Digital Media Marketing Organization FORMS - Brief Article

Brandweek, April 16, 2001 by Max Harvey

Successful conference demands it.

Although marketing with digital media is hardly a new idea, many of the businesses involved in its various steps--creation, duplication, distribution--are unaware of the complete scope of the industry. "We're seeing a lot of incredibly innovative companies with new technology that no one else is aware of," says Steven Dworman, president of SDE, Inc., a publishing and consulting company specializing in the dissemination of information about direct marketing. "So many businesses had no idea who the other players were. Everyone was operating in a complete vacuum."

To take a step toward rectifying that situation, SDE hosted the first ever Marketing with Video, DVD and CD-ROM Expo in December of 2000, sponsored by Adweek Magazines, NicheStuff.com, Technicolor and Kodak. Presenters and exhibitors at the three-day trade show and conference included innovators, experts and vendors in every aspect of digital marketing.

Out of this gathering of ideas arose several partnerships. Already in talks with JVC in December, iQrom met with representatives from AmericaOnline's direct marketing agency, Paradysz Matera. The two companies are discussing possible cooperation.

Precise Media's Director of National Sales Jesse Encarnacion went to the show to look for new and emerging trends in the industry. He was looking for away to help transform Precise Media into more than just a duplicator. "Clients are looking for more than information on a CD," Encarnacion says. You need to give something away. Encarnacion found what he was looking for at the Abetting Productions' booth. Precise Media and Abetting reached an agreement that will allow Precise to offer Abettings' Desktop Calendar (see page 29) to its clients as a product option, while gaining exclusive replication for all of Abettings' Desktop Calendar jobs.

Jeff Palmer, the president of Abetting, is very happy with the deal. We were looking for ways to get our products out there and Precise Media was looking for a unique product to offer.

Encarnacion adds that the partnership wouldn't have happened if he hadn't gone to the Expo. "We might not have ever seen Abetting or the Desktop Calendar."

Which is all the more reason why the industry needs to come together.

Another deal that was born on the trade show floor was between Disc Marketing and Princess Cruises. Princess Cruises' Lisa Juarez saw Disc Marketing's demonstration of how they effectively used music CDs to promote United Airlines' frequent flier program to the collegiate market. Her interest piqued, Juarez stopped by the Disc Marketing booth to see how Princess Cruises could benefit from Disc Marketing's music promotion.

Disc Marketing has since created a series of high-impact mailers targeted to travel agents to promote Princess Cruises' many travel destinations. The music on each CD is themed to correspond to the location--be it Alaska, Mexico or the Caribbean.

Perhaps one of the most exciting partnerships to arise from the Expo is between two exhibitors: United Internet Technologies (UIT) and Eastman Kodak Representatives from both companies were impressed with the technology of the other. Their partnership is a co-marketing effort that will showcase the innovations of each company: Kodak's updateable, customizable CD-PROM and UIT's fully-integrated, interactive Web technology. According to Kodak's Hybrid Media Director, Mike Inchalik, "Both products are being pitched to agencies and Web developers to drive traffic to websites. We each bring a unique benefit to interactive marketing. UIT's Divo technology makes for more interesting, dynamic websites and our CD-PROM allows the invitation to be personalized. Placing both technologies on a single disc means that the pitch is stronger and the demo is more compelling."

Inspired by the results of the show and the reactions he got from attendees and exhibitors, Dworman decided to create a forum whereby companies involved in digital marketing could always have access to and information about one another. Thus the creation of the Digital Media Marketing Organization (DMMO). Its two-fold purpose is to educate companies on the latest technology available to them for marketing purposes. The organization's second mission is to provide a forum for companies to communicate and network with one another. The leaders of the industry will all be part of this. "Any marketer not wanting to be left behind and out in the cold needs to be part of this organization," Dworman states.