Johnsonville improves access to digital assets across departments and geographic locations

Challenges 

Founded in 1945, Johnsonville has a rich history and thriving brand. “Our identity is in all our photography, packaging, our product images,” said Kelly Owens, Packaging Graphics Coordinator at Johnsonville. With assets scattered across multiple devices and tools, it was hard to find assets and know if it was the correct version.

In addition, the graphics team was constantly fielding asset requests. This involved locating files, saving them in multiple formats, sharing them, and remembering where they are stored so they could be changed when needed. “It was very daunting,” Kelly shared. Each request could lead to hours of searching for a specific file.

Objectives

Efficiency

Reduce time spent searching, re-formatting, and sharing files

Search speed

Help people find assets in less time

Security
Control who can access what and when

Market growth
Provide on-brand assets to expanding markets

Solution

Self-service access to searchable assets with on-demand file conversions
After a two-year search, Kelly helped Johnsonville identify the Widen Collective as the right solution. In 2016 they started their implementation with the packaging department, to house logos, advertising, and product photography. "They are loving it," said Kelly. "It's super easy to be able to collect the photography...and just share it out to the agency."

Over the years, Johnsonville’s use of the Collective has grown across departments. Their entire marketing team uses the DAM, human resources has started adding historical assets, and manufacturing wants to add their video files. Kelly helps set up roles and permissions so that each department only sees what they need. For example, when marketing is working on their ad campaigns, other users can’t access those assets.

Johnsonville has also expanded their use of Collective apps. They use Portals to give external sales teams access to their business unit’s assets. “Their assets are organized visually so that they can find things very quickly. It’s very easy to navigate,” Kelly shared. “They can easily download in a format that fits their needs.”

Benefits

Less time wasted working with digital assets
Before Jonhnsonville implemented the Collective, searching for assets could take hours, even over the course of days, and sometimes assets were never even found. Now, assets are accessed from a central, searchable source of truth. Plus, the Collective allows users to convert files with ease. “Reformatting on the fly has been a lifesaver,” Kelly affirmed.

Global distribution
“It’s a better way to distribute the assets,” Kelly explained. “Our international team has asked us to create a portal for their advertising agencies in Japan and China so that they can create their websites over there.” Those teams receive a link and a password to download just the files they need. This self-service access makes working across time zones much more efficient.

DAM is a lifesaver
Through their partnership with Widen, Johnsonville has changed the way they work, for the better. “I would highly recommend Widen for a digital asset solution,” Kelly confirmed. “The solution is easy, it’s intuitive, their knowledge is in-depth, and it’s exactly what you need. Widen is amazing. Their customer service is unbelievable. And their CSMs are top-notch.”

"The solution is easy, it’s intuitive, their knowledge is in-depth, and it’s exactly what you need. Widen is amazing. Their customer service is unbelievable."

– Kelly Owens, Packaging Graphics Coordinator, Johnsonville