PRWeek interviews CleanPix.
- 5 things our clients tell us
- Popular file formats
- Controlling access
- 8 best tips
- What to avoid
- Asset management, an overview

PRWeek interviews CleanPix.

PRWeek magazine's recent interview (2006) with CleanPix about how best to supply the media with the pictures they need from marketing and PR professionals when they want to write an article about your organization.

1) What are the different types of requests you receive for "art?"

Our clients mostly deal with requests for photographs and related marketing and PR material.

2) What types of "art" do journalists usually request?

Whether working in enterprise-grade organizations or very small ones, our clients mostly get requests for photographs. These requests can originate from the media but also from other PR colleagues, marketing or promotion departments, outside sales offices or retailers within or outside the company.  No matter who asks for the material, it must be ready for use and enhance PR effectiveness.

3) How do they like to get it?
(For instance, don't send attachments unless they've asked for it!)

What we know from our clients is that the end users including media people do not have time to waste. They are generally on deadline and want material that is easily accessible and ready for use.

5 things we have often heard our clients tell us.

- Journalists prefer custom responses to their requests; that means a photo selection already edited, not your entire collection.
- Journalists want previews of each picture or document that can be quickly recognized.
- Journalists also want technical information about the file (i.e. size, format, etc.).
- Most importantly, they want caption information that is right with the file. A journalist would not risk using a photo and misquoting the visual information so readily available, accurate captions are paramount.
- Finally, journalists want assurance that the file is ready for press in the right format, right now.

Now, here are 3 situations journalists do not want to be facing when they wait for photo material:

- Journalists do not want attachments or worse, a stream of email attachments. Attachments clog their IN-boxes, denote a small unusable file, quality is questionable and their publisher will strip the attachment for fear of viruses. Email attachments were never designed to transfer 35MB picture files that are 8x10s. Publishers like great pictures, in large format, with impeccable color quality, simply because that sells magazines, and, yes, they may have less to write, but a picture in this case is sure worth a thousand words. Great pictures inspire the writer, writers inspire the reader, and you get free press.  Everyone wins.
- Journalists do not want to try to decipher title to image and play games to open the file for preview. The preview should be immediate.
- Journalists do not want to run into providing a picture to their graphic department and see it rejected for its technical failings and have to start all over again.

Once again, the above remains true for all end-users that the PR function is supporting may it be marketing, sales offices, sponsorship teams or others.

4) What formats/quality do most publications want?

CMYK, meeting SWOP standards (Standards for printing on Web Offset Press), is the preferred format. JPGs are fine as long as they do not show any compression problems. Quality is often a function of file resolution. In print publication terms this means that at 100% physical size the file must be able to cover a full magazine page, without distortion and color loss. For logos, an EPS with all fonts embedded as outlines is essential. For text, you need an editable, current Word document. For advertising templates, you should have a high-resolution PDF (2400 dpi) or EPS Illustrator file with fonts embedded as outlines.

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5) How do you negotiate inherent obstacles, such as firewalls (ie, alternatives to e-mail attachments)?

Used by journalists all around the world, our file management system rarely runs up against firewall issues. The media just have to search and  retrieve the files they want using their web browser. Because all files are delivered directly in the browser, this eliminates email-related problems such as email virus scans, spam scanners, and attachment size limits. If they can access the web they can download files from CleanPix.

6) How much "free" downloadable art should you make available on websites? How (or even if) should you control who has access to that?

From our experience as well as our clients' there should be a combination of rights-free and rights-managed material. If it is all rights-free the feeling is that everybody else is using this stuff and from the journalist¹s perspective that means that his story images will not be unique.

The media do not want to waste their time filling out information requests without the ability to preview the images and caption material. They want to preview the files, select what they want, fill out their contact information and be granted access as soon as possible to their specific custom requests.

Here is a scenario that does not work and will tick off any journalist: I visit the website looking for images for my story. I click on media center and select photo library. I get a page that says: "I am glad you are here, we have a great selection. Fill out the following form for contact info and we will grant you access." I fill out the form, submit the info and wait a day or hours to be responded to with an access to thumbnails that I then have to select and call the PR representative to have a disc burned and sent to me.

Here is a scenario that¹s been proven to work: I visit the website, click on media center, select photo library. (A media center should never be buried deep down in a website, it should be easy to access via the front page). I get a selection of links that are already organized by category of specific interests or a library that has a keyword search system. I can immediately preview the files in the link. When I click on a particular image I get a larger preview with image specs, a preview of available formats, title and caption information on the same page. I select the file and begin to select others, including related support material for the story such as PDFs of maps, additional text, etc. I can preview what I have selected, fill out my contact info, submit my request, get a response in less than 24 hrs with a link to the files I have requested, all ready for press. Now, that works!

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7) Describe a situation where you went to great lengths to accommodate a journalist's request for art?

No PR department or official should have to go to great lengths.  It should be and it is indeed easy to do with a proper digital asset management service tailored for media/journalist use: quick to respond, simple-to-fill requests, and easy for the journalist to get the content they need in the right file format. Bottom line, getting great pictures to promote your organization should not be for you or for the journalist an ordeal like getting a root canal.

If you have to go to great lengths, this may mean that:
- You do not have great pictures of your product or organization.
- The pictures are overused and outdated.
- Their quality is unknown or if you cannot find them.
- You have no immediate means to grant access to them.
- Possibly the worst, you have no assurance the files are in the format the journalist needs.

As the CEO of CleanPix likes to say: "Results cost less than costs." Getting a great full-page editorial in a prominent publication, because you have the means to manage your media assets at a moment's notice, is what an asset management should be about.

8) What third-party services do you use and incorporate into your program with clients? How difficult is it to use these services?

We have no difficulty whatsoever in saying that CleanPix is the perfect fit between the needs of journalists and those of PR and communication professionals, who face the daily challenge of both responding to and trying to increase media traffic. Easy to use, CleanPix is there only for one purpose: to serve PR professionals to generate press coverage instead of being a cost center. Being able to measure the performance of a service is a crucial part of brand strategy and PR officials are getting more and more sensitive to that aspect of their business. So, asset management metrics should include a reporting tool that gives an instant snapshot of when, where and by whom each of your assets is being used.

9) What are some Best Practices you can recommend for our readers?

It is important to work with a digital asset management service that understands file quality standards and checks all files for that quality. It is also important that you use a service that understands both the culture of journalist and PR professionals working environment. There are dozens of files and content management systems out there. Some are good for archiving, some are only desktop applications where you cannot deliver a file, some are made for graphic specialists, others suit the needs of communication professionals.  PRWeek readers who happen to be the decision makers must go for what they need.

Here are some of the best practices taken from both our clients¹ and our own experience here at CleanPix:

1. Check your collection of photographs and other files. Are they all current? (It is advisable to refresh 20% of photos annually to keep them current.)

2. Check with your designer/graphic department whether your files are all press-ready (meet SWOP standards), at high enough resolution to give you a full printed page.

3. Pick the most important assets, that you use most, to start. You do not have to get your whole collection ready at once. You can start small and build over time.

4. Check that all your photos have the right captions available. Check copyright information.

5. Gather editable support documents (press releases, information about your organization, etc.) that can be made available for use in articles about you by the press.

6. Before deciding on which asset management service you want to buy, ask for a demo and test it to see what the end user's experience will be like. Do not rely only on how convenient it will be for in-house use only. For example, does it have a smart and efficient catalogue-and-search function for both internal and external use?

7. Examine the time and money spent now on your current methods of information distribution (searching for and packaging material, disk-burning, press-kit preparation and printing, image and text duplication, courier deliveries, etc.). Decide whether the time and money could be better spent on more creative tasks.

8. Ensure your collection is at par with your PR strategies and defines your organization to a "t". Your picture collection is an integral part of your brand. In the case of the hospitality industry for example, we say it is their lifeblood. Check out if there is out there an organization you know that uses a digital asset management system and that is happy with the results and see how the available technology can contribute to your own PR objectives.

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10) What are some potholes to avoid in this area?

-  Custom asset management systems are not easy to build. They require a significant investment in time, money and expertise. Proven services already exist. However, what distinguishes CleanPix from most others is the knowledge-based quality control that is systematically applied to each file.

- Remember that designing a digital asset management system to assist you with PR is likely to run at the bottom of priority as an IT project. You would not contemplate for a second building a Safari or an Explorer browser, would you?

Even if you do build a custom system, you will still have to pay to maintain it. You will have to stay current and compatible with all new browser upgrades, file formats that are constantly changing, and the more than 900 combinations of web browser and operating system used to access the Internet.

An asset management system should be a turn-key solution. When you have decided what features you want, you should be able to put your assets into action immediately it should be ready to go in less time than it takes to send a courier from New York City to San Francisco.

Other potholes?

-  Digital cameras snapshots. The fact that they are easy to use does not mean that the files they generate are press-ready. They are not. To put that in perspective, it takes a 14 megapixel digital camera to barely reproduce the image quality found in 35mm slide film, the old "minimum" acceptable standard of 5 years ago. These professional digital cameras are quite expensive (now about: $10K-$20K) and the knowledge to use digital cameras does not come along with the purchase receipt. So beware of digital snapshots, they may fool you because they look good on screen, but won't fool journalists.

Have you seen the latest shots printed? Here is a giveaway: if the daylight scenes all look as if they were shot at night, they certainly are digital snapshots. 85% of all professional photography is destined for use in print publications. Make sure your photographer gives you press-ready files, do not expect the printer or the journalist to "fix them".

-  Monitor screen calibration. These days, you make most decisions about photographs on your computer screen. You should keep in mind that the monitor screen (laptop too) has to be calibrated monthly to match print results. There are several small devices (around $500) to assist you to do this quite simply. Monitor screens do not come factory calibrated. If your monitor screen is not routinely calibrated, you do not know what your are looking at, (unless you use a system like CleanPix which quality controls each file to ensure it meets SWOP standard and is press-ready. Then you know your files are in place.)

Supplementary information.

We live on a digital world. CleanPix gives PR and communication professionals the service they need to maintain digital control of their media assets.

In fact, the CleanPix service was created to deal with the frustration caused by the constant challenge of file-format incompatibilities and the technical problems in transferring large picture files. Combined with this there is the greedy appetite of some large software corporations for generating upgrades at every turn, holding all digital files hostage to their own technological wonders. As a result, you, the rightful owner, are driven further away from the control of your own PR material. Slowly but surely your power over your own brand is eroded.  

The CleanPix asset management system is there to strip out all these technical difficulties. CleanPix integrates the management of files (particularly pictures) seamlessly into the day-to-day workflow of PR, which is where it belongs. In short, it is easily "manageable" with basic computer skills, by normal people who have better things to do than worry about file-format delivery problems. PR and communication professionals take care of public relations, particularly media relations. They are not IT staff, and should not be. CleanPix is not an IT tool. Rather, it is a service that is core to a PR business decision. It deals with a set of values, such as promotional media relations, which are outside the realms of systems engineering. This is possibly the hardest concept to understand. As soon as one deals with anything to do with the Internet, one usually thinks IT. On the other hand, this is exactly the beauty of CleanPix, it requires no IT support, simply because it does not need it and if it did, it would not be a PR tool. Strangely enough, this is also why many IT people like CleanPix: they have enough on their plate than start worrying about marketing and PR materials.

When deciding on a digital asset management service or system, you should take a serious look at the difficulty of implementation. Many systems require you to purchase and maintain computer servers and be tied into software updates. Many need highly trained librarians or specialist as operators. Many are desktop application programs built essentially for in-house (internal) file management with little or no provision to help you to deal with outside media requests. For outside requests you are then back to burning CDs and paying couriers. CleanPix, on the other hand, is specifically designed for PR/marketing professionals and eliminates all these problems.  

PR professionals need a service that fits their culture and assists them to do their immediate job. This was the challenge CleanPix undertook 5 years ago - to design a toolbox and a service package, custom-fitted to respond to modern PR requirements. Thanks primarily to approvals from its end users, media professionals, CleanPix now has a well-established reputation as a proven business driver through enhancing PR effectiveness with the media. It makes the job of the journalist as well as the PR professional easier. Bottom line: CleanPix Provides PR and marketing professionals an affordable, turn-key solution to authoring the control of their brand.

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