When creating a disc for marketing purposes, not only the content itself is the main attraction, but the ease of use and compatibility will make or break the campaign. When starting the process, we recommend considering the following:

1. What type of content will it be?
Are you presenting a video or audio? Does it have documents such as PDF, DOC, XLS? Will it be interactive? Keeping a list of content will help decide the the format of the disc, whether it will be a CD-Rom (data CD), Enhanced CD, DVD video or DVD-Rom (data DVD).

2. How is the disc going to be used?
Do you envision customers to view the disc on the computer or set-top DVD player or both? Having this question answered will further narrow down the disc formats.

3. What platform will it be used on?
This is mainly a question for CD-Rom or DVD-Rom only, knowing whether the intended audience are on PC or Mac or both will restrict the file format you can use.

4. Should it be on a CD or DVD?
Generally speaking, videos are made on DVDs simply because they can be played on both computers and set-top DVD players. If other file types such as pdf are to be included, consider also Quicktime, Flash video or Window Media Video (WMV) based on your answers to questions 2 and 3 above. A CD will hold up to 700mb and a DVD will hold up to 4.7gb. The cost of making a CD is cheaper than a DVD.

Consult a multimedia specialist or DVD authorer, who should be able to help you determine the best format for your project.