With entries open for October’s inaugural International Performance Marketing Awards (IPMAs), this Q&A series looks back at the winners of the Awards’ ceremony last year, gathering insight into the some of the past winners and inspiration behind the industry’s newly-decorated campaigns and companies.
Today, we’re talking to Tobias Allgeyer, regional VP at CJ Affiliate by Conversant, last year’s headline sponsors and winners of the Best Managed Affiliate Programme in Europe, Eastern Europe Best Managed Affiliate Programme and the peer-voted Industry Choice of Network.
Tell us about winning an International Performance Marketing Award?
Alongside the Industry Choice of Network award and Best Managed Affiliate Programme in Western Europe with TUI, we are very proud to have won the Eastern Europe Best Managed Affiliate Programme with our partner VIVNETworks. VIVNETworks has been working exclusively with CJ as an affiliate network for several years and is responsible for Eastern Europe – Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, and Poland in particular. During this time, the agency based in Prague and Krakow has brought a variety of programmes for Eastern European brands to success.
CJ has been supporting the UK-based Performance Marketing Awards for many years and we’re pleased that, with the IPMAs, the international aspect of affiliate marketing is being highlighted and rewarded. After all, that is precisely the strength of our global network – CJ Affiliate is the market leader when it comes to rolling out and managing programmes for international brands. We operate under the motto: “Think global, act local”. Our success at the IPMAs is a great validation of this.
Where does the value lie in winning Eastern Europe – Best Managed Affiliate Program?
The Eastern European market is on the rise, and the regional award won last year with Zoot.cz is a good example of how to make a programme on the Eastern European market a success. The advertiser in itself takes advantage of the increased presence in the media and the publisher base of the programme was also strengthened. Our partner VIVNETworks also enjoys the recognition of a higher level of awareness – and that works beyond the Eastern European market.
Has anything changed for your company since winning the award?
We are increasingly seeing requests for the programme as well as for the Eastern European market itself. In general, many companies that have previously been reluctant to expand internationally see affiliate marketing as the ideal channel to gain a relatively risk-free, predictable investment in overseas markets.
In your opinion, what kind of attributes stood out in succeeding in such regions as Eastern Europe?
In any case, but especially in the Eastern European market, it is important to have local expertise. That’s why we entered this market in cooperation with a local partner. The key to success is the contact to and the network of publishers who advertise their respective advertisers and have the appropriate reach and content. In addition, language, knowledge of national customs in ecommerce and what actions and campaigns are required in each country are also significant.
What’s your take on the IPMA’s as a vital aspect of driving the industry forward on a global scale?
By presenting best practices, the IPMAs show which strategies and measures customers can use to successfully sell their products internationally. This fits in with our global approach, and thus the IPMAs have a firm place in CJ Affiliate’s annual event calendar.