Cessna's DVD Creates Mile High Results - Cessna Aircraft Co. uses digital video disks as marketing tool - Brief Article - Statistical Data Included

Brandweek, April 16, 2001 by Angela Taylor

While the capabilities of DVD have just begun to reach and dazzle consumers, the impressive, flexible new technology has been more or less monopolized by the entertainment market. Now that the technology is becoming commonplace -- not just for the gadget masters and tech-heads--its uses in business, particularly in marketing, are just beginning to be explored. At this embryonic stage, however, one of the most powerful uses of DVD in marketing seem to be as a representation of a company's image.

Two very divers companies -- Creative Domain, a Southern-California integrated entertainment marketing company; and Cessna Aircraft Co., the world's leading manufacturer of personal aircraft--have begun to use DVD in their marketing efforts. And both cite that the DVD format itself says as much about their companies as what it contains.

"After our work with the Matrix DVD, we saw how big it was going to be," Creative Domain's Co-President and Chief Operating Officer Joel Johnston says. "It is important that we demonstrate to our clients that we understand it, and that we can work with the media."

Cessna's Director of Communication Programs, Tom Zwemke, has a similar opinion: "DVD says something about the company itself. It spells excitement. We needed a state-of-the art business tool to market our state-of-the-art business tool."

Cessna's DVD is called "The Citation X Experience," and is used to market their flagship personal aircraft, the Citation X, to potential buyers. "Cessna has always prided itself on being there first," Zwemke says. "We are always pushing the envelope in our products and our customer relations. To keep those things in parallel, we needed a tool like this."

The DVD that Creative Domain designed is a calling card for the company. Dealing with clients in the fields of theatrical, home entertainment, cable, print, and lifestyle marketing, they put their demo reel on a single piece of media so that clients in one field might see what the company was capable of in other areas. "It's important for us to demonstrate not only that we understand these businesses, but that we understand how they are different from one another," Johnston says.

"The Citation X Experience" makes full use of DVD technology, with 50+ motion menus, interactive virtual tours, a simulated cockpit, and stunning photography. Cessna pulled out all the stops for the visual presentation of the Citation X, enlisting a Hollywood cinematographer to shoot the aircraft on 35mm film. "It really is an experience," Zwemke says. "It's the next best thing to flying the plane itself."

Creative Domain managed most of their DVD design--including the packaging--in house. Production Supervisor Dan Korobkin worked with Bruce Nazarian at eVideo to author the disc, which was duplicated at JVC Disc. Creative Domain made 500 of the DVDs. These were mailed to select clients and used by their marketing team during presentations of the company's services and capabilities.

To create "The Citation X Experience" Cessna enlisted the help of the Raval Media Group to bring the idea to life and ComChoice Corporation to put it on the DVD.

The complexity of the Cessna DVD required months of work, but it paid off Users are able to get from anywhere in the 26-minute program to anywhere else, including Cessna's website. "The Citation X Experience" is web-enabled; a rarity with any DVD, let alone one used in a business marketing application.

As a harbinger to the release of the DVD, Cessna mailed a teaser to its well-maintained database of potential buyers. A business card-sized CD featuring clips from the DVD acted as a sort of movie trailer for the full-blown "Citation X Experience."

But what about those portions of the market still not equipped with DVD players? Cessna's disc will play not only on set-top players, but also in CD-ROM drives. It is their feeling, however, that the excitement the media itself creates will encourage a potential buyer to gain access to a DVD player one way or another. However, for those would-be pilots without access to the technology, Cessna has a package of supporting print collateral available and there is an "i-brochure" than can be downloaded from the company's website.

In both the case of Creative Domain's DVD Demo Reel and Cessna's "Citation X Experience," the DVD as image tool is having an impact. "A lot of people are impressed with it," Creative Domain's Johnston reports. In addition to building new business, "we've found that it's been very effective at reinforcing our existing client relationships."

Although it is difficult to measure the direct result of a marketing tool for a product that starts at $17 million, Cessna's sales force is excited about the DVD. Many report that the disc has caused some potential buyers to stop considering aircraft manufactured by Cessna's competitors. "Some of our customers are leaders in high-technology," Zwemke says, "and we've gotten calls from them telling us how impressed they are with this DVD." There are many reasons to choose DVD as your marketing media. It is versatile, it is high-resolution, it is compact. But, mostly, it is new. "Video is going away," Johnston says matter-of-factly. "We have to start thinking in DVD."