If you have a client that needs to generate brand awareness and an overall positive impression among online consumers and is willing to measure success in ways other than click-throughs, then this
month’s Clickpick, www.upromise.com, is a site to consider. Upromise is a way to help consumers save for college by doing something people do everyday—shopping. Parents can save for their own
children’s college education or family and friends can join up to help the same child go to school. Upromise tracks spending once a person’s credit card, store loyalty card, billing information, and
major purchases are registered with the site. The Upromise contributions can then be professionally invested and grown with federal tax-free earnings, when users open an investment account in a
Section 529 college investing plan.
Upromise chooses contributing companies that are respected-leaders in their industries and that are committed to the mission of helping families save for
higher education. Some of the brand conscience companies that are participating are AT&T, McDonald’s, Exxon Mobile, Toys R’ Us, Citibank, GM, AOL, Coca Cola, and 8,500+ retail stores. Each of these
companies donates a portion, usually a small percentage, of each buy to that user’s Upromise college education fund. For example, AT&T donates 4 percent of the user’s monthly long distance charges and
Toys R Us donates 2 percent on the all user’s purchases.
Upromise currently has thousands of grocery stores, retail stores, and restaurants already involved, and shopping with over one hundred of
the online stores on Upromise’s site will also net a member college savings.
While there is no direct advertising in the form of banner ads on the site, advertiser’s logos and product information
essentially act as branding messages. In the ideal world, this positive association of advertisers “helping, not selling,” could become a very powerful way to drive traffic to not just a company’s
website, but also to their “brick and mortar” stores as well. With college costs rising every year, and advertisers needing to find new ways to market their products and services, Upromise seems to be
a logical fit for all parties involved.