TradeDoubler and LOVEFiLM pioneer first performance-based viral campaign

TradeDoubler, the pan-European digital marketing company, today announced it has been appointed by LOVEFiLM to create and manage a pioneering new viral campaign. TradeDoubler will produce, seed and track a viral game which will convert through an affiliate model for LOVEFiLM, the first time that an initiative of this kind has been done on such a large scale.

The campaign, which will complement high season demand for DVD rental, aims to increase awareness of and traffic to the LOVEFiLM website, and act as an acquisition channel of trialists to LOVEFiLM DVD and game rental service.

The concept of the game centres around the ‘LOVEFiLM Academy’ where players go to train to become superheroes, battling both good and bad guys and using LOVEFiLM DVD’s to knock them out. Once the game has ended, players are given a promotional code which can be redeemed at checkout on the LOVEFiLM website, and are invited to submit their score to a leader board. The player with the highest score will win £250 worth of LOVEFiLM Shop vouchers and the next nine high scorers will receive free annual membership to LOVEFiLM Rentals. Peer-to-peer referrals are also encouraged through a recommend-a-friend facility where players can invite others to play.
The game, which is scheduled to go live at the beginning of this month, will initially be seeded on the main gaming portals, viral communities and social networks. TradeDoubler will then track the number of people that play the game and subsequent sales via the LOVEFiLM site. Sales conversion rate is expected to be 2%, whilst click-through rate is likely to be around 25%.

Jason Norris, Affiliate Manager at LOVEFiLM, said: “November through to February is an important time for us in terms of DVD rental and we wanted a strong, creative digital campaign to explore new opportunities. The concept TradeDoubler presented to us was the perfect way to do this, making them the obvious partner for this campaign. Tracking the viral impact on a performance basis makes this a really exciting new step in our digital strategy.”

Lara Kelly, Client Services Director at TradeDoubler, commented: “We are thrilled to be working with LOVEFiLM on such a ground-breaking project. For the first time, LOVEFiLM will be able to accurately measure the impact of a viral and track the value of a campaign back to the brand and sales. We look forward to seeing results of the campaign in the months to come and hope to roll out similar offerings to our other clients in the future.”

TradeDoubler was responsible for the concept design and coordination of the project, and worked in conjunction with viral agency TAMBA to execute the campaign.

Play the game: http://www.lovefilm.com/micro/superherogame.html

Editorial Contacts
TradeDoublerJennifer CheungTel: +44 20 7798 5860Email: jennifer.cheung@tradedoubler.com
Firefly CommunicationsCarly PearsonTel: +44 20 7386 1417Email: tradedoublerukteam@fireflycomms.com

The New LOVEFiLM Logo

For those of you that have worked with LOVEFiLM for several years you may have seen quite a few versions of our logo as we have grown, merged and evolved into our current position as the place to find the films you want. Below is the official logo that has been updated.

Every time the LOVEFiLM logo appears the following legal notice should also appear on the same page:

LOVEFiLM, the LOVEFiLM logo and all other LOVEFiLM product or service names are trademarks of LOVEFiLM International Ltd. © 2008 LOVEFiLM UK Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

This can appear with the Ts and Cs or in suitable placements.

LOVEFiLM passing on the VAT saving

You probably know the Government has knocked 2.5% off VAT. You’d probably expect us to pass this straight on our customers so you have an even better offer to promote. You’re dead right.

From the start of December all prices reflect the 2.5% reduction. This will be done automatically on all of our offers, so you don’t have to do anything. Obviously our banner creative and copy on your site might been incorrect now, but our website is showing the correct VAT affected price in all references, as well as us detailing the reasons for the changes on our site. I think this change is something many of your are dealing with right now for the offer you promote, so I hope the guide below helps.

We’ve crunched the numbers and you’ll find all the new package prices below:


£3.99 - now £3.91
£5.99 - now £5.87
£7.99 - now £7.83
£9.99 - now £9.78
£10.99 - now £10.76
£12.99 - now 12.72
£14.99 - now £14.68
£15.99 - now £15.65
£18.99 - now £18.59

LOVEFiLM and PPC Policy

In the past 3 weeks LOVEFiLM has seen increased PPC activity by affiliates that have not been approved to do so. This has included affiliates bidding on our brand name, variations on the name, using our URL and also using misleading copy.

I want to reiterate that no affiliates should ever be bidding on our brand or URL without express approval. Not only will it drive up our own CPC costs but it will lead to affiliate relationships being terminated and our relationship with super affiliates and affiliate networks being reviewed.

LOVEFiLM, our online agency and myself are not willing to tolerate affiliates brand bidding or moving around networks hoping to not get caught. Below is a clear outline or our position for PPC on all search engines.


Voucher Codes

Please be aware that you can only promote voucher codes through the LOVEFiLM affiliate programme if you have been given explicit permission by either LOVEFiLM. Promoting voucher codes which have not been made available will result in the removal of commissions and ending your affiliate relationship with LOVEFiLM. You should not be promoting the standard 2 week trial as a voucher code in any way on search campaigns or as a way to drive traffic to a voucher site.

Keyword Policy

Keyword Policy LOVEFiLM request that affiliates do not bid on our brand name, or use the display URL www.lovefilm.com or www.lovefilm.co.uk. We also ask affiliates to not bid on similar and combinations such as I Lovefilm, lovefilms, Love Film Uk, Lovefilm.net, Love Film Com, LOVEFiLM.COM and Lovesfilm. This is in competition with our own search campaigns and adds no value.

Other than this affiliates can bid on generic terms such as ‘DVD rental’ and ‘free Dvd rental trials’ and affiliates can also bid on film titles and actor names. Anything that is not LOVEFiLM specific is acceptable activity. All search traffic should be driven via your own pages and not direct to www.lovefilm.com or www.lovefilm.co.uk or any variations and URL extensions as this conflicts with our own campaigns. Affiliates should also use not clone our existing adwords campaigns, you must use your own copy. Affiliates should have a page of information or comparison page to improve response, such as listing the many benefits of our service:

UK's largest selection, over 65,000 titles
All the latest releases ever week on every format – DVD, HD-DVD and Blu-ray
Every classic you can think of and many more you forgot about TV series & documentaries – watch them in order or rent episodes you want
Games can be added to packages (PS2, PS3, PSP, Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii, Nintendo DS)
No due dates – keep the films as long as you like No postage costs – we send them for free and post back is free
No late fees - ever Cancel anytime, no obligation to stay

Affiliates breaking the keyword restrictions may be removed from the program and will not be paid for leads.

Any email affiliates out there for Games?

Did you know that LOVEFiLM offers gaming rentals from just £9.99 a month?

We also have new gaming rental email creative promoting a free 30 day trial, longer than all of our competition offer.
All of our packages also offer complete access to our DVD and Blu-ray range, unmatched by any gaming rental service.

And did you know all of the biggest games are released right now and we support every console?

The options are:
£9.99 - get 4 discs a month, 2 at a time
£10.99 – get 1 disc at a time, unlimited rentals a month
£14.99 – get 2 discs at a time, unlimited rentals a month
£18.99 - get 3 discs at a time, unlimited rentals a month

If you would like to promote this to gamers in the Christmas run up get in touch with me.

I also have some updated email creative for the DVD rental offer if affiliates are looking for some solus creative in the Christmas run up.

I'm eager to get some big attention around our gaming rental options, so I am open to ideas.

Another Award Win

Last week I was lucky enough to attend the Data Strategy Awards 2008 (seriously, it was not as dull as it sounds). I was also able to get up on stage with my email and lead generation agency EDR and collect the award for Best Prospect Data Provision for the EDR/LOVEfiLM campaign. EDR won for 'The LOVEFiLM online lead generaion program' which we have been working on for nearly a year.

Thats 2 data awards, now to aim for the A4U and Revolution prizes.

Great A4U Expo

I had a great time at the Expo last week, and managed to take my Mac with me to write notes as the talks were going on. Once I have tided these up I plan to post some key insights from each of the speakers on here, so look out for that.

I think the highlight thought was seeing Matt Le Tissier in the bar on the final night - big boo to the Sky VIP area.

LOVEFiLM Retail Voucher code

Some good LOVEFiLM Retail good news for this week - your users will be able to get a MASSIVE 10% off from Monday 20th October until midnight on Wednesday 22nd October.

To get the 10% off everything at the LOVEFiLM shop they will need to enter HALLOWEEN at the checkout!

Personally the highlight is getting the Friday the 13th boxset (8 films) for £16.14 - each is a classic but number 6 the pick of the bunch.

Chris Perrett is the LOVEFiLM Retail Account Manager if you have any questions:
E-Mail:Chris.Perrett@TradeDoubler.com

A4U Expo Tomorrow

Just been back from holiday for under a week and managed to clear some time to attend the A4U Expo for the next 2 days. Bet I am not the only one interested to seeing how the industry is dealing with the bank and credit crisis, as so far affiliates seem to be the ones bucking the trend. If anything this seems to be fueling some growth in the channel.

I'll be at the Ice Bar at the end of the last day and no doubt catching up on some emails in the Tradedoubler chill out zone (bit of a contradiction to be doing both) throughout the breaks, so hope to see some familar faces. My basic plan of attack is below, but bound to change as I look into the conferences in more detail.

Tuesday
Real World Affiliate Management Tips - How to Communicate, Motivate & Incentivise Affiliates Effectivley
10 Ways to Get the Most Out of your Paid Search Affiliates
Social Media - The Affiliate Advantage, The Law and The Future
Jupiter Research - Attracting & Retaining Customers in a Challenging Economy
Understanding Incentivised Traffic in Affiliate Marketing

Wednesday
Dare to Be Different - Affiliate Programme Brainstorming
How to Manage a Successful Affiliate Programme : Strategies from Award Winning Affiliate Managers
What the Affiliate Marketing Council can do for You
Do Incentive Sites add Incremental Value to your Programme? An example of Successful Partnerships
Payment Trends and Strategies in Affiliate Marketing
Networking Party at the Ice Bar

Lovefilm wins No 2 spot in Sunday Times Tech Track 100

In yesterday’s Sunday Times, Lovefilm came second in the highly regarded and prestigious Tech Track 100. This is the league table which measures Britain’s fastest growing and most successful private technology firms. This is the second year Lovefilm have featured in this league table. Last year we achieved an award for reaching the no 5 spot.

We have once again received public recognition for our achievements in a year when the general market and economic conditions have really tightened up.

Such growth is achieved through the hard work of every Lovefilm employee but also our partners, agencies and affiliates. We have seen great growth in our online channel thanks to working hard with affiliates to grow the programs we run and developing new offers that affiliates want to promote.

You can read the full report on our best achievement to date by following this link: http://www.fasttrack.co.uk/fasttrack2002/bin/2008-TechTrack100.pdf