A DIRECT AD APPROACH FIRM'S E-MAIL VIDEO PITCHES MAY BE NEXT WAVE IN PERSONALIZED INTERNET NEWSLETTERS.

Byline: Robert Monroe Staff Writer

WEST HILLS - Internet advertising just got more personal.

Dynamics Direct, a company launched in August, produces targeted e-mail ads that play like miniature movies. A person who has patronized a travel agency, for example, might get a message assembled by Dynamics Direct. ``Tom, shouldn't you be in Paris?'' one sample ad reads.

Personal information about Tom, including whether he'd be able to afford such a trip, is coming from client companies' own databases and worked into so-called ``rich media'' video pitches with sound. Dynamics Direct officials think this niche of Internet advertising is rich in unrealized potential.

``There's vast real estate in newsletters that's been untapped because the technology didn't exist,'' said Dynamics Direct President and Chief Executive Officer Russell Gillam.

At a time when slumping ad revenue has forced some dot-coms out of business, the company so far counts seven or eight clients, including Web sites such as Stamps.com, and maybe a half dozen competitors.

Internet advertising analysts believe the 50-employee company has potential but obstacles to overcome, starting with consumer mistrust.

Cyber Dialogue, a company dealing in customer relationship management analysis, found that most Web surfers aren't ready for the newsletter-style advertising Dynamics Direct specializes in, with only 21 percent saying they read such ads in a recent survey.

``Rich media is a great idea but it's not going to be the driving thing,'' said Qaalfa Dibeehi, director of Internet consumer practice at Cyber Dialogue. ``It's more that the consumers are going to be receiving the content they're asking for.''

Dibeehi added that many consumers might simply delete the e-mails crafted by Dynamics Direct rather than spend time downloading their messages. Company officials say, however, that the e-mails can play the ad in seconds, regardless of the computer's own speed.

Other data suggest that e-mail is not the preferred form of Internet advertising, representing only 3 percent of the total market, according to studies.

Marc Ryan, director of media research with a division of Internet commerce watcher Jupiter Media Metrix, said Dynamics Direct must face the challenge of synching, in cost-effective quantity, client promotions with the correct customer profiles. In the future, though, its video streaming might become the standard.

``Personalization seems to be the next stage of Internet advertising evolution,'' Ryan said.

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3 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) Dynamics Direct President and CEO Russell Gillam believes there's a big future in video-streaming e-mails.

(2 -- 3 -- color) Dynamics Direct art director Shue-Ping Sun, right, works on a video streaming e-mail ad, seen at left, which brings a personalized touch to Internet messages.

Just think Pamela

Charlotte Schmid-Maybach/Staff Photographer