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Music sites, such as now publicly traded MP3.com, continue to lead the way in using public relations. The latest two efforts from MP3 are worthy examples for what you could possible pair in your next cyberspace move. Take the aptly named "Payola" program. Promising artists actually bid for positioning on an exclusive section of a Web page. The winner gets prominent display for one week. Though this positioning has no direct relationship to MP3.com charts, according to reports supplied by the company, site traffic is now up to 468,000 visitors daily. That promises a lot of positioning for a week.

In another PR effort, MP3.com created its own online and real world special event tying together technology and music to hit its key target audience - college students. The event: Modern rock bands the Goo Goo Dolls, Tonic, and other MP3.com artists toured 28 college campuses. Sponsorship was promoted extensively through the Web site and was, therefore, extremely cost effective while hitting the right audience as often as possible. "MP3 believes in offline public relations and promotions like this," says Kristy Gates, account executive at the San-Francisco-based GCI Group, Inc., who represents MP3.

Entertainment sites are not alone in having pumped up the volume on sponsorship opportunities - non-profit organizations and fund-raising institutions have also taken part.

For instance, Voxcap.com, a hybrid spawned last year by the merger of two existing Chicago companies, offers a variety of sponsorship choices that will continually grow, according to its founders who also run IntellectualCapital.com, and policy.com.

"We've found that traffic has been high as we combine sponsors for different projects, and media sponsors who help promote chosen causes, such as fund-raising for hunger," says Dave Linhardt, who's in charge of VoxCap's sponsorships. "We've taken all the content from the other ventures of covering issues and made it searchable as well as offering a sense of community through user-generated content."

In fund-raising efforts to help curb world hunger last holiday season, Voxcap.com partnered with six top organizations to take donations and get the word out. The fund-raising effort created sponsorship opportunities for The New York Times, The Washington Post, and Volunteer Match, among others. Their sponsorship involved links, banner advertising, and offline activities without an exchange of cash among organizations.

"We will move toward corporate sponsors of $25,000 to $100,000 for targeted electronic fund-raising drives," Linhardt says. "Currently we offer sponsorship of site sections, like the environment channel and the health channel."
And, with input by the client, sponsorships can often be written on the spot. "Many people look at corporate sponsorship as the successful magazine sponsorship," he says. "Some are looking for e-mail addresses to collect and send back to their listserves. Others are looking for a permanency of affiliation." Voxcap.com aims to be an intermediary for the 28 million Internet users and an estimated 2 million non-profit organizations who have a passion for civic, political and social causes.

Corporations Do More in Sponsorship

For corporations looking into additional Web-based sponsorships for returns, there are a number of consulting groups and Web sites willing to help Talkcity.com, for one, has planned successful PR efforts tied with sponsorships to its various virtual community launches. A list of their successes is posted to their case studies section of business.talkcity.com.

For example, 3Com's Big Picture Video Internet site needed to further educate users about their product, so they sponsored the Computing and People communities of Talk City with banners, sponsor squares and sponsor mentions inside a variety of chat rooms. As part of the effort, a weekly Q & A session was developed along with an e-mail entry for a Big Picture Video Kit. 3Com received a consistent 2 percent click-through from their sponsorship-rivaling direct mail.

Heavy Hitter Magazines Expand Sponsorship Opportunities

Sponsorships on big magazine sites, such as Salon.com, remain popular, evidenced by sponsors announcing longer, more comprehensive deals.

In late 1999, Acura announced its intention to continue as the exclusive luxury automotive sponsor of Salon's Book site (www.salon.com/books). Acura sponsors a book review contest on the site where readers can submit a critique of a bestseller. Salon's book editors serve as judges. The winning review will be published on the site.

"Salon.com certainly draws a valuable online audience," says Walter Schild, CEO of Genex Interactive, Acura's agency of record. "They're 'influentials' in their peer groups and the perfect match for Acura's brand messages." The audience is well targeted. According to Salon.com demographics, about 30 percent of Salon's readership - about 450,000 users - are expected to buy new cars this year.

Meanwhile, Lexus renewed a yearlong commitment to become the featured sponsor of the Brilliant Careers weekly series, as well as the Salon People section Live, real-time events broadcast online. Lexus launched its sponsorship intentions with Salon.com in a live celebration of Brilliant Careers in San Francisco, hosted by National Public Radio host Michael Feldman.

Technology companies, too, have gotten into the world of public relations through sponsorship online. EDS announced a year-long commitment to Salon.com last October to become the exclusive sponsor of "View From the Top," a new weekly Salon.com series that will feature in-depth interviews with business executives.

Look for more closely targeted sponsorships on the Web linked to live, audio and video events. Future sponsorship opportunities on the Web will be limited only by the creativity of PR professionals.