Survey Says: Candidates Succeed on The Internet!

SAN DIEGO, Calif., Aug. 22 /PRNewswire/ -- PointRoll, Inc., leading developer of innovative rich media technology solutions, today announced the results of its collaboration with the E-Voter Institute and HCD Research in conducting the First Annual Voter Expectations Survey. More than 250,000 voters interacted with rich media ad units that ran from June through August and carried the survey to 17 small, mid-sized, large-market and national daily newspapers across the United States.

"This survey validates the idea that the Internet is a sleeping giant and differentiator in the political campaigning process," said Chris Saridakis, CEO, PointRoll. "In exploring the relationship between the views of political communication leaders and voters, we've revealed that the interactive online environment is growing in its influence and usage among voters. We believe it will awaken and energize the political process online."

Key, initial findings include: -- An overwhelming majority of respondents expect candidates to use online technology as part of their campaign efforts -- 87 percent expect they will have a Web site -- 70 percent expect the use of email -- Two-thirds expect candidates to use the Internet for fund raising, post video commercials on his or her website and run online ad campaigns -- Half expect campaigns to have blogs and podcasts -- While respondents continue to see TV ads as the most effective way for campaigns to reach them, email and websites are ranked higher than traditional methods such as phone and radio ads. -- Less than 5 percent of 18-24 year olds say direct mail is effective (compared to 22 percent of 55-64 year-olds find it effective) -- 20 percent of 18-24 year olds also say that word-of-mouth is important (compared to 5 percent of 55-64 year-olds) -- Media habits are changing as the Internet is increasingly seen as a trusted source of news. -- Internet users of all ages are actively looking for information on candidates and sharing what they find. -- Winning in 2008 will require using the Internet in addition to traditional media.

"When a majority of voters expect candidates to use web-based tools for fund raising, communicating with the loyal base, persuasion, and getting out the vote, the Internet is no longer an afterthought in planning a winning campaign," said Karen Jagoda, founder and president of E-Voter Institute.

"Candidates who advertise online and develop strong email lists will see their dollars better leveraged than those candidates who simply spend more on what worked in the last election."

Survey Itself Validates Rich Media Usage

With an interaction rate of more than 13 percent, the rich media survey respondents validated the ability of a well-conceived and created rich media campaign to connect with and engage voters.

Interaction rate is defined as the percentage of ads that users expanded and interacted with, and this represents a 212 percent out-performance of both PointRoll's benchmark (6.39 percent) and PointRoll's interaction rates with rich media ads in the government and non-profit organization segments (7.43 and 6.48 percent, respectively). Users spent an average more than 7.5 seconds on the survey.

"We were amazed by the depth and scope of the survey findings," said Glenn Kessler, CEO, HCD Research. "While we knew that the Internet was a growing force in the political process, we had no idea that the shift was happening so quickly and that expectations that candidates would use the Internet to be so profound and overwhelming."

To learn more about the survey and to get a complete copy of the survey results, please contact Scott Gleeson Blue at Scott@0to5.com or Jackie Lewis at jackie@0to5.com.

About HCD Research

HCD Research is a marketing and communications research company headquartered in Flemington, NJ. The company's services include traditional and web-based marketing and communications research. HCD Research is also the developer of hcdhealth.com, a web site for health care professionals. For additional information on HCD Research, access the company's web site at http://www.hcdi.net/ . Headquartered in Allentown, Pennsylvania, MCIPO is a respected source of public opinion data on local, state and national issues.

About the E-Voter Institute

E-Voter Institute is a non-partisan trade association founded in 1999 to promote the interests of Web publishers and solution providers to the political and advocacy communities. E-Voter research and events focus on the convergence of politics and the Internet. By identifying opportunities and obstacles, E-Voter Institute aims to accelerate the use of the Internet in political and advocacy campaigns in order to promote a more robust democracy. For more information, visit http://e-voterinstitute.com/.

About PointRoll, Inc.

PointRoll, a wholly owned subsidiary of Gannett Co., Inc. , develops innovative rich media technology solutions that go beyond the creative limitations of existing advertising options. PointRoll's ground- breaking products and superior service enable advertisers to connect with consumers by creating an interactive online environment that generates conversion. Alongside its unique, compelling offerings and service, PointRoll delivers comprehensive, real-time reporting capabilities that exponentially improve measurement, generating data that effectively illustrates how and why it maximizes return on investment.

PointRoll's Voter Impact suite of products is a unique online campaign vehicle that provides reach, measurement and data gathering while creating memorable voter impact.

PointRoll's proprietary technology platform, "The Boys," provide a full range of marketing solutions that include comprehensive service support and extensive data reporting capabilities. "The Boys" include: FatBoy(R) expanding ads, TomBoy(TM) universal 100K+, TowelBoy(R) snap-back units, BadBoy(TM) floating ads, and PaperBoy Local Delivery(TM). PointRoll works with more than 800 advertisers and its technology is accepted by thousands of online publishers including Yahoo!, MSN and AOL. For more information, please visit http://www.pointroll.com/.