Mini-disks help send customers to Web site

No matter what you call them ? interactive business cards, micro CDs or mini marketing disks ? these interactive promotional tools have added a whole new spin to traditional marketing methods.

A step beyond the basic brochure, the disks can hold content as elaborate as a corporate music video or as simple as the addition of voice over video content. They come in sizes ranging from round to nearly any shape desired, and they are readable by any computer with a tray-loading CD-ROM.

A number of advertising and marketing firms are producing the disks for clients. Some, like Leopard Communications in Boulder, have even developed them for their own firms. Karen Davis, executive vice president of marketing and sales at Leopard, says the firm produces the disks for a wide range of clientele, including IBM.

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The disks have many uses. Davis says start-ups use them to build awareness. Because the disks provide a short summary of a company’s products and services, they can be used to advance the sales process at trade shows or other events. Among larger companies, they can provide a learning service for employees. They also can be used as direct-mail pieces for educational purposes. Davis says one of the newer uses is as a customizable presentation tool that can be a replacement to PowerPoint.

Firms have been developing the disks for a couple of years, but according to Davis, demand is increasing. She says the disk’s popularity is being driven by return on investment, which can be tracked by links to a customer’s database or Web site. Better quality also is on the horizon. Soon, Davis says the programs will go to full screen.

The cost to produce a project varies. Generally, the more rich the content, the higher the price. Jacklin says the price for a large company that needs polish and interactivity could range from $10,000 to $15,000 per project. At the low end, a 30-second to 40-second piece costs around $5,000.

“It’s not like candy at a trade show,” Jacklin says, and companies need to make sure the client has some pre-qualification before handing him a disc.

Davis says Leopard charges between $40,000 and $100,000 or more depending on what the client wants. For a typical project, Leopard will replicate 2,000 or more of the CDs. “You want to use it when it’s appropriate,” she says. In networking situations, Davis says it’s better than a normal business card, and although you could get a brochure for less, it’s not going to do the same thing.

Leopard produces disks with an animated introduction using video or film. The firm can embed video clips, customer testimonials and interviews. It also can provide customized music and voice services as well as scripting and film direction. Content that is customized can be edited and updated.

Leopard develops the discs using Macromedia Flash, Macromedia Director and Adobe AfterEffects. Davis says Flash is the interface that wraps everything together.

Leopard develops everything in-house except the customized voice and music features and replication of the discs.

MCSi Inc., an audio services company with offices in Denver and Vancouver, British Columbia, provides a complete solution that includes design and replication of the disks.

Ron Jacklin, creative services manager at MCSi, says the first step is to look at the client’s Web site. If the site does not contain interactive elements, MCSi will create a Web site on the CD that can be incorporated into the company’s existing site. If the content on the site is dynamic enough, MCSi will create an interactive commercial that ends with a link to the client’s Web site.

“We don’t want to reinvent the wheel,” he says. The goal is to create a marketing tool that will lead potential customers to the client’s Web site for further information.

The commercials are slightly different than television ads and can last anywhere from 30 seconds to three minutes. Any longer and the commercial can become counterproductive. “People’s attention span isn’t that long,” Jacklin says. Most commercials average around 30 to 40 seconds.

The discs come in multiple sizes. Leopard develops a 40 megabyte product and an 80MB product. MCSi makes 30MB, 50MB and 80MB discs and a 180MB mini round. The company also can create shaped CDs. A Realtor, for instance, could get a disc in the shape of a house.