Buoyed by the success of social media, e-tailing and e-commerce start-ups in the recent times, especially in the wake of prolonged recessionary trends being witnessed in other industries - The Internet continues to grow and nurture talent and provide livelihood to millions around the globe. The internet is also seeing an influx of emerging men of substance who are genuinely making a noteworthy difference -
Aaron Hales is one such young, vibrant entrepreneur and
Dreaming of Gucci is proud to feature him as the "
The Man of the Moment".
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| Aaron Hales - The Man of the Moment |
Aaron Hales founded LATTICE in 2010.The decision to launch LATTICE has its case resting on logical approach and sound business strategy that fills a void in the
affiliate market by providing a network tailored to the needs of luxury
brands and publishers.
Aaron’s vision is to build LATTICE into a company renowned for
supporting luxury brands and publishers. His aim is to nurture and
promote talent on both sides in order to raise awareness for the luxury
industry and create a global network of mutually beneficial
partnerships.
Aaron has been working with luxury brands for over 8 years and has a
soft spot for perfume and accessories. Aaron has varied experience of managing several digital roles specializing in online
marketing before branching out into digital publishing, which eventually
led to the creation of LATTICE.
He was born in London, England,
speaks French and loves everything about the 1920s. He is a keen horse
rider, an amateur musician and is quickly running out of space for his
books.
Lattice Media has partnered with leading high profile and luxury brands like
Blaqua
As a publisher partner with Lattice Media, Dreaming of Gucci recently interacted with Aaron Hales to understand his vision and bring forth the emerging entrepreneur in the making who is already hailed as a guiding member, mentor and frontrunner in the performance marketing and luxury branding space -
Q. Tell us about your vision behind the making of The company - Lattice Media and is it going in the direction you intended from its inception? Is the growth of your brand meeting your expectations?
Aaron: I
originally started an online magazine dedicated to luxury goods.
Although my readership was small, I knew they purchased regularly and
were extremely interested in the brands I was featuring. Of course,
brands were not willing to advertise because the number were not
attractive. To generate revenue, I looked to affiliate marketing however
I couldn't find any brands suitable for a luxury publication. It was at
that point that the idea behind LATTICE was born. The core mission of
the company is to create reciprocal, long-term relationships between
advertisers and publishers and I am very happy to see that the company
is doing exactly that.
Q. Tell us more about the concept of performance marketing and how relevant it is in today's social-media centric world/ context?
Aaron: Performance
marketing offers compensation based on performance. In the case of
LATTICE, we offer our publishers a commission on every sale they
generate for an advertiser. Performance marketing has developed a lot
over the years and in today's social media centric world, it is more
powerful than ever. For it work effectively, performance marketing needs
niche audiences which social media offers. We follow and interact with
those who share our interests, which from a marketer's point of view, is
a very lucrative opportunity.
Q. How does Lattice Media plan to grow the network partnering publishers with luxury brands?
Aaron: We
work exclusively with luxury brands which means that the quality of our
network is of the utmost importance. Even though we understand the
power of quantity, we still want to ensure that we maintain very good
relationships with all of our publishers. Finding and nurturing
profitable relationships takes time, which doesn't bother us. Our growth
strategy takes into consideration several areas (social media, content
etc.) however, so far, we have found that word of mouth has been
priceless.
Q. What are the key issues, challenges and blocks Lattice Media is facing in terms of it's growth strategy?
Aaron: We
are obviously limited by the number of relevant, quality publishers out
there, which is why we focus on ensuring each one of our publishers is
making full use of the program they are approved for.
Q. What are the primary drivers for luxury brands to partner with Lattice Media?
Aaron: We
understand luxury brands. We only work with luxury brands, which means
we can focus on building expertise and innovation in that industry. That
is why brands love to work with us - we understand how they want the
brand to develop. We also offer our advertisers complete control, which
for a luxury brand, is extremely important. The internet is powerful
which means brands can be built or torn down overnight. As a luxury
brand, you don't trust just anybody with that responsibility.
Q.What are the primary drivers for publishers - big or small to partner with Lattice Media?
Aaron: There
are three reasons publishers love to work with us. We don't pretend
that our publishers promote as a pastime - there is serious money to be
made. We offer publishers a great commission rate (starting at 8% per
sale) which on high value items is extremely lucrative. Our publishers
love the fact that we are dedicated to working with a certain type of
brand. It's much easier to promote something of true quality and
heritage. Thirdly, our publishers get a lot of attention and support. We
offer personal advice to help our publishers get the most out of the
program.
Dreaming of Gucci - Aaron, you have made a very interesting and valid point here. "It's much easier to promote something of true quality and
heritage."
Q.Tell us more about the "Scout program" you intend to launch?
Aaron: With
our new Scouts program, we intend to build a network of LATTICE
representatives around the world. We have found that we achieve much
better results when we communicate with a publisher in their native
tongue and when we understand the social perception of certain products
and approaches. Our Scouts will be 'on the ground', living in the
community and speaking the language which offers us greater insight and
much better results. Our Scouts will be our eyes and ears around the
world, recruiting and supporting the best publishers.
Q.Does Lattice Media have any geographical limitation of operating and connecting with new clients - brands and publishers?
Aaron: We
have been an international company from the very beginning. That is the
wonderful thing about the Internet, a little workshop in the
countryside can sell to millions across the globe. We are based in
London which is a great place to meet and connect with many different
people. The only real limitation comes when our advertisers don't ship
to a particular country.
Q.What are the training tools offered by Lattice Media to help publishers sell via their online publications/ blogs?
Aaron: We recently launched our Learning Centre (
http://www.lattice-media.com/support/learning-centre)
which includes a series of short videos designed to educate our
publishers on all aspects of our system. However, the main support comes
from our staff. We spend a great deal of time learning about our
advertisers, their strengths, weaknesses and goals which allows us to
best inform our publishers on n appropriate strategy.
Q. Who are be your closest competitors today and what is your USP for gaining market and foothold in the performance marketing space?
Aaron: The
performance marketing industry is a very mature market. There are lots
of very big and very small networks out there with great tools, lots of
staff and lots of ambition. However, I have yet to find anybody who is
as dedicated to the luxury industry as we are. We offer great
commission, wonderful brands and the chance to be part of something
exclusive. We care about our publishers and we are dedicated to ensuring
their survival well into the future.
Dreaming of Gucci - Thank you Aaron for sharing information on Lattice Media, its Vision and Mission and being at the helm of a such a brilliant platform that connects luxury brands and publishers so seamlessly.
-Amit Anand
