WAWA, Pa. -- Regional convenience and fuel retailer Wawa Inc. has chosen the Widen Media Collective for its digital asset management (DAM) needs. As an extensive user of both print and digital signage, Wawa adopted Widen DAM to organize its digitals assets and streamline collaboration with ad agencies while providing company leadership with convenient self-service access to critical brand files.
"We have an extensive library of brand images and searching for an image to meet an exact need was time consuming," said Steven Gamble, marketing services manager at Wawa. "We recently implemented a digital signage program that was requiring us to create digital assets at a much higher rate. Given the difficulties we had and this new influx of material, we knew the problem was going to get much worse."
Gamble's team reached out to ad agency partners for recommendations on file management solutions and began an extensive review of 10 DAM systems.
"At the end of the day, our choice came down to the user interface. Our need for simplicity in the front end was the most important criteria," said Gamble.
Wawa chose Widen for its accessible user interface with plans to provide access to Wawa's marketing team and multiple advertising partners, which include traditional, interactive, packaging and printer agencies, the companies said. Each agency will be able to upload assets onto the Widen DAM system, simplifying delivery, review and overall project management.
"From a brand standpoint, it's imperative to provide agency partners with a window to the correct assets," said Nina Brakel-Schutt, Widen brand strategist. "Widen's DAM system provides a single point of reference for assets, so all external communications will share a common thread and Wawa will be presented with consistency to the marketplace."
In addition, the Widen DAM system will provide Wawa's senior management with self-service access to digital assets they need for presentations. Ultimately, the DAM system will hold native and retouched photos along with all final projects including photos, signage, videos for digital signage, and online flash videos for emails and the Wawa website.
Based in Madison, Wis., Widen has honed its more than 60 years of experience in premedia services and color management specifically for assisting customers with building brand equity and supporting consistent brand representation across print and web communications. Through its inventive suite of web-based digital asset management applications, Widen software services provide marketing networks with real-time, web-based access to clients' digital asset libraries, subsequently eliminating manual search and file preparation time, costs related to replacing images and videos that cannot be located, and added costs for hardware, software and upgrades.
Wawa, based in Wawa, Pa., is a chain of more than 600 convenience retail stores (300 offering gasoline) located in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland and Virginia and Florida. The stores offer a large fresh foodservice selection, including Wawa brands such as built-to-order hoagies, coffee, breakfast sandwiches, built-to-order specialty beverages and an assortment of soups, sides and snacks.
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