Digital Media Conversion

We realize all customers need assistance when it comes to the ongoing success of their Digital Asset Management implementation. Watch the video to learn more about Widen’s approach to digital asset management as a service.




In the video, I discuss how the most successful digital asset management deployments start with a very candid conversation to identify the objectives for managing and distributing digital assets. Then, we’ll work with you to create a long-term vision for what’s to be accomplished. We do not manage projects in terms of feature by feature requests. Our mission is to understand your objectives and work with you to create a plan by leveraging our expertise in the DAM space.

How are you going to prove that DAM is going to work for your company? What are you going to do to provide a very clear ROI to your management team? As we’ve done for many successful DAM deployments, we will paint a clear, long-term picture of how our product direction aligns with your vision, while executing in the short term to get the brand under control by centralizing all digital media assets used by the marketing organization. With Widen being a DAM Software as a Service (SaaS) provider, you get the benefit of being on a platform with over one hundred other customers sharing in the same universal functionality to achieve the purposes of meeting their long-term vision.

Widen still recognizes there are certain cases where customers have unique requirements and workflows requiring additional functionality and, oftentimes, customization. There are advantages and disadvantages to this. How do we handle those cases? We still start those customers at the basic brand management level because that platform is consistent with the DAM needs for all customers and users. If requirements are unique and a different level of customization is required to meet specific needs, then we will break you away from the pack of all the other customers on the same universal functionality. We know what works and what doesn’t in DAM and it’s our mission to provide you with the service and technology that proves ongoing success.

Throwdown with Bobby Flay, SmackDown from WWE, and now the SaaSisfaction Gauntlet from Widen. 

SaaSisfaction: The satisfaction levels of customers in a software world. My theory is that customers using software-as-a-service (SaaS) are happier with their overall experience than customers using installed software. I am throwing down the gauntlet and sharing our survey results from a recent set of questions that we asked our customers. This challenge is focused in the digital asset management industry.  

For those not familiar with digital asset management technology, systems, and services: marketers need help managing and distributing images and video files – in a nutshell, that's what a digital asset management system does. Of course there is much more but we're keeping it simple here.

In the digital asset management market there are big enterprise players, small desktop providers and everything in between. The buying cycle involves analyst reports, vendor conversations, product demos, feature-by-feature comparisons, reference checks, credit checks, vaporware, future truths, pointless RFP's, overcommitments – but the ultimate question that remains unanswered in the buying cycle is what is my service experience going to be after I sign up? How can we allow a customer to experience what it's going to be like before commitment? You can capture some of this from the analysts, demos, and references but sharing customer satisfaction survey results allows customers to understand what their satisfaction level might be throughout the relationship.

Hence the SaaSisfaction Gauntlet. We invite all the competitors in the digital asset management space to actively participate. Some of these competitors are listed on the recent analyst report by Theresa Regli at The Real Story Group available on the Enterprise Information Watch DAM Stream. Other competitors are listed on the bottom right of one of the best blogs in the digital asset management community at DigitalAssetManagement.org.uk. By all the competitors, I mean big and small – from the Open Text and Autonomy acquisitions to North Plains, MediaBeacon, Celum, Wave, Xinet, and Canto. There are lots, these are only a few. Come one, come all to the SaaSisfaction Gauntlet for the digital asset management market.  

Full Disclosure

In the interest of full disclosure, here are the details of how we ran our survey:

• There were 7 questions and 18 clicks with a $25 Amazon gift card incentive for completion
• We focused on the main contacts at each customer, amounting to 321 total invitations delivered
• The invitations were sent via email in two stages, the first email was sent to all main contacts on 05/12/10 and the next email was sent on 05/27/10 to all those that did not reply to the first invite
• We received 121 responses equating to a 37.7% response rate from 73 unique companies

The Survey Questions

A copy of the survey that you should use is located here: Download Survey Structure 

We used SurveyMonkey.com with a Widen logo in the upper left. Substitute Widen for your organization's name and that's all the changes you need to make. The questions and structure are available at the aforementioned link in addition to the questions below:

1) Please rate your experience with <DAM Company> in the following areas: (4 options given: Excellent, Good, Adequate, Poor)

• Responsiveness of our service teams
• Communicating clearly and effectively
• Keeping you informed of our progress
• Collaborating with you and your team
• Performance of systems/applications
• Product functionality meets your expectations
• Providing value for the money
• Meeting overall project objectives

2) Overall, how do you rate the quality of <DAM Company> products and services? (4 options given: Excellent, Good, Adequate, Poor)

3) Would you recommend <DAM Company> to other organizations? (2 options given: yes or no)

4) What is your perception of the advancements in <DAM Company> technology (6 options given: Ahead of the Curve, Just About Right, Getting Better, Not Fast Enough, Stagnant, Behind the Times)

5) How likely is it that you will continue to use <DAM Company> in the future (5 options given: Certain, Very Likely, Somewhat Likely, Unlikely, Very Unlikely)

6) If you have any comments or suggestions regarding how <DAM Company> could improve the services or performance, please enter them in the box below. (1 option given: enter free form text)

7) To receive your $25 gift card from Amazon, please provide your information below and the gift certification will be emailed to you. (4 fields displayed: Name, Company, Email, Phone)

A Few Guidelines

Set up the survey using the same questions and incentive:

• Share the results on your web site or blog post (I'm sure the digital asset management blogs will pick it up and post it for us as results come in)
• Share the quantity of open ended responses for question #6 understanding that ideas from customers possess product advancement ideas that may be used for differentiation
• Disclose your invitation methods, list quantities, response rate and unique companies responding 
• I'd like to say there is a minimum number of participants, let's say at least 50 unique companies represented but even if you have less than that, it's ok, the information will be revealed in your disclosure

Widen Results

We have already setup the questions, disclosed our methods, shared our response rate and participation, so now I invite you to see the results of the Widen customer satisfaction survey for free at widen.com. There is a form requesting your information so please provide complete contact info. I already understand competitors are interested in this information so there is no need to register as ABC company with a fake email address. With our web analytics we already know how many times you visit our pages and which pages you visit. So just use your real information.

Sign-up to receive the Widen SaaSisfaction Gauntlet Customer Survey Results

Looking forward to seeing how satisfied your customers are relative to Widen customers.

Good luck!

What does it mean to reuse a digital asset? What does it mean to repurpose a digital asset?
These two terms are used interchangeably all of the time in the Digital Asset Management (DAM) space.

Do these terms mean the same thing to you?

The goal of this post is to introduce how I distinguish the concepts of RE-USING and RE-PURPOSING digital assets. Join the conversation by submitting a comment as I’m interested in understanding your take.

Digital assets are generally developed for one of three reasons:

• To make money in businesses where the assets are the actual products being sold, like digital music or movie downloads.
• To market and/or sell products or services where the digital assets represent the product(s) being sold—for example, product images in a catalog or Web site.
• To reinforce a brand image or build brand equity, like a brand logo or logo representing a special occasion such as “60 years of service.”

The goal for any digital asset produced is to get as much value out of that asset as possible. Maximizing the value of a digital asset is accomplished by getting as much use (work) and result (return) from that asset. The way we measure results and return varies because there are tangible and intangible methods of measurement. I’ll save the methodology for determining the value of digital assets for later posts…That's a complex subject. For now, let’s clarify the difference between re-using and re-purposing digital assets, as I see it.

RE-USE – To reuse a digital asset is to employ the asset for the purpose in which it was created more than one time.

For example, this image was developed for use in a specific PowerPoint presentation. The first time that presentation is “created” or “given” then that is the point in which the asset is first “used.” The more times the asset is used in another presentation (separate slide deck – OR – staged appearance), then it is being “re-used” for the purpose in which it was produced. Reusing or re-presenting the original PowerPoint presentation or re-deploying the slide (or slides) that contain that digital asset would count toward the number of times it is “re-used.” Again, the reason the image asset was produced in the first place was for use in one or multiple PowerPoint presentations.

RE-PURPOSE – To repurpose a digital asset is to utilize the asset (in its original form or modified) for a new and different purpose than which it was originally produced.



Again, let's say the common image in these examples above was originally developed for use in a PowerPoint presentation; however it was “re-purposed” for use on a website, in a brochure, in a promotional video, conference poster, Facebook page, and Twitter background. It is used in places different than its original intended purpose, thus it is “re-purposed.” The more an asset is repurposed, the more value it provides.

Repurposing is so commonplace in today’s multi-channel marketing environment that it is the standard. Everyone must deploy their message across multiple mediums in order to get the greatest impact and maximize the ROI in the time and money spent producing that asset. As marketers, if there is one thing we have learned over the last few years, we are expected to “do more with less.” It is also incumbent upon us to take advantage of all the latest cost-effective digital marketing vehicles that have come about. Advancements in technology, creativity, digital media management and digital asset optimization mean the emphasis is on efficiency.

Learn about the four key ratios in digital asset management that help customers realize the value of their digital assets. Among those four success metrics with digital asset management programs is the Repurposing Ratio. Download the whitepaper – Maximizing the Value of Digital Assets – to learn more about the Repurposing Ratio.

Read the related article on ChiefMarketer.com – Derive More Value From Your Digital Assets.

New in 2010, Widen is offering free Digital Asset Management system access for up to 90 days to companies and organizations researching DAM or needing a hosted DAM solution.  Try it for a special project, campaign, product launch, trade show or event!  Request VIP Access to the Widen DAM demo system.

Widen has spent over 13 years developing and supporting web-based digital asset management solutions to marketers of all sizes – from Fortune 500 enterprises to small and medium-sized businesses, agencies and non-profits.  In that time, Widen has offered the opportunity for individuals and teams to experiment, test and trial live online digital asset management systems in live production environments, real-time marketing workflows, and sales channel relationships.

Widen is rolling out the red carpet by providing free digital asset management system access to Widen's live online digital asset library for up to 90 days.  You and your users get the same basic functionality as Widen DAM clients within Widen's Digital Asset Management demo site.

Free Digital Asset Management System access includes the following capabilities:

• Setup your own personalized role and permissions 
• Upload your own digital media – hi-res images, videos, audio, PDFs, Word, PowerPoint, InDesign, etc.
• Add your own metadata – descriptions, tags and automatically captured file info
• Download or send media with on-the-fly file conversions to print and web formats
• Create additional users
• Create custom system messages and user announcements

As a Software as a Service (SaaS) provider, Widen DAM solutions are 100% web-based and designed for creative and marketing workflows.  No software downloads or installs, no IT support required, and no specialized skills needed.  Widen SaaS solutions scale to meet the demand for unlimited simultaneous users and unlimited asset uploads and downloads.  Training and support is provided entirely by Widen.  Ownership of Widen DAM SaaS solutions can be afforded with a low monthly subscription.  Widen clients get their own branded web-based DAM solution and personalized URL, plus the ability to administrate their system with custom metadata structures and output types. Contact Us for more information about Widen DAM SaaS products and pricing.

For basic demo access to search and order stock assets, register for the Widen Guest Pass.

Notice:  Widen's Free Digital Asset Management System Access does not provide users with a fixed permanent solution, but is intended to provide those investigating DAM solutions with a no-cost, no-commitment resource for evaluating Digital Asset Management technology and support to answer questions along the way.

Matthew Gonnering, CEO of Widen Enterprises, will present as part of the Company Previews session at the 2009 SIIA OnDemand Conference. If you’re planning to attend, be sure to check out the Widen presentation scheduled for Thursday, October 29th at 10:10am. Gonnering’s presentation will introduce why Digital Asset Management (DAM) deserves ranking among other enterprise software acronyms—SFA,  CRM, ERP, etc. He will also talk about Widen’s DAM SaaS model and give way to the latest thought-leadership practices at Widen in making sense of key statistics and ratios branded as DAM Success Metrics.
 
SIIA OnDemand, produced by the Software & Information Industry Association, takes place October 28-30 in San Jose, CA and is the industry’s most comprehensive ISV conference for understanding the business drivers around SaaS and Cloud Computing.

SIIA OnDemand will focus on “Driving Revenue in a Recovering Economy” and features timely sessions covering social media and other demand generation techniques, lead nurturing automation, sales force optimization, and winning channel strategies. In addition, you’ll hear from the CEOs of a dozen innovative SaaS/Cloud companies, including ours!
 
Here’s the SIIA OnDemand keynote line-up:

• Lars Dalgaard, CEO of SuccessFactors (a recent SaaS IPO success story), will address how ISVs can benefit from “The New Era of Cloud Computing”
• Zach Nelson, CEO of NetSuite, will present “Navigating a Crowded Sky: Making Sense of the Cloud Platform Revolution”
• Michael Lock, Google Enterprise’s Director of Americas Sales & Operations, will share his top 5 lessons learned selling and marketing cloud-based computing.

For more info about the SIIA OnDemand Conference, check out these links: 

• SIIA OnDemand Home Page
• Current Attendee Roster
• Conference Agenda
• Registration Link

If you plan to attend, leave comment or Contact Us and we’ll provide you with a promo code to save $100!

If you’re unable to attend but interested in what Matthew has to say, please leave a comment or Contact Us and we can have a conversation or send the video and slide deck.

Watch the preview video from Matthew Gonnering, Widen CEO, on OnDemand DAM Software.

Do you want all the latest and greatest news and updates about Widen digital asset management programs and premedia services?  Become a Fan of Widen on Facebook.

The Widen Facebook fan page provides a central location for everything “Widen” with links to all of the latest articles, news, blogs, videos, photos and more.

Become a fan of Widen on Facebook and join in on the conversations.



Introduction to the main features of the Widen Facebook Fan Page:

The Wall – View a log of the latest article placements, mentions in trade publications, press releases, blogs and member commentary.  Some of the more notable recent postings include links to Widen articles in Adotas, ebizQ, DM News, Corporate Media News, Multichannel Merchant and the American Marketing Association’s Marketing Power.com. You can also find Widen quotes and client successes in recent trade publications including KMWorld, Processor.com and Big Picture Magazine. 

Info – Catch a glimpse of Widen with a short company overview, mission and product snapshot.

A sample of the Widen Product snapshot:

Widen Media Collective - A web-based digital asset management software application for creating, managing and distributing photos, videos, marketing materials and other digital media.

Premedia Services - photography, color retouching, digital sampling, catalog production, color management and wide format printing.

Photos – Check out Widen photo albums including Widen magazine covers from the premedia open house, Widen company kickball, black and white historical images of Widen Engraving Co., and portfolios of Widen Digital Sampling, Color Markups and Color Retouching.

Videos – Watch Widen’s latest photoshop magic premedia viral videos and get 1-on-1 with Widen’s CEO and other subject matter experts.

Other areas of interest on the Widen Facebook page include RSS feeds of all the latest blogs covering  Widen’s areas of expertise, links to other industry resources, and favorite pages linking to the fan pages of Widen Customers.

To learn more, become a Fan of Widen on Facebook.

Below is an excerpt from the KM World article, DAM takes on many roles by Judith Lamont, Ph.D., about UNICEF’s adoption of Widen Digital Asset Management tools and services. The full article provides three unique case studies from digital asset management vendors. The excerpt below introduces the digital media management needs from UNICEF and explains why they selected Widen DAM SaaS.

[Excerpt]

Rich media assets

UNICEF was founded by the United Nations in 1946 to help save, protect and improve the lives of children through immunization, education, healthcare, nutrition, clean water and sanitation. It delivers those services and material resources on a regular basis, and responds to emergencies throughout the world.

The UNICEF Web site is the primary means of conveying information about activities in which the organization is involved. With nearly 200 offices operating in 156 countries, and fundraising partner organizations in 36 industrialized countries, UNICEF has deployed a Web content management (WCM) system that allows distributed editing and publishing of content, and localization of field office Web sites.

As rich media, particularly video, became more prevalent, UNICEF also saw a need for a Digital Asset Management (DAM) system that could help staff members deal more effectively with the increasing number of digital assets.

"We drop professional UNICEF journalists and photographers into all sorts of places where children are affected by crisis, as well as serious ongoing challenges," says Alexander Struminger, executive project manager in UNICEF’s Internet, broadcast and image section. "Video is a good format for quickly telling complex stories and effectively feeding into news cycles, but we needed to be able to store, retrieve and distribute the files more easily."

SaaS delivery model

UNICEF had tried several approaches to DAM, including developing its own software, but usage of the systems had been limited. "One of the lessons we learned in our early attempts was that the way in which we rolled out the system was critical," says Struminger. "We knew we needed a good software product, but better software alone is never the answer. We also needed to facilitate adoption by involving stakeholders." After researching the available options and requesting proposals from best-in-class vendors, UNICEF selected the DAM platform from Widen Enterprises.

The software-as-a-service (SaaS) delivery model of Widen’s DAM platform removed the burden of installing and maintaining the software. UNICEF also took note of the company’s long history of high-quality service. "Widen helped us start out with a pilot project so we could introduce the product to a small group of beta testers," Struminger explains. "We made sure we had a group of motivated UNICEF stakeholders involved. This ensured early adoption and a sense of ownership by key stakeholders."

The system was introduced by UNICEF’s Geneva office at a gathering of UNICEF fundraising organizations, and several of the individuals involved in the pilot spoke enthusiastically about its merits. "This event changed the conversation," Struminger says, "and we realized it was the kind of advocacy we needed in order to get that vital adoption."

Other parts of the organization began to request the DAM system, and a global rollout is now in progress. Feedback has been very positive, and users are beginning to suggest new applications, like asset sharing between divisions, countries and partner organizations. Widen’s application for video Web streaming is also under consideration.

Users can quickly find video clips they need, along with scripts and shot lists. They can send those files directly to a journalist or news organization for review. UNICEF offices and partners can have access to up-to-date branding assets, as well as print publications files for localization, printing or electronic distribution.

"The robust search engine is really one of the keys to this system," explains Struminger, "and its ability to leverage metadata." Although the metadata and taxonomy needed to be sorted out as the system expanded, the Widen DAM system is now becoming the preferred distribution platform for digital assets.

Widen Enterprises draws its expertise from its own experience in pre-press workflow, so in addition to offering a software product it also has substantial subject matter expertise.

"Our emphasis is on service and being with customers throughout their process," says Matthew Gonnering, CEO of Widen. "For example, we staffed our own video production studio to make sure we understood the workflow. Our product handles every major video format as well." That ability provides support to social marketing efforts, allowing the distribution of video to many channels. "We don’t just get our customers set up with the software and then part company," Gonnering emphasizes. "We are available throughout the entire time of our relationship."

View the full article from KM World: DAM takes on many roles

Widen recently published a new “Brand Standards” document in efforts to maintain a consistent face to the marketplace. This exercise has been quite a grueling process as we work to gather, catalog and manage all of our logos and templates to enforce consistent use of our branding. (Go figure, a Digital Asset Management company has many of the same frustrations as the customers we serve!)

Like many organizations, the most public facing and prominent marketing touch point is the corporate website. We launched a new website in Q1 of this year and just recently updated our brand standards document that is three years removed from the last major update. (I’m sure you can relate!) Besides our website, we have several other forms of digital media channels that we try to maintain consistent with our corporate brand—landing pages, blogs, social networking pages, print collateral and corporate documents.   

The part of this process that became particularly complicated was managing all the different versions of our logos… 

Widen has 35 different logos from 13 different styles of the Widen logo:

1. 3-D Reflected versions
2. Flat versions
3. Black & White 3-D Reflected versions
4. Black & White Flat versions
5. 3-D Reflected versions with the tagline “Empower Your Digital Media”
6. Flat versions with the tagline “Empower Your Digital Media”
7. Black & White 3-D Reflected versions with the tagline “Empower Your Digital Media”
8. Black & White Flat versions with the tagline “Empower Your Digital Media”
9. 3-D Circle W Icons
10. Powered by Widen stamps for customer sites
11. Widen Media Collective product stamps
12. Widen Appliance product stamps
13. Widen for Appexchange logos for our Salesforce.com apps

Portfolio View of the Widen Logo Library

As users of our own digital asset management tools we can control which formats are convertible and what conversion options are to be configured within our DAM SaaS application. Most of the 13 different styles have RGB (for web or print conversion), CMYK (for print only) and PMS (for print only) versions so that’s why we total 35 different logos. There are 4 "for print only" logos that can be downloaded only as the CMYK or PMS file in the original .ai file format, meaning there is no conversion.

The RGB versions hold the integrity of the file the best—particularly with the reflected red 3-D Circle W that has several different colors in it. The RGB files can be converted to any file format for print or web use. Conversion options include: JPEG, PNG, TIFF, and EPS (configurable to each client’s specifications). Therefore, instead of having on file and keeping track of more than 52 additional logos in different file formats, we only need to keep track of the 13 master logos that can be converted to any format using Photoshop conversions on-demand within our own Widen Media Collective DAM system.

Logo Conversion Options Configured Specific to the Widen Corporate Internal DAM System

Are there any other marketing people that can relate to the vast challenges in managing a logo library?  We’d love to hear your story!
 

Since my last post in regard to Widen apparel marketing technology, An Inside Look at How NBA Hot Market Demands Are Met by Widen Digital Sampling & Digital Asset Management, I received emails from DICK’S Sporting Goods when the Pittsburgh Penguins won the Stanley Cup Finals and again when the Los Angeles Lakers won the NBA Finals.  (I’d like to think my previous blogs featuring the Penguins and Lakers had an impact on the outcome of the series, but I’m sure they didn’t!)  These timely marketing emails from DICK’S Sporting Goods announcing the availability of the official locker room championship merchandise use digital samples created by Widen. 

Widen Digital Sampling Process:

1. Photograph neutral color physical apparel samples
2. Digitally create all color swatches according to league approved team colors
3. Apply team and league graphics according to Adidas supplied technical guidelines
4. Upload final digital samples to web-based digital asset library for retail access

Using the online digital asset management workflow tools, Widen personnel route completed samples to the Adidas Sports Licensed Division marketing teams for approval.  Once approved digital samples are available for download, online retailers and catalogers use the Widen digital media conversion wizard to send and receive the images in the exact file formats and resolutions needed for web or print use.  That’s how digital samples for the championship hats and tees go from design to delivery just in time for you to purchase the merchandise online during the locker room celebration! 

How Apparel Digital Sampling Uses Consumer Buying Preferences

Notice how the Reebok and Adidas apparel styles are displayed with the three-quarter front view of the apparel sample on a mannequin.  Widen assisted a Reebok research study to understand consumer buying preferences for apparel sample images displayed in print and web media.  Widen compared which views were most preferred by sports apparel consumers and the three-quarter view was most preferred over the full frontal view (as displayed above in the DICK'S Sporting Goods email template).  By running reports on image distribution and access through the Widen image tracking system, Adidas is able to measure what styles are most popular.

Official Championship Apparel Samples Created by Widen

Displayed below are Reebok and Adidas hot market digital apparel samples (created by Widen premedia services and color retouching experts) for all three major sports champions declared in 2009: NFL Super Bowl Champion Pittsburgh Steelers, NHL Stanley Cup Champion Pittsburgh Penguins and NBA Finals Champion Los Angeles Lakers. 



For more information about Widen apparel marketing technology and services, check out the Widen Digital Sampling webpage.

CMSWire recently published an article Digital Asset Management in 2009: Trends, Features and SharePoint Integration.  The article had a few DAM players weigh in, so now I would like to continue the conversation by Keeping DAM Solutions in Check in 2009. 

What’s driving the adoption of Digital Asset Management solutions?  Moreover, how do you justify the purchase of a DAM system in this economy? 

Did you stop creating digital content?  No.

Did you shift the way in which you deliver content?  Likely.

Do you need to continue supplying the digital content that is the lifeblood of commerce and marketing to those that use and repurpose it to help your brands sustain?  Absolutely.

Do you need to do that in a way that minimizes cost and maximizes effectiveness in the areas that drive revenue?  DAM, you’re good.

Enough of the Q&A.  Let’s get into what’s big in DAM in 09. 

SaaS – While it’s hard to lose sight of the current economic conditions, let’s bring SaaS to the forefront.  Service is King… right?  In this economy, SaaS is not looked at as an alternative, but as the answer.  You’ve already answered the questions above, but how about these:

Do you have the financial resources for hefty capital expenditures on infrastructure costs?

Do you have the human resources (IT) to devote to “just another marketing project?”

Since SaaS is quick to deploy in a time when ‘time is of the essence’ and resources are limited, a cost-effective monthly subscription that can be budgeted for looks like a clear choice.

Widen understands the objection that sometimes you just need your digital content to be on-site.  The Widen Answer:  The Widen Appliance – an extension of the SaaS model with managed services on the client site.  Local access (for the creatives) and business continuity (for everyone). 

Let’s get a little more SaaSy with some highlights from an article from business technology publication ZDNet, SaaS model here to stay, say vendors. 

• SaaS solutions can be deployed without ramping up skill sets and infrastructure.
• Why deploy an installed solution that may take 12 months if it’s out of date by the time it goes live?
• Economies of scale and scalable resources.  You’re renting the infrastructure, but you own the content. 
• Stronger security, redundancy and reliability than most companies can achieve on their own.
• Not limited to simple applications, but a way to kick start a complex deployment.

Moving off the SaaS train to one of the hottest topics today...

Video - With the rise and popularity of consuming video – online and via mobile devices – organizations must look for video management solutions.  Not to the level required by traditional media companies, but lighter weight solutions for the marketer looking to publish videos on web sites and social media outlets.  Widen has added functionality to preview and transcode video assets, embed links to centrally control and globally repurpose and consume the most recent video asset, and cloud computing resources to scale with the demand.  
 
Collaboration – The new way of saying “Teamwork.”  Organizations are not siloed, or at least they want to break the habit of operating independently.  Creative, marketing, web, sales… they all need to be on the same page.  People want to be involved closer to the creation end of the digital asset life cycle and approval processes continue to be complex.  A web interface into the collaboration process is critical to teams both internal and geographically-dispersed.  With project collaboration comes workflow and reporting capabilities to streamline processes and hold people accountable. 

Recognizing the demand for creating efficiency in review and approval workflows, Widen created Backdrop, a web-based tool to automate the complex photography routing and approval cycles behind the scenes for photographers and creative approvers.  Separately, the Widen Project Collaboration application for the front-end of the digital asset library supports online reviews, annotations and versioning in one central repository to keep it all together and hold people accountable. 
 
Social Media – 70% of online adults use social media.  With the popularity and opportunity of rich media and social media together, organizations are inquisitively anxious and excited about how to use and manage rich media within social media. 

DAM supports marketers wanting to get into social media much the same way it’s used in the traditional sense, however requires stronger consideration over managing access levels, digital rights, and what happens when an assets leaves the system?  One solution Widen brings to the table, again, is embed links.  Another trend to watch is how social media will shape how DAM and other software solutions work by creating a stronger sense of community and more variety in the way digital media is published and delivered.
 

DAM = Digital Alligator Management

Let's say you build a big red barn. It's huge. Like the size of the Superdome. And instead of cows, you fill that barn up with alligators. Big ones. With big teeth. They are all over the place, just running free. Now, it is your job to maintain that barn. In addition to knowing the ins and outs of barn maintenance, don't you think you should know something about how to handle all those alligators inside so you don't lose a limb each time you go inside? You should know how to organize them in cages, how to feed them, care for them if they get sick, and how to handle them with the proper equipment. You need to know how to speak their language. Hey, alligators just need a little love.

That scenario is a little like some digital asset management companies that want to sell you some off the shelf software (the barn), but they really don't have any experience with the assets (the alligators) that are contained in their systems.

UPS says "What can BROWN do for you?" To play off that theme, I'll ask, "What can RED do for you?" (Widen's logo is red. But you knew that already.) So what can Widen do for you? Well, to put it simply... We know all about alligators. We've been raising alligators for over 60 years. Okay, enough about alligators already.
 

                                             
What can RED do for you?

What should your digital asset management provider know? They should know about your digital assets. They should be experts in digital photography and photo composition. They should be intimate with color management and color conversion methods. They should know how to construct a solution that is built with assets that can be repurposed for different media. They should live with Photoshop jockeys that know all about color retouching and image manipulation. They should have intimate knowledge of rich media and video asset management. They should possess a broad range of prepress and premedia services. They should breathe digital asset optimization. They should live digital asset workflow management. They should be all about catalog production services. Your digital asset management solutions provider should know how you work with those digital assets because they have been doing just that since the Truman administration!  (Well, okay the assets were analog back then, not digital. But you get the idea.)

So it's not just DAM software as a service that Widen knows. Or brand management. We know that very well. But we also know content creation, production, photography illumination, manipulation, alteration, rasterization, conversion, color reproduction, composition, pagination, resolution and optimization. We understand how important your digital assets are to you because we live with them everyday.

Okay, I have to take off my sales and marketing hat and put on my Alligator wrestling boots and big kevlar gloves. it's time to feed the little digital assets. They grow up so fast, don't they?  

Mark

Do you want to do more with video this year?  Are you equipped to manage and repurpose video content quickly and easily?

If the results of this study are similar to your situation, Widen video and media asset management solutions can help you (and your channel partners / clients) be more effective online marketers in 2009. 

Here’s what PermissionTV’s online survey of 400 senior marketing and media execs found:  

67% identified online video as a primary focus of their 2009 digital marketing campaigns.

Brand awareness was cited by 71% of respondents as the foremost value of online video, followed by lead generation (47%), customer retention (44%), and customer conversion (41%).

The survey also found that 33% of respondents expect their 2009 digital marketing efforts to be least affected by budget cuts, ahead of traditional marketing (24%), trade shows (21%) and guerrilla marketing (14%).

Do you agree?  What are you going to do about it?

DAM is of greater value as the backbone of digital marketing efforts.  Widen Digital Asset Management and Video Asset Management solutions help marketing organizations centralize, transform and distribute digital assets, while minimizing added costs for implementation, training, upgrades, security, software usage and infrastructure scalability.  Widen video hosting services can provide marketing organizations with a clear ROI. 

Matthew, Al and I had a call with a DAM analyst from Gartner yesterday – those DAM analyst you know… they're always on to something new!  We enjoyed sharing the ‘ole Widen update about our direction with video asset management, cloud computing, creating a more enjoyable user experience and appliance expansion among other top R&D initiatives for 2009. 

But then we got into the juicy stuff affecting marketing operations in 2009.  The type of marketing operations dealing with tight budgets, a change in spend and shift away from traditional ad mediums. 

Then the conversation shifted to YouTube.  (My favorite online hobby).  No doubt, YouTube, social media and the demand for rich media is changing the attitudes and behaviors of the workforce, marketing strategies and the corresponding demands on I.T.  It’s an exciting time to be in this industry!  What are your corporate governance policies on YouTube as a purposeful messaging medium?  Please share!

Our stance on YouTube is that it is an excellent destination site for video and serves the purpose for socializing and democratizing video content by providing a community for “like” videos.  However, it’s digital asset management tools that take the pain out of having to manage and repurpose video and other rich media content.  As Gartner has predicted, more than 25 percent of enterprise content will be images, audio and video by 2013.  How will organizations manage this content?  The simple answer is DAM.  In a tough economy, the more exact answer is DAM SaaS.  Hence, the reasons why we’re investing so much R&D efforts on embed links and cloud computing resources for offsite media storage.

Digital asset embed links allow marketers (who are shifting more toward online mediums) to repurpose images and video across all online channels while controlling their brand by maintaining the master file in one central repository.  Cloud computing allows us to offer our DAM SaaS solutions with on-demand scalability, while you budget for what you use.  As many of the analysts have stated, SaaS has the lowest penetration rate, but highest growth rates.  There are several (several may be stretching it) hosted digital asset management tools out there, but only one mid-market DAM company can claim the longevity and an evolving 60-year understanding in the makeup of digital assets.  Ok, Al Gore, we didn’t "invent" or "create" digital assets 60 years ago, but Widen was there...

DEAR DR. DAM:  I have a question for you and think it might be related to video hosting and DAM.  I see from your blogs that you give advice to people on what to do when they have issues managing their digital files.  Hopefully you will be able to help me out.  To start, you can call me “video dude” and I’m the owner of a small marketing and creative agency that specializes in short form video production focusing on building brand recognition for our clients.  Our current process involves taking the raw digital video footage from the client and editing it into several five minute segments for publishing to their websites.  We complete roughly 15-20 video clips a day.  After we cut up the raw files into short segments, we save the file to our hard drive in a high resolution format.  Then, depending on what client it is, we convert that file to the format requested.  After it is converted, we put that file on our FTP site and the client can then access it from there.  Now, is there a relatively low-cost “lite” video asset management solution that can help me streamline this workflow?  We probably spend 5-10 minutes per conversion and spend several more minutes on the phone with the client instructing them on how to download the correct file.  We’re pretty sure there’s a way to streamline the manual processes and communications.  Right?  Thanks, “Video Dude.”

DEAR VIDEO DUDE:  Thanks for writing...  You are correct.  I can help you streamline your video production and distribution workflow with one simple recommendation.  Check out Widen’s digital asset management system and see how it will provide you with full storing, previewing, converting and downloading functions for your video files.  The Widen system is a low-cost “lite” video management solution that will replace the need for passing around videotapes, sending clips via email or messing with FTP sites.  After you upload the highest definition video formats available, your clients can log into the web based DAM, search for the correct video and download it in whatever format they need with transcoding on the fly .  You mentioned you spend 5-10 minutes per clip converting them, and you deal with 15-20 clips per day.  The Widen Media Collective will save roughly 25 hours a month that you currently spend just converting those files!  Plus, the built-in workflow and email features will foster more effective communication with your clients.  Hope this helps… If you have any more questions about DAM solutions, feel free to write back. Thanks, Dr. DAM.

1. Saves time searching for assets – you know where they are, don’t you?  I bet the last person that asked for it doesn’t?  It’s in the media asset storage library thingy. 

2. Saves time converting assets – RGB at 72 dpi and CMYK at 300 I get, but 512 Kbps constant bit rate double pass, 30fps, 1 keyframe per second is a little out of my league.  Automate the digital media conversion. 

3. Saves time distributing assets – burn it, pack it, ship it.  It gives me reason to get more coffee and make friends with the UPS guy.  Alex, what is digital asset management?

4. Saves time tracking versions – would that be the 3rd or the 33rd version?  It get’s even more fun when you’re not in the same building as the other designers.  

5. Saves time chasing approvals – did someone say duck, duck goose?  Office games are fun, right?  

6. Saves time enforcing rights – no one wants a legal matter on their hands.  That’s a whole other monster.  

7. Saves time reworking lost files – that’s a surefire way to get on the designer’s bad side.  Keep it safe in the digital asset library.

8. Saves time starting over on new projects – everyone likes a shortcut. 

9. Saves time from interruptions to your workflow – a productive workplace is a happy workplace.

10. Saves time brainstorming ways to be more efficient – trust the experts to help you with that.

How much is your time worth? 

With the recent launch of the discussion boards for LinkedIn Group there’s been some interesting questions asked and feedback given.  Here’s a question from one of the LinkedIn Groups for Digital Asset Management:

How do you define DAM?
DAM can be seen as both a set of processes (disciplines, even), as well as the underlying systems to support the processes. As clearly as possible, and *without* using the words "asset" or "management", how do you define DAM? The word "digital" is allowed!

Contributors posted a variety of interesting responses, however what I want to ask is this…

Is “Digital Asset Management” considered only the tasks, decisions and processes in managing rich media or does the concept of DAM embrace the technology – the software systems that enable DAM workflows to help organization be more efficient and effective?

Join the conversation on LinkedIn

Digital Asset Management software technology is becoming more mainstream with corporate marketing departments, however departmental champions for change need the appropriate resources to justify implementing new marketing software.  Widen’s Reference Center is meant to do just that.

Want to talk with our customers?  We’ve brought the conversation to you with our video interviews.  Beyond our client stories, we also have interviews with digital media industry analyst Mukul Krishna of Frost & Sullivan.

Want to see the basics of Widen products in action?  Check out the video demos less than two minutes long. 

If you’re looking for the technical aspects of the Widen Media Collective to understand what it is that makes up the different applications, visit the new Widen Media Collective product information site.

How do you get up and running in 30 days, the video overview of the Widen implementation process provides a step by step look.

Catch the video whitepaper on DAM and Software as a Service with Matthew Gonnering, Widen VP of Sales & Marketing.

Needing some reading material?  Catch the whitepapers on the value proposition of hosted DAM and the Total Cost of Ownership of Software as a Service Applications.

Lastly, the industry educational resource digitalassetmanagement.com will help you justify the decision with an ROI calculator or provide help in authoring and RFP. 

Our goal is to help you make a well-informed decision and we hope to provide all of the resources to help you be a champion for change in your organization.

DEAR DR. DAM:  My names Ashley and I’m the marketing manager for several brand-name hotel and resort chains.  I’m a current DAM customer, but I’m looking for solutions that offer more flexibility and integrates well with others.  We have multiple systems that I would like integrated with our digital asset library.

We do a lot with video and we have a team that spends a lot of time burning a large volume of DVDs.  I’m looking for some automation that can help.  Automation for image conversions and video transcoding would be huge.  We’re looking at digital asset solutions that offer robust version control capabilities.  As for collaboration, an automated photography approval application would be incredible.  About 80% of assets are photos and we have shooters all over the world.  Right now we use CDs and FTP sites to get the images back to the corporate office, where we tag all of the metadata and manually upload to our corporate image library.  I’m hearing some buzz about digital asset management solutions using embed links to provide a single control point for image and video delivery to online sources.  What’s that all about?
 
DEAR INTEGRATION NEEDS ASHLEY:  You do have a very “robust” need for your workflow.  I think you’ll enjoy the single-source-ness you’ll find with Widen, plus the flexibility to integrate multiple systems, both Widen’s and 3rd-party solutions.   From asset capture to delivery you’ll love the end-to-end solutions from Backdrop photography routing and approval to the digital media management system.  Widen’s video asset management with on-demand transcoding and DVD authoring will automate much of the manual tasks.  Plus, you’ll really enjoy having to maintain only one master library while being able to repurpose images and video files to multiple online mediums with the embed links.

With Widen DAM SaaS, marketers have one of the industry-leading digital asset solutions that allow you to:

• Manage all digital media in one centralized location - brand assets, creative assets, audio/video, PowerPoint, tech specs and more.
• Automate tedious processes for file routing, approvals, image conversions, and media distribution.
• Give regulated, self-serve access to digital assets to sales, dealers, media, and other affiliates.

Find out how you can address more “what ifs” at www.widen.com/whatif.

Guest Blog Post from Ben Johnsen, Widen Sales Representative

Last weekend while attending a wedding reception, I had the opportunity to have a very memorable conversation with the bride.  She came up to me and asked how work was going?  She said since all the rain and flooding, business must be doing well!  Now, my friend, the groom, has a good idea on what we do here at Widen, and I had thought his wife would to, but apparently when she saw my Facebook status as “Ben is selling DAMs” she literally thought I sold dams - as in dams for water containment and hydroelectric power.  She then went on saying how she was very impressed, and did not realize that people actually went around and sold dams. 

It was my fault she did not have a good idea on what I am selling.  Although quite funny, I realized when talking about Widen with other people, I sometimes forget they might not be familiar with Digital Asset Management.

In an ideal world, everyone would know DAM means Digital Asset Management, but in reality people who do not work directly with marketing, communications or creative groups might not realize that the amount of digital media created and consumed warrants a need for a DAM system.  Each day, creative departments are creating photos, logos, graphics and any other branded promotional materials to help drive revenue and build brand recognition for their organization, and each day they need a place to store and organize these files in addition to a means to easily distribute them. 

That’s what Widen does.  We help you contain the flood of digital media and direct it wherever it is to be used and consumed.