Office Talk: Episode II – What’s hot in today’s booming app market?

October 30, 2014 Chris Huppertz
What's hot in today's booming app market? Watch this short video and share your thoughts!

Office Talk: Episode I – Which media giants control what you watch, share and communicate?

October 30, 2014 Chris Huppertz
Do you know which media giants control what you watch, share and communicate? Watch this short video and share your thoughts!

Deluxe Tapped by China Film for Mastering Services on Movies in China Giant Screen Format

October 30, 2014 Chris Huppertz
Post-Production Leader and Its Beijing-Based Partner to Develop 115,000-Cubic-Ft. Facility Deluxe has entered an agreement with China Film Co. Ltd. to provide mastering services for motion pictures released in the China Giant Screen (CGS) format. As part of the agreement, the companies will develop a 115,000-cubic-foot mastering facility and screening room in Los Angeles. Deluxe announced its agreement with the Beijing-based company at ShowEast 2014, the annual trade show for cinema operators from the U.S. and abroad that’s now under way in Hollywood, Fla. “The CGS format offers not just an enlarged image but an image that’s greatly enhanced to accommodate the large format,” said Joe Hart, senior vice president of Deluxe Digital Cinema. “Deluxe is thrilled to provide the state-of-the-art mastering services required. We expect the new mastering facility and screening room to act as a real showcase for the format and related technology.” The CGS format produces projected images of more than 65 feet wide and 35 feet tall. “CGS, as a premium large-format cinema system based on proprietary technology, has won wide support both from China and the international community, including most major players from Hollywood,” said Lin Minjie, chairman of China Film Digital Giant Screen (Beijing) Co. Ltd. “We are very excited to work together with Deluxe in providing mastering services for CGS screens and promoting CGS systems in the broader market. Our joint effort will undoubtedly bring even more successes to CGS and deployments of the system.” Deluxe Digital Cinema, or DDC, has a long track of service to global distributors and exhibitors. Its comprehensive menu of services includes: mastering for multiple-language 2D or 3D motion pictures; subtitling, titling and foreign titling; restoration and preservation solutions; and digital effects such as title-sequence design, motion graphics and 3D animation.

The Four M’s of Social Media Every Marketer Should Master

October 10, 2014 Chris Huppertz
Did you know that approximately 93% of marketers use social media to bring attention to their business and drive website traffic? Social media marketing used to be a simple two-step process: write content and then post it. Today, it has evolved into an intricate process that seems more like performing brain surgery, as a variety of tactics are used to monitor, manage, measure and monetize each campaign. Underneath all of its complexities, the fundamentals of social media marketing are what ultimately determine the outcome of a campaign. Once marketers have mastered the four M’s of social marketing, this intricate process and these tactics can be refined to a simple and successful plan of action. So what are these four M’s? 1. Monitor Social media is an increasingly crowded and busy arena. The downside is that manually monitoring social-media efforts is time-consuming, if not impossible. But the upside is that when a company uses a platform that can track and analyze social media chatter, it can tap into real-time intelligence about an industry and its competitors that will sharpen its strategy. Monitor activity before you launch a campaign. Obtain a clear idea of a competitor’s strengths and weaknesses on social media. Look for market opportunities and see what consumers react to within the industry. Monitor campaigns to optimize performance. 2. Manage Once a campaign is launched in the social sphere, management can make or break the campaign’s success. Refine your campaign by tracking performance and reacting to what works and what does not. Take the workload off your social-media manager by letting him or her schedule posts and tweets. Add a new level of social-media intelligence by listening to what users are saying about the company's campaigns and brand. Management is the execution of the social strategy. And with all the emphasis on the software, analytics and strategy, execution is still what drives the success of a social-media campaign. 3. Measure Measurement is increasingly important on two fronts. Social media is fragmented across multiple platforms. Tracking and analyzing the full scope of social-media use is now more difficult than ever. Secondly, measurement is one of the most important ways to demonstrate the effectiveness of social marketing to chief marketing officers, company executives and board members. Measurement involves tracking results on earned, owned and paid media. Engagement can be gauged across all social-media platforms and how traffic is driven to a company's website. It's also possible to analyze how paid advertising on Twitter and Facebook encourages participation on social-media campaigns and a company's website. 4. Monetize The Holy Grail of social media marketing is sales. If marketers can draw a direct line between a social-media campaign and sales, all the guessing over the value of engagement ends. The return on investment is indisputable. As the use of social media advances, mastering the four M’s of social media marketing becomes an increasingly important skill set for marketers. Perfecting these skills let businesses leverage the viral and sharing nature of social media to inspire the purchasing decisions of their target audience with user-generated content or through coupons, discounts or prizes. To read the original story click here.      

Deluxe Enhances Audio Dubbing and Post-Production Offerings in Spain

October 9, 2014 Chris Huppertz
State-of-the-Art Facility to Provide Big Benefits for Customers BURBANK - Oct. 9, 2014 – Deluxe Media is pleased to announce that it has a new audio post-production facility in Barcelona. Deluxe offers comprehensive post-production, distribution and asset-management solutions for media and entertainment around the world. At the highly regarded facility, Deluxe will continue its legacy of offering a full range of audio post services. Those include: Original Spanish local-production ADR, mixing, sound design and Foley stage work Dubbing films and television series into Spanish and Catalan Centralized mixing in formats such as 5.1, 7.1 and Dolby Atmos “The Deluxe localization department is excited to relocate its current Spanish operations to our new studios in Barcelona,” said Ron Horwitz, senior vice president of worldwide localization services at Deluxe. “This state-of-the-art facility allows us to expand our capacity for foreign-language dubbing and centralized mixing in order to service our customers better with their increasingly tight deadlines.” The facility is also expected to fuel regional growth for Deluxe. “Integrating this new facility into our regional infrastructure will be hugely beneficial for Deluxe and the industry,“ said Ramón Martos, managing director of Deluxe Spain. “The combination of cutting-edge technology and creative talent there will be very appealing to our clients.”

BG&A Helps Deluxe Trumpet State-of-the-Art Toronto Facility

October 8, 2014 Chris Huppertz
Deluxe, a global leader in comprehensive post-production solutions, is justifiably proud of its remarkable new post-production studio in Toronto. Recently, Deluxe built a state-of-the-art picture and sound facility, boasting stunning views of nearby Lake Ontario, to continue the company’s role in Canada and elsewhere as the go-to provider of post services for film, TV, commercials and digital content. The three-story, 62,000-square-foot facility is located in the city’s Liberty Village neighborhood. It features a large ADR stage, and four 5.1 and 7.1 mixing stages for feature film and TV. The facility also features a wide range of additional film, TV and commercial offerings, including a deep menu of ad services, dailies solutions, on-set and near-set services, and innovative solutions for asset management, storage and archiving. The introduction of Dolby Atmos® technology in the facility’s Mix 1—Canada’s largest film mixing stage—is considered particularly watershed. The Atmos theatre and other service upgrades figured prominently in an array of media coverage that BG&A secured for Deluxe in the U.S. and Canada.  

Sling Media Launches Next-Gen Consumer Slingbox Devices

October 8, 2014 Chris Huppertz
Sling Media, a subsidiary of EchoStar Corp., recently began shipping next-generation Slingbox devices, called the Slingbox® M1 and SlingTV™. These products are the only solutions capable of delivering all of a customer’s live, on demand or recorded pay TV programming from the living room to any mobile device in HD quality. SlingTV also features exciting new “smarter TV” functions designed to enhance the at-home viewing experience. Our public relations campaign was mounted in close collaboration with Sling Media’s marketing, communications and advertising executives. The launch strategy featured multifaceted media outreach and tracking, employing multimedia publicity materials and extensive coverage tracking and follow-up to ensure continued product exposure up to the all-important holiday gift season. The noise level is growing for Slingbox and the product is rapidly increasing its market share as a direct result of the aggressive PR campaign undertaken.

Hitachi Consulting Leads Industry Energy Savings Efforts

October 8, 2014 Chris Huppertz
Cable industry icon Maggie Bellville introduced Hitachi Consulting’s ground breaking energy savings program to the cable industry to a standing-room-only crowd of 1,500 executives during a luncheon at the annual SCTE Cable Tec Expo – held this year in Denver. The former COO of Charter Communications and EVP of operations at Cox explained how, with rising programming costs and salaries, operators could significantly cut their energy bills by 30-50% using Hitachi’s expertise and technologies to reduce power consumption in headends, network operations centers and business offices. How big a savings you may ask? Bellville estimates more than $40 million can be cut from MSO energy bills in one year – and grow as more facilities are brought online. Hitachi Consulting’s solutions have helped its customers cut CO2 emissions significantly:  as if they've taken 72,000 cars off the road!

Acclaimed Beast Editor Morgan Bradley Moves to Beast San Francisco

October 3, 2014 Chris Huppertz
Will Plug into Bay Area’s Vibrant Commercials Market and Top Projects SAN FRANCISCO—Oct. 1, 2014 — Innovative commercials editor Morgan Bradley is moving to Beast in San Francisco after several years working on high-profile projects for Beast in Chicago. Beast, which is a subsidiary of Deluxe, is a top editorial facility for commercials, music videos and online content. Bradley joined Beast in 2008 and has worked on projects for clients including Nike,  Bayer, Motorola and many others. “I started at this company years ago as a runner and have so loved growing up in it,“ Bradley said. “After 6 years in our Chicago office, San Francisco feels like the next step in my process, both as an artist and as a person. I’m leaving Chicago loving it, and I think that's the perfect way to go. “The notion of totally new surroundings is so inspiring, and I know it will be great for my work,“ she added. “Plus, I love the challenge of a whole new city full of interesting people. It's the combination of human interaction and editing that thrill me, and I can't wait to experience that in San Francisco.” Prior to joining Beast, Bradley previously worked at Whitehouse Chicago, beginning in 2004. Bradley won a Midwest Emmy in 2013 for a spot she edited for Downtown Partners for the 100 Club. “Morgan’s moving here is mostly motivated by our clients here wanting to work with her,“ said Jon Ettinger, executive producer at Beast in San Francisco. “She is a big part of our Beast team, and we welcome her to the West Coast.“ Said Igor Kovalik, chief creative officer at Beast “It’s very exciting for Beast—and gives me tremendous personal satisfaction—when a young talent like Morgan can not only thrive in our company and rise from being a great assistant to a great editor, but then also is able to have the opportunity of growing and moving to the city where she wants to live her life. The fact that Beast can be a part of that personal journey is wonderful.”
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