ASOS - Everyone is on about this so I will be the sheep

Ok so if you are in the Affiliate Marketing community and you don’t have your head in the sand you should have seen this quote:

“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”

OK so one of the former drivers of affiliate marketing - ASOS (formerly asseenonscreen) have decided to re enter the indusry that they exited in a rather rocky way, in a rather rocky way.

If this quote is accurate and not taken out of context (I got the quote from a4uforum) then it is really the best way to alienate yourself from a community that you still have a little to prove to.

ASOS were great Jess Luthi managed the program and everyone was happy. Then she left and ASOS were determined to take what they had gained from the affiliate (profile and customers) and strive to continue with out the “grubby little people” that had built its customer base and brand.

Now they go to reenter the market, and ok people would have forgiven them for leaving and trying other things, but to make the statement above really does alienate the big affiliates that worked with ASOS in the first place. Also is 8-10% commission for clothing seem silly? I don’t think so - the markups on clothing can be fantastic in the UK and this bearly scratches the surface in my experience.

Will I be promoting ASOS again - I don’t think so. But this is not to do with this quote. I did well for a short while promoting ASOS but I have moved on from this. The site I was running back then has moved on. It as good while it lasted and now there is MUCH more choice on who can be promoted that I haven’t missed them for the last 2 years and I won’t miss them if they start again.

Had their program had been more suitable to my sites as they stand now I would promote them - but be slightly wary and keep an eye of them as this quote just throws that little bit of doubt over their future in affiliate circles.

March 8th, 2007 Posted by scifind | Uncategorized | one comment