If you are like me, and been around the block a few times and beat up by at least a dozen affiliates in the industry, you know the name COPEAC and Intermark Media. Today, Intermark Media announced that they were going to change their name to IMM Interactive after 11 years of being Intermark Media. This follows several major branding changes of other major players including Azoogle to Epic Direct, CPAEmpire to Affiliatedotcom, IncentaClick to CX Digital and Neverblue to the Canadian BlueManGroup. I believe this to be part of a rapidly changing industry, where companies like Intermark are going to continue growing substantially, leaving those who don’t know how to make these changes in the dust.
While Intermark Media has been around for over a decade, they were never considered to be the largest of players. We all knew of the guys over and made fun of their Long Island accents, but that was about it. Then something happened in the last few years and suddenly they are on the Inc 500 list of the top growing players in the industry. While people used to think of ClickBooth, Azoogle and Hydra as the big daddies of the industry, now IMMi’s affiliate network COPEAC is listed in the same breath. Something happened that allowed this company to make huge strides in the last few years and grow substantially. What exactly is that difference?
At the head of the company is Mike Krongel, the founder of the company. Him and his wife Danielle are what make that difference – it’s their drive, their dedication, the culture that makes IMMi. While many affiliate networks kept on doing the same old thing, not changing their model of focusing on spam, working with the same partners, Mike was out there pounding the virtual payment, making contacts and doing business with everyone. He became involved with the community, joined affiliate organizations, got his name out there and let everyone know that while he wasn’t the biggest dog in the house right then, he was going to do everything he could to take over that title.
On top of that, he was extremely active in the message boards. While I don’t recommend everyone going on boards like WickedFire – and note that many of the members currently hate this publication, he is an active member of WickedFire and several other affiliate communities. He interacted with them when it was necessary and learned from the marketers what was upcoming, who he should be doing business with, what products he should be promoting. He ignored the pleading of some of the “major networks” (who are no longer on the inc 500 after losing money in 2009) that it wasn’t the way to do business and found his own way of doing things.
If there is anything to be learned from Mike Krongel it is to keep on trying until you hit what works. While tons of companies in the industry have come and gone, been “one-hit” wonders, IMMi has been there for over a decade, working in this industry, being an intimate part of what makes this industry interesting.
