Astonishing ASOS quote

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Directly from this weeks NewMediaAge

"Next year we'll reintroduce affiliate marketing but as it should be, as opposed to affiliates as they were" said Nick Robertson, ASOS CEO. "(There'll be) no silly commissions being paid to grubby little people in grubby studios growing income at our expense, getting in the way of genuine sales"

Is it just me, or is that the single worst published comment on affiliates ever - I know they are hardly popular but surely this puts them in a new level.

[Fraser]

My copy hasn't arrived yet but that quote has to be a classic example of Doing a Ratner

It's very hard to understand what he hoped to gain with a comment like that.

[rob.co.uk]

Smooth

Well done Nick Robertson !

[Azam.net]

Directly from this weeks NewMediaAge

"(There'll be) no silly commissions being paid to grubby little people in grubby studios growing income at our expense, getting in the way of genuine sales"

Wow. That truly is a case of doing a Ratner and one of the most astonishing remarks I have ever heard.

It's the affiliate channel that grew ASOS.com and they still profiting from the hundreds of thousands of customers that affiliates worked hard to acquire for them on a commission-only basis. While affiliates got around 10% per sale, they took a mammoth 90% slice, so I don't know how they can complain about "grubby little people in grubby studios growing income at our expense, getting in the way of genuine sales".

[Matthew Wood]

Next year? aka 2008?

Astonishing, sad and misguided words from a CEO.

I really do hope no network accepts them onto their network.

[wwwb]

ooooOOOOOOooooo

amazing what a few plugs on GMTV and the Sunday rags do for the ego and who in their right mind is going to sign up to their aff program if the CEO is making comments like that?

Jude

[Mogga]

I'm off to have a wash because someone's calling me grubby.

[OLBG]

Wow - really offensive

[Paul Wright]

Shocker!

Perhaps he thought that those "grubby little people" don't read NMA or have forgotten the way in which the were treated last time. I don't think so.

[3wdl]

I'm trying quite hard not to swear here.

What an idiot.

[Julie H]

Sounds like a real nice guy. I'll put him on my list!!!

Jules
xx

[pistol101]

I'm sure it's related to the brandname PPC, as they probably spent a forutune on it and then stopping the programme suddenly saw very little drop in sales and one big bill not to pay.

[Supercod]

LOL classic

Here is a question, is we are the unwashed masses why would they want to get back in bed with Affiliates?

[mikey_freedom]

The whole ASOS thing was about the time I was just taking an interest in AM, so I was never signed up with them. I did, however, read enough on here, and come up with my own feelings on why it appeared to have great cynicism towards its affiliates by the time it closed.

The 'we can't trust anyone 'til they've proved us wrong' approach could never inspire a publisher to believe that any trust can exist should they sign up to a programme.

'at our expense' - not interested in adware etc hijacking a legitimate affiliate's commission, or any other nonsense, then?
'getting in the way' - ASOS as a brand seemed to be built on the back of vastly increased internet visibility through the affiliate programme. Revisionism can be wonderful
'grubby little studios' - boo.com couldn't be accused of that, but it didn't keep them from the wall. A one room office, an office in an airport and wherever your laptop goes. That's one of the fantastic things about this industry.

Great quote for all the wrong reasons

[FictionNet]

If he's talking about Wardy then it's quite a fair assessment 'cos he doesn't wash very often. However, for the rest of us, it's a pretty unflattering comment.