Apologies for the lack of updates again……………guess I should make more regular updates one of my new year’s resolutions….

I’d like to start by wishing all of my friends (and foes) in the affiliate industry a very Happy and Prosperous New Year!

As I write this it is already new year in Australia so that seems like a good excuse to raise a glass to the New Year right now!!

As is customary (though Kieron has already beaten me to it) - a quick review of the year now ending…..

For the industry as a whole the high spots had to be the excellent a4uExpo and coming a close second, Affiliate Summit London - two events that proved that Affiliate Marketing in the UK has finally come of age.

The year has also seen some new innovations from networks, including the excellent ShopWindow from Affiliate Window, the ContentEngine from Buy.at and the fantastic new content units from Paid on Results - not forgetting the really good context sensitive units from Amazon. All in all, some very useful innovations, and lets hope there will be many more in the coming year.

Affiliate Window took all of the network awards at a4uExpo and to my mind this year rightly so - towards the end of last year a magazine journo asked me who the network to watch would be in 2007 and I said Affiliate Window and I’m pleased to say they have done nothing to prove me wrong - we have done more than 400% more business this year with Affiliate Window than last year, and I see that trend increasing many fold in 2008. Do they get everything right? - no they don’t, things like Dixons and Next cutting commissions need more network control, but taken overall they simply do more things right than all of the other networks. They also invited me along to one of their merchant training days (I’m happy to do more guys, just let me know the dates) and it was very useful to see how a mainstream network presents affiliates to its merchants (largely positively I should add!) - and I know from the merchant feedback that they enjoyed having an affiliate’s input on the day.

The big surprises of 2007 probably came right at the end with DGM having a management buy-out (which I feel is probably a good move and will give them the freedom to develop and achieve what their team is capable of in 2008) and IBG (Affiliate Future) agreeing a takeover (this one I’m less sure about, I will be watching what happens with baited breath).

The other plus of 2007 has been the IAB Affiliate Council finally making some real measurable progress. I would like to extend my thanks to David Hall of Affiliate Window for being an excellent chair of the Council this year.

On a personal note, 2007 has seen my cancer and associated problems remain relatively stable which has been somewhat of a relief - long may that continue.

So what of 2008?

For the industry as a whole, I would like to see more affiliate (and merchant) participation in the IAB affiliate council (it’s your industry, so help to shape it).

The year will I think see further increases in the professionalism of the industry which can only be a good think (though with that, almost inevitably, the barriers to entry for new entrants will get steadily higher).

On a personal note I want to do more and procrastinate less. I have made a plan which will establish an income I will be more than happy with by the end of the year, and broken that down into workable steps (I actually started on this plan at the end of November), and I’m pleased to say that December (even allowing for seasonal swings) is well ahead of expectations so that all bodes well for the plan as a whole.

I also plan to get away for at least one holiday in 2008 (I haven’t been on holiday since 2005) and to try to ensure I do everything I can to make my lifestyle such that it continues to keep my cancer at bay.

So that’s it, I hope everyone has a great time tonight and however you see in the New Year, enjoy today and every day of the new year - you only get one shot at this life, so there’s no time for rehearsals…..

  

CSV? XML? Pipe?

Web Services? Datafeeds? Cron?

Product feeds are a potential minefield, even for experienced affiliates. That’s why this session at Affiliate Christmas is a don’t miss for any affiliate (or merchant!!) interested in using product feeds to their best advantage.

Topics we will cover include:
Downloading files - the mysteries of ftp.
How to parse files to get the data you want.
Establishing your database of products.
Which is better, downloading product feeds or using web services?
SOAP or REST, which is better?
Why is XML the way of the future?
How can I automate the whole process?

The second part of the session will cover the use of content units looking specifically at the content units for Paid on Results, Buy.at, Tradedoubler and Affiliate Window.

This part of the session will cover how to design templates, how to select products and how to make your content units truly dynamic.

There are of course a whole host of other seminar topics at Affiliate Christmas too - but this one should whet your appetite.

  

Finally got a break from the preparations for Affiliate Christmas to sit down and review a4uexpo.

Several other bloggers have already blogged about their experiences at the a4uexpo and like the others, I would like to congratulate Matt, Claire and everyone else involved in the organisation of an event which did not so much raise the bar for Affiliate Marketing events in the UK as set a whole new pole vault record.

Right up to a week before the event I was still hesitating over whether to attend but boy am I glad I decided to go. Originally I planned to go for just the Thursday but I ended up rearranging other meetings and work projects so that I could attend on the Friday as well.

So what for me were the highlights:

The first highlight was meeting so many of the ‘old faces’ who I haven’t seen for far too long - it was really good to see Paul, Julie, Keith Bond, Joe, Nadeem, Dave and Elaine, Mal,Tyson, Pete Dickenson, Nic, Jason and Jude, James Little, James Avery, Shane, Kieron and countless others - if I haven’t mentioned you it was still really good to see you!

The second highlight was that the conference hall was nice and spacious, plenty of room to network so even though you were conscious that there were lots of people in the room, it never felt crowded.

The other noteworthy event for me was the announcement at the Loyalty Sector session of the launch of  The Loyalty Association - founded by Greasypalm, rPoints and MutualPoints this is an interesting development for affiliate marketing in the UK. Many of us have tried for a long time without much success to form an Affiliate Association, so maybe the formation of more niche associations is the way to go - certainly I will be watching its progress with interest.

So what of the seminar sessions - I can only comment on the sessions I attended but for me the top 3 sessions were Conversion Rate Optimisation with Ben Jesson and Dr Karl Blanks, Let’s Get Social with Ciaran Norris and Lee McCoy, and the Preparing for Christmas session given by Elena Koudreiko from Tradedoubler which sadly only a handful of delegates actually attended - you missed a really good session if you weren’t one of the few.

I will blog about the individual sessions later this week but suffice to say that the Conversion Rate Optimisation session has had me tweaking things on our websites all week (and to good effect) and I am actively investigating how to create apps for Facebook!!

It has to be said that normally when I attend conferences these days there will be one or at most two sessions that stick in my mind and the rest are there to provide a seat to pad out the day - that I attended sessions over the two days and yet only once felt ‘why am I sitting here’ when I could be doing something better is a real tribute to the depth of the speakers.

So was there anything that could have been done better:

Well to be honest not a lot - the only thing that sticks in my mind was that it would have been better to have some sort of raised stage for the a4uawards presentation (and thanks to everyone who nominated me, I am truly humbled) and that the distribution of the food on the awards ceremony evening could have been better organised - but both quite minor points and both did nothing at all to detract from the overall excellence of the event.

Special thanks must go to Mark and Bruce at Existem for providing a handy table to sit and have lunch, Laura for keeping my glass full of red wine and Nicky Iapino and affili.net for the scrummiest cream cake I have had for ages.

Well enough said, next year’s Expo is already firmly in my diary (and Matt has even been good enough to organise it so it ties in with my birthday )

  

Lee and Kieron have both blogged in the last couple of days about corruption in brand name bidding.

My take on it is that I sincerely hope that there is no corruption in this industry of ours, though I suspect there may be some going on. Like others though, I have no proof of this, just hearsay on the grapevine, but in many ways we have all in this industry brought it on ourselves, by simple lack of transparency.

The whole industry at time is more shrouded in smoke and mirrors than Paul Daniels and David Copperfield put together. When networks won’t even acknowledge that closed groups exist for a particular merchant, what hope is there of getting true openness.

I for the life of me cannot understand networks reluctance to acknowledge that closed groups exist (particularly when they use the pathetic excuse of ‘to say whether there is or not would breach the commercial confidentiality of our clients’) - what the f***! - surely in asking “Does merchant ‘x’ have a closed group” is exactly the same as asking “Does merchant ‘x’ have a store on Chiswick High Street” - it is a question of fact - either they do or they don’t - a simple yes or no answer - I don’t want to know what turnover the closed group does, how many members of the closed group there are, do they meet every Friday lunchtime to eat pickled onions and deep fried mars bars - just does one exist……how on earth does a yes or no to that breach commercial confidentiality? please someone, come on here and explain, cos it sure defeats my tiny brain…

Kieron’s argument of why shouldn’t a network / merchant use the same affiliates time and again that have built up a relationship and they trust is very valid and not one I would argue against - nonetheless I personally believe that all networks should

a) have to acknowledge which closed groups exist

b) have all members of that closed group re-tender for their position within the group at least every 12 months

c) publish clear details of how an affiliate not currently within the closed group can apply to be a member of the closed group.

The problem without this openness is that an affiliate looks at merchant X, sees people bidding on Adwords for merchant x brand terms, goes and checks network and although the terms for merchant X says no brand bidding, can see no evidence of closed group so thinks ‘well if they can do it so can I’ and bids on brand terms. Personally I would support that affiliate 100% - you can’t have it both ways, either acknowledge a closed group exists, ban brand bidding totally, or have an open playing field - don’t have a group which is only visible to those ‘in the know’ - it is this sort of activity that feeds the conspiracy theories.

It is important for the industry as a whole that this issue is resolved once and for all - merchant confidence is crucial and if we can’t get our own house in order then the day when merchants say no brand name bidding full stop is not that far away.

  

Many have commented recently on Paid on Results new voucher codes system which will see individual affiliates issued with unique discount codes by merchants. The big plus to affiliates is that if say I manage to get a Paid on Results merchant to give me a unique discount code and that code is ‘borrowed’ by another affiliate, if a purchase is made from the merchant using my unique discount code, I still get credited with the commission.

Now at first glance this seems to be an excellent idea. I, like many affiliates, spend many hours persuading merchants to give me unique discount codes and anything which means I get rewarded for that effort is very welcome and could well lead to me promoting merchants more via Paid on Results.

However, as in most things in life, every silver lining has a cloud. The fly in the ointment with this solution as I see it comes for the operators of cashback/reward sites.

What happens in the scenario where Mr Customer visits one of my sites and sees for the sake of argument voucher code ‘AAAAA’ to get 10% of a plasma TV. So far all well and good - but Mr Customer is a member of XYZ cashback site and so he thinks to himself, ah ha, if I go to XYZ and order my TV, enter the code ‘AAAAA’ then I get 10% off and 3% cashback - luvly jubbly.

Then six weeks later Mr Customer says to XYZ cashback site - ‘oi - where’s my cashback’ - they check with Paid on Results who say ‘ah, you don’t get the commission as that code was for use on another affiliate’s site so we gave the commission to them’. So then the cashback site has to go back to Mr Customer and explain the situation to which I think Mr Customer is going to say, ‘Well, Yes, I did use that code but no one said I couldn’t‘

Now if this is just a case of taking the code from my site and using it on the cashback site then ok I can put a big notice on my site saying the code is exclusive and should not be used anywhere else but in reality is Joe Public going to take any notice - I doubt it - and anyway what if Mr Customer didn’t take the code from my site but copied it from MoneySavingAdvisorExpertGuruThingy.com forum where some other person had posted it.

I’m all in favour of the new technology but unless it is adopted by all merchants/networks (in which case there is just a chance that customers will learn exclusive means exclusive as in ‘only here’ and not exclusive as in ‘please don’t use it somewhere else but actually you can’) then I do wonder if the new technology long term could create more problems than it solves.

  

Voting for the A4U awards has now been extended until Friday 19th October.

Let me start by saying I am truly honoured to have been nominated for the Industry Champion award. I really did not expect to be nominated so it was a lovely surprise.
Having shared with you my nominations a few posts ago, I will share with you how I have voted (but will not comment at all on the Industry Champion section as it would not be fair to say why you should vote for me or why you should or should not vote for any of the other nominations, who are I will say to my mind all  well deserving of the Industry Champion award).

OK, so on to the other votes:

Publisher Choice of Network 2007

Affiliate Future
Affiliate Window
Buy.at
Paid on Results
TradeDoubler

For me this year this has to be Affiliate Window with Paid on Results getting the highly commended.
Publisher Choice of Agency 2007

Affiliate Program Advice
Equator
Existem Affiliate Management
RO EYE

Top agency for me is R O EYE with Equator getting the highly commended.

Publisher Choice of Merchant 2007

3 Mobile
Buy a Gift
HMV
PrezzyBox
Sky

Getting the top two here is easy, but which should win and which should get the runner up. After much thought, Prezzybox wins for me with Buyagift getting the runner up. I’m a bit puzzled how the other 3 got there - OK they’re fine merchants but none of them would I rank as particularly outstanding.
Merchants Publisher of the Year 2007

Allkids.co.uk
eStuff (holiday Watchdog)
Freebie Sites UK
Uk Web Media

Tricky for me to vote on as a fellow affiliate but I would give the prize to Allkids.co.uk with eStuff as a very well deserved Highly Commended
Innovation in Affiliate Marketing - Network Award

Affiliate Future
Affiliate Window
Buy.at
Paid on Results
TradeDoubler

For me again this has to be Affiliate Window with Buy.at as the runner up.
Innovation in Affiliate Marketing - Merchant Award

Amazon
Buy a Gift
Jessops
PrezzyBox
Pru Health

When I made my nominations, I opted for Amazon here, but that was before the video content units, so now I’m giving my vote to Prezzybox with Amazon highly commended.

Now either someone knows something I don’t or there has been a bit of sponsor intervention in the nominations but it seems odd that so far all of the surprise nominations have been either buy.at or Tradedoubler merchants but I guess it could just be coincidence and me getting cynical in my old age…. but quite what Jessops or Pru Health have done that shows innovation is a mystery to me….
Innovation in Affiliate Marketing - Publishers Award

eConversions
Fraser Edwards
Nectar
Quidco
UK Web Media

For me this simply has to be Fraser Edwards. I’m struggling on a highly commended on this one but in the end have opted for Quidco since they brought a whole new outlook to the cashback model.
Publishers Manager of 2007 - Merchant Award

Chris Bishop - Hotel Chocolat
Ennis Al-Saiegh - Jessops
Graham Keen - Buyagift
Naomi Brown - Firebox
Zak Edwards - Prezzybox

For me again this has to be Zak Edwards of Prezzybox with Graham Keen of Buyagift as highly commended. Jessops make another surprise appearance - now come on, admit it, did you know their affiliate manager’s name before you saw the finalists…… did the nominations committee watch the Eurovision song contest for inspiration…….

Affiliate Marketing Blog of 2007

AffiliateStuff.co.uk - Kirsty McGubbin
AffiliateBlog.co.uk - Fraser Edwards
Here.org.uk - Kieron Donoghue
Mooseontheloose.co.uk - Paul Wheatley
MorleyMouse.com - Dan Morley

All well deserved nominations - for me the winner is Kieron with Fraser as a very close runner up.
Best Account Manager 2007

Fiona MacPherson - Equator
Hero Gregoraki - Webgains
Matt Bailey - DGM
Michelle Boxall - All Response Media
Sean Carter - MediaVest International

This one was easy for me - Matt Bailey  to win, Fiona MacPherson for highly commended.
Best New Merchant of 2007

Arcadia
Childrens Rooms
Next
Setanta
Wickes

Winner for me would be Wickes, expertly managed by the crew at Equator, with Childrens Rooms as runner up. How the hell did Setanta get in there, they didn’t even launch their programme until after the nominations had closed……me smells a definite rat on that one…
Best New Affiliate of 2007

Dealpond
Maxafi
Smoolah

Don’t actually know any of these so can’t really comment.
Best International Publisher

Clicks2 Customers
eConversions
Net Media Planet

Again, don’t actually know any of these so can’t really comment.

Industry Champion Award 2007

Clarke Duncan
Fraser Edwards
Jess Luthi
Keith Budden
Matthew Wood
Nick Roveta
So there you have it - that’s my votes and thoughts…… If you haven’t voted yet, please do so, it’s your industry so use your vote.

  

so it’s just as well buyagift do!!

When Buyagift came up with their Christmas incentive last year we all thought it would be hard to beat, but they have - just check out the details of this year’s incentive

Not only do you get a trip to Vegas, you also get to be a fighter pilot and to drive a NASCAR - if that doesn’t motivate you then you’re either dumb or dead.

This is what affiliate incentives should be all about, not just monetary value but an experience that we all would neither have the time or the contacts to organise.

Hats off to Graham for organising another great incentive - and I’m off to polish up all my gift and experience day websites……………….see you in Vegas

  

Well it’s 100 days to Christmas (yes it is!) and so I thought I would pen this little ditty…

Twas the time before Christmas, and all through the land

Affilliates were crafting their ads and websites by hand;

The sites were designed in Dreamweaver with care,

In hopes that merchant offers would all soon be there;

The next three months see affiliates rarely into their beds,

While visions of commissions dance all through their heads;

Ill thought out PPC terms could be a handicap,

And all affiliates are hoping there will be no Google slap,

Sometimes on A4u there is such a clatter,

Even Matt Wood springs from his chair to see what is the matter.

All of the affiliates fly up like a flash,

Merchants imposing silly conditions make affiliates dash.

With so many networks which way should we go

With some offers are good but support is so slow,

When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,

But a miniature sleigh, and eight tiny reindeer,

Affiliate Window, so lively and quick,

Affili.net are never one to miss a trick.

Tradedoubler and Buy.at love a brand name,

Affiliate Future, Paid on Results, oh this affiliate game!

“Now, Dixons! now, Debenhams! now, Next and Kelkoo!

On, Comet! on Hamleys! on, Waterstones too!

Always new offers to post on the wall!

There just aren’t enough hours to deal with it all!”

As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,

The list of to dos, mounts up to the sky,

Working with content units - this year they’re all new,

PHP, Javascript and XML too.

And then, in a twinkling, sales go through the roof

So there will be food on the table, a fatted cow on the hoof. (well you try and rhyme with roof!)

With widgets from Awin and Buy.at abound,

Ching ching goes my desktop - oh how I love that sound!

This proves ASOS Nick Robertson foolish from his head to his foot,

When he says affilliates are grubby like ashes and soot;

Of sales there certainly will be no lack,

The shoppers they come in their hordes like a pack.

With all of these sales we will surely get merry!

It’s almost as exciting as losing your cherry!!!

Into the bank  the commissions will go,

Though the network statistics may sometimes be slow;

And all of the tracking that lies deep beneath,

Will sometimes have all of us gritting our teeth;

Will we get the commission on that big plasma telly,

If the tracking’s not working, then not on your nelly.

While working hard be sure to keep on eye on your health,

Because money’s important but look after yourself;

Lets hope that this Christmas brings nothing to dread,

And that a great Google shuffle wont leave our sites looking dead;

We’ve put in the effort, we’ve done all the work,

Let’s not fall foul of a merchant who acts like a jerk,

Affiliate income this quarter will grow,

But only if now the links we do sow;

We must continue to tweak them so the punters feel jolly,

So the only prick we feel is one from the holly.

So now I must go and put our Christmas site right,

“Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night.”

  

Nominations are now open for the a4u Awards (more details at www.a4uexpo.com)

There are an interesting variety of categories so for what it’s worth I thought I would put my nominations out in the open - some are hard to call so where appropriate I have included a runner up:

Innovation in Affiliate Marketing (Merchant Award)

A tricky one this and I thought long and hard - for me there are three merchants who clearly stand out in terms of innovation, PrezzyBox, eBay and Amazon.

I know a number of other affiliates will have nominated PrezzyBox and they are well known for their innovation….but…when I look at their creative this year I see a rework of last year’s creative (which don’t get me wrong was really excellent, set standards most other merchants are still nowhere near reaching and was really groundbreaking - and were this last year they would have won my nomination hands down).

eBay have developed a great tools for affiliates this year, and their API is definitely one of the most powerful available and seems to be under almost continual development.

But for me, the winner this year is Amazon - their new context sensitive linking mechanism is for me the best innovation in 2007 I have seen from a merchant (and even better, not only is it a technical innovation but it works and brings in extra revenue).

Innovation in Affiliate Marketing (Network Award)

As this week has seen a rash of new ‘content units’ launching across several of the networks I have had to think long and hard about this one.

For me there are four contenders Affiliate Window, Buy.at, Paid on Results and Webgains

Having tried all of the product offerings, I have voted to give this nomination to Buy.at as their tool appears to have more flexibility than the others and includes options which allow real content to be included on publisher’s web pages and not simply a javascript call - but there really is a hair’s breadth between them and the other networks I have shortlisted all of which should get at least a ‘Highly Commended’.

Innovation in Affiliate Marketing (Affiliate Award)

This is a tricky one as I am not that familiar with other affiliates websites, but for my money I would nominate Flightmapping - I have yet to see any site put so much effort into delivery of content in a unique fashion as James Avery.
Publishers Choice of Network

At last a category that is easy - for me it has to be Affiliate Window who this year for me have been miles ahead of any of the other networks, both in terms of client wins but also in terms of pro-activity - some networks say “why do you want that?” - Affiliate Window say “when do you want that?” - and even “we thought you would like this” - probably the only mainstream network who can put account and management in the same sentence and know what they mean.

Publishers Choice of Merchant

A tricky one again - for me there are three contenders - PrezzyBox, JustHom and BuyaGift. My nomination goes to PrezzyBox because Zak cares as passionately about affiliate marketing as I do, but the other two again deserve a Highly Commended and I really wish it was possible to give a prize to all three of them.

Publishers Choice of Agency

For me this year it has to be R O EYE - Mark and the guys have managed all of their campaigns robustly and intuitively. Close runners up for me would be Equator, Affiliate Program Advice and Existem.

Affiliate Manager of 2007

Zak at PrezzyBox (there’s that name again). Close runners up would be Adam at JustHom, Graham at BuyaGift and Danny Barrasso at Hilton Group.

Merchants Publisher of 2007

With my affiliate management hat on, I would nominate Joe Connor aka Renegade.

Best New Merchant of 2007

I always find it tricky to remember when merchants launch but for me the best new merchant for 2007 is Lego on Linkshare.

Best New Affiliate of 2007

I would nominate Stu Foster, who is one of a rare breed of ‘new kids on the block’ who made an instant positive impression with me.

Affiliate Marketing Blog of 2007

Another easy one, for me it has to be Kieron’s blog - though if there was a prize for most innovative blog it would have to go to Fraser Edwards.

Best Agency Account Manager

This again is simple, it has to be the irrepressible Jess Luthi at Affiliate Program Advice.

Best International Affiliate 2007

For me this has to be Michael Yack from FabulousSavings.com - perhaps better known as Mikey.

There are some people of whom it is said “once met never forgotten” and Mikey definitely falls into that category - I can only really describe him as the Billy Graham of Affiliate Marketing - being a little long in the tooth in this industry myself it is rare for me to meet someone who makes me think “Wow!” - but Mikey did that. If you need inspiration - talk to Mikey!

Industry Champion Award

For me this has to be A4u’s own Matthew Wood - without Matt’s dedication and enthusiasm there would be no a4u forum, no a4u expo and indeed no a4u awards. While many may make noise, Matt gets on and puts things into action. Matt and the Existem team - take the stand!!!……………….

Like Paul over at Moose on the Loose, I also would have liked to see an award for Best Network Publisher Manager - for me this would be a close call between Kevin Edwards at Affiliate Window and Matt Bailey at DGM. Both have proved this year that they are willing to ‘go the extra mile’ and many other network employees from all of the networks could learn from their approach.

  

I’m beginning to think that networks and merchants believe affiliates to be goldfish (or at least to share the memory span of one)

First we have Co-op Travelcare which launched as a ‘NEW’ programme amidst a fanfare at Buy.at today. Now this programme may well be good this time around, the site looks reasonable, the commission rates are pretty good BUT let’s be clear it is not a NEW programme however Buy.at and the merchant try to dress it up.

Travelcare have had a programme on Buy.at for a long time (I’m not sure exactly how long) but they were on the delegate list for the Buy.at Speakeasy in March 2004) so how can they be a new merchant?

Perhaps they are hoping that affiliates will forget that tracking on this programme has always been shall we say ‘troublesome’ and conversions have been…………well………you decide…..

So to say it is NEW will no doubt entice the unwary but those of us a bit longer in the tooth will need some persuading that things have changed. What I don’t understand is if things really really have improved, then why not shout it from the rooftops? why not say “OK, we screwed up last time…..this didn’t work………..that didn’t work……” and now we are relaunching having done x,y and z (and give a sensible level of detail about what has changed) rather than insult our intelligence by shouting it is new (and even prelaunching it as if we should all be wetting ourselves in anticipation).

Travelcare also launched on Commission Junction today with much less of a fanfare and yet on that network as far as I know they really are new - certainly I can’t remember them being on there before….

But just to show this is not a rant solely against Travelcare and Buy.at, I log in to webgains tonight to see Win4now is a new competition site that offers registered users the chance to win prizes from £20 to many thousands of pounds in value (and Instantwin4now and Vouch4me with similar messages).

Now Win4now may be many things (and to be fair it’s not a bad affiliate programme and converts reasonably well) but it sure as hell is not NEW - Win4now had an affiliate programme when I first started affiliate marketing (in fact I think they were one of the first programmes I signed up to, and I’ve lost all my hair and grown it back again (twice!!) since then!!)

So please, let’s drop the superlative use of NEW - relaunched, revamped, bigger, better, revitalised - there are dozens of words you can use but please keep NEW for things that really are…