are people's thoughts on this?

Cheers!

[Malcolm Cowley]

No probs Keiron mate - I think your topic is a very good one to air also .

Ill give you a Pie and Chips with gravy as well if you only promote T-mobile through buy.at :-) .... oops thats the only place you can get it now anyway from ..... Friday woohooo

As an affiliate I wouldnt sign an exclusive deal with anyone. Far to much going on to tie yourself in to a contract with a network.

From an industry point of view I cant see how it helps a merchant. If the affiliate needs more money to promote a product or service them talks with the merchant could help that in a lot of cases. Where does the merchant get a benefit from one network tying in the affiliate?

The best thing for a merchant when trying networks is to control the affiliate spend themselves and allocate whats to be paid by the network and that way the picture of which network is doing more for you becomes clearer.

I have been accused twice in 3 weeks by other networks of cutting a deal on two of our big programs in order to lure affiliates - In both cases the other networks info was false when checked out and now they look a bit foolish and desperate to say the least.

Sometimes service and trust come before a few extra pennies

Thanks

Mal

[drivetowin]

Originally posted by Perfiliate

Sometimes service and trust come before a few extra pennies

Well said Mal

I would personally always go with a programme on AF, Buyat or POR in preference to other networks precisely because of that issue.

The only reason I can see a merchant would agree to an exclusive with a network would be if the network cut them a deal, principally on the setup fees and network override - otherwise why do it.

Like Kieron, I too have been offered higher rates by networks in return for exclusives but (so far at least) have always turned them down - though I came close to agreeing this on a couple of programmes with DGM until DGM ceased replying to my emails and I'm still waiting for some documentation they promised me at the end of February - enough said!

The only thing I would say to merchants who are on more than one network is a) make sure your offering to affiliates is identical and b) - and easily the biggest bugbear for me - remember to update your creative across all of the networks you are on.

Keith

ps: thanks for your PM yesterday - its appreciated

[Supercod]

One reason a merchant might go exclusive on a network is the network is offering them years of experience and consultancy advice in getting their own overall operation working better. Now if I was the guying giving out £50,000+ of advice I be looking for either the money or some kind of thank you back such as a short term exclusive deal. Are you going to knock your pan in giving loads of advice only for someone else to get all the benefit?

I get and have people all the time asking for free advice, I used to give out tons of it and then they go show up on another network who couldn’t be bothered giving any, so now I am like.. want my advice at least work with me (doesn’t have to be exclusive). Now I am all for choice, in fact I think it’s a great thing for everyone. As every network has an ability to track it’s often the extra things such as personal contact, reassurance in the systems, extra bits of kit that are helpful in promoting merchants that can swing who my links are with and in some cases if they are not with a network I can work with then I will just not promote them. I am sure this is the same for others.

So from my point of view (and I have many hats) I think it’s great if your putting in the work, and getting rewarded by the merchants wanting to work with you and drop the others, they are not going to do that if they going to lose tons of money at the other place as that’s just mad. One merchant I am working with just now was getting told for ages that going with us would be a waste of time, oh boy where they so wrong, we have their 2 top performing affiliates and these guys never promoted the program until they came on to our network, and it wasn’t like the other place didn’t know them.

One thing I have always found laughable from both merchants and affiliates is to right off a network or a merchant or even an affiliate without trying to find out what they can do for you. Never ever trust just one source, always ask about and get it checked, but be careful of who you ask, even ask people about them and you have a far more balanced picture. That’s one thing that’s great about public forum, because if what they are saying is actually true, then they could post it here and most people would be in agreement (you always get someone who not) but if what you have to say can only be done behind peoples backs, then, well you know where that’s going. I remember a couple of networks rubbished what I was saying about local cookies.. so I posted it here and they can all post if I am wrong, mmm what you know I wasn’t wrong and the only solution for duplicates sales across networks wasn’t for the merchant just to pick one network

Note: I have written off working with a few networks, merchants just now, but I done them the service of actually checking out what they offered before I right them off with not being of use to me at this point. It’s only the hopeless shocking ones that could actually the damage the industry, I will make mention of if only to make them see what’s wrong so they can fix it.

[Malcolm Cowley]

Some good points there mate .

There are plenty of merchants being taken for a ride no question about it - wont take me and you long to find them all and have a chat with them though :-)

I can see how an exclusive might be a good way to put a value on some of the more up market advice that they may receive and if I saw an offical exclusive on Paid on Results then I dont think I would be bothered as I know they will be getting something from it which will be worth the flipside of tying themselves in at least for the short term .

There are one or two other networks who the same could be said about as well , but there are definately some exclusives with some networks that raise an eyebrow when I know that the network is going to do F all for the merchant aside from tying them up for a year .

In those cases I think fear of loss is the greatest factor in them asking for an exclusive as they know if the program has a second network then they are going to look decidedly average in comparison.

Take Egg , Butlins and T-mobile as prime examples - buy.at was the second network for all of these programs , so basically something we were seen as something new for the merchant to trial but considered added value as opposed to the first line of attack - where are these programs now :-)

I tend to think - see you in a year when I see these exclusives announced as I can almost recite the script of how their year has gone and what issues they will have struggled with during it - so for the networks that do exclusives and dont back it up your playing a short term game as some of the hot networks of the moment are waiting in line to pick up the pieces

Thanks

Mal