CDs and DVDs: The Right Media for the Message
Media Inc Magazine Issue One 2004
Author Tracy Maddux

Compact discs (CDs) and digital versatile discs (DVDs) are becoming as ubiquitous as any other form of direct mail. One critical difference between traditional printed material and optical media distributed as part of a marketing campaign is that targeted consumers are more likely to actually play and respond to messages delivered on disc than other forms of direct mail.

For example, a health club sends out an interactive CD promoting membership to 5,000 households within a limited radius of its flagship location. Within the first 30 days more than 80 potential members respond to the promotion and join.

Manufacturers of CDs and DVDs, as well as videocassette duplicators, are increasingly experiencing demand for services that integrate all aspects of a direct-mail campaign. Providers have to be an end-to-end provider of everything from content creation to postal distribution.

On the front end, replicators have developed partnerships and alliances with production and post-production providers that can do everything from encoding MPEG-2 format to scriptwriting to production of commercial video. Many customers want fewer contacts, desire to write a single purchase order, and demand that the replicator handle the project management.

A critical question some advertisers are asking is, which media is right for my message?

There are a number of key factors in understanding whether a CD, DVD or even videocassette is the right media for the message. The first is consumer demographic. Consider this: More than 65 percent of U.S. homes have a personal computer with a CD-ROM drive and approximately 60 percent have consumer DVD players.

When profiling age and income demographics, some interesting trends are worth noting. In younger and wealthier target audiences, penetration of home PCs with CD and DVD-ROM drives is much higher. For instance, one study in the Pacific Northwest found that in homes with average income of at least $60,000 where the income earners are aged 30 to 55, PC penetration exceeds 70 percent. The implication for advertisers wishing to target this demographic is that the CD may be an optimal media for the message.

CDs and DVDs have one final advantage over VHS: they cost less to manufacture and distribute. Mailing a CD or DVD in a sleeve, depending on a number of variables, costs 50 percent less than VHS manufacture. Also consider that mass distribution via the U.S. Postal Service for a CD or DVD in a sleeve typically runs between 60 cents and 80 cents for First Class mail, versus more than $1 for a VHS tape.

There is no question that for the foreseeable future, media distributed for direct-mail advertising is a growing trend. The Internet is a very low-cost way of getting a message out, but still lacks the reliability and universal bandwidth connectivity to deliver high quality video. Radio and TV will continue to be the method of choice for shotgun retail advertising, but can be very expensive for targeted campaign. The many advantages of media delivered in direct mail versus printed direct mail boil down to a single key point: consumers are more likely to play and respond to a CD, DVD or VHS tape delivered in the mail.