Web-heavy political campaigns like those of former Democratic presidential primary nominees Howard Dean and Wesley Clark opened contributors' wallets--and in turn, strategists' eyes. In an effort to determine the willingness of voters to use the Internet in order to give to political candidates and nonprofits, Kintera Inc., a software provider to nonprofit organizations, paired up with Web research outfit Luth Research Inc. The big takeaway--nearly half of those likely in 2004 to make a financial contribution to a political candidate or party said they would donate online. They'll have an abundance of opportunities to do just that, if the way in which political campaigns, advocacy organizations, consulting firms, and technology providers are responding is any indication. Take today's Political Technology Summit in Washington, D.C., where even U.S. Senate minority leader Tom Daschle is set to make an appearance. Summit panelists representing consulting firms, tech companies, and political campaigns will make the scene to discuss topics like peer-to-peer Internet organizing and Internet fund raising. Kintera will be represented at the summit by Michael Agosta of the Carol/Trevelyan Strategy Group, a political strategy and technology company acquired by Kintera in March. Agosta will sit on the panel at a session on strategies for voter contact and platform management. "Politics is like Hollywood," observes John Hlinko, vice president, marketing and creative engagement at Grassroots Enterprise, Inc., an online technology and communications company and panelist on the "Money, Money, Money: eDollars--Internet Fundraising" session. "Politics is driven by paranoia. ...When there's a success, there are automatically multiple clones of it," he adds, alluding to the online grassroots efforts of the Dean and Draft Clark campaigns. Hlinko ran the Draft Clark campaign. If more campaigns build Internet fund raising operations, will the donors come? According to the Kintera/Luth Nonprofit Trend Report, 70 percent answered that they were unlikely to make a financial contribution to a political candidate or party in 2004, while more than 17 percent said they were likely to do so. The remainder was neither likely or unlikely to do so. The study also found that 22 percent of participants have donated online to a nonprofit, while 4 percent had donated to a political candidate online. The survey of 1,751 U.S. consumers was conducted online in December 2003. Of the likely donors surveyed, more than 48 percent indicated that they were likely to donate via the Web. Compared to the unlikely donors, more of the likely types had been involved in donating to a nonprofit organization online; participated in a walk, ride, or bike-oriented fund raising event; and had been involved in soliciting funds on behalf of a nonprofit organization. The report also showed that respondents who have donated online are over 40 percent more likely to solicit funds on behalf of a nonprofit than those who do not donate online. "If an organization can get 5 percent of its constituents to solicit on their behalf, they're doing very well," says Ephraim Feig, Kintera's chief technology officer and chief marketing officer. Counting all the nonprofit fund raising events the company was affiliated with during 2003, Kintera found that 22 percent of people who registered for the events online went on to solicit donations from others via email. That number rose from 17 percent in 2002, according to Feig. The Nonprofit Trend Report shows that 58 percent of respondents consider a personal request from a friend or family to be their top motivating factor for giving to nonprofit organizations or political candidates. Email solicitation from a known person was ranked ''most motivating'' by 6 percent of participants. "People are much more comfortable asking others to get involved via the Internet" because it has lowered people's inhibitions, Feig believes. Folks like Feig and Grassroots Enterprise's Hlinko insist that fund raising via the Internet through personalized appeals like viral email campaigns makes it easier for contributors to give, and more cost-effective and time-efficient for campaigns and nonprofits than traditional means involving direct mail, data entry, and processing checks. "The Web is empowering the individual," stresses Hlinko. "They have significantly more power today than they did 10 years ago."
"Litigation" and "legislation" are two keywords that could start generating a lot of results for the online advertising sector in the not-too-distant future. Apart from results, they've already begun to generate headaches for marketers, Web publishers, legislators, and most of all, consumers. The tricky issues range from keyword trademark buys and scanning personal email messages to place contextually relevant ads to bundling pop-up servers with permission-based software. Pending litigation and proposed legislation on these issues is likely to have a major impact on the future of online advertising. Just weeks before its ballyhooed initial public offering, Google unveiled a controversial new email service and a trademark policy change that could land the Mountain View, Calif. Search giant in a series of ongoing legal actions, according to legal analysts and marketers. Google's decision to deny trademark holders the right to keyword ownership of their respective trademark has already sparked a few lawsuits. Previously, the company made no definitive stance against bidding on other companies' trademarks. Currently, Google is being sued by American Blind & Wallpaper Co. for the sale of its trademark. According to attorney Andrew Lustigman, Partner, The Lustigman Firm, P.C., "truthful comparative advertising is permissible and should be encouraged," but he adds that the issue becomes murky when trademarks come into play. Truthful comparative claims give consumers more choice, but it will be up to individual courtrooms to decide whether or not the open sale of trademarks falls under the window of "fair competition." One online media planner says, "it remains to be seen if this will stand up in court. ... I think it's a crime that Google refuses to do anything about copyright or trademark coat-tailing." Google's new email service, Gmail, also came under fire last week when California State Senator Liz Figueroa introduced a bill that would require Google to obtain the consent of users before scanning their email messages to serve relevant text ads. "Telling people that their most intimate and private e-mail thoughts to doctors, friends, lovers, and family members are just another direct-marketing commodity isn't the way to promote e-commerce," Figueroa said in a statement, effectively calling Gmail users' messages "a direct-marketing opportunity for Google." In other Internet advertising-related legal news, adware company WhenU, which is no stranger to federal and state courtrooms, recently filed a suit against the state of Utah over its Spyware Control Act, which was scheduled to take effect May 3. However, the law's enactment has been delayed because the judge couldn't grant a hearing until May 21. At the hearing, WhenU will file for a preliminary injunction delaying the law's enactment until after the full trial. WhenU claims that the law is unconstitutional and limits companies' right to commercial speech; the company seeks a declaration that Utah's Spyware Control Act violates the U.S. and Utah Constitutions. Utah's recently passed Spyware Control Act would effectively prohibit adware companies from operating in Utah. "The Utah law has some serious problems," Lustigman says. The bill is "terribly overbroad," and it "impinges on the right of a company to conduct business where the consumer has agreed to receive marketing messages." Other anti-spyware bills have been introduced in Iowa and California, and two other bills are circulating through Congress. One of these is Spyblock, the federal legislation that would require user consent in order to collect marketing data from consumers. Says Lustigman: "My biggest problem with the federal bill is that it doesn't pre-empt the state." He adds that the federal Can-Spam and the Do Not Call Registry both pre-empt state legislatures. "Utah is one state," he says, adding: "Clearly, Internet advertising and these types of issues are national issues."
The Weather Channel's "The Weather Channel Road Crew" show has a robust new online presence as the cable net seeks to deliver an engaging interactive experience for fans and impactful sponsorship opportunities for advertisers. "Road Crew," which airs four days a week, is hosted by Kelsa Kinsly, who travels around the country to various festivals, sporting events, and celebrations. Viewers can go online and vote to select Kelsa's next destinations, and can follow her on her travels. Video and other interactive content offers viewers information about the various festivals and events chronicled on the show and the destinations. For example, the "Road Crew" recently visited the Washington Tulip Festival and Mount St. Helens. Video from Key West, Florida was also featured. "Consumers get to select where Kelsa goes and learn about the destinations," said Paul Iaffaldano, senior vice president of network sales and advertising product development, The Weather Channel Solutions Group. "The viewers influence the programming, and from an advertiser point of view, the viewers are more involved--they can learn a lot more information online," he said. The site also offers an opt-in database marketing component whereby a viewer can sign up to receive more information from an advertiser. "This is really the way integrated marketing is meant to work," said Iaffaldano, adding: "It's the strongest example that we've come across for how to develop deeper relationships with consumers in a way that advertisers would find useful." The Weather Channel and weather.com are pitching "Road Crew" in the cable upfront as a joint effort. The program content is changing as Weather expands the concept to accommodate the online components. Iaffaldano said "Road Crew" is ideal for tourism boards and major annual events such as the Kentucky Derby. He also expects the show and its Web presence to lure destination resorts, airlines, wireless companies, automakers, and hotel chains to advertising and sponsorship opportunities. Weather.com attracted 25.3 million unique visitors in March, according to Nielsen//NetRatings. Ad revenue for the Weather Channel Interactive increased 71.1 percent (excluding search) in the first quarter, compared to the same period a year ago.