• Two free offers for sports fans: Live streams for sporting events and a premium account for the game “SPORT1 Bundesliga Manager”
• SPORT1.de users can shop online with deal united partner shops

Users of the online sports portal SPORT1.de can now receive immediate free credit for the live streaming of important event broadcasts. In addition, players of the online game “SPORT1 Bundesliga Manager” have the option of acquiring a premium account at no additional cost. In cooperation with SPORT1 GmbH, deal united implements both offers with PAY.BY.SHOPPING, the alternative payment method for the monetization of digital and virtual goods.

Soccer on the free live stream
The sports portal SPORT1.de, along with the sports TV station SPORT1, is operated by SPORT1 GmbH. Sports enthusiasts can watch live streams of various events such as soccer, handball and motor sports on the site. Each stream usually costs between 0.99 and 2.99 euros, but users can now add free credit to their accounts valued at 15 euros to tune into events. They just shop at a deal united partner shop, make a purchase and then watch sports for free! Our offer is prominently displayed to viewers on SPORT1.de in banners as well as in the payment area.

Premium account for “Bundesliga-Manager” now free
In addition, players of the popular “SPORT1 Bundesliga Manager” game now get a premium account for free. The object of the game is to have as many points as possible on your account at the end of the season through clever transfers and smart team lineups. The game is provided by SPORT1.de for free, but the premium account costs a one-time charge of five euros. However, when gamers make a purchase at a deal united partner shop online, they get a premium account for free. The offer is advertised via in-game banners and in the payment area.

PAY.BY.SHOPPING is motivation to buy digital products
“Our renowned partner shops fund the campaigns,” explains Jarg Temme, CEO of deal united. “They pay a premium if the user finds their way to the shop and makes a purchase there.” The alternative payment method PAY.BY.SHOPPING motivates surfers in social networks and online games, as well as on sports and software platforms, to purchase a premium account, virtual currency and full versions of software. The companies promote the deal united offer in the payment area in banners, pop-unders and via email. PAY.BY.SHOPPING is not only suitable for seasonal events, but also over a longer period in order to increase turnover for digital and virtual goods and services, as well as software. deal united partner shops include GAP, OTTO, Toys”R”Us and buecher.de.

Since 1810, Oktoberfest has been a Munich must-do, and since deal united just happens to be based in Munich, we couldn’t miss it this year!

So, taking a little much-needed time away from our computers, we all put on our Bavarian best — women in dirndls (traditional dresses featuring a fitted bodice over a blouse and skirt) and men in lederhosen (you know, the leather pants with suspenders).

When we got to Oktoberfest, we had a long, cozy lunch in the Bräurosl with the typical specialties of the Wiesn (the German word meaning “meadow” that Bavarians endearingly use to refer to Oktoberfest). We ate Hendl (chicken), Schweinsbraten (roast pork), Schweinshaxe (ham rock), Knödel (potato or bread dumplings) and, of course, beer.

After lunch, we drank a bit more beer and enjoyed the atmosphere of comraderie and cheer at the Oktoberfest. And to show you how much fun we had, we took a few pictures:

 

From August 18 to August 22, 2010 deal united presented the marketing solution PAY.BY.SHOPPING and the new platform GamesClubCard. Our booth A-013 in hall 4.2 was highly frequented and we met several new future business partners.

2010 was deal united’s first year having our own booth at Gamescom, and we were crossing our fingers that everything would work out. Sadly, our Carrera race track wasn’t appreciated as much as we hoped it would be, but despite that, the Gamescom 2010 was a great success for deal united and we will definitely come back in 2011.

deal united sends our a big thanks all partners who met with us at the Gamescom, as well as to Bertelsmann Digital Media Investments and everyone who dropped by our booth. Hope to see you all next year!

deal united has concluded its latest round of financing with outstanding results. Bertelsmann Digital Media Investments and Venture Incubator have invested a hearty seven-figure sum in the Munich-based online rewards platform. deal united helps providers of software, online games, social networks and online shops to optimize monetization. We have already established ourselves as Europe’s leading online rewards platform for monetization of digital and virtual goods.

deal united’s concept is aimed at improving turnover and conversion rates for online merchants. Only around one percent of people using a software test version are actually willing to purchase the full version — the majority decide to stick with the free downloads. The monetization rate is similarly low for social networks and the sale of premium features or virtual currency in online games. By integrating deal united’s solutions into their websites, online businesses can convert users into paying customers by offering them attractive rewards such as vouchers or free products (e.g. software or virtual currency). This is made possible through cooperation with top advertising partners.

“The deal united concept has already proven very successful and has been implemented by many well-known partners,” said Jan Borgstädt, Principal at Bertelsmann Digital Media Investments. “The approach has had great success in the areas of software, gaming, social networks and retail. deal united is able to provide solutions to these markets of the future which have a particularly strong demand for new monetizing concepts.”

Daniel Gutenberg, General Partner at Venture Incubator, also sees a bright future ahead for deal united. “Through the use of innovative marketing solutions, deal united has created a cross-selling arrangement which benefits all stakeholders — even the end user. In our opinion, this is one of the great strengths of the deal united solution.”

Jarg Temme, deal united CEO, is extremely pleased that the company can expand internationally following the latest round of financing from new investors. “Venture Incubator is a strong partner for us with a lot of experience in eCommerce, and we can benefit greatly from this expertise in the future. As Europe’s leading media and services company, we are also thrilled that Bertlesmann Digital Media Investments is on board with us and that they have seen the potential of our business. Our full focus in now on  international expansion and on extending our position as Europe’s leading provider of ad-funded solutions for monetizing digital goods.”

deal united currently offers two successful marketing solutions for online businesses: Pay4You and Incentive Deal.

With Pay4You, the customer gets a free product like software, virtual currency or membership in a social network if they buy merchandise or coupons from one of deal united’s advertising partners. With Incentive Deal, shoppers who are undecided about purchasing are offered a shopping voucher to use with one of deal united’s advertising partners if they decide to go ahead with their original purchase. This is an added incentive to purchase a previously viewed product or increase the value of their shopping cart.

More than 500 online businesses, including Avira, Deutsche Telekom AG (Softwareload), DivX, GData, libri.de, Owlient, Red Moon and Upjers, have successfully implemented these free solutions for monetization. The partnerhips extend from German-speaking countries to other European countries including Great Britain, France, Spain and Italy. In terms of advertising partners, deal united works with well-known companies such as buecher.de, myToys, Neckermann, OTTO and Tchibo. deal united provides these companies with targeted new customers on a cost-per-order basis.

About deal united:

Since 2008, deal united has been linking merchants, advertisers and internet users in a mutually profitable way that supplies merchants with revenue, advertisers with new customers and users with the opportunity to get virtual credits or actual products for free. In collaboration with over 500 merchants — from game developers to online shops — and more than 2,000 advertisers, deal united reaches millions of users.

About Bertelsmann Digital Media Investments (BDMI):

BDMI is a strategic venture investor focused on innovative digital media technologies, products and distribution channels across the globe. They look for opportunities to accelerate growth through BDMI’s financial and management resources and close connectivity with one or more Bertelsmann divisions. BDMI is a subsidiary of Bertelsmann AG. With consolidated revenues of over €15.4 billion (U.S. $21.4 billion), Bertelsmann AG is an international media corporation encompassing television (RTL Group), book publishing (Random House), magazine publishing (Gruner + Jahr), media services (Arvato) and media clubs (Direct Group) in more than 50 countries. For further information, visit www.bdmifund.com

About Venture Incubator:

VI Partners is a Swiss venture capital firm that supports university offshoots and other promising startup companies with capital, coaching, consulting and networks. Via their current “Venture Incubator” fund, VI Partners invests “Smart Money” to turn promising technology-based ideas for products and services into successful businesses. Venture Incubator was established by McKinsey & Company and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zürich (ETHZ), and started operations in 2001. It now manages an investment fund of 101 million Swiss francs with investors representing 10 blue chip enterprises from industry and finance. Website: www.vipartners.ch

The year-end business has been very successful for deal united, so at the beginning of January it was time for the next team event. The vote was again a landslide in support of sporty activities, so we decided to take to the slopes, but with a twist: skiers had to take snowboarding lessons and snowboarders had to learn to ski!

The day started bright and early at 6:30 a.m. at Munich’s central station, where our buses left for Garmisch-Patenkirchen. There, everyone received the right equipment, and after an hour of trying shoes, ski pants and ski jackets, we all were ready to go.

The groups split up, ski class up the mountain and snowboarders down below, and did some warm-ups and dry runs on the bunny slope under the watchful eye of the instructor. The next three hours passed with basics and first attempts to try a different bunny slope. Then everyone met for lunch to refuel and compare “war stories.”

The rest of the afternoon passed with brave and not-so-brave attempts to master the new sport. Some team members even took on one of the big runs down the mountain. Finally, it was time to return to the ski school and then make our way home.

Sore muscles seem to be a part of every deal united team event, but it was fun and everyone’s looking forward to the next challenge! At least nobody was seriously injured :)

 

A week before Christmas Eve, the deal united team organized a small Christmas party before everyone went on holidays. Unlike most company parties where eating and drinking basically is THE evening program, deal united decided to handle it differently.

After a brief review of the year 2009, which that started out with a total of 4 employees and ended with 20, we got the party started.  The whole group was divided into five small teams, each consisting of four people competing in a little tournament against each other.

The first challenge was a creative one: Draw the five company values of deal united – fairness, sustainability, added value, customer orientation, performance orientation – with acrylic colours on a canvas. After a brief discussion, the teams started to put those values into color. We’re no da Vincis here, but the result is still quite impressive, as you can see:

 

 

Creative effort was then rewarded with delicious food and drink. The next challenges were more sporty:  A table soccer tournament and a contest in throwing tea bags. After the winning team was selected, everyone sat down comfortably and enjoyed the rest of the evening.

Maybe next year we’ll actually organize some Christmas decorations, too!

 

 

 

Thanks to good figures in the third quarter, deal united held our second team event in October 2009. After discussing several options, the team decided to do something adventurous and went to the high ropes challenge course Kletterwald at the Blomberg, a mountain close to the Bavarian city Bad Tölz.

After a relaxing cable car trip up the mountain, and a not-so-easy hike to the Kletterwald, the event started. We put our climbing equipment on and went for it! After some schooling in the basics, we tackled the beginner parcours. Some met their Waterloo there, but most of the team suceeded and went on to the next three courses.

In the end, we only skipped the “black parcours,” which reaches up to 15 meters, but not due to lack of courage — we were simply exhausted. After four hours of climbing from tree to tree, we hiked back down the mountain and sat down to a relaxing meal in a restaurant in Bad Tölz. Despite the fact that our muscles had already begun to ache, everyone agreed that the team event had been lot of fun. And nobody got hurt!