Comcast Debuts CD Sampler of Internet Sites

There’s a new kind of premium that helps consumers tame the Internet. It’s a CD that lists—and links—the top Web sites on a given topic, from music or golf to diabetes or pet care.

The custom-made CDs are researched, compiled and produced by Odin Media. The New York-based company began pitching its Laserlinx CDs to marketers early this year, and shipped its first batch for cable operator Comcast this summer.

Comcast sent its CD, 100+ Essential Web Sites for Small Business Owners, to 15,000 small-business owners in and around Denver, all of them B-to-B prospects for Comcast’s cable-based Internet services (including voice over Internet). It’s too early to gauge response rates, but traffic to Comcast’s own site via the CD link is up, as is traffic to other sites featured on the disc, said Odin CEO Usher Winslett.

“We’ve moved from Information Age to the Information Overload Age,” Winslett said. “Data sifters like Google and Zagat Guides are very valuable to consumers now. Nothing targets consumers better than information. If you can deliver information that’s essential to their lives, consumers will be open to the message that goes along with it.”

Odin works with clients to choose a topic of interest to the target audience, then taps its network of researchers to source sites to include on a CD. Odin calls this its “COVUS” process, which insures that the list of sites is “complete, organized, verified, unbiased and summarized,” Winslett said. “It’s how we make sure we’re providing the resources that are most valuable to consumers.”

Odin maintains a network of Web-savvy freelancers to research topics, tapping individuals who are experts in their field: Golf pros design a golfing CD, teachers research a CD on education.

Odin is shopping Laserlinx discs to pharmaceutical marketers through a distribution deal with Custom Promotions, Inc., North Brunswick, NJ. The premiums distributor is using a diabetes-themed prototype to demonstrate how consumer-targeted CDs would look. Custom Promotions’ COO Joe Blewitt said Laserlinx is “perfect for the healthcare industry. When people have health problems, the first thing they seek is reliable information. … [The CDs] give our clients the opportunity to integrate their brand and marketing message into the most vital information in their customers’ lives.”

Brands can distribute discs on pack, at events, as magazine inserts or via direct mail. On average, CDs delivered via direct mail get a 7% response rate, and CD-based ads drive consumer recall that’s 50% to 60% higher than print ads, Winslett says.

Odin measuring response by tracking how many consumers use a disc, which sites they visit from the disc, and how many times they visit the marketers’ own site through the disc’s link.

Turnaround time on customized discs is 12 weeks. Prices range from 55 cents each (for orders of 1 million or more) to $1.44 each (for 50,000) for discs with color labels and no packaging; discs in DVD packaging cost 99 cents to $1.95 each.