Coke Zone campaign on Tradedoubler update - and will Coke get a return from cashback sites?
A short while after I blogged about the Coke Zone campaign last Friday I had a phone call from the account manager responsible for the programme to address my concerns. Great, I like to get these things sorted and get on and make money. So we had a brief chat about how to communicate effectively with TradeDoubler as my 9 emails seem to have been lost in the system, and I was told why my commission had been set to 0.00p. Apparently it was a bit of a mix-up to cut a long story short, anyway its resolved now, which is the main thing.
However, the big issue I had was the fact that Coke don’t allow the word(s) “Coke Zone” in affiliate URL’s. I stated that I though this was a bit silly and doesn’t help us as affiliates earn money. He sympathised, but said at the end of the day it is Coke’s campaign and they must run the campaign by Coke’s rules. Fair enough I say but have you seen these fellas?…..
www.ipoints.co.uk/collect-ipoints/details/1y̅KZrqaUSe/Coke+Zone
www.quidco.com/coke-zone/
Both are popular cashback/reward sites that are clearly displaying the term “Coke Zone” in the URL. So is it one rule for one and one rule for another or are these guys just being naughty? Or maybe they just didn’t read the terms and conditions? Anyway he said he would investigate and call me Monday (today). Great I say as I will be updating my blog today. As of 7pm I haven’t received any calls.
Anyway, as I was searching Google for “Coke Zone” I came across this thread on a forum…
www.hotukdeals.com/item/160572/coke-zone/
The thing that really jumped out at me was the following:
Surprised anyone wants them really, the ‘prizes’ are rubbish! Just wallpapers and stuff, I only joined because I got 45p from quidco
So here we have a member of Quidco publicly saying that he only signed up to Coke Zone to receive his 45p. It led me to wonder how much traffic from cashback/reward sites can be classed as “genuine”? I.e. a user who has a real interest in the product and who’s not signing up just to receive some free cash. I know this is a big issue for the industry as a whole and these type of sites probably merit a blog post of their own, but it did get me to thinking what could Coke (and other lead generated campaigns? do to get past this?
Offer a 2 tier commission structure: Let’s say the cost per lead is £1, then why not say half it for cashback/reward sites? I think we have to be real and honest here and admit that it’s the nature of the beast that a good percentage of these users will only sign up for the cashback/reward. So if this is recognised then lets offer a different commission rate for this type of traffic. Some merchants (gaming merchants spring to mind) already do this.
Don’t work with cashback/reward sites at all: Maybe a bit controversial but if the quality of the traffic isn’t there then what’s the point. On the other hand can you afford to ignore over 100,000 Quidco users?
What are people’s thoughts on this? I don’t honestly know what the answer is.
What I’m listening to right now: Joe – “We’re Family”
Post from: Affiliate Marketing Blog Here.org.uk
Coke Zone campaign on Tradedoubler update - and will Coke get a return from cashback sites?
Original post by Kieron