CENTURY CITY, Calif. – Michael Pace, founder and CEO of Century City, California-based EMA Multimedia, has produced hundreds of DVD and CD projects for major entertainment companies — but somehow, knowing all those millions of discs he helped create are out in the marketplace doesn’t satisfy him.
A few years ago, Pace had the idea to incorporate technology into discs that
would allow them to “talk back” to a server. He knew that by devising such
a system, studios, record labels and other companies distributing discs
could put content on the discs that could be controlled; for example, as
Pace explains, “We could offer customized advertising models where we
provide a series of advertisers with a specific number of hits for their ad,
so that each time a user puts that disc in or it goes back to the main menu,
they see a different ad.”
Extending the idea a little further, Pace also realized that by using
Internet technologies to apply the concepts behind the success of
traditional trading cards to computer discs, he could not only offer content
providers and distributors a much more valuable connection to their
customers than they’ve ever had in the past, he could also create a way for
end-users to have more fun with their movie, music, game and other
disc-based content.
This week, Pace finally announced the fruits of all his thinking and his
years of planning, and the result is called DTC: Digital Trading Cards. DTC technology is now available to help entertainment companies and
marketers working in all industries to distribute discs programmed to access
continuously updated instructions throughout their lives — and, of equal
importance, to build meaningful interactive bridges to their customers.
An Example
Here’s an example of one type of DTC promotion Pace is currently pitching to
some of Hollywood’s major players. Let’s say you have a new TV series you
want to promote. EMA Multimedia will create a series of collectible DTC
discs, each of which will contain a piece of a bigger story, and a promotion
will be launched to distribute the discs that matches the company’s
marketing efforts, whether it be a cereal-box write-in promotion, a premium
giveaway with a purchase, etc. When a customer inserts her DTC disc (which
can be a standard or custom-shaped CD or DVD) in her computer drive, she is
given a chance to log into a custom Web community designed specifically to
support the promotion. Inside this client-branded community, customers can
receive more information on the DTC disc they’ve just added to their
collection, learn about other DTC discs in the series, purchase related
merchandise online — or even trade DTC discs with other members of the
community.
“If DTC users opt to log into the custom communities, on behalf of our
clients, we then have the ability to monitor their viewing activities and
see what other DTCs are in their collections, for example,” Pace adds. “You
don’t get this usage data, or this direct connection to your customers, with
traditional media.”
Asked about the security of these users’ data, Pace explains, “These are
private online communities; no information is ever disclosed to any
third-parties and no lists are ever sold.”
The Power of One
As these concepts are applied to other popular uses for optical media
technologies, the unlimited marketing value of every single DTC disc becomes
more evident. “In cases where there are several volumes within the various
music and movie libraries, instead of just being millions of individual
discs distributed into the marketplace, they can all be united and tethered
to promote one another,” as Pace further explains.
Establishing itself over the past eight years as one of Hollywood’s most
innovative digital-media pioneers, EMA Multimedia’s technical excellence has
been enlisted by major Hollywood studios to seize opportunities in
interactive new media – especially for major motion picture DVD products.
EMA is currently pitching specific DTC promotions to several studios, and
Pace expects the first DTC campaigns to reach consumers very soon.
