Unity Through Fragmentation

Written by Brook Schaaf

Well, it was nice to get a few days in the paradise that is Santa Barbara during CJU, just before one new national tragedy and the twenty-fourth anniversary of another reminded us that we live in a fallen world. Let us acknowledge these events with somber reflection and a prayer for a better future before returning to the more mundane matters of the affiliate world. 

CJ CEO Santi Pierini gave a short welcome, followed by a product overview from senior executives Angela Ballard and Kelly Merkel. They provided a compelling, if unguaranteed, vision for the future of affiliate marketing, and I caught a distinct, crisp sense of optimism, even excitement, from those onstage.

Pierini used the term “fragmentation,” an appropriate word to describe not only the current affiliate ecosystem but also the likely future of all ad tech as the walled gardens open portals to outside avenues, such as Netflix making its ads available through the Amazon DSP and Google working with “unlikely partner” Criteo. For its part, CJ touted its Amazon and TikTok integrations as the beginning of much more. 

This “more” is to come through what CJ refers to as its Connected Commerce Platform, unifying a commerce media network of nontraditional publishers, measurement, and the network as an access platform, i.e., the avenue into various types of media properties. CJ’s Universal Tag (around for years but for some reason off my radar, unlike Awin’s MasterTag or impact.com’s UTT) includes functionalities such as the advertiser tracking API (reportedly equivalent to server-to-server reliability), mobile app tracking, publisher tracking API, and publisher tags, among others. The key here is data ingress and egress, to and fro, which will enhance targeting and expand distribution, which in turn will open up reach to things like CTV, audio, digital Out of Home (OOH), and CPA display on a performance basis.

This might also be a basis for affiliate monetization in partnership with AI answer engines. Pierini, who has a background in AI, addressed this onstage and in an interview with Hello Partner, citing the trust factor answer engines need for sourcing: “What are the most trusted sources? Affiliate and influencer. It always has been and always will be. That’s why people pay commissions. I believe it is the biggest opportunity we’ve seen in a long time.”

This indeed could be a very big play and I would even characterize CJ’s positioning as a strategic counterstrike against unmanaged platforms. If this new game is adopted, CJ will be holding several high cards at the table, foremost among them its decades-long culture of managed services (necessary to shepherd clients through complexities) and its access to data and brand dollars as part of Publicis Groupe. As a senior executive shared with me, a multimillion-dollar campaign might then be efficiently deployed through affiliates. The time seems ripe for this, especially because other channels struggle to stand up to scrutiny, and affiliate tracking really can provide the best transparency at the end of the day, not to mention the best compensation method. (Another angle on trust.)

This is not without risk, but it seems like there is a lot more for CJ to gain than to lose. Worst-case scenario: the take or engagement rate is low as measured against invested resources. Advertisers may not understand the opportunity, be willing to invest in it, or keep it walled off from affiliate. Best-case scenario: hundreds of millions of new dollars flow through CJ and the affiliate channel. My money is on the latter. It feels more like “if” than “when.”