In the advertising world, collaboration between agencies, clients, vendors and business partners is not just a good idea. It is essential to creating and developing the big ideas that produce significant business results for clients. The scope of collaboration in an agency setting encompasses business and creative strategists, graphic designers, copywriters, video and online professionals, media strategists and buyers, vendors, and clients.
In today’s global marketplace, it is critical that these various parties be able to share information, strategies, creative concepts and executions in a variety of large file formats. They must be able to do this efficiently, 24/7, often across multiple geographies and time zones.
CHI & Partners, a global, integrated marketing and communications agency with offices in London and New York, and with clients including British Gas, Best Buy, Samsung, The Sunday Times of London and The Prince’s Trust, provides a perfect example of the importance of collaboration to achieving success. The agency describes its strategic and creative approach saying, “today’s world is one in which collaboration and partnership are key, where seamlessly integrated, multi-faceted ideas are essential and where campaigns are co-created with consumers and partners. Our process for getting to big ideas involves open and honest collaboration between clients, the agency and partners.”
Key to achieving this kind of all inclusive collaboration is the ability to share large files such as presentations, advertisements, video and audio files, effortlessly, rapidly and securely on an ad hoc basis.
CHI & Partners has found its solution to this business challenge in the deployment of YouSendIt for Business.
Previous solutions were costly, inefficient and not being adopted by users
Prior to deploying YouSendIt for Business, CHI & Partners was using a file transfer solution from another vendor to share business content with clients. The firm also used an in-house FTP system to transfer large files. Neither solution ever truly provided the ease of use and functionality the agency desired. Additionally, they were both costly and cumbersome to use. When it was time to renew the license on its file transfer solution, the agency took the opportunity to investigate other options.
“My concern,” recalled Andrew Freiberger, CHI & Partners’ IT Manager, “was that the product we were using at the time wasn’t being used intensively. I felt we ought to have a look at other products that were on the market that might be more likely used by our employees. The obvious one was YouSendIt for Business. I think everybody within the agency was aware of it, so it was just a matter of finding out whether or not YouSendIt had a business offering that we could deploy across the agency.”
Not only did Freiberger find that YouSendIt did indeed have widely deployed and feature-rich enterprise offerings, but he also was delighted to learn that unlike his previous solutions which sat locally on the agency’s network, YouSendIt for Business resides in the cloud and is designed to quickly and easily integrate into existing IT systems.
“That meant with YouSendIt for Business we wouldn’t have to worry about managing the system on a day-to-day basis,” said Freiberger. “We also learned that we could custom brand YouSendIt for Business, which was an added plus from our perspective.”
Freiberger’s research led him to download a free trial version of YouSendIt for Business. He was immediately struck by its simplicity, ease of implementation and seamless integration with Microsoft Outlook.
YouSendIt for Business deployed agency wide
CHI & Partners deployed YouSendIt for Business to 200 employees worldwide. Compared to its previous system, which was used only sporadically, YouSendIt for Business has been enthusiastically embraced and is being used on a daily basis by virtually every employee of the agency. In just one month, Freiberger reports that nearly 4,000 files were sent via YouSendIt for Business – quite a large number for a 200-person agency.
Other benefits of YouSendIt for Business were quickly realized. Little, if any, training or helpdesk support was required. The entire implementation process, from the time the decision was made to deploy YouSendIt for Business until it was up and running agency wide, took only a couple of weeks, which was another pleasant surprise for Freiberger.
“One of the things I like most about YouSendIt for Business is that, it’s quite discreet,” said Freiberger. “For our Windows-based users, it sits as a plug-in on your Outlook application, and if you happen to send an attachment over 10 megabytes in size, it just kicks in and does what it needs to do. Most important, it doesn’t require that people change the way they work; rather, it complements the way they work. They don’t need to learn a new technology. It makes them more productive in their jobs. And that’s really what you want from a solution like this.”
“Once you start using it, you can’t imagine not having it”
Every department at CHI & Partners uses YouSendIt for Business, from creative and account management, to finance, IT and human resources. Use of the YouSendIt for Business mobile app for iPad is on the rise especially among executives at CHI & Partners. They often work on the road and deliver keynote presentations from their iPads. With the YouSendIt for Business mobile app, they can quickly sync the latest version of their presentations across mobile devices with their colleagues regardless of where they are in the world.
Among creative directors, graphic designers and producers, YouSendIt for Business optimizes the flow of work and the delivery of media files. Stored content is easily accessed from desktops and tablets. Changes to high-resolution graphics and raw HD videos are instantly synced across all systems and devices. Creative directors access, review and make edits and suggestions for improvement. YouSendIt for Business has significantly streamlined the agency’s workflow and business processes.
According to Freiberger, “YouSendIt for Business is a very effective method for transferring large files between individuals. It’s one of those wonderful tools that make you wonder how you ever got along without it in the first place. Once you start using it, you can’t imagine not having it.”
