Everyone is talking about Blu-ray Discs these days, so I thought I’d give the smaller replicators a break from the stress and talk about a market that's still available to them without the investment of new equipment: direct mail. You’ve heard it all before. Five years ago, the late Dick Kelly of Cambridge Associates did a study for IRMA which proved that, for all the talk of higher-capacity formats, most existing CDs and DVDs were not being used to their full potential.

Has that changed in the last half decade? Probably not. The problem now is that many potential disc customers are enamored with the internet. Can direct mail companies and disc manufacturers change the perception that the internet is better? There are lots of people, beyond the media manufacturers, that hope so.

Originally, I intended this column to be a Q&A with one direct mail company that contacted me, but word got out about the story, and it just snowballed. Companies involved in creating the disc mailer packaging as well as replicators and the direct mail companies themselves all are passionate about this part of the market. I’m only going to scratch the surface here, but from what I found out: There’s more than a little life in the disc market in terms of direct mail.

I’ll start with Todd Butler of Butler Mailing Services, my original source for the piece. He’s not convinced that replicators are being aggressive enough in drumming up direct mail business. Perhaps market perception that the internet is a better, cheaper, and faster way of getting the information out is the problem, however he has put a lot of effort into comparing CD mailings versus e-mail, and he claims that in the long run, mailing discs is cheaper. “When people tell me 'email will put me out of business,' I get upset. Comparisons are never apples to apples,” says Butler. “I compare the cost per click for emails with delivery rates. In every scenario, the cost for direct mail is substantially cheaper. Just as in direct mail, there are multiple levels of e-mail. There is the e-mail that co-workers and friends use. Then, there are e-mail newsletters which people do read.”

When response rates are discussed it’s usually this type of e-mail that is referenced, he says. Another type of e-mail is the one that is sent blindly. When analysts talk about the cost of e-mail, that’s the one they talk about, according to Butler. The problem is there are two different response rates. Newsletter advertising gets the better response rate because newsletters have a relationship with a business and a consumer. However, discs, says Butler, have intrinsic value. People feel compelled to hold them, look at them, think about them more than they would an e-mail or a post card.

Butler told me about the annual Household Diary Study done by the U.S. Postal Service. Each year, they poll 5000 households and have them mark down everything they do with every piece of mail. What goes into the home, out of the home, what is responded to, what isn’t responded to, what type of mail it is, did it have a stamp, etc. What comes out of that study is that 16% of the respondents do not read, partially read, or even scan their mail, he said. That means that 84% of respondents do pay attention to their mail. “While search engine marketing claims a 2-5 percent click rate, direct mail can claim an 84 percent ‘click rate.’”
Most other companies I spoke to said they don’t really see the internet as competition to the direct mail disc, but rather as a complement. Alexandra Gordon of Discmount, the company that markets DisCling disc mounting material, says, “Discs are the only means of direct marketing that are both tactile and interactive. While streaming media and downloads are growing in popularity, that doesn’t affect this niche. As a medium, these non-traditional discs are not in competition with the internet. They provide a physical ‘handshake’ with the customer, as well as interactivity that is driven directly to the internet. Therefore, discs complement the internet in a brand’s overall media strategy.”

Charlie Cadmus of Tri-Media Services has seen the market from all sides. He used to work for packaging company Ivy Hill, replicator Denon Digital, and in the last couple of years started Tri-Media Services as a project management company. “People know what the disc can do. What it comes down to is whether the company wants to spend the money to use discs for marketing. Discs can be expensive,” he said. Cadmus cited a recent conversation he had with a large cable company. “We try and stay with the times talking about a comprehensive marketing packaging that uses both discs and the internet. The manager I spoke with felt that the instant gratification you get from a disc with premium content is still more desirable than delivering over the internet.” He also felt that discs offer great branding opportunities.

Another fairly new company, CataDisc, offers wonderful branding opportunities with their catalogs on CD-ROM. CataDisc COO Susan Brod also says websites are not always the ultimate answer to marketing. "Unless, it’s a well-known company, how are people finding your website?" she says. "Paper catalogs are not always the answer either, with the cost of paper and the cost of printing going up every year, a CD is much more cost effective, she says. What makes Catadisc’s product different is that everything is embedded on the CD itself. You don’t need a browser or an internet connection to fill your shopping cart. When you are ready to place the order, several options are available. If you would like to via the internet, you can do that with one click. If you want to mail in the order, print it out, it is encrypted and encoded in a 2D barcode that is printed out on the order form. The bar code is scanned but secure. Privacy is not an issue as it is with internet purchases. CataDisc doesn’t replace a website or a catalog; it can be a complement and help you integrate your online and offline marketing,” Brod says.

Brod predicts a lot of long term potential in this market. Her company has done extensive introductions in the sports industry. “We’ve done a catalog for the Minnesota Vikings," she says. "The sports industry doesn’t just see it as a way to sell merchandise, but to sell tickets as well. Sports marketing is a $250 billion a year market, according to Brod. “Just to get a portion of that, we’ll be happy.”

Steve Nazarian, director, sales and marketing, Spinergy Media, notes that in many if not most cases today, disc manufacturers offer fulfillment services. It’s the only way to keep disc business, and it is through that disc business, direct mail business may come, and in some cases vice versa.

Stephanie Robertson of replicator Disc Inc. concedes that that while the internet is the future, “I hope that replicators realized that 8 years ago and have adjusted to that trend already. We have addressed this issue and developed DiscPostcard.com. It is an intricate way to put direct mail and media together. We've also worked with other facilities to develop a DVD that is semi-flexible for the direct mail market. It's 40% lighter, therefore reducing the postage cost and flexible so that it will somewhat pass the rigorous beating that the mailing systems put on the direct mail pieces.”

In a nutshell, the internet has a long way to go to prove itself the marketing king. While I believe most replicators are aware of the opportunities, it is very difficult to find the right customers, but it all comes down to partnering, whether it is a print company or even the post office. It’s about knocking on doors and making friends.

Debbie Galante Block (debgalante at comcast.net) is a freelance writer based in Mahopac, N.Y.

Samsung Electronics Ltd., the worldwide digital consumer electronics and information technology leader, today announced shipment of the industry’s fastest DVD burner, the new Super-WriteMaster™ SH-S223. The SH-S223 drive offers a powerful over-speed performance feature that enables consumers to burn data at high speeds -- even on low-speed media. With over-speed recording, users can write at 22X speeds on 16X media and 12X speeds on 8X media. Since lower-speed media is more cost effective, users can save money while burning discs at faster speeds.

The SH-S223 drive provides blazing recording speeds across a gamut of different data media types including: 22X DVD±R recording, 12X DVD-RAM recording, 16X DVD+R Dual Layer recording, 12X DVD-R Dual Layer recording, 8X DVD+RW recording and 6X DVD-RW recording. It enables consumers to burn 4.7GB on a DVD±R disc in approximately 4 minutes and 26 seconds, a 6 percent increase in speed compared to a 20X DVD writer. It also takes less than 12 minutes to burn 4.7GB in DVD-RAM format, which is a 30 percent increase in speed over a 20X DVD drive.

Samsung’s new SH-S223 drive supports the SATA interface, the dominant interface for PCs. The SH-S223 includes free software, enabling users to easily create music, video, photo and data discs. The drive also includes Samsung’s live firmware update program that lets users download new firmware upgrades for free and keep their drives updated.

As with Samsung’s complete WriteMaster optical disc drive lineup, the SH-S223 features specific technology that ensures best-of-breed performance including SAT1 (Speed Adjustment Technology), TAC2 (Tilt Actuator Compensation) and Double OPC3 (Optimum Power Control). Buffer Under Run Free Technology4 supports stable writing under high speed, and Magic Speed5 and ABS (Automatic Ball Balancing System)6 technologies that reduce vibration and noise. The SH-S223 also has an eco-friendly design and is RoHS compliant.

www.samsung.com

LightScribe today announced the immediate release of publicly available Windows software development tools for its Direct Disc Labeling technology. These downloadable tools significantly simplify the creation of LightScribe DVD/CD labeling applications, expanding LightScribe integration beyond general data mastering software. The LightScribe Windows public software development kit (SDK) allows individual application developers to integrate LightScribe support into Windows-based software with a standardized LightScribe application user interface. LightScribe is a no-hassle way to burn professional, silkscreen-quality labels on CDs and DVDs right in the drive. The LightScribe Windows public SDK is available here.

The new Windows SDK gives documented access to new LightScribe software components that provide all the standard functionality a labeling application needs to support LightScribe printing. Because the LightScribe System Software includes a standard set of user-interface components, end users will now have a consistent and accurate user-interface for the print operations no matter what application is used. This greatly simplifies application development, provides a consistent user interface to all users, standardizes end-user messaging and enables rapid application development by all software developers. With this SDK, LightScribe also supports localized applications for most common languages and has simplified its licensing process for software developers.

With the existing broad embrace of LightScribe across more than 90 optical drive and media manufacturers, software developers, and media and computer brands, new software developers can leverage this widely-available embedded disc labeling technology. "The LightScribe Windows public software development kit allows any Windows developer to enable LightScribe capability," said Kent Henscheid, marketing manager for LightScribe."Thousands of downloads occurred in the first several weeks of the public Windows SDK posting, and we anticipate many new market applications to emerge with LightScribe labeling support."

LightScribe-enabled CDs, DVDs, software, desktops, notebooks, aftermarket optical disc drives and duplicator systems are available at major retailers worldwide, as well as through most leading brands online.

www.lightscribe.com

CyberLink Corp. (5203.TW), innovative solutions provider for the connected digital lifestyle, announced today the release of disc authoring software CyberLink PowerProducer 5, which supports the creation of Blu-ray Discs and DVDs featuring video content recorded in the AVCHD format.

PowerProducer 5 is available in two versions. PowerProducer 5 Ultra lets users create high-quality professional-looking discs on Blu-ray Discs and DVDs. With support for the AVCHD video format, users can also create DVDs featuring highly compressed high-definition content. PowerProducer 5 (DVD) supports the creation of customized menu designs for DVDs and VCDs.

In version 5 CyberLink has made major improvements to product usability, providing a simpler, re-stylied interface, and new design tools for creating customizable disc menus with imported photos and videos. "Now with the release of CyberLink PowerProducer 5, it is not only the Hollywood studios that can produce high-quality discs like Blu-ray Discs and AVCHD DVDs," said Alice H. Chang, CEO of CyberLink. "By offering easy-to-use features and the latest format support, PowerProducer 5 lets consumers quickly author and burn their high-definition home videos with professional-looking results."

New features in this version include:

• BD-RE 3.0 certified, users can rerecord and append Blu-ray Discs, as well as create menus on Blu-ray Discs.
• AVCHD format support lets users output high-definition content to a DVD disc and store large volumes of high-definition content on Blu-ray Discs and AVCHD discs.
• On-Disc Editing allows users to append video and slideshows, edit and add/remove playlists on BD-RE, DVD+VR, and DVD-VR discs.
• Customizable Disc Menus let users import video and use built-in designs to create stylish navigation menus.
• Direct burning with Right-to-Disc™: support for BDAV and BDMV, as well as DVD-VR.
• Support for 5.1-channel Dolby Digital lets users create discs that play on their home theater system.
• Magic Movie Wizard: automatically creates a movie from users' clips, with a theme and music chosen by users.
• Slideshow Styles: enables fast creation of slideshows with 3 different animation styles.
• Magic Clean: automatically adjusts lighting and removes excess noise.
• White Calibration: lets users define true white with the calibration eye-dropper tool to adjust the color temperature of videos and photos.
• Backlight Correction: makes foreground objects clearer in conditions of strong backlighting.

Product Pricing and Availability
PowerProducer is available from CyberLink's online store in nine languages:

• CyberLink PowerProducer 5 Ultra USD 79.95/Euro 74,99
• CyberLink PowerProducer 5 (DVD) USD 49.95/Euro 44,99
• CyberLink PowerProducer 5 Upgrade to Ultra USD 49.95/Euro 44,99

Now available online, CyberLink PowerProducer 5 Ultra supports the authoring and burning of Blu-ray Discs and DVDs. Available online soon, CyberLink PowerProducer 5 (DVD) supports authoring and burning to DVDs and VCDs. CyberLink PowerProducer 5 Upgrade allows users of versions 3 and 4 to upgrade to PowerProducer 5 Ultra. CyberLink also offers OEM versions of PowerProducer to PC and CE manufacturing customers.

www.cyberlink.com

Plextor LLC, a leading developer and manufacturer of high-performance digital media equipment, today announced the immediate availability of the PlexTower series of CD/DVD disc duplication towers. The small footprint, slim profile towers deliver high-quality recording for low-volume applications, as well as one-touch operation in an economic package.

PlexTower series duplicators feature 18X DVD and 48X CD recording speeds, and each drive is capable of burning eight DVD discs or 22 CD discs per hour. In addition to DVD video, the drives also support dual-layer DVD-R/+R and DVD-ROM recording. Prassi Zulu 2 disc mastering software is included, while a simple interface and LCD readout make it easy to perform common functions like copy and verify.

Plextor is offering three models: a single-drive PlexTower PX-DTS100, a three-drive PlexTower PX-DTS-300, and a seven-drive PlexTower PX-DTS-700. USB 2.0 interfaces ensure easy connectivity and fast data throughput with personal computers running Apple Macintosh or Microsoft Windows 2000/XP/Vista operating systems.

“The new disc duplication towers from Plextor are targeted at medium- and small-size businesses that want an easy way to make data backups, distribute content, or provide copying services,” said Toru Nakazawa, president of Plextor LLC. “Just like every other Plextor product, the PlexTower series devices are reliable and stable, and produce high quality recording results at an affordable price.”

Pricing and Availibility
Plextor will ship the PlexTower series disc duplicators to distributors in North and South America at the end of March 2008. The single drive PlexTower PX-DTS100 has a Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price (MSRP) of $365.00 USD. The three-drive PlexTower PX-DTS100 has an MSRP of $599.00 USD. The seven-drive PlexTower PX-DTS100 has an MSRP of $999.00 USD All retail packages include one-year full warranty and unlimited toll-free technical support.

www.plextor.com

Intellikey Labs, a recognized leader in optical disc quality assurance content testing, announced today the launch of Intellikey DVD Testing Matrix 7.0. The first ever Blu-ray AMPTM and along with the latest Standard Def matrix enables Intellikey to provide the most definitive AMPTM rating system available for DVD testing on domestic players. Matrix 7.0 is the most representative DVD testing matrix ever released.

Intellikey Blu-ray Matrix 7.0 includes every player manufactured and available, or 100.00% of the Blu-ray player installed base, as reported by US sales figures through 2007.

Intellikey Matrix 7.0 includes an array of over 125 domestic DVD players and consoles. Testing using Intellikey DVD Matrix covers 89.13% of the DVD player installed base, as reported by US sales figures, for the 3-year time period of 2005 through 2007. The top 100 NTSC 1 players in Matrix 7.0 represent 87.07% of that installed base.

Content tested on both Blu-ray and/or domestic DVD players receives the Intellikey AMPTM rating which effectively calculates the percentage of players sold affected by errors discovered during testing. This proprietary AMPTM (Affected Market Percentage) calculation allows clients to know their risk exposure for content errors that remain uncorrected.

www.intellikeylabs.com/

Techware Distribution, Inc. today announced its acquisition of Maxoptix Corporation from Breece Hill of Louisville, CO. Maxoptix is a premier manufacturer of Magneto Optical Disks (Discs) and Magneto Optical Drive storage devices. This acquisition strengthens Techware’s ability to distribute MO disk media and drives in North America, South America, Europe and Asia.

Techware Distribution will continue to supply the entire line of Maxoptix 5.25" magneto optical media and 5.25" MO drives through current wholesale/dealer channels in North America, and in Europe through PDO Europe.

"Our intent is to make this transition transparent to the loyal Maxoptix customer base while improving efficiencies in logistics and customer support," said Kevin Gabrik, vice president of sales and marketing for Techware. "We look forward to rolling out new products like a portable 3.5" (90mm) 1.3gb USB pocket drive in early 2nd quarter 2008."

Magneto optical disks are extremely reliable and durable because they are unaffected by magnetic fields and highly resistant to dirt and scratches. Because of this durability, magneto optical disks continue to be popular within Medical, Financial and Government organizations.

Capacities on the 5.25" discs range from 600mb up to 9.1gb, in both rewritable and WORM formats (write once read many), with the most popular MO disc capacities being 9.1gb, 2.3gb, 4.1gb, 5.2gb and 1.2gb.

www.techwaredist.com

www.maxoptix.com

OPPO Digital, Inc., a renowned leader in up-converting DVD players, today announced the launch of the DV-983H, the new flagship in OPPO's line of award-winning up-converting DVD players. Featuring Anchor Bay's leading video processing technologies, 7.1-channel audio, and 1080p HDMI up-conversion, the DV-983H Universal DVD Player delivers the breath-taking audio and video performance needed to make standard DVDs look their best on today's large screen, high-resolution displays.

The DV-983H delivers film-like picture quality and scales up to 1080p full-HD resolution, while the player's HDMI all digital output provides the cleanest possible connection. With the DV-983H, OPPO has incorporated Anchor Bay's latest VRS (Video Reference Series) technologies -- including AutoCUE-C™, Precision Video Scaling™, Progressive Cadence Detection™, and Precision Deinterlacing™. These technologies combined generate a clearer, smoother, and true-to-life picture free of artifacts.

"We've leveraged our years of experience in up-converting technology, not to mention the latest innovations from leading video and audio partners, to release our most powerful, highest-performing player yet," said Jason Liao, vice-president of product development at OPPO Digital. "Home theatre enthusiasts can enjoy their DVD and music collections at a whole new level with the DV-983H before investing in an entirely new Blu-Ray library."

"Anchor Bay is honored to have OPPO choose our ABT1018 and ABT102 chips for its flagship DV-983H DVD player," said Doug Fealtman, CEO at Anchor Bay. "Our VRS video processing technologies complement OPPO's unwavering commitment to unsurpassed performance and reliability in its products."

The DV-983H provides a rich array of features for serious home theater enthusiasts. By applying source-adaptive, motion-adaptive, and edge-adaptive techniques, the DV-983H produces an outstanding image for any DVD, whether it's mastered from an original theatrical release film or from a TV series. Aspect ratio conversion and multi-level zooming enable users to take full control of the viewing experience -- maintain the original aspect ratio, stretch to full screen, or crop the unsightly black borders. Special stretch modes make it possible to utilize the full resolution of ultra high-end projectors with anamorphic lenses. For users with an international taste, the frame rate conversion feature converts PAL movies for NTSC output without any loss of resolution or tearing. Custom home theater installers will find the DV-983H easy to integrate into whole-house control systems, thanks to its RS-232 and IR IN/OUT control ports.

To complete the home theatre experience, the DV-983H produces stunning sound quality. Its 7.1 channel audio with Dolby Digital Surround EX decoding offers more depth, spacious ambience, and sound localization. Additionally, the player supports DTS Digital Surround, Dolby Digital, and Dolby Pro-Logic II to accommodate any sound track found on a DVD. Music lovers will enjoy the precise rendering of CD, Super Audio CD and DVD-Audio. The DV-983H incorporates high-resolution 192kHz, 24-bit audio D/A converters, isolated power supply circuitry, and quality passive components to deliver clear treble, deep bass, and a broad dynamic range. The HDMI audio output supports bit-stream and uncompressed multi-channel high-resolution audio, greatly simplifying the connection for users with modern A/V receivers.

Following in OPPO's well-known tradition for versatility, the DV-983H is capable of far more than its "DVD player" name. In addition to supporting Kodak Picture CD, Windows Media Audio and other digital audio/video/picture on CD and DVD recordable discs, its USB 2.0 interface lets users play content from a USB disk and enjoy music, video or a high-resolution photo slide show. Available today for an estimated retail price of $399, the DV-983H can be ordered directly from OPPO Digital's web site www.oppodigital.com and authorized resellers.

www.anchorbaytech.com

www.oppodigital.com

MPEG LA, LLC, world leader in alternative one-stop patent licenses, today announced that seven DVD Video disc replicators have become Licensees to MPEG LA’s MPEG-2 Patent Portfolio License in conclusion of patent enforcement actions brought by MPEG-2 patent owners in the District Court Düsseldorf, Germany.

The seven DVD disc manufacturers include CDA Datenträger Albrechts GmbH of Germany, East European Authoring and Encoding Centre Ltd. of Bulgaria, GEMA OD S.A. of Spain, GZ Digital Media a.s. of the Czech Republic, MAF Diskettes SrL of Italy, Megaus Sp. z.o.o. of Poland, and The Video Duplicating Co. Ltd. (VDC) of the United Kingdom.

“We are pleased to welcome these seven DVD Video disc replicators as Licensees to the MPEG-2 Patent Portfolio License,” said Larry Horn, CEO of MPEG LA. “They join more than 1,300 other companies as Licensees, including the world’s leading DVD Video disc manufacturers responsible for most DVD Video discs produced in the current world market.”

Plaintiffs in the cases against the seven DVD Video disc replicators included CIF Licensing, LLC; GE Technology Development, Inc.; Koninklijke Philips Electronics NV; Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.; Mitsubishi Electric Corporation; Sony Corporation; Thomson Licensing S.A.; The Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York; and Victor Company of Japan, Ltd.

Additional enforcement actions by MPEG-2 patent owners are pending in Germany against DVD Video disc replicators Dicentia Germany GmbH, Dicentia A/S and Odeon Cineplex (formerly Digital Press Hellas), and in Denmark against Dicentia A/S.

The MPEG-2 Standard is the core technology underlying the efficient creation, transmission, storage and display of digitized moving images and sound tracks on which DVD and other digital technologies are based; and the DVD-Video Standard (DVD Specifications for Read-Only Disc, Part 3: VIDEO SPECIFICATIONS) requires DVD Video discs to contain information formatted in accordance with the MPEG-2 Standard.

www.mpegla.com

Digistore Solutions, an internationally known supplier of optical digital asset management products and solutions, announced today that Collectorz.com’s Music Collector and Movie Collector software now provide fully integrated support for Digistore’s Centurion CD disc storage system.

When used in conjunction with the Collectorz.com software, users can link CD and/or DVD discs in their databases to slots within the Centurion CD, use the program’s browse and search features to find the disc they are searching for, and automatically rotate and eject desired discs. The software can even keep track of the exact location of movies and music when multiple Centurion CD devices are linked together.

“Collectorz.com has developed a quick and easy solution to catalog music and movies, which is extremely helpful to users trying to locate a particular disc within a carousel storage system like the Centurion CD,” said Victor Foo, Chief Executive Officer of Digistore Solutions.

Collectorz.com
Collectorz.com Music Collector 8.1 and Movie Collector 5.4 are the latest versions of the company’s innovative line of cataloging software that allow customers to catalog their entire CD and DVD collection automatically and download information like artist, title, release year, genre and cover images; browse, search, print or export a collection to a website or iPod; and manage lists in a store to prevent duplicate purchases.

Collectorz.com has been developing cataloging software since 2000. The Collectorz.com series also offers cataloging software for books, comics, video games, digital photos and MP3 files. Licensed review copies of Movie and/or Music Collector are available on request. Contact Sytske Hermans at syts@collectorz.com or visit www.collectorz.com.

Centurion CD
Digistore Solutions Centurion CD is the industry’s first affordable, intelligent disc storage system, providing users with a 100-disc capacity per unit. By stacking multiple units, users can manage as many as 127,000 discs from a single-user interface, enabling the safest and most convenient method of data storage and retrieval. Centurion CD offers quick and simple loading of optical media with easy access to large inventories of data and multimedia information. Proprietary software offers a list of all currently stored discs while an built in keyword search capability provides access to information with only partial file names needed. Internet connectivity can be used to catalog files. Password protection restricts rights of use to only those people who are supposed to have access to information.

About Digistore Solutions
Digistore Solutions (S) Pte. Ltd., headquartered in Singapore with its US headquarters in Wilmington, DE, delivers worldwide enterprise-class storage solutions and services that keep business-critical information and applications accessible. The company delivers the advantages of business continuity through automation with information protection, application availability and storage management solutions. Digistore Solutions is an emerging market leader in data storage and is already providing solutions to a wide range of business and market segments. Services range from the commencement of a customer’s planning process through to successful implementation. U.S. operations focus on both direct sales and aggressive channel availability.

www.collectorz.com