What A Video Duplicator Does—and What You Should Expect

Brandweek, July 10, 2000 by Joshua Pine

So you're considering video as part of your marketing mix, but you're not sure where to begin. A great place to start is often with a full-service video duplication and distribution company.

On the surface, the concept of video as a direct marketing tool is relatively straightforward. The format offers all the dynamic benefits of sight, sound, motion and emotion with the marketing advantages of being direct, convenient and cost effective. Best of all, video delivers response rates that are, on average, higher than many other traditional marketing formats such as print direct mail and advertising.

Transforming the concept into reality; however, can be a challenge without the assistance of a full-service video duplicator. So understanding what duplicators do--and what you can and should expect from them--is vitally important to ensure the success of your video direct marketing project.

A good video duplicator provides much more than just copying videocassettes. Take Technicolor, for example. As the world's largest independent manufacturer and distributor of videocassettes, CDs and DVDs, the company is uniquely qualified to assist customers with every aspect of manufacturing video for use in direct marketing, promotions and premiums. This includes offering everything from content production assistance through manufacturing and shipping.

What, then, are all of the options and services that a qualified video manufacturing company offers? Overly simplified, the answer is that a duplicator can be as involved or uninvolved in a project as they need to be. But perhaps a better answer is to look at three key steps in the development process of a video--content development, manufacturing and packaging, and fulfillment and distribution.

Step One Content: Development

By their very nature, video duplicators are not rights holders, meaning that they do not produce or own actual content. However, they can assist in the initial production phase, which typically includes scripting, story-boarding and videography, through referrals and partnering. In some cases, customers will come to a video duplicator with a completed project in hand. In that instance, a duplicator will move to the next phase of the process (see Step 2 below).

In many other cases, though, a customer will come to a video duplicator armed with a great idea for a direct marketing project--and questions about how to get their project started. This is where a duplicator can step in and help manage outsourcing to a production partner. For instance, Technicolor offers referrals through its Preferred Partner Program, a highly select group of pre- and post-production companies, printers, value-added suppliers, and ad/promotion agencies that handle and facilitate video projects. These Preferred Partners provide a pre-qualified list of recommended and endorsed groups that can move a video project through the content development stages.

The key is that video duplicators can assist in managing a video project from its initial infancy.

Step Two: Manufacturing & Packaging

Once video content is produced and on tape, a duplicator provides all of the manufacturing and packaging services for the project. In a way, a duplicator is like a highly sophisticated printer, making copies and then packaging them based on customer specifications.

But there is much more involved at this step than one might initially think. It is at this vital stage that a good duplicator provides a customer with guidance and counsel on determining the parameters and purpose of a given project. This includes advising on how to get the most bang for the buck when reaching out to targeted audiences.

At Technicolor, the manufacturing and packaging phase often begins by working backwards. By establishing the main objective and budget for a video, we can then help customers determine what the best approach is for a given project. From there, the actual manufacturing process begins. This includes reviewing and quality-testing the master tape and then duplicating it using sprinted (high-speed) or real-time duplication.

Then its on to packaging services, where the options are virtually limitless. In Technicolor's case, we handle almost any package design and content, from standard videocassette boxing to customized, three-dimensional packaging. This also includes services, ranging from label printing to CD/DVD disc printing, full-service product assembly for retail point-of-purchase displays and even the creation of store-specific packaging and price labeling solutions.

At this stage, top quality video duplicators typically offer expansive assembly services as well. At Technicolor, we offer the ability to assemble products and then sort and insert advertising, booklets, warranty cards, inlays, premiums and other materials within video sleeves or video, CD and DVD packages. Plus, as one of the world's largest video duplicators, we have the ability to purchase raw materials in greater quantities and we pass those significant savings on to customers.