VigLink Announces International Growth Through Partnerships With Effinity and vCommission

SAN FRANCISCO, CA–(Marketwired – Sep 15, 2015) – VigLink, the leading platform for content-driven commerce, today announced global partnerships with France-based affiliate network Effinity and India-based affiliate network vCommission. These partnerships will expand VigLink’s global footprint to over 700 advertisers and offer publishers a powerful way to monetize their content in international marketplaces, as well as offer advertisers effective transcontinental marketing channels.

Effinity is the first affiliation consultancy agency in France and will help VigLink build a larger network in Europe. vCommission is India’s largest affiliate network that will provide VigLink creative advertising solutions and partnerships across the Asian subcontinent. Merchants and advertisers within Effinity and vCommission’s combined international network include Amazon India, Flipkart, MakeMyTrip, Snapdeal, Paytm, PriceMinister (Rakuten), Nespresso, Deezer and The Kooples.

“We recognized opportunities for new growth in Europe and Southeast Asia and selected network leaders Effinity and vCommission to partner with,” said Oliver Roup, Founder and CEO of VigLink. “These partnerships represent a strategic move to offer unparalleled competitive opportunities for our publishers and pave the way for global content monetization. We are excited to have Effinity and vCommission at the helms of our international growth.”

“We have an active community of over 600 advertisers always looking to tap into international revenue streams,” said Christophe Bosquet, CEO of Effinity. “VigLink’s strong relationships with publishers and market leading technology make them the ideal international partner.”

“VigLink’s technology is very interesting and innovative. I’m sure their worldwide reach will give our clients wide exposure across all genres,” said Parul Bhargava, CEO of vCommission. “We are excited to partner with VigLink and expand offerings to publications across the world. We are confident the partnership will lead to significant growth for both companies.”

About VigLink
The largest network of its kind, VigLink monetizes content that drives commerce for over 300,000 sites and works with more than 40,000 merchants to drive sales. Each month, VigLink processes more than 10 billion page views and over 500 million clicks. Founded in 2009 and based in San Francisco, VigLink is backed by top investors including Google Ventures, First Round Capital, Emergence Capital, RRE, Foundry Group and Costanoa Venture Capital. www.viglink.com

About Effinity
Effinity creates, develops and implements digital acquisition campaigns. Effinity aims to meet the needs of the leading e-commerce players (advertisers, agencies, publishers) through influencer marketing. Effinity offers expertise by sector (effinity STYLE, effinity HOME, effinity B2B), technology solutions for partner management (effinity Marketing Technologies) and product flows (effinity PEAKSELL) and creative approaches (studio setting in relation to bloggers). Effinity’s network encompasses 45,000 publishers and 600 advertisers across France, Europe and Latam. For additional information, visit Effinity Partners at www.effinity.partners.

About vCommission
vCommission is India’s Leading Affiliate Network delivering performance on web & mobile to top Indian brands through a growing network of 17,500 affiliates.

vCommission is a 100% subsidiary of Adways VC India Pvt. Ltd. which is a JV with Tokyo Stock Exchange listed company Adways Inc. (Japan), the No.1 Affiliate Marketing company in Asia on PC & Mobile.

For additional information, visit www.vcommission.com

Media Contacts:
Cameron Smead
Karbo Communications for VigLink
925.785.7872
Email Contact

VigLink Announces International Growth Through Partnerships With Effinity and vCommission

The challenges of managing a successful international affiliate program

E-commerce is booming around the world. India, South Africa, and Nigeria, are a few of the countries poised for enormous growth in the next year. And with worldwide e-commerce sales expected to reach $2.05 trillion by 2016, savvy online retail brands are looking to get in on the action.

One way to expand internationally and introduce your brand to new audiences is to tap into the power of global affiliate marketing. But this can quickly become a nightmare if you try to manage it in-house without the right experience or resources. This is why it’s a good idea to partner with experts who know the ins and outs of affiliate marketing.

There are two main approaches that companies take to manage international affiliate channels: using an affiliate network-driven approach, and hiring a single agency to manage the program globally. Unfortunately, neither solution is ideal for a true global program due to market differences and partners not being willing to admit limitations outside of their primary markets.

The drawbacks to networks and single agencies

Expanding globally with the home-country affiliate network is often the easiest solution. But few networks are No. 1 or No. 2 in every country, so they’re going recommend what they have, not necessarily what’s best for the business. Additionally, these networks are typically non-integrated from an account management standpoint, and their influence and staffing vary by market. They may not even have a team on the ground in certain countries.

Similarly, an agency may promise global coverage, but you might encounter many of the same issues along with some new ones. No single agency has a market-leading affiliate practice in more than one region. Smaller agencies often claim that a single contractor working from home is an office or a presence. Conversely, large agencies may have people in every country, allowing them to promise a global team, but many of these local offices don’t have a staff with affiliate marketing expertise. In this case, account teams are built by shifting people from other channels, such as display or paid search. The result is a confusing, disappointing approach to affiliate management that’s usually reactive, not proactive.

Most brands struggle to find a method that allows them to work with the best people in each international market by combining a strong local presence with a true global strategy.

The ideal solution is a single-point agency that works with local partners. This agency can serve as your global quarterback to work with the best platforms, networks, and agencies for your business in each market.   

Why the hub-and-spoke approach works

The hub-and-spoke approach to international affiliate marketing is similar to the business model of global airline networks such as the Star Alliance and Oneworld. These popular networks provide flyers with convenient worldwide reach and a seamless travel experience by connecting different airlines across countries. Although you buy a single ticket, other airlines do some of the flying where they have the best routes. Applying the same concept to affiliate marketing allows your company to partner with the best resources in each country.

Your point agency will concede that it’s not the best resource for you in each market. Its objective is to convey your expectations to partners in other countries and help oversee the global strategy and partner consortium, which will likely include networks, SaaS platforms, and local agencies. Meanwhile, these global partners can use their local resources to develop strategies, recruit affiliates, protect brand integrity, and engage in other aspects of day-to-day program management.

For example, eBay has put this strategy into practice (disclosure: eBay is an Acceleration Partners U.S. client). The e-commerce giant works with different affiliate agencies in the U.S. and Europe to ensure the most comprehensive market coverage.

Once you find an agency that’s willing to help you organize this a la carte approach to affiliate marketing, there are several ways to ensure you’re targeting the best possible partners in each country:

1. Seek out experts
   Local affiliates and networks should have an understanding of the marketing challenges and cultural intricacies that are unique to that particular country. They should know the affiliate industry inside and out to help your brand resonate with that region’s customer base.


2. Keep things legal
   With each international affiliate channel comes different legal challenges. Each country has its own laws related to affiliate marketing, taxation, and disclosures. Ensure each local partner understands the laws you’ll need to comply with in that particular country.


3. Go beyond affiliate marketing
   If affiliate marketing is your only tactic in a new region, your program will be challenged from the start. Instead, your affiliate program should be a part of a larger brand strategy and complement other digital and traditional initiatives. This multi-channel approach will ensure your program is aligned with the overarching goals of your brand.

Just because an agency or network says it has coverage or claims to have mastered an affiliate market doesn’t mean you should take it at its word. Ask the right questions, and find a partner that can leverage country-specific resources that work best for your program and brand goals. When you can pick and choose best-in-class partners in each region, you’ll have a much better chance of growing your market share and finding new international customers.

Robert Glazer is founder and managing director at Acceleration Partners.

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The challenges of managing a successful international affiliate program

Meet the International Law marketing team

We are pleased to introduce the marketing team for International Law at Oxford University Press. Cailin, Jo, Erin, Jeni, Kathleen, and Ciara work with journals, online reference, and books which are key resources for students, scholars, and practitioners worldwide. The OUP portfolio in international law covers international criminal law, international human rights law, international economic and trade law, international environmental law, international humanitarian law, diplomacy, law of territory and statehood, law of the sea, criminal and transitional justice, history of international law, dispute settlement, foreign investment law, and more. Get to know more about the team below and continue following developments from the OUP International Law marketing team on Facebook.

Cailin Deery

What is your role in OUP’s International Law department?

I am the Marketing Manager of OUP’s international law journals and the leader of our social media strategy group.

What was your background before you started working at OUP?

I was studying literature and sociolinguistics at NC State University with the distant dream of working in publishing as a lexicographer. Thankfully, I had the good fortune to find myself in publishing much earlier than expected – a week after graduation – in Journals Marketing (undoubtedly a better fit for me!). I moved to the United Kingdom four years ago.

Who is your international law inspiration?

I am privileged to work with many inspiring international law academics through my journal editorial boards, so it’s difficult to choose one. I was very fortunate to know and work with Antonio Cassese on the Journal of International Criminal Justice, and he continues to be an inspiration.

What is the most exciting project you have been a part of while working at OUP?

Working with the international law group is truly among the most exciting projects I’ve been a part of at OUP. Working with the editorial boards of new journal launches is also very enjoyable and rewarding, whether the journal is brand new, such as the London Review of International Law or Journal of Law and the Biosciences – or in its early age – such as Journal of International Dispute Settlement or International Journal of Transitional Justice.

How would you sum up your job in three words?

Absorbing, collaborative, and forward-looking.

What is the strangest thing currently on your desk?

Nothing too strange at the moment, though I do have my desk covered with pictures and cards and have a mini lunchtime library accumulating.

What are you reading right now?

I’m finishing Girl in a Band by Kim Gordon, Kim’s memoir of her life leading up to the formation of Sonic Youth through their last show, and spent some of Saturday afternoon dipping into Susan Sontag’s On Photography essays.

Jo Wojtkowski

Jo Wojtkowski

What is your role in OUP’s International Law department?

I am the Assistant Marketing Manager for the US Law Division. I work specifically on end-user marketing for our books and online products.

What was your background before you started working at OUP?

Before moving to the United States, I worked for OUP in our UK office, as a Senior Sales Executive and Account Manager for the law department. Prior to OUP, I was a Welfare Manager at an International English Language School based in Oxford, UK.

Who is your international law inspiration?

M. Cherif Bassiouni, often referred to by the media as “The Godfather of International Criminal Law” and a “war crimes expert.” Professor Bassiouni has been appointed to 22 United Nations positions including Chair and then member of the Commission of Inquiry for Libya, and Independent Expert on Human Rights for Afghanistan. He has served as a consultant to the US Department of State and Department of Justice on projects relating to international traffic of drugs, international control of terrorism, the defence of the US hostages in Iran, governance and democracy projects in the Middle East and North Africa, and the future of the Iraqi justice system.

Among the many distinctions, awards and medals he has received are the Nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize (1999); Hague Prize for International Law (2007); World Peace Through Law Award (2010); United Nations Association’s Adlai E. Stevenson Award (1993); and Stockholm Human Rights Award (2013).

I had the pleasure of working with Professor Bassiouni on the release of the Sixth Edition of International Extradition: United States Law and Practice.

What is the most exciting project you have been a part of while working at OUP?

The launch of our International Law Twitter channel: @OUPIntLaw. We started the account back in September 2013, and we now have over 3,000 followers. This was a real collaborative effort, involving many members of the marketing, editorial, and social media departments. Social media is still a relatively new area, so it was exciting to be one of the founding members of this channel.

How would you sum up your job in three words?

Collaborative, creative, diverse.

What is the strangest thing currently on your desk?

A stone-carved trinket box, in the shape of the African continent. One of the countries secretly opens the box. I will not tell you which one…but it begins with K!

What are you reading right now?

The New York Times #1 bestseller, The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn. I have a four-month-old daughter and this is a bedtime story favorite in our house.

Erin Fegely

Erin Fegely

What is your role in OUP’s International Law team?

I am a Product Marketer and Brand Manager for a range of Oxford’s digital resources including the family of products on Oxford Public International Law.

What was your background before you started working at OUP?

I started at Oxford directly after graduating from Pennsylvania State University where I double-majored in Public Relations and International Studies with a French minor.

Who is your international law inspiration?

Although not technically a lawyer, I would be remiss not mention our own John Louth, Editor in Chief of Academic Law here at OUP. He is certainly one of my favourite individuals to brainstorm with! Outside of this, there is no one person that I would like to recognize, but I am always drawn to anything in the field of Human Rights and myself take a large interest in the work done to raise awareness of modern day slavery and human trafficking.

What is the most exciting project you have been a part of while working at OUP?

One of my favourite projects that I have been a part of since I started at OUP was the relaunch of Oxford Handbooks Online in the fall of 2012. We completely altered the publishing model and updated all site functionality. It was the first major relaunch I was able to manage and involved a lot of branding work and innovative digital marketing tools, including our first (and award-winning) digital brochure.

How would you sum up your job in three words?

Central communication hub

What is the strangest thing currently on your desk?

A strongly scented geranium (the ‘flavor’ is Attar of Rose) that I am trying very hard to keep alive!

What are you reading right now?

Depending on my mood, I am currently switching between The Circle by Dave Eggers; Bohemians, Bootleggers, Flappers, and Swells: The Best of Early Vanity Fair; and Nicholas Kristof’s A Path Appears.

Jeni Payne

Jeni Payne

What is your role in OUP’s International Law department?

I am the Marketing Manager of UK books for the International Law team.

What was your background before you started working at OUP?

After graduating from Lincoln University with a degree in Journalism and Media, my first job was at OUP as a Marketing Assistant. In 2003 I left to work at Blackwell Publishing where I worked on their nursing products, but five years ago, the opportunity to come back to work at OUP came up and I jumped at the chance.

What is the most exciting project you have been a part of while working at OUP?

To be honest, it is working with the International Law team. It is great to be able to work so closely with colleagues in different departments and countries, and to be part of a team that has the same goals and visions.

How would you sum up your job in three words?

Busy, diverse, and challenging

What is the strangest thing currently on your desk?

A half-chewed bike pedal that had to be replaced after my dog mistook it for a dog toy!

What are you reading right now?

I am re-reading The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham, which is one of my all-time favourite books.

Kathleen Sargeant

Kathleen Sargeant

What was your background before you started working at OUP?

Prior to joining the International Law team at OUP, I was studying English Literature and Modern History at the University of St Andrews.

Who is your international law inspiration?

My international law inspiration is Leora Bilsky, Professor of Law at Tel Aviv University. I find her study of Israeli political trials, and of the Adolf Eichmann trial in particular, fascinating. My MA dissertation considered the role of eyewitness testimony in different aspects of Holocaust studies, and I continue to be captivated by the part that witnesses play in international criminal tribunals.

What is the most exciting project you have been a part of while working at OUP?

I’ve been very lucky to have been involved in the creation and promotion of a number of themed article collections since joining the International Law team. The most exciting of these for me was a collection created in recognition of Human Rights Day 2014. This collection was so interesting because the articles we included covered many aspects of human rights law, and I was given the opportunity to work with some very talented authors during the process.

How would you sum up your job in three words?

Creative, varied, challenging

What is the strangest thing currently on your desk?

I am a huge fan of a decorated desk, and so mine is engulfed in weirdness. But the strangest item currently nestled amongst my myriad of postcards – and one photograph of Michael Redgrave – is a crooked blue elephant that I crocheted a while back. His name is Napoleon.

What are you reading right now?

I find it difficult to focus on one book at a time, probably because, as a student, I was often wading through volumes of poetry, alongside textbooks on the history of medicine, and the complete works of Bertolt Brecht. I am currently reading Sarah Waters’ new novel The Paying Guests, with regular breaks for My Swordhand is Singing (an old favourite) by Marcus Sedgwick.

Ciara O’Connor

Ciara O’Connor

What is your role in OUP’s International Law department?

I’m a marketing associate for the US law division.

What was your background before you started working at OUP?

This is my first job after graduating from college in 2013. I previously interned with the World Affairs Council of Pittsburgh and at a law firm doing marketing and copywriting.

Who is your international law inspiration?

Yasmine Akbaba, one of my political science professors in college who got me interested in international relations during my freshman year and advised my senior seminar research on international relations and religion. She is a great teacher and mentor.

What is the most exciting project you have been a part of while working at OUP?

I’ve enjoyed preparing for the American Society of International Law’s annual meeting in April. There are a lot of logistics but I’m excited to see everything come together and to highlight our new international law books.

How would you sum up your job in three words?

Unpredictable, fun, and challenging

What is the strangest thing currently on your desk?

Three empty flower vases left behind by the person who used to sit at my desk. She must have been very popular!

What are you reading right now?

The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins. I’m about half way through and can’t wait to see how it ends.

Headline image credit: Sky. CC0 via Pixabay.

Meet the International Law marketing team