Global asset InteGratIon for e-CoMMerCe: a brand PoInt ManaGeMent PersPeCtIve

ExEcutivE Summary

brands are putting tremendous energy into online shopping today. It’s not just the visual appeal of the products showcased that matters; it’s time to market, too: once a product is in the distribution center, it needs to quickly become “an image” online to maximize competitive advantage and sales.

Making this happen requires Global asset Integration for e-commerce, a process that organizes, streamlines and strengthens the means of creating and managing large quantities of compelling product assets like photographic images, animation and copy, and makes definitive versions available for commerce opportunities in multiple media worldwide, especially online.

Global asset Integration pays enormous benefits, but it demands specific skill sets for brand owners and their partners. It also demands a commitment to processes and technologies that drive efficiency and agility, cost savings and sustainability. but the end result is invaluable: a system that creates and manages assets that drive compelling and consistent experiences wherever consumers interact with a brand, especially online.

2

Glob

al a

sset

Inte

Grat

Ion

for

e-Co

MM

erCe

: a

bra

nd P

oInt

Man

aGeM

ent

Pers

PeCt

Ive

Global aSSEt intEGration and thE challEnGES to today’S brandS

there are many challenges to producing assets that carry their weight in impactful online stores. Global asset Integration speaks to all of them. these challenges include:

• Speed to site: Products need to be transformed from items in a distribution center to images and words online in a matter of days – or less. (and brands need to react nimbly to maximize the timely effect of products in printed catalogs and flyers, when these are used collaterally.)

• business planning and management: the availability of product and promotional opportunities puts a premium on smart seasonal planning and workflow planning.

• volume: brands must manage images and copy for the huge volume of materials distributed across multiple retailers’ online and printed vehicles. In simplest terms, this includes managing where a product originates, where it’s being photographed and copywritten and where/how its images are distributed across retailers, promotional vehicles and media.

• cost: to keep costs down, brands must reduce redundant photography and minimize the use of sample sets.

• consistency: Consistency of creative assets enhances brand identity and drives consistent brand experiences. this is increasingly important when product is distributed to multiple websites and multiple vendors. Consumers are very attentive to images; when images are sloppy, shoppers abandon websites and ignore catalogs.

• Scalability: online promotional capacity has to be scalable to match brand goals and opportunities.

• centralization: scalability only works when a brand is capable of centralizing and streamlining brand processes everywhere possible. for example, the repurposing of assets across media, including print, is proven to save up to 40 percent in production costs, and it increases the lifetime value of an asset.

• Staffing: Growing and evolving “asset needs” create challenges in ensuring that in-house talent and staff budgets can flex and keep pace. Increasingly, outsourcing is a solution.

What iS Global aSSEt intEGration for E-commErcE?

It’s the solution – or a vital part of the solution – to all of the challenges listed here. It’s a proven process that integrates consulting, creating, managing and delivering of media-neutral still photography, CGI, video and copy, to turn the challenges here into benefits: speed, planning, volume, cost, scalability and centralization.

Global asset Integration is exactly what the name states: integration across all stages of the process that generates and manages visual and verbal brand assets for use and re-use across geographies, media and retail partners. to achieve this, it brings together creative expertise, management principles and technology.

It specializes in the creation of media-neutral assets that are ready for adaptation across a range of consumer-facing contexts and also for use in other stages of the brand lifecycle, including r&d, internal or retailer sell-in, and marketing and advertising. Global asset Integration is at the heart of schawk’s retail marketing services for some of the world’s largest consumer brands. at schawk, it combines consulting, creating, managing and delivering assets.

3

Glob

al a

sset

Inte

Grat

Ion

for

e-Co

MM

erCe

: a

bra

nd P

oInt

Man

aGeM

ent

Pers

PeCt

Ive

StEp 1: conSult

the goal of the consulting phase is to develop a thorough strategy for workflow process and management – starting from the time product becomes available for photographing through its appearance online – and correlating this strategy with business planning for product and advertising cycles.

Whether Global asset Integration is handled by the brand alone or in collaboration with an expert partner, the consulting phase involves collaborative planning sessions with marketing teams, media planners, merchandise procurers and those in charge of executing the actual workflow for turning products into media-neutral assets, and then managing and delivering them.

the best practitioners of Global asset Integration employ six sigma principles as they develop workflows and seasonal plans. and without a doubt they understand the huge role technology plays in organizing and managing assets globally as they are created and distributed to partners who will develop and produce the websites that are the brand’s crucial shopper touchpoints.

StEp 2: crEatE

this phase is the most familiar one for brands, and it’s executed in-house or by outside partners in the photography/catalog industry. schawk’s firm point is that it shouldn’t be viewed – or practiced – in isolation. It’s much more difficult to create compelling brand assets and deliver them effectively if creating isn’t surrounded by consulting, managing and delivering in an integrated process. this is the strength of Global asset Integration for e-commerce.

this phase starts with style guide development for images, copy and post-production, to make sure assets are uniformly compelling and on-brand wherever they’re created and deployed, worldwide.

for photography, this involves the science of lighting and angles and sets, plus retouching and color management, and ensuring that they’re all applied with sensitivity to the product category and consistently within a product line. then, these aesthetic considerations have to mesh with an oversight plan for efficiently reviewing the assets in all media contexts. every client has a different “review window” and different timing demands, based on its marketplace.

for copy, it’s not sufficient to repurpose information and language from merchandise cards; shoppers – and especially online shoppers – are too demanding today. Copywriters should have merchandise in hand as they write, to convey its qualities compellingly. and seo strategy adds another crucial layer to the copy and to the planning that precedes it. the workflow advantages of Global asset Integration promote this kind of advance planning.

at this stage, the asset can be enhanced and given extra value in many ways, for example with innovations like CGI and 360-degree spin photography, which drive higher conversion rates online.1 they can also be used internally, for important early stages like r&d, internal sell-in and retail sell-in. Here the asset is being used by very distinct groups, so the brand needs to commit internally to making each group aware of the asset’s availability and instructing them on accessing it. Here again, Global asset Integration helps make this efficient and effective.

1 91 percent of customers queried in an adobe scene7 viewer study felt it’s a useful tool for online shopping. source: “adobe scene7 viewer study: What shoppers Want,” January 2010; adobe systems Inc.

4

Glob

al a

sset

Inte

Grat

Ion

for

e-Co

MM

erCe

: a

bra

nd P

oInt

Man

aGeM

ent

Pers

PeCt

Ive

StEp 3: manaGE

managing is the actual integration of all the steps in the production process.

merchandise management, which involves unpacking, tagging, storing or selecting, prepping, setup, shooting and return.

copy creation within a system that links compelling, accurate copy to images definitively, with no doubts about where it resides or if it is right.

retouching and color management per style guide. When this is outsourced, there is the risk of inconsistent results if your partner doesn’t have product teams dedicated to specific clients and categories.

Workflow technology is another key element of the management process, and it’s the backbone of Global asset Integration. this asset management and workflow technology helps organize and streamline stages in the entire asset creation process and gives all participants a transparent view into the workflow and their part in it.

for starters, it automates key stages in the production cycle to shorten turn-time. It enables a logical system of accept, reject, why reject, when due, and so on; and it collects and analyzes data around these events for analysis of efficiency, accuracy and trends.

In a very specific way, it removes uncertainty from the process, as when a participant forgets that an important task has landed on his/her desk. Handoffs like these are automated and tracked, and bottlenecks are averted by notifications to team members who are slowing the process.

Workflow technology also includes “soft proofing” modules, where assets are viewed by multiple participants on a networked computer “desktop” and differences in versions are clearly identified by the system, for sure comparisons. soft proofing replaces paper proofs, which saves time, money and natural resources, and it avoids many of the small procedural mistakes that can sap time and money from a project.

StEp 4: dElivEr

the workflow technology described in Step 3: manage has another important role: syncing with the client’s own publishing systems – online (and print, if desired) – to speed an asset’s appearance on a website or in a catalog. In a well-developed system, a product image starts out media-neutral and can be spec’ed quickly in the transfer process for any medium. It’s ideal when the delivering stage is handled by the same company that oversaw the creating and managing stages, one that has deep experience in the interface between its own workflow technology and the publishing technologies of the client and its retailers. this removes additional third parties and potential issues of time and accuracy, and it switches the emphasis from the single delivery of an asset to multiple deliveries of an asset in different configurations to multiple outlets in multiple media. Hidden inefficiencies can significantly slow the delivery process despite a brand’s good intentions.

the ideal technology solution for this interface is often a mixture of best-in-class pieces that the partner “wraps” the workflow around. this way, if one piece fails, there are nimble fixes, such as using another database program short-term, and little to no time is lost. (thus, the trend is away from end-to-end proprietary technology.) this proven model requires very little work on the client’s part. and the key benefits for the client are very flexible, brand-accurate assets that reside in a secure digital asset library for use across multiple media and multiple geographies.

5

Glob

al a

sset

Inte

Grat

Ion

for

e-Co

MM

erCe

: a

bra

nd P

oInt

Man

aGeM

ent

Pers

PeCt

Ive

a Summary of thE bEnEfitS

It’s all contained in the name itself: Global asset Integration. the process that creates a brand’s photographic and verbal assets and distributes them for publishing is integrated globally – that is, from the earliest planning to the final publishing, across disparate media, disparate retail partners and across geographies. and they’re integrated at specific crucial stages in the process, such as approval stages. and these assets are integrated in libraries that can be accessed for definitive versions. the benefits: more compelling assets that are consistently on-brand; less waste and more efficiency at every stage of the process; agility in the marketplace and stronger sales.

What Should you look for in a partnEr?

there are companies, like schawk, that can provide full Global asset Integration. look for:

• the capacity to develop a fully integrated process from workflow/business process strategy through web-ready/print-ready file delivery

• Proven expertise in e-commerce publishing and associated technologies

• specific technology expertise that reflects the partner’s experience in the creative side of the process

• Integration of art, copy and photo teams dynamically to tighten the time frame and drive accuracy

• Global smart-sourcing to company locations for nearly 24/7 workflow

• studio floor plans designed around process to maximize workflow efficiencies

• Metrics and measurement tools in place to track performance

• a “continuous improvement approach” to identify ongoing process opportunities

hoW Global aSSEt intEGration for E-commErcE can hElp you, thE brand dEciSion-makEr

each layer of management at a brand will respond to specific facets of Global asset Integration:

• c-level executives benefit from cost savings, staff savings and speed to market, as these speak directly to job mandates and career goals.

• procurement is able to deliver cost savings while managing fewer suppliers. studies have shown that digital asset libraries save enormous amounts of time and money.

• brand managers achieve brand quality and consistency and gain a trusted partner to “police” this process.

• creative directors and staff benefit from the quality of assets and the ability to access them quickly and logically.

Global aSSEt intEGration and brand point manaGEmEnt at SchaWk

Global asset Integration is a powerful example of how schawk delivers brand point management. brand point management is about integration – the integration of stages in the brand lifecycle; of services within and across those stages; and of people, processes and technology – all for more compelling and consistent brand experiences wherever shoppers interact with a brand, at touchpoints at home, on the go, at the store and on the shelf.

Global asset Integration applies this principle specifically to the challenge of creating photographic images and copy for use online (and in print extensions) and doing so in a way that maximizes its impact, drives consistency, streamlines resource use and minimizes time to market. schawk’s Global asset Integration drives sales for some of the largest, most dynamic consumer brands in the world, brands that are rewriting the rules of online commerce.

6

Glob

al a

sset

Inte

Grat

Ion

for

e-Co

MM

erCe

: a

bra

nd P

oInt

Man

aGeM

ent

Pers

PeCt

Ive

schawk, Inc., (nYse:sGK), is a leading provider of brand point management services, enabling companies of all sizes to connect their brands with consumers to create deeper brand affinity. With a global footprint of more than 40 offices, schawk helps companies create compelling and consistent brand experiences by providing integrated strategic, creative and executional services across brand touchpoints. founded in 1953, schawk is trusted by many of the world’s leading organizations to help them achieve global brand consistency. for more information about schawk, visit http://www.schawk.com.

visit www.brandsquare.com, powered by schawk, to participate in a one-of-a-kind, exclusive online marketing community. registration is fast, free and easy. as a registered member, you’ll have access to news and trends from leading blogs, magazines and webcasts. You will also be able to ask questions and join threaded discussions on hot topics. all this and more at www.brandsquare.com. follow brandsquare on twitter at http://twitter.com/brandsquare.

© 2010 schawk, Inc. all rights reserved. no part of this work may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the copyright holder. schawk is a registered trademark of schawk, Inc. the schawk logo is a trademark of schawk, Inc. blUe is a trademark of schawk, Inc.