GPWA Times Magazine - Issue 4 - April 2008

G PWA TIMES | Affiliate Manager Interview Series 4 0 Sinead Lambert | Paddy Power How did you get started in this business? I worked for a small middleware company in Dub- lin, and had no idea what the company did. What is middle- ware anyway? I saw Paddy Power were hiring and jumped at the chance to work with them. That was three years ago now. What event, person, or pro- gram has most influenced the way you do business as an affil- iatemanager? I think working for a brand like Paddy Power. This is where I admit I’m a nerd. I love the brand. When Cheltenham, which is one of the big- gest sport- ing events of the year, was cancelled for a day this year, we held our own Cheltenham in our carpark. Our CEO, Financial Director and Marketing Direc- tor got involved and we posted it all on our blog. You should check it out, just to see our CEO falling…priceless! What makes Paddy Power dif- ferent from everyone else? I ’d like to think it’s because we know our affiliates. It’s very important to me that our af- filiates know they can trust us, and if they have any prob- lems at all, they can call us and we’ll sort it out. The forums are filled with stories about affiliates not getting paid or not being able to get in con- tact with the merchants. When I started with Paddy Power, I had no experience in affiliate marketing, and learned it all from our affiliates. Even now if I wanted advice, I’d ring up some of our affiliates and ask for their opinion. We trust each other. Now I sound like Oprah! But I think trust plays a huge part in affiliate marketing, and the only way to build that is to get out there and meet your affiliates. What’s the key to building successful relationships be- tween affiliates and affiliate programs? Like I said before, trust is essential. I’m like a parrot repeating myself, but it really is important. So many merchants don’t give affiilates the respect they deserve. I try to meet up with our affiliates as often as possible, and they know they can call us and we’ll be able to help them out. What tips would you give to a new affiliate just starting out? Get on the forums. It’s such a great community, everyone is willing to help each other out. Start posting on the forums, ask for advice and people are more than happy to offer advice and warn you of the pitfalls of af- filiate marketing. Also, ask the Affiliate Managers; they some- times know a thing or two. Do holidays and seasonal events play an important role in marketing for the Paddy Power brands? Cheltenham and Grand National are the biggest events for Sportsbook. I love the first day of Chelten- ham, it’s so exciting. It’s like Christmas time for grown ups. Also, the paddypowerpoker. com Irish Open is the biggest European Poker event. We’re very proud of that. Describe your ideal day off. Going to a rugby match in Croke Park, Dublin and spend- ing the rest of the day in the pub with my friends and get- ting a bag of chips on the way home. I’m a cheap date! I like to keep the drunken Irish ste- reotype alive. What was your favorite sub- ject in school? I was a nerd at school and loved everything apart from Religion class. The nuns never liked me for some reason. I think it started when we had to write prayers for people in purgatory. When it came time for me to read out my prayer in class, I made the mistake of saying, “We pray for those in puberty….” It was an honest mistake, but I had to stand in the corner for hours. What’s the first concert you at- tended in person? I feel like I’m filling out a form for a dat- ing agency with these ques- tions. My first concert was U2 – Popmart. We had terrible seats, I could barely see the band, but I loved it. I still have a crush on Bono. I know he’s short and getting on a bit but there’s something about him. If you were casting a movie in which you played the lead role, who would you pick to play your romantic interest? I guess I’ll have to go with good old George Clooney. Sinead celebrates her glorious ascent from Purgatory to Paddy Power *Due to space constraints, we could not print the interviews in their entirety. See the complete text on their profile pages at GPWA.org.