Introduction
For over ten years, Sohonet Storylink has been Warner Bros.’ go to solution for Digital Asset Management. The partnership started as a solution to sharing and securing Warner Bros.’ digital assets. During the pandemic, Storylink empowered WB to confidently share assets live while remote. With the help of Storylink, Warner Bros has been able to watermark their intellectual property, securely share assets during the pandemic, and reach new global markets.
“The partnership we have is unlike any other that I’ve experienced. This is an unusual situation to have a tech company be so responsive to what we need, and so personalized and then available. That’s just irreplaceable.” Spencer Douglas, Executive Director of Integrated Marketing at Warner Bros
Products
Sohonet Storylink
Problem: Securing Sensitive Digital Assets in an Increasingly Virtual World
Until 2012, Warner Bros. had developed its own asset management system. Within this system, internal teams, filmmakers, and external vendors frequently worked with their own legacy applications. Each of these had their own levels of security, flexibility, and range of features. However, none delivered the complete, encompassing feature set that a multi-billion dollar, industry-leading studio required.
This approach created major challenges for live collaboration both internally and externally, ranging from security, permissions management, and distribution. And with the ever-increasing risk of piracy and asset leaks, security was a massive concern when coordinating with external vendors and brand partners.
Then in 2020, the global COVID-19 pandemic brought about additional challenges. For the first time in its history, the entertainment industry was forced to move almost entirely virtual. Warner Bros. had relied upon in person meetings for the presentation of assets, but during the height of the pandemic, this was no longer tenable.
Solution: Efficiency in Content Distribution & Reviews
“[the team] brought very personal touches in the beginning, and that meant a lot to us. And I think a big reason that we signed on, but also stayed on, was because it didn’t feel cold and corporate. It felt personal and personable and warm. It made a big difference.”
In the early 2010s, in an effort to secure their billions of dollars in assets, Warner Bros. holistically evaluated their approach to digital asset management. They evaluated internal solutions to preserve creative freedoms, as well as industry vendors. That’s when they began looking into Digital Asset Management systems (DAMs) that were already trusted and battle-tested within the entertainment industry.
With a unique position as an industry leader with a focus on personalised solutions and customer success Sohoney Storylink was able to deliver a proven yet customisable Digital Asset Management (DAM) solution. It addressed the full scale of Warner Bros. challenges at the beginning of the decade by meeting their real-time media review needs with their current tools and augmenting their capabilities.
By unifying asset management into a single platform with a creative friendly interface, WB simplified their internal pipeline and secured their digital assets for internal and external distribution.
Once the security measures were in place, WB started to allow digital assets to be presented and downloaded with custom watermarks. While some of the tools used by WB prior to Storylink offered watermarking, none allowed for customisation. Storylink’s unique watermarking technology enabled WB to implement visual watermarks that included:
- Specific opacity, position, angle, color, repetition
- Identifying information such as name and company.
- A unique style with a dual outline
- The option to adapt changes for future watermarking needs
These watermarking solutions proved vital during the pandemic as well. With nearly all staff and vendors working remotely for an extended time, this security was critical to avoid delays while mitigating the risk of leaks. During COVID-19, Warner Bros. was not only able to continue those remote presentations through Storylink itself, but also felt confident that the viewers were receiving the assets in a secure way.
Storylink’s platform helped facilitate asset sharing to take place at any time, whether in remote meetings or asynchronously.
“the ability to track down anything, and the flexibility to discuss what we needed in the moment gave us the confidence to move forward.”
Results: Complete Confidence in Digital Asset Management
In a word, Storylink brought confidence to WB. For a company whose current assets are valued at nearly $40 billion, the ability to collaborate on those assets – while mitigating security risks – is crucial.
With this confidence in their security, for the first time, Warner Bros. started to allow external individuals to give presentations on their behalf. This speaks to the trust in knowing that their sensitive assets will be handled appropriately within Storylink. Whether there’s a presentation in a different country or right in California, Warner Bros. can trust that their assets are protected, tracked, and reported on. There’s a sense of safety knowing that their reference materials are being distributed with watermarks and tracked throughout the world.
WB had full confidence that when they needed a personalised solution to new problems that emerged over the past decade.
“There’s always been a collaboration spirit, in terms of meeting our needs. And that’s been really helpful, and part of the reason that we’ve stayed working [together] all throughout the years.”
Finally, Storylink instilled the confidence to reach new markets, due to strengthened’ digital asset workflows. For example, WB could virtually present assets to a greater number of licensees, retailers, product developers, promotional partners, digital partners, and creative vendors.
| >500,000 Files Managed per Year | >500,000 Files Distributed per Year |
