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Performics' new VP of affiliate marketing claims the industry is still growing and is fueled by performance-based marketing.
Earlier this year Chris Henger, a veteran of affiliate network Performics since 2002, took the helm of the company's affiliate marketing business unit. As vice president, affiliate marketing, Henger is charged with representing publisher interests to advertisers, a role he takes very seriously. In his former position as senior vice president of marketing and development with Performics, Henger dealt with affiliate issues from a different and broader perspective. Prior to joining Performics he was senior vice president/general manager at Emusic.com, which was acquired by Vivendi Universal. Revenue editor-in-chief Lisa Picarille spoke with Henger about his new role at Performics, some short-term goals for the Chicago-based affiliate network and where the online marketing space is headed.
Lisa Picarille:You recently took on some additional responsibilities; can you outline your new duties? Chris Henger: Running our affiliate business unit for Performics is a responsibility that I took on with great enthusiasm. I am passionate about this industry and about Performics' opportunity to take it to the next level. I represent the affiliate business within DoubleClick's management team and manage a talented team of affiliate marketing professionals. In my role I am responsible for the growth and prosperity of our affiliate operations and that means making sure clients are satisfied and that publishers are productive and well-compensated. The possibilities for improved publisher productivity are endless and that is an area that receives a great deal of my attention and Performics' resources.
LP: That sort of makes you the face of Performics, at least for affiliates. That can be a tough position with some very vocal critics. Talk about how you plan to interact with the affiliate community. CH: I am proud to take on the responsibility of Performics' leadership for the affiliate community. I am active at industry events like Ad:Tech and Affiliate Summit and I am always looking for ways to have more direct contact with publishers. We recently established a Publisher Advisory Board and this group has already proven to be an honest and insightful sounding board for ideas. I also represent our publisher interests to our advertiser clients. It is important that they understand the implications of the decisions they make, and I spend a lot of time talking to advertisers about publishers. There are tough critics in our industry but they have good ideas and the key is to absorb the feedback and use it to make sound decisions.
LP: Do you have mechanisms in place for addressing negative comments and effecting change? CH: Monitoring and addressing comments are a shared responsibility at Performics. The affiliate marketing director keeps careful track of the media, blogs and other forums, and the product manager is active in the community. Our publisher services team fields inquiries from publishers and they are the first line of support to quickly address comments and effect change on behalf of our publishers. I meet with these teams on a regular basis to anticipate changes we need to make. We also have an internal blog that we rely on to get the word out to the program managers if there is a particular issue or change in the marketplace that needs attention.
LP: What are some of the goals you have for Performics in the next 12 months? CH: The next 12 months are going to be very exciting for Performics. We have an aggressive growth plan in place and a lot of innovation coming with our product road map. Personally it is my goal to ensure that our employees continue to feel good about what we are building and I want to deliver the message to our publishers that I care about their needs and about growing their businesses. Actions speak louder than words. We are a heads-down team that is always striving to do right by our employees, advertisers and publishers.
LP: Performics recently announced it is providing network-level data for advertisers in the ConnectCommerceSM interface. What other functionality is planned? CH: Performics is committed to continuous improvement and we have an aggressive product development road map for the next 12 months. One significant feature in development has been in beta with a small group of about 25 publishers for several months. The product feature, now called OrangeLinks, was integrated into our ConnectCommerce platform in June. This feature enables publishers to sign up to receive all updated links via email or FTP and eventually via RSS. The links are pre-generated and ready to be added to the publisher's site. We saw a phenomenal increase in sales from the beta group, and other publishers should be able to increase their commissions with OrangeLinks. Another important feature that will be released this summer is the availability of publisher contact information within ConnectCommerce. Performics and DoubleClick have recently adopted a new product development methodology called SCRUM. With this methodology in place we are working on short "sprints" to accomplish bite-sized feature improvements or components of larger enhancements. We have dramatically reduced the development cycle and improved deliverability. You are going to see seven or eight small releases a year, instead of one or two large releases.
LP: Why does Performics work with so many catalog retailers? CH: We do have a very strong catalog client base that goes back to Performics' roots as the first full-service affiliate provider. When the company was founded in 1998, the vision was to fill a gap in the marketplace for affiliate marketing services. Traditional direct marketers didn't have the in-house expertise to tap what was the wild world of online marketing in the late nineties. The full-service value proposition really resonated with catalogers in the late '90s, and the unique agency approach we take to affiliate marketing still resonates today. Performics is also headquartered in Chicago, the birthplace of direct marketing and the home of large traditional catalogers like Sears and Spiegel. As a matter of fact, Spiegel was one of Performics' original clients and we continue to manage the affiliate program with the new management at Spiegel. The other aspect is that affiliate marketing is nirvana for a direct marketer; catalogers "get it." They really understand the power of performance- based marketing. Because of our roots in direct marketing we are pushing the envelope for catalogers today and helping them understand the dynamics of multichannel marketing.
LP: I know that Performics doesn't accept affiliates from religious-related organizations; why? CH: Performics has a comprehensive, quality affiliate network and we ensure that quality through editorial review. Just like major search engines, we have human screening of all affiliate applications and we have to provide that group of screeners with a set of criteria. Continued on Page 2...
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