Canto helps Osprey Group show their record-breaking logistics feats to the world

The project cycle for Osprey spans years, and photography is an important part of the process. When pursuing a contract, commercial teams need to showcase Osprey’s expertise. During projects, photographers document progress and prove safety compliance. Helen singles out the best images for marketing and PR activities.

“We get amazing photography because these are one-off critical items that we’re moving around the world for people. I’ll often send photographers, so I don’t always get to see each project. You have an idea about what to expect to see, and then they’ll come back and it’s like something out of Star Wars,” says Helen.

Before Canto, photographs went into project folders on different servers in different countries. It was challenging for Helen to find the specific image showing the project, equipment or technique she was looking for.

“When I came into Osprey, the only thing that made me a fun sponge was trying to find images. I knew we had all these amazing projects and world-firsts, and I thought where are they? You’d go into the nineteenth folder to find the photos and you find out either they didn’t have any or they weren’t usable for marketing purposes,” says Helen.

Helen knew it was important to introduce a digital asset management solution at Osprey so that colleagues across the business could collaborate and find the media assets they need. Osprey reviewed 15 tools. They chose Canto because it’s accessible anytime, anywhere, to people with a range of technical abilities.

“I really like the fact it’s in the cloud and so accessible. I can use it on my mobile if I’m working remotely or out on site, and the teams who’ve been with us for 25 years get on with it easily. Nobody has been put off by having to learn software,” says Helen, “on the contrary, we’re all now using it as a tool to capture images of our clients’ projects and successes.”

Helen was selective about what she added to Canto from Osprey’s back-catalogue. She uploads the best new project images to the library, storing them alongside team photos and bid documents. Osprey’s Canto library now holds a refined and searchable selection of 3,000 images, 100 videos, 200 PDFs and branded presentations.

“Our teams are proud of the projects they’ve been involved in. We’re embedded in huge infrastructure projects that make for amazing photos, so perhaps it’s not a surprise – we probably take about 12,000 photos a year. But we didn’t need a huge library, what we wanted was a usable showcase – something that works for us, helps our clients too, and lets anyone search for the Osprey images they need.” says Helen.

Canto puts marketers and photographers on the same page – from across the world

Each team in Osprey has their own upload link. Helen can see who the sender is and what the context is when an image comes through. This has streamlined the workflow for Osprey’s photographers, who save up to three hours on upload admin per shoot. Helen receives an automatic notification when Contributors upload photos.

“We get the images straight away. It saves everyone a lot of time and hassle. All our photographers have upload links and it’s so easy for them to use. It takes no time at all. Even if they’re in the middle of nowhere, Wi-Fi is not such an issue, whereas if you’re trying to download massive TIF files and send them across, it can take forever. So now it feels quite instantaneous,” says Helen.

Once Helen has reviewed the images she tags and saves them in their final destination album.

“Without communicating, we are communicating where we are in the process. It makes it easy. It’s a great way to make sure that only approved images are getting out, too” comments Helen.

Better brand exposure with effective sharing

Helen uses images stored in Canto to update their website and generate publicity with the press and on social media.

“We do tend to get our images shared a lot because they’re unique projects. The photos are stunning so editors often ask us for 350 words now, rather than just a small comment. This is critical to brand exposure for Osprey – communicating our capabilities without needing to pay for adverts,” says Helen.

For press and commercial opportunities, Helen uses share links to send collections of images. Setting link expiry gives Helen flexibility and control when sharing assets.

“I’ll send links, then I like the fact that Canto notifies me when accessed because I know the client or PR agency has got them. I like that you can go back in and find the link you sent and activate it again. That’s clever,” says Helen.

Share link functionality has improved relationships with press, clients and tier-one suppliers. The email links reach their destination and are not blocked by firewalls.

“We’re working with a lot of tier-one suppliers, businesses that have strict protocols and strong firewalls. That’s good, but it does mean attachments can be challenging. Sending a weblink to those clients is much easier now – and that intuitive process helps us work even better, together,” says Helen.

Now it’s easy to collect, find and share all the photographs that catalog each bespoke project. With Canto, it’s been simpler to drive brand consistency and implement quality control.

“We can communicate our brand images with a central system that’s easy to access, that’s easy to communicate from. It’s making it easy, quick and efficient,” says Helen.

Canto has provided Osprey with a springboard for smoother collaboration and enhanced third-party relationships.

“In terms of how we add value? It’s a nice, neat way of doing business. It’s that warm hug. We’ve not only delivered what you’ve asked, we’ve delivered it – photographed it for posterity – and you can find those photos here. For tenders, for example, we can even talk to clients about storing insurance documents and evidence all in one place, which is key,” comments Helen.

Helen is even more confident because of her experience with Canto support and customer success teams.

“The fact that I can ask for help and you’ve got somebody there who can help you is amazing. I don’t need to panic because I know the individual who can help me through it. That said, the help section on Canto is brilliant,” Helen concludes.