University of California, San Francisco Learn how UCSF uses MediaValet to enable education and health science. Who is University of California, San Francisco? UCSF, or University of California, San Francisco, is the leading university dedicated exclusively to the health sciences.From genomics and immunology to specialty care for women and children, UCSF brings together the world’s leading experts in nearly every area of health. They are home to five Nobel laureates who have advanced the understanding of cancer, neurodegenerative diseases, aging and stem cells. Location: California, SF Industry: Higher Education Company size: Enterprise Joined MediaValet: 2020 Features: Branded Portals The Challenges The 5-person communications team in the UCSF Neurosurgery Department is tasked with highlighting the accomplishments and activities of the department, a group of several hundred faculty, residents, nurses, researchers and staff. One of the ways the team carries out this task is by managing the department’s website and social media platforms. The department was growing so the communication team needed to expand their social media presence, but their assets were not very accessible, and the team was struggling to manage things effectively. The Results 5 years ago, the UCSF Neurosurgery Department implemented their DAM, playfully called HIPPO – short for hippocampus (the part of the brain responsible for long-term memory)! Since then, the communications team has accomplished: Meticulous record keeping and precise connection of patient consents form with relevant assets, Seamless collaboration with other communications departments across the university, Effective distribution that doesn’t compromise sensitive information, and Innovative repurposing of assets for educational purposes. Todd Dubnicoff Visual Communication Specialist, UCSF The Challenge Assets, Assets, Everywhere The team was in the midst of a growth spurt and simultaneously trying to manage an evolving social media presence, more communications requirements, and a department that was spread across the city and the wider San Francisco Bay Area. Assets were scattered across team members’ hard drives, on premise systems, and other cloud-based management solutions. In other words, they were everywhere but nowhere accessible. Todd and his team needed a better, more centralized library and found their solution in a MediaValet DAM. The Use Case An Inter-Departmental Knowledge Base The primary user of the DAM is for the Communications Team to share and distribute content to different teams within the department, UCSF proper, social media, and across the website. Todd’s team has used their MediaValet DAM to stand as the central hub or knowledge base for digital assets including social media and website assets, photos, illustrations, templates, educational and administrative content. The DAM has become like a brain (pun intended!) for the neurosurgery department, storing lots of information that we can access for many different uses!” Todd DubnicoffVisual Communication Specialist, UCSF The DAM is used in three ingenious ways: An administrative filing cabinet Todd has implemented custom user groups to ensure that teams across the department can use the DAM where necessary (without compromising sensitive content). The admin team that support the faculty can access the DAM for headshots and logos and other needs without having to ask! An educational vault The DAM includes videos and illustrations of surgical procedures which the neurosurgery residents, students and even faculty can access for surgical training and presentations. Among the video collection are patient education videos which the department can share with prospective patients or their referring doctors to help them understand available medical options. An historical archive By storing the archive of work from the neurosurgery department’s state-of-the-art clinical services and basic research programs, Todd’s team has provided a historical record of the department’s pioneering work. The Key Features True Efficiency and Security The team at UCSF has used their MediaValet DAM to incorporate truly efficient workflows within and external to the neurosurgery department. They’ve leaned into three key MediaValet features to achieve both true efficiency and strong security. Branded Portals Todd’s team has created several “mini websites” that have become essential for sharing assets with people who don’t use HIPPO or the DAM. When faculty members ask for content to share during lectures or presentations, the team has created a Branded Portal for explainer videos and animations and cut these into smaller clips for ease of explanation. I was asked for content by a professor to use for an upcoming lecture and was able to share exactly what they needed within seconds!” Related Assets The team at UCSF is using Related Assets in a truly exceptional way – for security and compliance. To take photos or video during a surgery or procedure, UCSF must have a signed patient consent form. Previously they had paper forms but now, they upload the form to the DAM and connect it with the photos and footage from the surgery through Related Assets! The team then applies custom permission rules to user groups to ensure that only authorized people have access to this content. This has saved so much time tracking down consent forms. Now, when I search the DAM for a specific surgery photos or video – I know if the person has consented and can quickly share and distribute content where needed!” *NOTE* To store patient information in the DAM, UCSF needed a HIPAA compliant DAM – MediaValet is the #1 DAM on the market for security and is vigilant about compliancy and security requirements. Adobe Connector (CI HUB) When it comes to distributing customized content quickly, the team at UCSF makes use of the Adobe Connector (CI HUB). The team logs into PhotoShop to make adjustments to their flyer templates and can drag and drop the relevant assets directly from MediaValet. Using the Adobe Connector, I save those tedious steps of downloading and uploading again to make for a really seamless experience – it’s true efficiency.” The Results Accessible Education UCSF has used their MediaValet DAM to implement innovative ways to not just manage a huge library of images, but fastidiously support the neurosurgery department through smart governance, streamlined asset distribution and sharing, and intelligent asset reuse. Emotionally speaking there’s a peace of mind to know that all our assets are centralized and curated, and in terms of accomplishing tasks and projects there’s such a level of efficiency we couldn’t have achieved without MediaValet!” Meticulous Record Keeping Using the Related Asset feature to connect patient consent forms to relevant content has enabled the team to not just stay compliant but truly organized. Limiting the user groups that can access this content supports true security of sensitive information and content. Seamless Collaboration The MediaValet DAM is under ownership of the neurosurgery department but has positively impacted communication efficiencies, social media presence, educational content distribution and access, and collaboration across the entire organization. Secure Assets The team at UCSF had to find a DAM with up-to-standard security and HIPAA compliance levels which really narrowed down their options. With MediaValet they not only check off their security requirements and ensure safekeeping of sensitive materials and information, but they’ve implemented fastidious workflows that align with these compliance measures. Smart Asset Repurposing Todd’s team have uploaded historic and current content from the neurosurgery department to be further used as communications, social media, and educational content. Repurposing videos and creating clips that are housed in specific Brand Portals, the team has not only streamlined access to this information but ensured its safekeeping for further, future research and learning. Interested in how MediaValet could help your school? Reach out to one of our expert reps today! Ready to see what the DAM hype’s about? Meet with one of our product experts Book a demo
HYTORC Learn how HYTORC, a highly trusted manufacturer, has used their MediaValet DAM to unify it's global brand. Who is HYTORC? HYTORC is a 50+ year old, highly trusted industrial bolting systems manufacturer. From steel mills and mining equipment to refineries, power plants, wind turbines, and numerous other industries; HYTORC develops solutions for every bolting application imaginable. Location: Mahwah, New Jersey Industry: Manufacturing Company size: SMB Joined MediaValet: 2024 Features: Branded Portals The Challenges HYTORC was working across a library ecosystem but struggling to manage, organize, and find assets – which was especially frustrating with several teams working across the world. The Results Since making the switch to a MediaValet DAM, HYTORC’s international affiliates no longer have a global time difference delaying their receipt of the assets they need, and the organization has watched its brand unify in real-time. Jon Grusky Design Lead, HYTORC The Challenges A Poor Library System in Place HYTORC has been working in the manufacturing space for more than 50 years and has established authorized repair facilities all over the world. With the growth of their organization has come multiple, global offices and stakeholders. As the Design Lead, Jon Grusky works to support the marketing manager and with an external marketing agency in all branding efforts. From social banners to printed banners, trade show displays, vehicle wraps, printed catalogs, manuals, and guides, Jon leads the charge in content creation. From early on, the team at HYTORC knew they needed a central repository for their digital assets and initially used a library system that turned out to have a seemingly “black and white tier hierarchy”. Permissions could be assigned to new users, but access to various areas was not inherent to the construct, and uploaded assets were either public or private, with no in between. As they and their content library grew, the system just couldn’t manage their needs or scale with them. It ended up becoming one large junk folder and they found themselves frustrated. We wanted to have a more organized ecosystem of assets that was trustworthy” Jon GruskyCreative Lead, HYTORC They needed a solution that was maintainable, accessible, and could grow to manage their huge volume of digital assets. The Use Case Unifying a Global Brand It was time to search for a dedicated DAM system, one that could meet their needs, and solve their growing content dispersion, and accessibility issues. The team needed a solution that could seamlessly enable user autonomy, asset sharing, and time-savings, and they had a couple of system requirements on their list. It was time to assess digital asset management (DAM) systems, what they offered, and how impactful the options could be for their business. Enter MediaValet, a platform that met every one of HYTORC’s wants, and even more! 1. Scalability As the organization and the need for new formats of content continued to grow, the HYTORC team realized the need for a system that could expand. They found that MediaValet was a true partner in digital asset management, offering unlimited users, and unlimited training, they knew that the DAM could grow and accommodate teams both now, and in the future. 2. Maintenance The previous ecosystem that HYTORC was using was neither maintained nor upgraded. They needed a system that would be easy to administrate, but also one that would grow to meet their needs in the future. As a pure-play or best-of-breed DAM, MediaValet is dedicated to building a consistently better product, and ensuring that customers are enabled with new and upgraded features. 3. Global Accessibility HYTORC teams are spread across the world, and ensuring accessibility for every stakeholder, no matter their location, without compromising on security and ensuring was an essential feature. As the only DAM built exclusively on Microsoft Azure, MediaValet has the largest global footprint of any DAM with 140 highly secure data centres available in 61 countries. It’s also Certified (SOC 2, GDPR) and equipped to allow single-sign-on (AD, OKTA). 4. Custom Permissions It was essential for the HYTORC team to enable users with easy, but restricted access to the platform. Without the ability to offer thoroughly customizable tiered access, the team struggled to ensure the right content was being disseminated. Customers can use MediaValet to tailor every user group’s access to the DAM library. Custom user permissions ensure the right people have the right access to the right content. The Results Moving to MediaValet; a Cake Walk HYTORC was excited to get started with MediaValet and begin their DAM journey. To promote successful adoption, and ensure stakeholders made the most of the platform, they wanted to gradually bring in their users. They offered first dibs to the most hardened employees, those with habits that may have been hard to break. But when they said, “Now that’s what we’re talking about!”, HYTORC knew the MediaValet DAM was “going to be a cakewalk for everyone else.” With the success of the first wave of users, HYTORC pushed MediaValet across the global organization to huge approval rates. The most popular features? Branded Portals have proven to be incredibly successful. HYTORC has used portals to share the correct artwork for conferences, and trade shows. They have built several portals titled and outfitted with scalable production artwork that is manageable by any vendor, and appropriate for any booth footprint. It’s been received immensely well, and we’ve had people come back to and say that the vendors had been extremely happy to engage with these; with the portals, with the lightboxes, and even just downloading the files.” Jon GruskyCreative Lead, HYTORC Further to that, HYTORC has a universal fleet of vehicles that also require unified branding, and they use MediaValet Portals in the same fashion with excellent results and feedback from the field. Jon’s team is also a big fan of instant reformatting and resizing as well as the ability to assign labels and access permissions. It’d saved his team a ton of time – they no longer needed to respond to requests from across the organization, and those using the DAM no longer needed to wait for a response. We’re an international company, so we could have someone in the UK saying I need a logo and then by the time I get into the office it’s their weekend. And then by the time they get it, it’s Monday. Now people can now go in, grab what they want and regardless of what they grab, it’s always current because we can update versions without breaking links or having to supply new ones.” So, what are the future DAM plans for HYTORC? Jon sees the DAM as expediting the dissemination of corporate and marketing content, better knowledge sharing, and a cross-pollination of ideas and documentation. Ultimately, theMediaValet DAM has upgraded HYTORC’s content organization and dissemination, but also improved accessibility and brand consistency. MediaValet is effectively empowering our employees and reps to confidently grab-and-go for current assets. It’s all immediate for everyone.” Is MediaValet a Good Fit for you? MediaValet’s DAM platform provided HYTORC with the tools they needed to overcome dispersed, global teams and build a unified, consistent brand. With MediaValet on their side, HYTORC can focus on maintaining their leading manufacturing business without worrying about digital asset mistakes or misuse. If you’d like to learn more about how MediaValet can help your business, reach out to a rep today! Ready to see what the DAM hype’s about? Meet with one of our product experts Book a demo
United Way of King County Learn how United Way of King County used their MediaValet DAM to uncover the full potential of their asset library to further spread their incredible message! Who is United Way? United Way of King County is a Seattle, Washington-based nonprofit organization that works side by side with communities to ensure everyone has access to resources, quality education, enough to eat, and a safe place to call home. Location: Seattle, WA Industry: Nonprofit Company size: Mid-Market Joined MediaValet: 2022 Features: Advanced Search, Branded Portals The Challenges United Way had been working from a DAM platform with very little guardrails to ensure easy, cohesive organization. Storing and locating assets was proving difficult due to lack of keyword or attribute requirements during the upload process. In the end, the DAM was rarely being used by the team and had become redundant. The Results Since moving to a MediaValet DAM, AudioVideo Intelligence (AVI) has allowed the team to use invaluable video footage to build stories about the positive impact that donors have had on their community through United Way, further spreading their messaging. United Way has also found that the ability to set compulsory keyword inclusion for uploaders and pre-set categories for each project has massively increased asset discovery, even helping to uncover assets they weren’t previously aware of. Jannette Whippy Creative Services Manager, United Way of King County The Challenges A Platform that No Longer Served Jannette and her team at United Way were finding themselves incredibly limited by their old DAM system. Both uploading and organizing assets was proving so difficult that her team had stopped using the platform altogether resulting in an even more scattered library. Our previous DAM was difficult to navigate and rarely used . . . it was impossible to find anything.” Jannette WhippyCreative Services Manager The team desperately needed a central repository for their growing asset library but the option in place was just not up to scratch. Jannette knew it was time for a new DAM platform, and excited to start her search, she set out to find the best option for her team. The Use Case A Major Overhaul in the Works Based on a recommendation from her predecessor, Jannette had MediaValet at the top of her list of possible vendors, but she wanted to do her due diligence. Jannette compiled a list of requirements for the new United Way DAM system, and she wanted to make sure the platform she chose could accommodate these and more! When she compared her wants to what MediaValet could offer, it was an easy decision to make! Simple, but comprehensive uploading – For her team to use the DAM, Jannette knew that they needed minimal effort to upload assets. They wanted a “busy-person proof” solution. Uploading to a MediaValet DAM is simple. Using AI, uploaders can opt to automatically tag content with relevant keywords, as well as do so manually. Object and text detection, as well as colour recognition streamline the uploading process and significantly reduce time spent populating the asset library. Enhanced search capabilities – United Way was struggling to find assets within their existing system and wanted to find a solution that could comprehensively comb through their assets and find relevant content. MediaValet’s Advanced Search, unlimited categories, and cognitive metadata offer an optimal user experience that makes finding assets a breeze. With the addition of Face Recognition, Jannette saw an opportunity to tag the faces within their community and easily find them later on. Optimized distribution options – the existing solution at United Way was only accessible within the brand team, making asset sharing and distribution excessively difficult. They needed an upgrade that could securely enable access to select assets for other stakeholders. MediaValet’s unlimited users and permission controls allow teams to fine tune and control how many people can access the asset library while Branded Portals open up the ability to share outside of the organization with ease. The Results The Difference a Good DAM can Make! Since migrating DAMs to MediaValet, Jannette has done her utmost to ensure her team are maximizing the value of the DAM system. Running regular training sessions, and 10-minute tips and tricks discussions, she has slowly but surely managed to get her team, and her organization using the DAM to the fullest of its capabilities! My goal was to have everyone on my team comfortable using our DAM to upload, search, download, and share images. I see progress every day and love hearing how excited they get when they find what they need.” Jannette WhippyCreative Services Manager How has MediaValet helped drive results at United Way? Jannette has been making the most of MediaValet’s AudioVisual Intelligence (AVI) to show how people who have used their programs have been progressing with the organization’s help, and how donors are making an impact. Her team has identified older editorial video shoots and used AVI to isolate footage of a specific person, location, or topic to build new videos that showcase the success of their programs and their users. The United Way team is also a big fan of Branded Portals and has been using them to great success! I LOVE Branded Portals! I can just quickly throw together a portal and share some amazing content. It’s so easy to update a portal quarterly to share current photo assets of staff volunteering and working events with HR to use in their recruitment efforts.” Jannette WhippyCreative Services Manager What’s next for United Way and their MediaValet DAM? Jannette anticipates AI enhancing their library and their DAM journey even further in the future! Is MediaValet a Good Fit for you? MediaValet’s DAM platform enabled United Way to truly uncover, use, and do more with their asset library and has helped them showcase the incredible work the organization does to help those in need. With MediaValet as a trusted partner, United Way can concentrate their efforts on building programs and inspiring donors, not on finding assets. If you’d like to learn more about how MediaValet can help your business, reach out to a rep today! Ready to see what the DAM hype’s about? Meet with one of our product experts Book a demo
Columbia Business School Executive Education Learn how Columbia Business School Executive Education use their MediaValet DAM to consolidate their video library into one centralized, easily accessible system. Who is Columbia Business School Executive Education? Columbia Business School Executive Education provides executives across industries and sectors with the tools, frameworks, and learnings needed to lead and excel. Designed for high-impact business leaders, their offerings include over 35 non-degree, open-enrollment programs in leadership, strategy and innovation, finance and investing, marketing and more — available in person, live online, or online — as well as a unique certificate path and custom program opportunities. Location: New York, NY Industry: Higher Education Company size: SMB Joined MediaValet: 2022 Features: AVI, Branded Portals The Challenges With a rapidly expanding portfolio of over 4,000 video assets produced since 2013, the Online Team at Columbia Business School Executive Education faced mounting challenges in managing their content. They faced three core problems: Dispersed content storage Lost institutional knowledge Time-consuming searches The Results After adopting MediaValet’s Digital Asset Management (DAM) platform, Columbia Business School Executive Education was able to consolidate their video library into one centralized, easily accessible system. Improved workflow efficiencies Enhanced content reuse Increased control and accessibility Streamlined external sharing Lindsey Varghese Director of Content Strategy, Online and Digital Programs, Executive Education at Columbia Business School The Challenges Lost in a Digital Maze Columbia Business School Executive Education’s content management challenges stemmed from an inconsistent and fragmented storage system. Assets were scattered across various platforms such as Google Drive, Dropbox, and shared physical drives. With no single source of truth, the team struggled to find the right assets when needed. But it wasn’t just about having a lot of files; it was about making sure the right people had access to them, at the right time. According to Lindsey Varghese, Director of Content Strategy, Online and Digital Programs at Executive Education at Columbia Business School, the inconsistent storage and management system resulted in inefficiencies that hindered the team’s ability to access and repurpose their rich content library. We had videos on Google Drive, Dropbox, and physical drives. The knowledge about where these files were stored often left with team members who exited the organization.” They were facing three major challenges with their existing file management system: Dispersed content storage: Files were spread across various platforms, making it difficult to access and share content efficiently. Lost institutional knowledge: Inconsistent file storage and record-keeping meant that, when team members left, critical information about content location and use was lost. Time-consuming searches: The absence of a centralized system resulted in significant time spent searching for the right assets, slowing down their workflows and content production. The Use Case Strategic, Streamlined Video Management To address these challenges, Columbia Business School Executive Education adopted MediaValet’s DAM platform. The DAM enabled the team to organize all their video assets in one place, making it easier to manage, access, and share them both internally and externally. The DAM system allows them to dive deep into their existing content, identify gaps, and reuse content for new programs. Centralized video library: MediaValet enabled Columbia Business School Executive Education to consolidate their 4,000+ video assets into a single, easily accessible system. This ensured much better video asset management and that all team members could locate and use the latest content without delays. Improved asset reuse: The team can now repurpose existing content more effectively. As Lindsey Varghese explained: Once we understood the assets we had, we could ensure the content could be reused. You can’t reuse content unless you know what’s there.” Enhanced search capabilities: One of the most significant advantages of the DAM platform was its advanced search functionality. The team could now search within video titles and even within the content itself using AI-generated transcripts, allowing them to find relevant clips faster without having to scrub through entire videos. The Key Features The Essential Features Fueling Columbia’s Success Several features of MediaValet’s DAM played a crucial role in Columbia Business School Executive Education’s success: Advanced Search capabilities: Enabled the team to search not just by video title but within the video content itself using AI-generated transcripts. Branded Portals: Provided an elegant, branded experience for sharing content externally with clients, faculty, and partners without needing additional logins or complex file-sharing permissions. Branded portals let us provide a more elegant sharing experience with our partners. We can easily revoke access if needed, giving us full control over the assets.” AVI and AI-generated transcripts: The team could search not just within the video titles but within the content itself using AI-generated transcripts. This capability made it easier to find the right clips without needing to watch entire videos. The Results The Impact of a Streamlined Approach Since implementing MediaValet, Columbia Business School Executive Education has significantly streamlined its content management and workflow processes. The DAM system not only enhanced collaboration within the team but also made it easier to share assets with external stakeholders through branded portals. This transformation has led to improved efficiency, allowing the school to focus on creating high-quality educational content rather than spending time on administrative tasks. Improved Workflow Efficiency: With all content in one place and easy access to videos through advanced search capabilities, the team has significantly reduced the time spent locating and managing assets. Enhanced Content Reuse: The ability to quickly identify and repurpose existing assets has enabled Columbia Business School Executive Education to reduce content creation costs and improve the efficiency of their educational offerings. Increased Control and Accessibility: The DAM system has put the team in the “driver’s seat,” allowing them to manage their content without relying on IT. They can now control access, expiration dates, and sharing permissions more effectively. Streamlined External Sharing: Branded Portals have improved the way Columbia Business School Executive Education shares assets with external partners, creating a more seamless and professional experience. Ready to see what the DAM hype’s about? Meet with one of our product experts Book a demo
Jones Healthcare Group How Jones Healthcare Group use MediaValet to enhance collaboration while safeguarding their assets Who is Jones Healthcare Group? Jones Healthcare Group is a leading provider of innovative packaging, printing, pharmacy products and medication adherence solutions in both the healthcare and pharmaceutical industries. With over 100 years in the business and Jones Healthcare is an established partner for brands across North America and Europe, and beyond. Location: London, ON Industry: Healthcare Company size: Mid-Market Joined MediaValet: 2021 Features: Branded Portals, CI Hub The Challenges As a global business, Jones Healthcare, their large asset library and distributed, remote teams were proving more and more challenging. There were issues with using outdated content, and the use of third-party services for transferring files, was leading to concern around security measures. The Results Since implementing their MediaValet DAM in 2020, the team has greatly improved their asset workflows. But further to that, they’ve seen a massive turnaround on both branding and security. With their DAM, Jones Healthcare has: Improved communication & brand consistency Enhanced internal and external collaboration Improved compliance with industry regulations Camilo Gutierrez Content Marketing Supervisor, Jones Healthcare Group The Challenge Clunky Systems Pre-Covid, the team at Jones Healthcare was finding it challenging to distribute up-to-date content and assets across their organization and with their myriad partners. The team was spending an excessive amount of time managing the growing library of digital assets and even more time trying to ensure the correct versions were being used (not always successfully). And then, they went remote – a catalyst for further disorganization! Relying on third-party systems to transfer large files was not only clunky and ineffective, but it was creating a looming sense of concern around privacy, security, and compliance, especially when distributing sensitive information pertaining to major pharmaceutical brands. They needed a new, more effective system, so they migrated to a MediaValet DAM, and they haven’t looked back since. The Use Case A Secure, Self-Serve System With offices based across North America, the UK, and Spain, and many team members working entirely remotely, creating a centralized yet controllable library was the key to better collaboration, communications, and security. The team at Jones Healthcare Group is using their MediaValet DAM in a multitude of ways: Self-service library: The team uses MediaValet as a central platform for storing, organizing, and distributing digital assets. Incorporating a smart taxonomy supported by relevant metadata they’ve organized the library departmentally, ensuring employees have appropriate access to up-to-date content. It’s become a self-serve ‘brand central’. . . and it has empowered people to just find things on their own.” Maintaining compliance and reputation management: Jones Healthcare is using the DAM to ensure that everything in the library is managed by the right people, but also offered to or made available to the right people. Integration with Office 365 for single sign-on (SSO) is a crucial component of enhancing security and simplifying access, ensuring compliance with industry standards and safeguarding their reputation with major brands. Security is super important here especially when we deal with pharmaceutical or healthcare related assets. We do rely on MediaValet, single sign-on integrated with Office 365, and we know that it’s secure.” The Key Features Empowering Jones Healthcare for Success Version Control to enhance operational: Using Version Control, Jones Healthcare has ensured that all team members have access to the latest versions of assets with detailed change logs. This feature has helped to exponentially streamline digital asset workflows. With Version Control, we can update something like the corporate master deck and check out the old one, check in a new one, but also put a note of what changed so that people now have access to the latest, but they know what is new in that presentation.” Branded Portals for improved distribution: The team is using Branded Portals as “microsites” to ensure content shared outside the organization is secure yet easily distributed, and that content shared within the organization (like training materials) is up-to-date and accessible. Expiry dates and SSO for security: Security requirements when working within healthcare and pharmaceutical industries are critical and Jones Healthcare uses both expiry dates and SSO to ensure they remain compliant. Applying expiry dates to their regulated material and associated components ensures that expired assets will go out of service and be archived within the DAM. Adobe and CI Hub plugin for better workflows: The team at Jones Healthcare uses the Adobe and CI Hub plugin to connect their working files from within Adobe Creative Cloud to the DAM. It’s very helpful because you can change them on the go, and they’re always connected. Having that connection is priceless!” The Results Communication, Collaboration, and Compliance Since implementing their MediaValet DAM, Jones Healthcare have seen incredible improvements in their digital asset management, and it’s enabled them to achieve: Improved efficiency and productivity: The team shared how MediaValet has enabled significant time savings when it comes to their asset management processes. They now have the ability to self-serve; metadata has facilitated much quicker retrieval times and SSO and custom permissions have enabled easier access across departments. Better communication: MediaValet has enabled the teams to collaborate and communicate more efficiently both internally and externally with other teams from overseas or distributors.” Enhanced collaboration: Branded Portals, CI Hub, and more features have allowed the team at Jones Healthcare to improve their collaborative workflows and helped them to achieve more streamlined processes within and external to the organization. Better compliance and security: MediaValet’s top-tier security standards help the team to better comply with industry regulations and have ensured the organization is better equipped to maintain security standards and manage their brand reputation. Interested in how a MediaValet DAM could help your organization improve operations to achieve better branding, compliance, or collaboration? Reach out to a rep to learn more today! Ready to see what the DAM hype’s about? Meet with one of our product experts Book a demo
SONOS How SONOS uses MediaValet to Secure and Amplify a Global Brand. Who is SONOS? Considered as the pioneers of wireless audio, SONOS wireless speakers bring every room and everyone together with incredible sound for music, TV, and more. Retailing across 60+ countries, SONOS works with a bold vision for the future of home sound and has invented the technology needed to make it a reality. Location: Santa Barbara, CA Industry: Retail Company size: Enterprise Joined MediaValet: 2021 Features: File Sharing The Challenges SONOS was struggling to manage a vast library of assets, mainly because they were working with a third-party creative production company that had their own asset library in place of a DAM. As the company expanded, the system in place simply couldn’t scale with SONOS; the search abilities were poor, and the ability to control their own work was incredibly limited. The Results Since migrating from traditional file sharing solutions like Box and Google Drive, SONOS have accomplished an amazing level of control on their assets. With the DAM in place, SONOS has: Streamlined asset access internally and externally, Improved operational efficiencies, globally, and Implemented stronger brand protections. Matthew Lawson Global Marketing Operations Specialist, SONOS The Challenge Makeshift Technologies Originally, Sonos was using a third-party creative production company’s asset library as a makeshift DAM, which was insufficient for their growing needs. Sonos had to rely on another party for asset management, leading to complicated processes for asset search and access and incrementally increasing costs. The system in place had poor search capabilities, and without a central, accessible library it was leading to duplicated and outdated assets. Additionally, the old system had weak security controls which was creating unnecessary vulnerabilities for the organizations’ sensitive, unreleased product information. When you’re not in control of your own work, you don’t really produce and make the efficiencies that you normally would if you had that kind of level of oversight that we do now with MediaValet.” The team wanted a dedicated DAM system that could enable true ownership and control of their asset library, and they found MediaValet. The Use Case Global Organization Since implementing MediaValet, the team at SONOS has used it as a central source of truth. The repository serves the entire global organization with all go-to-market assets, ensuring all materials, from product renders to videos to retail guidelines, are centrally stored and updated, and more importantly – easy to access. Basically, everything that can even relate to one asset or a seasonal campaign is hosted in the library. MediaValet has been instrumental in helping us transition from an inefficient system to a centralized, secure, and highly functional DAM solution.” It’s enabled the organization in multiple ways: Archiving outdated assets: With the old system in place the team was grappling with constant duplications leading to a bloated library that was incredibly difficult to search. Of the 20,000 assets migrated to MediaValet, 80% were archived. Splitting the library into hot and cold storage has enabled the team to save a LOT of time finding what they actually need. Now, we have access to older renders for older products – we literally would not have been able to do this before. We would have likely had to pay somebody at our previous platforms to do that work because it would have taken hours.” Enhancing collaboration between internal and external stakeholders: SONOS currently has 5,000 users on their MediaValet DAM, and despite being a huge operation, the platform has facilitated collaboration across different teams and external partners. With controlled access to the necessary assets the team has maintained visibility and security without compromising on distribution and collaboration with the numerous external partners, and agencies they work with. Amplifying brand consistency: SONOS is a global brand and with that comes high pressure to ensure true consistency. The MediaValet DAM is an essential tool in ensuring up-to-date, approved assets go live, across the company’s wide-spread markets. The team at SONOS uses the DAM to control access and permissions, version control, and can prevent unauthorized access to or publishing of sensitive or unready materials. The Key Features Fueling SONOS’ Success Expiry dates for brand protection: The team has incorporated licensing, expiration dates, use terms directly into the metadata of their assets, facilitating detailed tracking of asset usage, which is crucial for compliance and cost management. With their DAM taxonomy set up, an expired asset can’t even be downloaded so it cannot be distributed. This saves the organization from inadvertently breaking licensing agreements or contracts. Being able to incorporate licensing directly into thousands of files is incredibly efficient and [has enabled] huge cost savings!” User groups for global access: SONOS has a lot of regional products and campaigns across North America, the EU region, Southeast Asia and newer growth markets. By locally applying custom user groups and permissions they have enabled different partners and agencies without losing the bird’s eye view of their operations. It’s really helped us gather a lot of insight into how we produce our work and how complicated and, complex these processes can be when you’re working with people all around the world in all these different languages.” Lightboxes for project organization: Lightboxes within the DAM enable teams around the world to organize, share, and manipulate assets and projects in their own way, without affecting the main asset library. Working in smaller spaces, teams can access everything they need and collaborate on projects however suits them best. Given the complexity of our global operations, the Lightbox feature has been a game-changer for our project management, allowing our teams to organize assets flexibly without altering the main library.” The Results True Asset Control Since moving away from traditional file sharing systems like Box and Google Drive, SONOS has been able to wrangle their asset library into something incredibly accessible yet secure. As a retail giant, ensuring their brand remains protected yet amplified is a fine line to tread but with MediaValet, they’ve managed to achieve true asset control. Their MediaValet DAM has enabled: Streamlined asset access and sharing: The implementation of MediaValet has significantly simplified the process of sharing digital assets among teams and with external partners, reducing dependency on manual sharing methods like email. Self-serve on a global scale: The DAM has enabled teams outside of the US continue their work without relying on teams based in different time zones. Improved operational efficiency: With better asset tracking, intuitive metadata and attributes, and a central system, Sonos has enhanced its ability to manage and utilize digital assets effectively, leading to more streamlined operations and better control over asset distribution. Stronger brand protections: As the organization really began to prioritize security, MediaValet has helped to support their needs. Single sign-on integration with Okta means internal employees have secure access, and custom user group permissions mean that external stakeholders can only access required assets. With MediaValet, we’ve been able to sleep a lot better at night. Now that we have that tighter control, we’ve been able to make much more efficient and streamlined workflows when it comes to producing products.” Interested in how a MediaValet DAM could help your organization? Reach out to a rep today to learn more! Ready to see what the DAM hype’s about? Meet with one of our product experts Book a demo
MediaValet Templating, powered by Marq See how MediaValet uses MediaValet Templating to launch 260X the assets in the same time frame! Who is MediaValet? MediaValet is a Vancouver-based public company specializing in cloud-native Digital Asset Management (DAM) solutions. Founded in 2010, it serves over 500 organizations worldwide, providing a centralized platform for managing, organizing, and distributing digital assets such as photos, videos, documents, and creative files. With the recent launch of MediaValet Templating, our creative team was eager to try the workflow themselves and experience its impact firsthand. This powerful tool enabled our internal teams to effortlessly create a social media ad campaign with a wide array of LinkedIn ads, significantly reducing the time and effort typically required for such tasks. Here’s a detailed look at how we achieved this and the impressive results that followed. The Challenges Creating engaging social media ad campaigns is typically a resource-intensive process, involving multiple iterations and extensive collaboration between creative and marketing teams. We needed a solution that could simplify this process, allowing us to quickly produce high-quality, varied ad content without compromising on creativity or effectiveness. The Results MediaValet Templating provided the perfect solution to our challenge. This tool allowed our teams to easily generate a diverse range of social media ads through a user-friendly interface, without requiring a huge lift from our in-house creative team.With MediaValet Templating, it took just 9 hours for the creative and marketing team to create 260x the assets. The Process 8 hours of Dedication Creative Phase Our in-house creative team dedicated 8 hours to crafting essential visual assets. They created 5 background images and 12 different images, giving our team a rich visual library to work with and uploaded these assets into a dedicated category in our DAM. Content Creation Phase Our marketing team dedicated 1 hour to crafting the copy. They crafted 3 distinct headline options and 3 subheading options. The Results Collaboratively, the design and marketing teams’ work (a total of just 9 hours) resulted in 520 unique ad variations. Implementation Using MediaValet Templating, our Marketing, Customer Success, Sales, and Product teams easily went into the tool, accessed the template, and then assembled, customized, and created their own unique social ads to build an extensive social media campaign. The Outcome Thousands of Impressions The social media ad campaign created with MediaValet Templating garnered excellent engagement from our social media audience. Total Posts: 28 unique LinkedIn posts were crafted and published by our team. Engagement: These posts collectively garnered 410 likes, showcasing strong engagement from our audience. Impressions: The posts garnered an estimated 28,560 impressions, greatly enhancing our brand visibility and creating excitement about Templating on LinkedIn. The Time Savings 260X the Assets Typically, the design team completes one social ad in 4 hours. With 8 hours of work and the use of templating, the team created 5 background images and 12 different assets, resulting in 520 variations, plus 1 hour of marketing for the content. To make 520 ad variations, the creative team at MediaValet would have spent 2,080 hours meaning they saved a whopping 2,076 hours (about 3 months) to build a successful social media campaign. By using MediaValet Templating, the design team created 260 times more social ads in 9 hours compared to their usual process. The Key Benefits The Power of MediaValet Templating Efficiency: The MediaValet Templating tool dramatically reduced the time required to produce high-quality ad content. What previously would have taken weeks was accomplished in just a few hours. Scalability: With 520 variations generated from a relatively small set of assets, we were able to maintain high levels of creativity and variation without overburdening our in-house creative team. Engagement: The streamlined process resulted in highly engaging content, as evidenced by the significant number of likes and impressions. Team Collaboration: The tool facilitated seamless collaboration between our design and marketing teams, ensuring that both visual and textual elements were perfectly aligned. MediaValet Templating proved to be a game-changer for our social media campaign efforts. By simplifying and accelerating the ad creation process, we were able to produce a large volume of high-quality, engaging content in a fraction of the usual time. This case study demonstrates the power of effective digital asset management tools in enhancing productivity, creativity, and overall marketing success.
City of Kawartha Lakes Learn how the City of Kawartha Lakes uses MediaValet to support brand management and streamline city wide communications. Who is The City of Kawartha Lakes? The City of Kawartha Lakes (Kawartha Lakes), is Ontario’s second largest single-tier municipality and home to some of the most vibrant downtowns, abundant green spaces and diverse opportunities in the province.It is a year-round home to 80,000 residents. Over the Summer season, Kawartha Lakes welcomes over a million tourists. Location: Kawartha Lakes, ON Industry: Government Company size: Mid-Market Joined MediaValet: 2021 Features: Partner access & brand consistency The Challenges Cheri Davidson and her team faced challenges in scaling their digital presence to serve the community and growing tourism sector.Despite its idyllic setting and burgeoning population, Kawartha Lakes faced hurdles in streamlining communications across its 1200 staff and variety of external vendors and media partners. The Results Since turning to MediaValet for their digital asset management needs, Kawartha Lakes has accomplished: More effective program promotions A cohesive brand image for the Kawartha Lakes Enhanced media engagement Cheri Davidson Manager of Communications, Advertising, and Marketing, The City of Kawartha Lakes The Challenge Disjointed Digital Asset Management Cheri Davidson, the Manager of Communications, Advertising, and Marketing, explained Kawartha Lakes’s initial struggles; with a staff of approximately 1,200 and a myriad of communication needs, securely managing their growing library of photo and video assets was proving to be an uphill battle. There was a reliance on fragmented systems for asset storage and access. Sharing assets through email attachments or file sharing was also proving inefficient. Our reliance on SharePoint and email for file sharing was both inefficient for internal staff and our external partners.” They needed a system that could offer a centralized hub to store and manage digital assets and facilitate easier access for various departments as well as a new, more secure method for distributing their assets externally. It was time to find a unified platform that could do all of these things, so Kawartha Lakes turned to MediaValet. Not only was there an incredible improvement in asset management and distribution, but their MediaValet DAM helped them achieve so much more! The Use Case Streamlining City-Wide Communications Now, the team at Kawartha Lakes is using MediaValet as a central component of their marketing tech stack. By centralizing and improving access to their digital assets, it’s enabled them to scale their marketing efforts on par with the rate Kawartha Lakes is expanding. The DAM serves their marketing and communication needs, but the team at Kawartha Lakes has also leaned into the efficiencies and benefits of using Branded Portals. Customized Branded Portals for Diverse Needs Recognizing the diverse needs of its audience, Kawartha Lakes has deployed multiple, specialized Branded Portals, each designed to cater to the unique requirements of different stakeholders. For instance: Partner Resource Portal: For external partners, including contractors, vendors, and regional agencies, this dedicated portal provides access to essential branding guidelines, project briefs, and collaborative tools. It ensures that all external communications and representations of The Kawartha Lakes are consistent and aligned with its brand identity. Media Portal: For timely access to media assets, partners can login to download exactly the version and size needed for their media outlet. Community Services Portal: Aquatics and recreation staff are empowered to access the training, marketing and operational files they need, when they need them, knowing the latest versions are always current. The use of these Portals has seen two major improvements in how the team at The Kawartha Lakes utilize their assets and manage their teams. Transforming Municipal Communications The Kawartha Lakes’s innovative use of Branded Portals, underpinned by MediaValet’s security and asset management capabilities, has transformed its approach to communication. What was once a challenge of managing files across multiple users has now become a streamlined, secure, and effective strategy that not only enhances internal operations but also enriches the work Kawartha Lakes does with its various partners. Through Branded Portals, Kawartha Lakes can facilitate effective distribution of information and resources, enhancing their communication abilities within the organization and streamlining their external communications methods. In fact, the DAM is being used as a transformative tool for enhancing operational efficiency and partner connection in Kawartha Lakes’s municipal communications. Improving Promotional and Branding Initiatives: The team uses MediaValet’s Branded Portals to enable easy access to up-to-date logos and brand guidelines across teams and stakeholders, ensuring consistent communications. They use Portals to house operational templates for seasonal staff, and Portals with specific branding guidelines to ensure both efficiency in the distribution of and consistency across their branding materials. Our promotional campaigns have become more impactful and resonant with our target audiences.” With easier access to promotional materials and community information, Kawartha Lakes is continuously enhancing its engagement efforts, promoting events, services, and initiatives to more effectively market Kawartha Lakes as a desirable location to live and work. It’s really become a way of working for our core users across departments…and has become a way that we can start, continue, and finish a project with third-party vendors.” The Key Features Achieve Versatile Asset Management Kawartha Lakes’s innovative application of MediaValet’s features, particularly branded portals, exemplifies the DAM’s versatility. But they’re using so many more features to build a digital presence. User Groups and Permissions To facilitate collaboration with external users like photographers and videographers, Kawartha Lakes implements user groups with specific permissions (an unlimited feature within MediaValet). This allows for controlled access based on user roles, enabling external contributors to upload and manage content within predefined guidelines. This has led to optimized external collaborations and asset management. By setting up user groups, The Kawartha Lakes’s contribution process is streamlined for external partners, ensuring that all digital assets are uploaded, tagged, and managed according to the Kawartha Lakes’s standards, enhancing the quality and consistency of their digital library. Security Features Kawartha Lakes leverages MediaValet’s top-tier security features to ensure safe and secure distribution of digital assets both internally and to the public. This includes the secure sharing of promotional materials, community information, and sensitive operational documents. The MediaValetDAM helps to safeguard sensitive information and resources. It ensures that digital assets are protected against unauthorized access, supporting Kawartha Lakes’ commitment to maintaining high standards of data security and privacy. The Results True Alignment Kawartha Lakes’ journey with MediaValet highlights how digital transformation can streamline operations and maintain brand consistency. Their MediaValet DAM has transformed municipal communication and marketing strategies by: Streamlined Operations: Since implementing MediaValet, workflow efficiency across Kawartha Lakes departments has improved significantly, reducing the time spent on searching for and sharing files. Increased Engagement: MediaValet has helped to enhance access to promotional materials and community information allowing for more effective promotion of events, services, and initiatives. Adaptive Brand Management: The MediaValet DAM has facilitated controlled distribution of branding materials enabling the team to present a cohesive Kawartha Lakes image, supporting economic development and tourism. Cheri Davidson remarked on the profound impact of MediaValet, stating, MediaValet has become integral to our way of working, enabling us to initiate, execute, and conclude projects with a level of efficiency and collaboration that was previously unattainable. It’s fundamentally changed how we manage our brand, marking a new era in our digital strategy.”
The Chosen Learn how The Chosen uses their MediaValet DAM to revolutionize their storytelling ability. Who is The Chosen? The Chosen is a groundbreaking historical drama that portrays the life of Jesus through the eyes of those who knew him. Set amid Roman oppression in first-century Israel, the seven-season series offers an authentic and intimate look at his revolutionary life and teachings. What began as a crowd-funded project has become one of the most-watched shows in the world, with over 770 million episode views and 200 million viewers. The series streams on Amazon Prime, Peacock, and Netflix, airs weekly on The CW, and has attracted more than 12 million social media followers. Created by Dallas Jenkins, The Chosen is an independent production distributed globally by Lionsgate. Location: Provo, UT Industry: Media Company size: Mid-Market Joined MediaValet: 2022 Features: Face Recognition, AVI The Challenges The Chosen has seen exponential growth in the digital assets it creates, manages, and uses. These assets are used for marketing the series, fundraising for the show production and translations, and supporting the sale of merchandise. The team was looking for a solution to manage a growing number of assets and improve the efficiency, productivity, and distribution of digital assets. The Results The Chosen uses their DAM to enhance distribution, increase accessibility, and improve the discoverability of their assets while sustaining consistent asset growth. With a simple click, team members are able to quickly share assets internally and with external collaborators. Further, the DAM has helped: Increase discoverability of assets, thereby simplifying global marketing efforts through use of AI, Streamline workflow processes for faster time-to-market, Enhance relationships with vendors, collaborators, and distributors with Branded Portals. Kortnay Woods Digital Asset Manager, The Chosen The Challenges Navigating the Digital Asset Maze Kortnay Woods, the Digital Asset Manager for The Chosen explained the organization’s initial obstacle: We create many assets…as the number of assets…needed and created increased…we needed a place to be able to sort them, manage them, and distribute them quickly and easily.” The absence of an effective platform to organize, access, and share these assets was impeding the team’s ability to keep pace with the project’s rapid growth and engagement goals. Along with managing a massive amount of video footage, photographs, designed content, and associated imagery, they were also considering ways to ensure compliance with contractual strike rights. They set out to find an asset management system that would help them avoid delays in promotional asset distribution as their time to market was crucial. They found in MediaValet the ability to further their success and the reach of their TV series. The Use Case Crafting an AI-Powered Global Narrative Our end goal was to have a DAM platform and processing system that enables our users to easily find independently any assets they need.” This form of streamlined asset management was crucial for maintaining the series’ momentum and expanding its global footprint. The DAM has become an integral and strategic part of their marketing workflow and has enabled them to consolidate their footage for worldwide engagement. The Chosen is using their MediaValet DAM to: Streamline Actor Approval Processes MediaValet’s Face Recognition has been used to automatically tag actors across their asset library, massively accelerating the discovery of assets needing actor review. The Chosen’s MediaValet DAM has been leveraged to streamline the actor strike-rights processes, a critical aspect of their content distribution strategy. The team uses Lightboxes to collect all of the required tagged materials then shares the Lightbox with cast members. This enables cast to review, approve, or request changes to their images while ensuring compliance with contractual requirements. It also accelerates the approval timeline, enabling quicker distribution of approved assets. The efficiency introduced by this system supports The Chosen’s broader goal of global outreach, ensuring that all promotional materials meet both internal standards and actors’ expectations before being shared worldwide. Simplify Global Marketing with AI With a goal to reach one billion viewers, the team at The Chosen has been using the DAM as a centralized platform where marketing materials and digital assets are easily shared with international partners and distributors. This capability ensures that The Chosen maintains a consistent and impactful presence across different markets and platforms. With MediaValet’s AI powered video intelligence (AVI) to translate video and identify text within assets, The Chosen is still discovering how AVI can be used in their targeted campaigns and aid with unprecedented asset delivery speed and captivate viewers across different cultures and regions. The Key Features A Toolkit for Digital Excellence Utilizing key MediaValet features, The Chosen has not only managed to streamline its digital asset management but also significantly enhance its global marketing efforts and viewer engagement. The DAM has contributed to creating an efficient, secure, and scalable environment for managing the vast array of digital content that powers this groundbreaking series. The success story of The Chosen with MediaValet is not just a tale of overcoming challenges and achieving results; it’s a showcase of strategic utilization of key DAM features that have transformed their digital asset management processes. The following key features were leveraged to write their success story: Advanced Search for Better Organization Kortnay Woods emphasized the necessity for a system that allows users to “easily find independently any assets they need.” MediaValet’s Advanced Search and organization features provide The Chosen with the ability to categorize, tag, and retrieve assets swiftly. This functionality ensures that the right content can be found at the right time, facilitating efficient content management and distribution. Lightboxes for Approval Workflows The team at The Chosen is using MediaValet’s Lightboxes to facilitate the cast asset approval process – actors can quickly approve, reject, or request changes to photo assets and the team can see them instantly, ensuring compliance and quick turnaround. Actors can review their lightbox and simply apply an attribute to determine whether they approve it, reject it, or they want to accept it with updates.” Branded Portals to Sync with Partners and Distributors The Chosen uses Branded Portals as a means to seamlessly organize and distribute assets to vendors, collaborators, and distributors. It enabled the team to easily sync with external partners and share assets and footage in seconds, accelerating their content distribution and securing relationships with distributors for the long-term. [Branded Portals] have enabled us exponentially; when we get requests from our major distributors, we’re able to fulfill them…usually within less than 24 hours.” Face Recognition and AI Features for Efficiency The team has leveraged AI-powered Face Recognition to automatically tag actors, influencers, and performers across assets to streamline the approval process and maintain compliance. This, in turn, has given them the ability to distribute promotional assets without delay. In addition to Face Recognition, the team is beginning to use other AI-features like Audio-Visual Intelligence (AVI) to translate video and identify captions to meet new audiences in different markets. I love AI and I’m really excited about it… the facial recognition was a godsend.” The Results Expansive Storytelling Abilities Unleashed Since implementing MediaValet, The Chosen has undergone a dramatic transformation in its operational and marketing efficacy. Woods shared the tangible outcomes of using a MediaValet DAM: It’s been very beneficial for our business…[it] has enabled us to quickly respond to requests from our major distributors…we’re able to fulfill them…usually within less than 24 hours.” The DAM has been pivotal in sustaining viewer interest and expanding the series’ reach. Redefined Operational Efficiency MediaValet’s interface and robust search capabilities have drastically reduced the time spent managing assets, allowing the team to devote more energy to ideation, creative endeavors, and strategic planning. Accelerated Distribution Capabilities The ability to both seamlessly obtain actor approvals and to automatically identify said actor’s images with Face Recognition has accelerated The Chosen’s ability to share promotional assets across markets and expand the reach of the series. Enriched Audience Engagement Streamlined access to quality assets and the capability to translate assets in an instant, has enabled The Chosen to enrich its viewer experience significantly, fostering deeper connections with the audience and amplifying the series’ impact, across several markets. Evolved Digital Storytelling Abilities By overcoming initial challenges, leveraging the DAM’s capabilities for global engagement, and achieving remarkable results in viewer connection and operational efficiency, The Chosen has set a new standard for digital narratives worldwide. Ready to see what the DAM hype’s about? Meet with one of our product experts Book a demo
Highgate Hotels Discover how Highgate Hotels, the industry-leading hotel management, investment, technology and development firm use their MediaValet DAM to improve their influencer program, revolutionize their marketing efforts, and to elevate the guest experience. Who is Highgate Hotels? Highgate Hotels is the industry-leading hotel management, investment, technology and development firm, with a diverse portfolio of hotels across North America, the Caribbean, Latin America and Europe. With a 200+ person corporate team, and more than 500 properties, Highgate Hotels needed a central solution for its asset organization and distribution, instead they found software that improved efficiencies and improved the customer experience. Location: New York, NY Industry: Hospitality Company size: Enterprise Joined MediaValet: 2023 Features: Branded Portals The Challenges Darren McDaniel, Regional Marketing Manager at Highgate Hotels shared how his team struggled to overcome the limitations of Dropbox: Inefficient asset distribution Poor image qualit Inability to scale their library Ineffective collaboration with external stakeholders The Results Since implementing MediaValet, the team at Highgate Hotels has: Grown their asset library as their property catalogue scaled Enforced better quality control to ensure published assets are high quality Enhanced their influencer program by enabling temporary access to the DAM Elevated the guest experience Darren McDaniel Regional Marketing Manager, Highgate Hotels The Challenge Outdated, Stagnant Software With a massive, global brand to support, Darren and his team had identified a significant challenge in efficiently distributing digital assets across the organization. There was a reliance on “the good old Dropbox application” that was creating inefficiencies and inhibiting the organization’s ability to scale. Without metadata and unlimited users, there was an inability to efficiently distribute and manage digital content like images and rich media, and it was becoming a huge roadblock in scaling their digital asset library, and ultimately, connecting with the guest experience. The ability to add to assets to that application and more importantly distribute from there just wasn’t there. It was becoming cumbersome.” They needed a dedicated digital asset management system, so they turned to MediaValet. The Use Case True Marketing Efficiency Today, MediaValet is an integral tool for the marketing team at Highgate. It has allowed for a more effective way to manage and distribute digital content, including images and rich media, that surpasses the functionality they previously experienced with Dropbox. Scaling the Digital Library As the organization has been adding properties to its catalogue (5 – 6 in just the past year), it’s been crucial to have a system in place that can segment uploads and ensure they reach the right stakeholders quickly. Improving Asset Quality Darren’s team uses the DAM for organizing assets by property, sharing content with stakeholders, and leveraging user groups and permissions for better asset management. The team has also made swifter decisions around asset quality and is using the system to enforce quality control on the assets being published. Enabling External Access Highgate Hotels is leveraging user groups to enable temporary users like influencers and photographers to upload content directly to the DAM – rather than using “twenty different applications to download and upload again”, the It’s been innovative for content collaboration with influencers. By enabling direct asset uploads to the DAM system, the team can manage and quality control content with ease. There’s an ability to present our digital assets in a very branded, professional way, and now, partners have exactly what they need, whenever they need it.” The Key Features Driving Productivity So far, the team at Highgate has achieved massive ROI from the following features: Branded Portals Branded Portals have been a significant part of theHighgate DAM strategy. Allowing for the creation of customized, branded mini libraries where specific assets can be shared with external partners has made it easier to distribute assets in a controlled and professional manner. User Groups and Permissions The use of user groups and permissions is a key feature for internal asset management and allows Highgate Hotels to segment asset access based on departmental or team needs, ensuring that users have access to relevant assets without being overwhelmed by unrelated content. Direct Upload Capabilities for Influencers When it comes to collaborating with influencers and photographers, Darren’s team has enabled them to upload assets directly to the DAM, streamlining the content collection process and improving the efficiency of acquiring high-quality assets for marketing purposes. Darren’s team has used MediaValet to mediate their distribution inefficiencies and enable better collaboration and content collection with external contributors. But how has this impacted the business? The Results Revolutionized Hospitality Marketing The adoption of MediaValet by Highgate Hotels has led to transformative results, fundamentally changing the way the organization manages and distributes its digital assets, with impactful improvements in operational efficiency and marketing strategies Streamlined Asset DistributionOne of the most significant results has been the dramatic improvement in the efficiency of asset distribution. With MediaValet, Highgate Hotels has moved beyond the limitations of Dropbox to a more sophisticated and effective system. “The biggest draw for MediaValet was in the efficiencies we found,” Darren said. “We were grappling with the limitations of traditional file sharing solutions,” so this efficiency has facilitated faster, more reliable access to assets across the organization, enabling quicker responses to marketing and operational needs. Enhanced Collaboration and Productivity MediaValet has fostered better collaboration within teams and with external partners. Branded Portals and direct upload capabilities have been particularly beneficial, allowing Highgate Hotels to work seamlessly with influencers, photographers, and other content creators. This collaborative approach has streamlined the content collection process, reducing the time and effort required to manage incoming assets. Darren highlighted how this feature “allows us to get those assets in there really quickly,” underscoring the productivity gains achieved. Scalability and Growth Support As Highgate Hotels continues to grow, MediaValet has proven to be a scalable solution that supports the organization’s expanding needs. The addition of new properties and the corresponding increase in digital assets have been seamlessly accommodated by the DAM. Darren’s account of the system’s role in “growing the database” and “distributing content more efficiently” speaks to MediaValet’s capacity to support Highgate Hotels’ dynamic growth trajectory. Enhanced Guest Experience Through Rich Media Ultimately, the use of MediaValet has enabled Highgate Hotels to connect more effectively with its guests through rich media content. By efficiently managing and distributing high-quality images, videos, and other digital assets, Highgate has been able to enhance its marketing campaigns, providing a more engaging and immersive experience for potential guests. “It’s been an elevated experience for us,” Darren shared. The DAM system enabled Highgate to scale rapidly, manage a growing digital asset library, and distribute content more efficiently. The use of portals and user groups has streamlined the asset management process, making it easier for internal and external teams to access and use digital content. This efficiency has directly supported Highgate Hotels’ goals of enhancing the guest experience and expanding their market reach. MediaValet has been transformative for Highgate Hotels. It emerged as a solution that could enable more efficient content distribution and management but since implementation, it’s proving to be an indispensable tool for connecting with our guest experience and scaling our marketing efforts efficiently.” Ready to see what the DAM hype’s about? Meet with one of our product experts Book a demo
