3. BRAND PROTECTION
What We do at BrandVerity:
Provide brand protection and
compliance solutions
Goal: more transparency in
affiliate
marketing (elevate the industry)
Monitor and protect hundreds
of brands across the web
THE TM
SPECIALIST
Sam Engel
Marketing Manager
BrandVerity
4. BRAND PROTECTION
AFFILIATES SHOULD ENHANCE YOUR
BRAND
Add value
Support your brand message
Comply with regulations and limit your risk
5. BRAND PROTECTION
ENSURING THAT AFFILIATES LIMIT YOUR REGULATORY
RISKS
Industry-specific regulations
Disclosure
What are the risks?
Who’s responsible?
6. BRAND PROTECTION
ENSURING THAT AFFILIATES STRENGTHEN YOUR BRAND
MESSAGE
How do affiliates promote your
brand?
Is their message consistent with
yours?
How do you keep track of this at
scale?
7. BRAND PROTECTION
ENSURING THAT AFFILIATES ADD VALUE
Carefully evaluate affiliates who
apply to your program
Have a trademark bidding policy –
and enforce it
Focus on incremental sales
8. BRAND PROTECTION
TAKING ACTION
STEP 1: APPROVAL PROCESS
Avoid auto-approval at (nearly) any cost
Ask tough questions
Understand how each affiliate will:
Drive traffic
Represent your brand
9. BRAND PROTECTION
BRAND PROTECTION
TAKING ACTION
STEP 2: ONGOING PROCESS
1. Develop regulatory and brand guidelines for affiliates
2. Create a reasonable process to support guidelines
-Monitor for changes after affiliate is approved
-Review brand placement on affiliate websites
3. Follow process and enforce compliance
10. BRAND PROTECTION
WHAT’S A REASONABLE PROCESS? —
SMALL/MEDIUM BUSINESS
Review websites of top-producing affs at
regular intervals (quarterly, annually)
Quarterly searches for brand name
variations
Check on suspicious conversion rates
Quarterly review of Twitter activity
Random audits
11. BRAND PROTECTION
WHAT’S A REASONABLE PROCESS? —
HIGHLY REGULATED INDUSTRY
Review all affiliate websites weekly
Review every time an offer changes
Monthly searches for brand name
variations
Monthly examinations of social media
activity (Twitter, Facebook, etc.)
12. BRAND PROTECTION
HOW DO I ENFORCE COMPLIANCE?
Affiliate Hijacking: immediate removal from program
Other Paid Search Violations: 3 strike system
Inappropriate or Off-Brand Content: depends on severity
Regulatory Issue: propose a fix, disable aff link