Mirror Cashback – Winner of Commercial Partnership 2009

By launching a series of cashback sites in November 2008, Trinity Mirror was the first national newspaper group to bring the concept of online cashback shopping to the mainstream market with trusted and established media brands.

Paul Hood, Head of Digital for Mirror Group Newspapers is unequivocal in his assertion that the success of MirrorCashback is due entirely to the strength of the partnership between Trinity Mirror and V A C Media.

"V A C's vast experience and knowledge of the cashback sector meant that we were able to hit the ground running with MirrorCashback. V A C built in an industry-leading level of customer care to provide a first-class service to our audience, and we were able to leverage their vast wealth of knowledge to avoid the pitfalls. Partnerships like this, between large-scale traditional media companies and technology-led online pure play businesses will be key to the success of traditional media brands in future."

Through strong editorial support and sustained in-paper and online promotion, the partnership has brought cashback to the mainstream. It's a valuable, timely service which in turn strengthens the Mirror’s ‘Peoples’ Champion’ credentials.

For maximum relevance, homepage features hand-picked deals that tie in with editorial

Understanding of Market

V A C Media came with exceptional credentials. Having over 11 years experience in the online retail sector and over 4 years in the loyalty sector, they operate more cashback websites than any other provider in Europe. More than that, V A C displayed a level of dedication and attention to detail within their operations that none of the Mirror’s other potential partners could have rivalled.

Cashback websites are a recent online phenomenon in the e-commerce sector. Their rapid growth has to date been achieved largely through word-of-mouth and online-only promotional channels on limited budgets. While they have achieved reasonable success to date, none of these sites have established significant mainstream brand appeal.

With the online display advertising sector slowing, Trinity Mirror identified cashback as a relatively untapped proposition, providing an opportunity to gain traction in the e-commerce sector, which continues to thrive despite current economic conditions:

MirrorCashback.com directs visitors on to advertising retailer sites (such as Vodafone.co.uk, Dixons.co.uk and Debenhams.com) and receives a percentage commission on resulting transactions, averaging around 5% of the transaction value – typically, cashback sites then split this commission 50/50 with their users

• The average growth in the online retail sector over the six months to February 2009 has been around 15 per cent year on year (IMRG)
• However, cashback sites reward customers for the shopping they already do, and therefore doesn’t rely on driving increasing levels of online buying to be successful
• From a user perspective, the benefits are also clear: they can earn £200 a year in cashback with relative ease

The personal touch - past purchasing behaviour is used to optimise product offers

Innovation

In an industry first, The Mirror was the first major UK brand to take the cashback proposition seriously and turn it from a minor phenomenon known chiefly to web geeks, into a significant money-saving and purchasing tool for everyone.

Mirror Cashback was the first cashback site to have a front page splash in a daily newspaper. The service has since been given prominent placement on the front page and throughout The Mirror newspaper since its launch. An eight page feature gave easy step-by-step instructions on how to use the site and case studies of real people earning real money through cashback.

• Ongoing exposure is integrated into the fabric of the paper including sections such as Fashion, Your Money and Travel, making it a natural extension of the Mirror brand. Permanent placements across Mirror.co.uk drive the online audience and provide valuable SEO benefit
• Using best of breed technology which has been tried and tested by V A C Media, the Mirror has delivered exceptional value for customers by providing competitive cashback rewards, a £5 welcome bonus upon registration, a £5 refer-a-friend incentive and add-ons such as an extensive list of promotional voucher codes
• Dedication to customer service is paramount. In a largely unregulated industry with no customer care service levels, Mirror Cashback guarantees to deal with queries within 24 working hours. This has led to great feedback and zero complaints so far. Trinity Mirror is setting standards in this industry, as V A C introduced this SLA as a first in the UK and is still the only cashback operator which offers it to all its members
• V A C Media’s partnership with the Mirror has enabled further investment in product development, with many future innovations to come, such as price comparison tools and a larger scale high street cashback system with seamless tracking

The successful launch of Mirror Cashback enabled a further 13 white-labelled sites to be rolled out for additional Trinity Mirror titles, including sites for The People, Daily Record, and Liverpool Echo.

Success vs. Objectives

By leveraging the service across its brands and existing audiences, The Mirror has brought the cashback concept to the mainstream.

With first year revenues well ahead of budget expectations, Mirror Cashback has proven to be a success for the commercial partnership as well as readers.

Judges’ Comments

“In exploring new commercial activities, this partnership provided a fundamental understanding of the consumer and the potential for longevity.”
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