MascoTech Interactive, Multimedia 1997 Annual Report on CD-ROM FIRST SLIDE A Bit of CyberAlley [and] Interactive History An early pitch to MascoTech was the commercial "spec" project that put the power surge in CyberAlley. Prior, little new media communications had yet been done on the scale of an annual report, at least not with a degree of sophistication. But, CyberAlley had been tossing around concepts for over a year. There may have been an annual report or two done on CD-ROM, but it was pretty much traditional, static media set to disc. Perhaps the President's Message included a postage stamp size Quicktime movie of the president's profile saying a blurb, but c'mon, this is an exciting and dynamic new medium demanding a whole new way of thinking. Since little had been done in the early 90s, and practically nothing with any imagination, pitching creative concepts in new media to those with the where-to-do to do anything was a challenge in its self. A working model was required. MascoTech was chosen to pitch the idea to. They were receptive. An upbeat, high energy intro settled into a blank, stone wall. A jagged crack treks across the wall. The bottom section extrudes, numbers pop in place-- the growth chart. CEO Manoogian walks into the screen extolling the great year. A segue to a dark field. A medium shot of the president appears out of the darkness. He recites the President's Message, intercut with action reflecting the dialogue, Hollywood-style. The presentation continues through all the aspects of the typical annual report in like fashion with large, dynamic, graphic backgrounds showcasing one or two smaller Quicktime movies. The financials were covered in scrolling windows, downloadable to print. The mockup was clean and though not complete, enough was presented to clearly illustrate the concept. It was well received by our contact at Mascotech... unfortunately, he wasn't the person anymore who could make it happen. But, a great working spec piece was had. It did indeed lead to CyberAlley's first big new media project--Holley's Digital Media Resources CD. The marketing manager from Holley visiting a designer down the hall, happened upon the development of it and little known at the time was genuinely interested. Being a visionary in his own right, a mockup for DMR was underway for Holley's marketing manager in a couple weeks. Though CyberAlley never produced a multimedia annual report for Mascotech, CyberAlley did come back full circle to MascoTech. Holley's marketing manager led CyberAlley to an association with the Automotive Public Relations Council in which the correct MascoTech contact was met. A revival pitch for the 1997 Annual Report did land CyberAlley the opportunity to design and produce MascoTech's Operations & Capabilities CD-ROM.





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