• by November 13, 2000

By Debbi K. Swanson

It's clear that the Internet has brought out many new ideas. Some work, some don't. Some need time to tell. That's the case with newly launched AdCooperative.net. Founder Rick Zwetsch says he's got experience, but the test will be whether the clients they need actually respond to AdCooperative's promise.

That promise is that small businesses can get the same advertising clout as big business - by using the tried and true concept of co-op advertising. This time, the co-op will be done on the Internet - and in traditional media.

Zwetsch comes from more than five years in the Colorado agency world where he "focused on marketing and promotion of Web sites the past three years." He says, "I found that there were a lot of potential clients who couldn't afford to promote their sites because they didn't have the budget. I wanted to help but couldn't."

Once out of the agency, Zwetsch sat down with a network marketing client with a website and talked about how to come up with a way to solve that. They've spent six months working out the details. The result is a complex planning process where various advertising plans can be developed for networks of businesses that each contribute a monthly fee - either the minimum amount or more as their budget allows. Based on the number of participants, the budget will be allocated as needed among chosen media, primarily the Internet.

"We allocate ad impressions based on the budget that each co-op member puts in. But it won't work unless we have a group of advertisers that share goals and objective."

Zwetsch uses jewelry stores as an example.

"There are 45,000 jewelry stores in the U.S.," he says. "A very small percentage have websites, but all are interested in driving more people to their site or their store. We promote their URL or store using banner ads."

He explains that when someone clicks on that banner, the shopper is directed to the participating stores in the order they signed up. This can be done regionally to prevent someone in California from getting a Boston store.

"Offline, it's the same, but if we're going to run newspaper ads for jewelry stores without websites, we will also build a one page business card website. It then becomes an awareness ad with information and possibly a coupon site."

These campaigns will be based on various budget levels, including a minimum participation level.

"I have to deal with minimums if we're buying banners, etc. I look at the total dollars available, then negotiate a deal. I then enter the campaign costs on the site and each co-op member will see how many impressions they'll get for the length of the campaign. They can also check daily to see how many click-throughs they get."

In a nutshell, says Zwetsch, "It provides big budget ad opps for people with small budgets."

On the target list of likely clients are independent book stores, franchises, mechanics, real estate agents, brokers, and small busine