DVC Looks for Financing
Latest talks involve Chicago investor. Morristown, NJ-based DVC, Inc. is looking for an outside investment, and most recently has been speaking with Lake Capital, the Chicago consolidator that put together Lighthouse Global Network before selling it to Cordiant Communications Group earlier this year.
According to sources close to the company, DVC turned its attention to Lake Capital after acquisition talks with both ad agency BBDO Worldwide, New York City, and Chicago promotion agency Frankel fell through in early July.
DVC ranked 45th on this year’s PROMO 100 with $33 million in net revenue and two-year growth of 27 percent. The company was named PROMO’s Agency of the Decade last year on the strength of its rapid growth, strong work, and marquee client list in the 1990s. Efforts to become a cutting-edge interactive shop through acquisition, however, have reportedly put a strain on the agency’s resources (December PROMO).
Lake Capital is fresh off the successful sale of Lighthouse, a 17-company marketing services group that includes promo shop Davidson Marketing (now called Communicator). The all-stock deal was worth $421 million when announced July 5th.
A Lake Capital spokesperson confirmed that the company has had discussions with DVC about financing for some time, but that no agreement has been reached. DVC declined to comment.
Controlling Eyeballs Elsewhere at DVC, the company’s DVCi Technologies division recently received a patent on software that allows for virtual placement of brand messages in Internet programming.
The broadly worded patent gives DVC ownership of technology that allows for the assimilation of advertising messages into interactive content that has been specifically programmed to receive it. For instance: the Webcast of a music concert could contain a sign behind the stage on which advertising images can be virtually inserted – they’re not there at the live event, only on the Webcast.
DVC chairman George Valva likens the technology to the yellow first-down stripes TV networks are adding to on-screen football fields. But the marketing potential goes much deeper, because the messages can be alternated based on day-part or viewer demographics. Ads can also be strengthened with click-through capabilities for promotional interaction.
The technology came out of DVCi’s Digital Marketing Communications think tank, which was formed five years ago “when we realized the Internet was going to be a big deal,” says Valva. It is the brainchild of marketing veteran Peter Murray.
The company is already in licensing discussions with other companies, and Valva thinks the product’s potential is unlimited. “The only way for an ad to be truly effective in an interactive environment is for it to be integrated,” he says. “Internet users are too active to accept intrusions.”
Continuing its quest to be the authority on all things automotive, Car and Driver magazine in August held its first-ever Great American Mobile Marketing Dignity Derby.
The event, which publicized an upcoming tongue-in-cheek story on mobile-marketing vehicles, brought some of the most well-known traveling brands to Bradford, PA, for road tests, a parade, and an open house.
Making the trek were the Zippo Car, the Hershey’s Kissmobile, the Eckrich Fun House, and the BTI Phone Car. Chicago-based Marketing Werks helped the magazine put the event together.
