A balanced scorecard assessment of the three potential media asset management systems under consideration showed that censhare was best suited for the company’s requirements. The choice of MSP as the partner for the introduction of censhare was made very deliberately: The success of a software project stands and falls with the implementation partner, according to Matthias Wesselmann, Director Marketing & Communications at Vitra. In close collaboration with the furniture manufacturer, MSP ensured that all assets (products, product families, images, texts) as well as templates and corporate design elements can be administered in a single system.
By implementing censhare, Vitra has substantially enhanced the efficiency of marketing communication as well as the collaboration with external creative partners. For instance, the time needed to create the retailer price list with over 800 pages was reduced from more than eight months to one month. Employees and external creative partners can now generate the price list, catalogs and brochures much more efficiently and in all languages, as translation management was also integrated in censhare.
The country-specific localization of products and content has made it possible to reduce the translation workload and costs. All language versions are managed in an intelligent translation memory system. The international website, with its support for six languages and over a dozen sales regions, is also built using censhare. Vitra dispensed with a separate web CMS and populates website content directly from the Online Channel in censhare. The same logic is used by the Vitra webshop and a web-based kiosk system at VitraHaus, the flagship demo store in Weil am Rhein, Germany. On their tour of the 3600 m2 exhibition space, customers can individually configure products on display, save their choices to a wishlist, or place an order on the spot. RFID cards given to shoppers allow them to see content in their preferred language and country-specific prices, which censhare pulls in dynamically using integration with Vitra’s SAP system.
In addition to simplifying creation, management and distribution of content to their customers, Vitra uses MSP’s proprietary censhare online channel extension, Mediabox, to deliver downloadable images, text and videos to their worldwide retailer network. Mediabox makes it easy to build a fully automated content download site, such as a press portal that contains a selection of images specifically for journalists. Centralized management of rights reduces the administrative workload.
