The Science Gallery Network has grown remarkably, with installations and art spaces now based at several international universities. An increase in global membership meant more digital assets. But with Google Drive, how staff were managing assets lacked structure.
“In the past, all of our files were on Google Drive,” Katrina says, “and as our members increased our content began to grow exponentially. Things were getting out of hand.”
The increasing commitment of educational institutions around the world meant more visuals, photography and video requests from creative teams. Third-party access was also required for design projects, media and press launches. This made monitoring who had access to folders problematic.
“The system we had was becoming too difficult to use. Instead of looking for assets themselves colleagues were ringing and emailing marketing teammates and asking them to find assets,” says Katrina.
With team members struggling to find what they needed and circumnavigating the storage system they had in place, Katrina began an initiative to find a better way to store digital assets.
“Our past error was trying to make our storage system everything to everyone,” Katrina says. “Moving forward we were conscious that we wanted an intuitive and user-friendly product.”
Before finding Canto, an over-reliance on individual users was becoming an issue.
“Gatekeepers in multiple locations was a problem for us, moving forward we didn’t want to repeat that. We needed a solution that gave everyone access and had excellent administrator controls,” says Katrina.
Canto made what Katrina and her team were trying to achieve feel easy. A fluid migration of their digital assets and thorough onboarding helped with the transfer of key assets.
“Even in a couple of instances when we thought we didn’t have time, we were able to set up integrations for our teams quickly. The duplicate detector helped with migrating everything across,” says Katrina.
Features that give full control
As Katrina and her team moved from shared drives to a centralized digital asset management (DAM) system, user simplicity became an ally.
A standard Canto feature like drag and drop works quickly and allows for a seamless transition of assets. Facial recognition helps with human-centric visuals that promote the Science Gallery Network.
Another powerful feature is Portals. Katrina and her team use Portals to create a searchable space for media teams to access brand logos and imagery when covering live events. A youth initiative has also been enhanced through Portals with Science Galleries around the world making promotional content available.
“We created a portal for under twenty-fives to shout about their works on social media. We make Zoom backgrounds, logos and branding available for them to use when promoting their work,” says Katrina.
Establishing sound asset management
Katrina and her team were looking to invest in a digital asset solution that had specific people-centric tools that could structure a high volume of digital assets. The DAM they committed to had to work within a budget that was scalable as they grew.
“Canto nailed the combination of giving us the core tools we need at a fair price,” Katrina says. “I find the facial recognition incredibly helpful. We get inquiries about exhibitions from years ago, being able to tag and filter everything is really clean. Before we didn’t have a method to access these assets, now we can structure our content into relevant folders.”
Logos, banners and marketing materials are all stored in one place. A folder dedicated to templates gives members instant access to administrative content. These assets are arranged and stored alongside primary resources like photography and video.
From anywhere in the world marketing managers can now upload content, as well as provide Share Links to access assets from external teams. Notifications alert the marketing team who oversees Canto uploads to ensure they’re adhering to age law restrictions.
“We work with young adults a lot so it’s important we know what is being shared to meet data regulations,” Katrina says. “Canto helps us do that.”
