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Video Killed the Business Card

Marketing in the Digital Age with Multimedia Business Cards

By Corie Benjamin

Presentation is everything. This is the motto in the age of instant information and constant connection. Compactness and efficiency are the marks of distinction between individuals competing in today’s market. In this quicksand economy, the difference between the dream job and temp work, the big break and the overlooked executive lies in a well-presented delicate marriage of functionality and efficacy.

A new product that is advancing this marketing principle is the video business card. These innovative cards are the size of a credit card—8×5 cm wide and about 1.2 mm thick—and contain a built-in flash drive that can hold up to 32 gigabytes of data.

Data can be open-format, or files can be locked or encrypted, allowing various levels of access. Additionally, the cards can be customized with company logos or original artwork printed in full colour on both sides, with textured and overlays. Video business cards are PC and Mac compatible and do not require internet to access information stored on the card. The cards can also be programmed to function in connection with social media outlets like Facebook, Pintrest, and Twitter.

The inventor of this revolutionary tool is marketing professional Alvero Ortiz, who has over 20 years of experience in the industry and has taught marketing at the postgraduate level at the Universidad de Bogota in his native Columbia for many years. Mr. Ortiz founded his own company, MarketingSupport over nine years ago and has developed marketing campaigns for clients across the North America—including M&I Bank, Bremer Bank, AmeryDream Mortgage, RV Property Management, and the Carousel of Nations Multicultural Festival. Mr. Ortiz developed his video business cards as a tool to expand his clients’ horizons both on and offline. The video business card is a dynamic, neat, and effective method of advertising.

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While he has secured a sizable section of the Hispanic market, Mr. Ortiz has, since immigrating to Canada several years ago, been working to expand further into the English-speaking market with this product. His video cards have been used by clients to promote events, store business presentations, and advertise client services; however, Ortiz admits that there are many more avenues of opportunity that he has not explored yet.

Imagine university orientations where schools could hand out business cards holding all the information the students need—course calendars, campus maps, frosh week videos, virtual tours—all on one card, as opposed to the current situation where students going university-shopping at wind up coming home with bags full of promotional leaflets and other printed materials that are soon discarded. Imagine real estate representatives carrying virtual tours for all their properties inside their business cards. Imagine bands promoting themselves at concerts with audio and visual snippets or behind-the-scenes exclusive interviews all through a video business card!

If the convenience was not enough to convince businesses that video cards are the way of the future, just think of all the trees that are saved by converting paper pamphlets into digital data components that can be easily accessed on tablets and laptops without the hassle of searching through print for the material needed. Even on an individual level, the cards are useful. Imagine the possiblities for job-hunters: they can carry portfolios with audio and visual supporting aids for better skill-showcasing. This could make all the difference at a job interview for an artist, graphic designer, or computer programmer, giving prospective employers a far better picture of the individual’s capabilities than a paper résumé.

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With so many exciting opportunities ahead, Alvero continues to work towards developing more creative approaches to marketing to ensure his clients a place on the leading edge of marketing technology and the best possible presentation for their businesses. Make way for the future: video business cards!

 

For more information on Alvero Ortiz and his video business cards, visit http://marketingsupport.ca/ or http://www.facebook.com/myvideocard

2 Comments

  • Camilo Sanchez

    This article shows us how technology applies to everything surrounding us, as well as how inventions never end. I represent Mr. Ortiz and sell his amazing Video Card in Florida, U.S. and my customers have a great satisfaction provided by the huge possibilities for their maketing estrategies and corporate image got with the Video Card. In Smart Automation Technologies we have found a good new option to provide our customers with a different effective marketing tool.

  • Gloria Arenas

    Definitely this technological advancement has allowed me to reach people and let them know my spa and the work conducted jointly with my husband on our health and beauty blog. We are very proud and grateful to Alvaro Ortis not only for being Colombian, but also for his advice on videocards

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