BRAND MANAGEMENT PORTAL at the heart of your marketing · 2018-11-08 · white paper - BRAND MANAGEMENT PORTAL at the heart of your marketing 3 A brand portal as a base of social

Online editing of Adobe™ InDesign™ & Illustrator™ documents with 100% Brand compliance

BRAND MANAGEMENT PORTAL at the heart of your marketing

www.2imagine.eu

HOw BRAND OwNERs AND AGENciEs cAN BENEfiT fROM 2iMAGiNE

white paper

page 2 © 2imagine, 2014

white paper - BRAND MANAGEMENT PORTAL at the heart of your marketing

BRAND MANAGEMENT PORTAL at the heart of your marketing

1 Why a portal?

Brand management is built on a marketing foundation, but focuses directly on the brand. Proper brand management can result in higher sales. For this reason it is extremely important to assure all brandrelated communications strictly adhere not only to your marketing plan, but to your corporate identity as well.

One single human error can ruin such a communication and it can happen all too easily when you are compiling documents from too many sources or find yourself working on a copy of a copy. In an international context you may find the bulk of your time ends up going to managing content, rather than creating it.

At that point, controlling your processes becomes essential. A considerable portion of the marketing effort is spent on accompanying communication and related activities, such as the distribution of planning and proposed content, the localization of advertising and managing their corrections, process follow-ups and their approvals.

A portal will not create content for you, but it will help a brand manager to manage it. Using a portal, you can store all data, assets and planning centrally and use version control and process workflow to create error-free and even automated marketing material in the desired format.

A portal in the cloud

Several arguments plead in favor of a brand portal in the cloud, rather than installing your marketing tools locally. While you will need specialized software for graphical creation, not all desktop computers are suitable to run it. Using a cloud version you will avoid these issues and you can cherrypick the required tools and modules.

The cloud will also relieve your ICT from the burden of scalability, often a major concern. It will also greatly simplify the process of linking with external systems and databases. Not to mention the convenience for worldwide collaboration on marketing projects, for instance using centrally stored graphics for a packaging design, ready for localizations all over the globe.

Nowadays ‘brand’ has become a complex issue. No longer limited to a logo and some stationary, it is now conveyed through tens or maybe hundreds of expressions in print, web and social media, both as internal and external communication. Managing all these expressions, world-wide, has become nearly impossible without some Brand Management Portal.

With a broad set of tools and modules, such a portal allows for the efficient management of all aspects and formats of your brand management. There are multiple advantages beyond the benefits of central storage and the freedom of physical location. With a portal, you can control your processes (production and approval) with higher efficiency, manage your brand with lower cost and increase output quality.

Today, more and more of the applications we use have become web-based. This trend is not limited to office software, but it also affects more complex operations such as ad creation. A portal will replace InDesign on your local system with a tool to work on an InDesign document using your browser. This (r)evolution was essential to effectively deploy a Brand Management Portal in a modern, multi-site and partially virtualized business world.

This white paper tries to analyze these issues and provide information on the advantages of a brand management solution as well as advice on how to best implement it.

© 2imagine, 2014 page 3

2 What components make up a traditional brand portal?

A portal is a collection of applications and tools, available on a per-need basis to all collaborators. While it will be different for every enterprise, based on individual needs and characteristics, some elements are common to all.

Media database (DAM)

This is the central storage point for all media assets such as pictures, videos, graphics, brochures and other marketing materials. Extra functions, available on a user-role basis, are implemented on top of this storage. They include one-click media conversion or image editing, combined with version control.

Document editor

Brand Management involves a large diversity in outputs: advertisements, packaging, e-marketing banners and so on. A portal will provide a document editor, but not with the purpose of actual art creation. You will upload your standard advertisements, banners and stationary as templates to the portal environment. Once in there, new instances can be completed or localized and sent off to the printer, webhost or any other third party needing access to your marketing materials. This cost-efficient, centralized approach also allows for fine-tuned user access rights and rule-based enforcement of your corporate identity.

Process management tool

A well-established Business Process Management is key to success. It is a crucial element of the portal. You use the Approval Workflow to monitor even the most complex marketing processes. Combing the user-roles with a well-defined workflow you can turn the available media into an expressive communication with the highest cost-efficiency. Start and supervise projects, give users access to specific edit-fields, add notes to art on behalf of the next user in line, … These are just some of the many possibilities.

Supervising and feedback tool

When all actions are centrally governed through a portal, it becomes possible to supervise what exactly is going on with all of your marketing material, companywide. What advertisements, catalogs, banners are being used by what local units, such as branches, retailers and subsidiaries, with what frequency, and for what purposes. You can create reports fast and cost-effectively and use them to optimize future campaigns, or to correctly bill your franchisees.

And there is more. Use a portal to coordinate direct mail activities, send out e-mail campaigns, publish documents to other channels such as iPad/tablet & web, … A portal can be set up to provide the tools your organization needs.

designer creates and uploads an InDesign document (package)designer defines the restriction rules and UI

manager approves these versions

coordinator defines workflow & planning

Data repositories:PIM - translation - CMS - ...

DAM

printer or designer can download result (InDesign / PDF / JPEG) for print & publish

users create their version of the template and edit online

workflow controls & drives the approval process

BRAND PORTAL

© 2imagine, 2014page 4


3 A brand portal as a base of social collaboration

Collaboration is at the heart of a brand portal. You can look at it as the internal social platform where marketeers within the organization meet. It creates the virtual marketing community where all your internal know-how can be exchanged.

The 2imagine brand portal is an extremely user-friendly CMS system and comprehensive role management allows for effective exchange of messages and know-how by all marketeers.

To this effect, the social Collaboration tool incorporates an internal Blog feature, a branding style guide, Who’s Who listing of the teams within a company, a calendar, a classic WIKI and many more social modules offered through the open source Liferay community network. 2imagine brand portal, built upon popular open-source Liferay platform,

stimulates social collaboration.


4 The role of web-to-print and templates within a portal

Preparing print-ready marketing material such as ads, stationary, brochures and catalogs is a principal purpose of the brand portal. The two core concepts involved are web-to-print and template management.

Web-to-print as your Swiss knife

Web-to-Print, ‘from the net to the printing machine’, describes a process using modern information technology to achieve dramatic increases in efficiency when generating printed products. Layouts no longer need to be created individually by experts, as any-one can complete a professionally designed template with a few mouse clicks.

Web-to-Print provides the technology to complete the different steps repeatedly. It starts with a conventional layout, usually designed by an agency in Adobe® InDesign®, uploaded to the system. Subsequently, all system users, often not trained in layout programs, can use them to create professionally printed matter. They will edit the templates using intuitive tools with a web user interface, to generate a print-ready file with professional layout.

The system can output a preview PDF file at lower resolution or a preview image, as well as data sets for professional printing (hi-res PDF and InDesign package) as well as other optional formats for internet and tablet publishing.

The template as a key

One area where Web-to-Print systems can differ considerably is the way in which the graphic files are entered and configured on the platform.

During the Configuration all the characteristics and properties of a file with regard to later editing by the user are determined and set. The file, together with its attached rules make up a template. Whether pictures or copy can be changed, whether there are precisely defined alternatives etc, it is all part of the template.

The files created in Adobe® InDesign® or Adobe® Illustrator® by a graphic artist can be uploaded in 2imagine’s back office and configured as a template. You can then augment the template by adding the required rules. The file is now a part of the media database and ready for use. Important to know: the original Adobe InDesign file format remains available on the 2imagine server (integrating an Adobe InDesign Server). No conversion or plugin’s needed. The most fluent solution to make Adobe InDesign documents available for online editing and downloading - for further processing on desktop.

Easy configuration and maintenance of (Adobe InDesign) templates.

Online WYSIWYG editing of Adobe InDesign & Illustrator documents - in a standard browser.

Easy to use - no InDesign license required.

Adobe InDesignAdobe Illustrator

Template

create InDesign template configure template personalize documents depending on user rights

Documents

InDesign (package)

PDF for print / web

Picture (JPEG, EPS)

ePub, TWIXLAdobe DPS

TEMPLATEs OUTPUT2imagine ONLiNE EDiTOR

upload template create document output


5 Typical use-cases for Web-to-Print

Web-to-Print is a multifunctional tool for all your marketing efforts. The approach will always be the same: a regular user will turn the presented basic component, usually a template, into a final version with the use of simple, intuitive tools. We present a few typical scenarios.

Promotion materials

Ads, inserts, flyers or brochures can be customized using a few mouse clicks in Web-to-Print. The central marketing organization prepares all promotion material in accordance with the corporate identity and uploads them into the Web-to-Print environment. Media users such as dealers, subsidiaries, franchises are free to proceed with individual adaptations. They can create translations, special offers, product photos and copy, according to their needs. The same brochure could be printed in different countries in different languages without further involvement of the central marketing department.

Stationary

Company stationery includes print materials such as business cards, letterheads, stamps, door plates and internal signage. Again, all these materials must adhere to the corporate identity.

Rather than centralizing the creation of business cards, all employees can enter their own data and autonomously place the order for the business cards needed, via the intranet. This flexibility will also benefit decentralized units. Branches can configure their individual POS materials such as displays, window stickers, signs and other materials, by mouse click. This self-service approach eliminates redundant typesetting costs for your print materials and will greatly simplify the administrative efforts within the company.

Sales support

Using the provided layouts, sales staff can create their own professional sales materials through Web-to-Print. It’s the best way to guarantee all quotations will adhere to the same structure and layout, while allowing for the contents to be adapted to the proposal. With the system, the sales team could even create customized product spec sheets, adapted to the specific conditions of the offer, to accompany the proposal!

Direct mailings

The collaborator wishing to launch a campaign will start with the template as it was prepared by the central marketing and will only need to add the actual message. When the Web-to-Print is linked with your CRM data, you can set up the template to map fields from this data to the text and mail can be personalized in no time. Export the resulting file and it can go straight to the finisher.

Catalogs

Here’s an example where international companies will probably achieve the most significant savings. Before, a designer had to build every single page for every single version. Now, a template can steer creation. It includes the rules you set to specify how content, brought in from the ERP system, is to be generated automatically. Final manual editing will be done via a web user interface and requires no more layout work. Translators can work right inside the document..



6 Will agencies have to close shop?

No, not at all!But their role will change.The days of traditional mass production by the graphic designer will be gone when a brand portal including web-to-print takes over. There will be no more need to create 10 business cards with just different names. This will free up budget for media buying, or to create even more templates and enhance and diversify your communication. Both the agency and their customers will benefit from this.

The agency versions of these portals also bring new opportunities to agencies. They will be able to offer their customers extra services with the web tool. And agencies can even tailor the interface’s look and feel for individual customers. Everything is configured and managed with the back-office, where they can even set up detailed accounting to facilitate customer billing.

Agency offers a new service to their customers - customers are active involved in production

create new product

feedback / approve

approve

reporting reporting

approved local versions

create local versions

feedback / approve

project planning

briefing

conception

creation marketing material

print & publish

reporting

production documents:assets

templatesbranding guidelines

configure workflow

brand owner stakeholders agency team

PRODUcT MNGR AGENcYMARKETiNG MNGR


© 2015 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All rights reserved. Adobe, the Adobe logo, AIR, Flash, Flex, Illustrator, InDesign, Photoshop are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated in the United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

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or through our local partners

About 2imagineSince 2003, 2imagine specializes in software solutions designed to optimize marketing processes. 2imagine has been a pioneer in developing an online WYSIWYG editor for Adobe InDesign and Illustrator documents. We are an accessible Cloud service and solution.

More than 100 companies worldwide are using 2imagine for their daily marketing production business, including: BoConcept, D’Ieteren, Marvel, Bavaria, Yamaha, Beiersdorf, Ouest-France, and but also many boutique agencies and smaller businesses. 2imagine is distributed through a worldwide network of professional, certified partners.

7 How about ROI?

Setting up a brand portal does require investment. The license fee, possibly usage based costs, cost for setup and training. These costs will need to be recouped. But it doesn’t stop there. There should also be rewarding returns for those companies that make the move and the outcome should be measurable, both quantitatively and qualitatively. The following guidelines will help you where to look for ROI.

The number of variations on a single layout. The more often you can reuse a layout and send new versions to the printer, the bigger the benefits. This brings about savings in graphic design hours and improves turnaround. No more waiting 7 days for new business cards.

Template lifespan. Creating the template, uploading it and define all rules, comes with a cost. The longer and the more the template will serve, the cheaper it will be. And the more variations you can derive from the same template, the better.

Frequency of use. Do you only send out one yearly big mailing, serving all your international markets? In that case investing in a brand portal would make no sense. However, if you reach out with weekly mailings, it does. And the increased flexibility of the brand portal will allow for speedy ad-hoc reactions which will increase your commercial effectiveness.

Reusable material. All your materials built for web2print can serve other marketing efforts as well. Using the different tools of the brand portal, the same material can be exported with a mouse click to formats suited for social media, internet or tablet. If you can take advantage of these cross media capabilities, the investment will be recouped significantly quicker.

Shorter time-to-market and lead-times. Your typical mailing starts with an idea. Text is written, a mockup goes to graphic design. When the first layout finally arrives, the back-and-forth with corrections can begin, until the printable document is ready to be delivered to your finisher as a file. Using a web-to-print

solution, these delays can be reduced from days to hours. You can even hand off final document retrieval to the printer.

Cost of error corrections. The use of a brand portal greatly reduces the possibilities for mistakes. Who has never had to throw out a freshly printed brochure, because some address or phone number wasn’t consistently updated? With rule based templates and protected zones, these kinds of errors simply become impossible. And this is just one anecdotical example...

More precise marketing planning. The integration of planning, material and material use inside a single brand portal not only allows for more efficient oversight of your marketing plan, it also allows for better planning in the future, based on recorded reality. It will save the marketing department a lot of wasted energy.

Gone are obsolete Corporate Identity Guidelines and Branding rule books. A tricky issue, particularly in a international context. Consider the important costs of creating and distributing these books and the risk of outdated versions still circulating. The brand portal will bring a double benefit. First of all it will - by design - enforce the correct guidelines automatically, through templates (the right logo, typeface, ..) , and secondly it will always display the up-to-date version of your guidelines through the built-in wiki!

Time savings with more efficient processes. Many business processes can be modeled and driven inside a brand portal. This will save time in and of itself, and ensure the right collaborators will get involved at the right moment in the workflow. As a result you will get more done, with fewer people.
