Pepperjam Launches Next Generation Affiliate Marketing Network

Kelli

Pepperjam issued a press statement today officially announcing the launch of the Pepperjam Network – a network designed to “forever change the face of affiliate marketing by putting power back in the hands of affiliates and advertisers to build long-term, profitable partnerships through better communication tools and transparency,” said Kristopher B. Jones, President & CEO of Pepperjam.

The Pepperjam Network improves communications between advertisers and affiliates, provides greater affiliate transparency, and works to help advertisers understand and maximize the affiliate channel that is so vital to online business.  The stated goals of the Pepperjam Network include “providing a reliable communication system to build stronger, more profitable partnerships” through PepperjamChat, a real-time communication tool, as well as “provid[ing] advertisers with an unprecedented measure of affiliate transparency, which helps
to establish trust, protect brand integrity, and lays the groundwork for open, long-term, profitable relationships.”  They are also introducing pepperjamADS, the first affiliate marketing widget to serve customized contextual ads from multiple network advertisers simultaneously.

For being a network that is just getting off the ground, Pepperjam has already begun to make its mark by launching with over 100 merchants, including Blockbuster, Oscar de la Renta, Jelly Belly, BabyPhat, Rocawear, Ben Sherman, FlyCell, SinglesNet, SEOmoz Premium, and others.  It is also receiving high praise:

“Even after all these years using Commission Junction on the merchant and affiliate side, I still find it terribly clumsy to find what I want. With Pepperjam Network it is quick and easy.   Pepperjam Network is what an affiliate network would look like if it were built from a wish list from both the affiliate and merchant perspective.”

Shawn Collins
Co-Founder
Affiliate Summit

“As both an advertiser and a publisher, I am on the lookout for affiliate marketing systems that meet all our company’s needs.   The Pepperjam Network is without a doubt the most comprehensive, practical and useful affiliate marketing system I have seen the date.  Kris and his team have demonstrated that it is possible to combine style with substance in a network that provides site owners and advertisers with tools and resources to increase their bottom line.”

Joel Comm
CEO
InfoMedia, Inc.

“Pepperjam Network is taking affiliate marketing to the next level with Exclusive Money Making Tools used by Super Affiliates, Advanced Reporting and Charts, but most importantly they are creating a means where an affiliate can grow and learn how to become a Super Affiliate.”

David Adams
CPA Affiliates

Here are some highlights of what Pepperjam Network has to offer:

- Pepperjam Network addresses two of the most significant shortcomings found on other existing affiliate networks: (1) poor, unreliable communication tools and (2) lack of affiliate transparency.

- With Pepperjam Network, affiliates and advertisers can communicate in real-time via Pepperjam Chat™, thereby providing a reliable communication system to build stronger, more profitable partnerships.

- Pepperjam Network provides advertisers with an unprecedented measure of affiliate transparency, which helps to establish trust, protect brand integrity, and lays the groundwork for open, long-term, profitable relationships.

- Pepperjam Network uses Web 2.0 technology to provide affiliates and advertisers with an easy-to-use, clean interface.

- Pepperjam Network offers industry leading SID-level tracking and reporting (great for sophisticated search marketing affiliates)

- Pepperjam Network introduces pepperjamADS™, which is a first-ever affiliate marketing widget that affiliates can use to serve customized contextual ads from multiple Pepperjam Network advertisers at the same time.

- Pepperjam Network contains a knowledge vault, which is exclusive to Pepperjam affiliates.  The vault contains exclusive access to a list of tools and educational resources used by Super Affiliates.

- Pepperjam Network represents over eight years of research and development and the combined ideas, feedback, and intelligence of hundreds of affiliate marketers and advertisers.

- Pepperjam Network launched with over 100 merchants and growing quickly, including Blockbuster, Jelly Belly, AeroGrow, Oscar de la Renta, BabyPhat, Rocawear, Ben Sherman, FlyCell, SinglesNet, SEOmoz Premium, and many more.

- Pepperjam Network has its own affiliate program that pays out up to $7 per approved publisher application

- Check out the Pepperjam Network Blog for videos, commentary and updates on Pepperjam Network and the broader affiliate marketing community

- Pepperjam Network is FREE to join.

Get in on something good – check out the Pepperjam Network for yourself.

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The Weather Channel is for Sale

Kelli

Landmark Communications, the private owner of the Weather Channel, is putting the cable channel up for bid.  It is expected to go for $5 billion or more, says the New York Times.

Aside from being the number one cable weather channel on television, the Weather Channel also owns weather.com, which Alexa cites as the 25th most popular website in the United States.  Neilson/Net Ratings list it as “the nation’s 18th-largest media site by traffic, with more than 32 million unique users in November…. That is bigger than CNN and Facebook” (NYT).  The company also has deals to supply weather information to MySpace (owned by News Corporation), Yahoo, and AOL.

Early in its life the Weather Channel wasn’t expected to amount to much, mostly due to its image as a place for “weather buffs.”  However, its increasing coverage of hurricanes and other serious weather conditions, (somewhat controversial) programs about global warming, and the convenience of weather.com for checking forecasts and tracking hurricanes, have helped it capture a more mainstream audience.  The New York Times calls the channel “a godsend for advertisers.  Like live sports, it is largely immune from TiVos and other digital video recorders.”

Potential buyers include NBC, Fox (News Corporation), Comcast, Time Warner, and Yahoo.  NBC already has a program called NBC Weather Plus, but it is not widely available outside of digital cable.  The Weather Channel’s chief executive, Deborah J. Wilson, said in an interview last June that “Every media conglomeration has approached Landmark” about buying the channel.

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