The following interviews were conducted as a run up to the Offervault Performance Marketing Leadership Summit. They were hosted by Jim Lillig, The Director of Business Development of Offervault.com. The Leadership Summit brought together the top leaders in the Performance marketing Industry to discuss the issues that are vital for the industry to survive in the competitive online marketing arena. Each interviewee was asked the same question, “What do you see as the single biggest obstacle to growth in Cost per Action Marketing over the next 6 to 12 months?” Their answers are not what you would expect.
Todd Crawford Interview
Todd Crawford, co-founder of Impact Radius.
A recognizable veteran, Todd Crawford brings to Impact Radius a passion for performance advertising and a commitment to its growth. As a co-founder, he evangelizes the opportunities presented by a multi-channel approach to the performance model. Prior to Impact Radius, he served as vice president of sales and business development for Digital River’s affiliate network, oneNetworkDirect. Todd also contributed to the founding team at Commission Junction in 1998 and led its business and sales development efforts as vice president for more than seven years.
In 2007, Todd won the Affiliate Marketing Legend Award at the Affiliate Summit Pinnacle Awards in Las Vegas. He holds a bachelor of arts at the University of Minnesota, Twin-Cities.
Listen to his interview here.
Tom Cohn Interview
Thomas A. Cohn – Of Counsel – Venable LLP
Thomas Cohn advises clients on the legal and practical aspects of compliance with FTC and other federal and state consumer regulations and industry selfregulation programs, as well as representing clients during investigations and enforcement actions. His clients include a wide variety of online and offline advertisers and marketers, in many different subject matter areas. His practice covers all federal and state consumer protection and privacy laws and regulations, including newer ones such as the FTC’s ID Theft Red Flags Rule.
Mr. Cohn draws on experience gained during his 17-year tenure at the FTC, where he was Regional Director and Assistant Regional Director for the Northeast Region, attorney in the Division of Marketing Practices, and legal advisor to the Director of the Bureau of Consumer Protection. As FTC Northeast Regional Director, Mr. Cohn supervised all professional and support staff and led multi-agency enforcement efforts against various anticompetitive, unfair and/or deceptive practices. He was also responsible for numerous local and regional media and outreach efforts to educate consumers, business groups, and law enforcement agencies about how to detect and avoid fraud as well as how to comply with antitrust and consumer protection laws enforced by the FTC, such as the Telemarketing Sales Rule, regulations under CAN SPAM Act, Children’s Online Privacy and Privacy Act, and Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, and consumer credit statutes such as FDCPA, TILA, FCRA and FACTA.
Mr. Cohn also spent four years as Legal Advisor to the Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, where he reviewed law enforcement recommendations, Congressional testimony, and other matters for the Director. He served five years as a staff attorney in the FTC’s Division of Marketing Practices, where he litigated fraud and rule violation cases, coordinated test shoppings of funeral homes for compliance with the Funeral Rule, and played a key role in the development and implementation of the Funeral Rule Offenders’ Program, an innovative, self-regulatory alternative to traditional law enforcement.
Mr. Cohn is a graduate of Yale College and Boston University School of Law, and is a member of the New York City Bar Consumer Affairs Committee and the New York State Bar Food, Drug & Cosmetic Law Section.
Listen to his interview here.
Chris Graham Interview
Chris Graham, VP Business Intelligence for Atrinsic.
Chris entered the world of brand protection when he joined Email Data Source in 2004. CANSPAM was just getting into full swing and the initially vague nature of CANSPAM was scaring many brands away from third party email and affiliate marketing. So Chris went to them with a system that not only allowed EDS to see if anyone was violating trademark or using unauthorized creative, or any of the other issues that came with email, but it also allowed them to show their clients the companies and affiliates who were doing things right for their competitors and who should be considered valuable potential partners.
After EDS, Chris discovered Syntryx. A complex system jammed full of data that enhanced his EDS clients understanding of who was who and who was doing what in the world of email, and it also began to fulfill the same goals for the rest of the web . Taking Syntryx to market was his next venture and it allowed Chris to see even deeper into the world of online marketing; both the good and the bad
Today at Atrinsic Chris sits, somewhat, on the other side of the table. No longer selling intelligence systems, but instead, selling the importance of using the many systems available to us today that allow Atrinsic to truly evaluate the marketing of their clients and their competitors. Chris’s main job is to battle the forces of evil and protect a brand’s identity from being tarnished in the performance marketing space.
Listen to the entire interview here.
Cari Brinker Interview
Cari Birkner – Compliance Specialist – Lashback
Cari Birkner leads social media, industry outreach, and email compliance content development for LashBack, LLC, the largest provider of actionable compliance and brand intelligence data for email marketers. In addition to contributing to Deliverability.com, FeedFront Magazine and the Smart Data Collective on the subjects of compliance and international email marketing, Cari edits and publishes the LashBack TRUSTED Blog and Email Compliance Newsletter.
Cari is well versed in compliance matters affecting affiliate marketers, particularly concerning the U.S. CAN-SPAM Act, European email legislation, suppression file management technology, social media, branding and email deliverability. While working at LashBack, Cari has been at the forefront of monitoring email compliance for advertisers, networks, publishers, legal professionals, ESPs and government regulators. Cari began her career in the online marketing space as an intern and officially joined the LashBack Marketing team in 2008. In 2009, Cari earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with a specialization in Marketing from Southern Illinois University.
You can listen to her interview here.
Mark Roth Interview
Mark Roth, Founder and CEO of OfferVault.
In this interview, Mark will be discussing the future of Performance Marketing as he sees it, as well as some of the results and insights that we have gleaned from a recent survey of affiliates that are registered at OfferVault. If you want to know what affiliates think of networks, you will want to tune in here.