OrangeSoda Director of Partner Development Joins Panel of Experts to Discuss Search Engine Marketing at SES Chicago

Lee Gientke will be on hand to discuss how marketers can balance affiliates and search channels in strategic marketing; the company will be exhibiting at Booth 210

2008-12-04, Jonathan Bacon, for OrangeSoda, Inc.

Posted by lthomson 35 days ago (1)
Category: Advertising | Tags: orangesoda ses ses chicago seo sem

AMERICAN FORK, Utah – Dec. 4, 2008 – OrangeSoda Inc., an online search marketing company that specializes in providing localized search results for small- to medium-sized businesses (SMBs), today announced its director of partner development, Lee Gientke, will be on a panel of experts to discuss “Affiliate 2.0: New Distribution Value Using Search & More” at SES Chicago on Dec. 11, 2008 at 10:15 a.m. OrangeSoda will also be exhibiting at Booth 210 of the Hilton Chicago Expo Hall Dec. 9 – 10, 2008.

With more and more companies expanding their budgets for search, they find they are directly competing against their affiliate programs. The “Affiliate 2.0: New Distribution Value Using Search & More” panel will cover what this means for top search marketing affiliates while providing a roadmap for marketing departments to balance their internal search marketing programs without inhibiting the growth of their affiliate program.

Gientke and the panel of experts will discuss what this means for both of performance marketing's top contenders and how marketers can balance both channels given their desire for incremental leads/sales and less cannibalization of search campaigns. The panel will be moderated by Jeff Molander, CEO of Molander & Associates Inc. Joining Gientke on the panel are Jeff Ferguson, director of online marketing at Napster, Amanda Evans, vice president of search strategy at WebMama.com, and Kristopher Jones, president and CEO of Pepperjam.

“It’s obvious that the evolution of SEM (search engine marketing) is changing the way businesses are looking at their affiliate and internal search programs,” Gientke said. “In today’s economic climate, every expenditure is under a microscope. Many of the heads of marketing departments approach affiliates with a hostile eye thinking search affiliates add little value. As an affiliate and a former affiliate manager, I’ve seen both sides of the coin and believe there is a middle ground between letting your affiliates run amuck and completely disallowing search affiliates. I am excited to participate on a panel alongside such well-respected industry experts and hope attendees will walk away with a fresh perspective and the knowledge of how to work together profitably.”

OrangeSoda has developed a core technology and service platform that it believes to be the only fully integrated online marketing platform that is scalable and designed specifically for small to medium-sized businesses. Clients with smaller budgets, or national brands with local outlets, can rely on OrangeSoda’s technology to maximize their ROI and acquire additional local customers at the lowest cost-per-lead possible.

Now in its tenth year, the global SES Conference and Exposition Series educates tens of thousands of marketers each year, with a 98 percent satisfaction rate. SES Chicago, the only major Search Marketing Conference and Expo in the Midwest, will be packed with 60+ sessions, multiple keynotes and Orion Strategy sessions, exhibitors, networking events and more. For more information about SES Chicago and all over SES events, conferences and expositions, visit www.searchenginestrategies.com.

About OrangeSoda
Founded by search engine marketers in 2006, Utah-based OrangeSoda has rapidly grown into other offices in Las Vegas, NV, and Chicago, IL. The company's primary focus is providing small to medium-sized companies find success by helping them with online marketing techniques. They provide advanced campaign management technology, reporting, tracking and optimization systems. Search engine optimization (SEO) and Internet marketing strategies, combined with a team of optimization professionals, work to help businesses succeed online. For more information about OrangeSoda, please visit www.OrangeSoda.com.

About Lee Gientke
Lee "The Lead Man" Gientke is the Director of Partner Development at OrangeSoda, a Utah-based search marketing firm that services small and medium size businesses. Gientke made waves in 2005 when he candidly blogged about moving his affiliate program from Commission Junction to LinkShare. His broad-based performance marketing experience includes Business to Business performance marketing, retail/B2C affiliate marketing and online lead generation. Prior to joining OrangeSoda, Gientke ran an affiliate program for a California based nutriceutics firm and most recently was a business development manager for LeadPoint, an online lead exchange, where he was instrumental in creating and managing performance based partnerships. Gientke is a graduate of the University of California at Santa Barbara. He currently resides in Draper, Utah and is an avid golfer and practitioner of Bikram Yoga.

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MEDIA CONTACTS AT POLITIS COMMUNICATIONS
Jonathan Bacon, 801-523-3730(o), 801-660-7820(c), jbacon@politis.com
Kristofer Beldin, 801-523-3730(o), 801-870-4064(c), kbeldin@politis.com