E-commerce, Political Style

August 12, 2004

Imagine my surprise when I went surfing on msnbc.com today at lunch time and I saw this banner:

I have seen political banners before but this was probably the most blunt one I have seen to date. The banner itself was enticing enough to persuade me to click. And I was immediately ushered to the Democratic party's donation page. No preambles and no information, just a simple donation form waiting for me to enter my credit card information.

I guess some people don't mind cutting to the chase and skipping the formalities, but I doubt companies would get far if their banners just funnel the masses to their payment pages asking for money. Usually such banners lead to a page describing the product or service with some information about how the user can be benefited and what the main advantages of such product or service are. If you are asking for money, you need to be a little more subtle and discreet about it.

In this case, it might make sense to highlight Democrats' advantages over Republicans, and once the reader is sold on the concept, then ask for a donation. It’s not about political affiliation, it's about e-commerce etiquette.