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Cloud storage and collaboration-tool options are becoming more granular for use in vertical sectors. For example, storage of medical images involves certain regulatory mandates around privacy that the storage of personal photos does not entail.
Likewise, cloud storage services with collaboration tools are fine-tuning themselves toward certain types of businesses. A recent example is San Francisco-based Canto, which Dec. 8 launched Flight PHL—a new release of Flight by Canto, its cloud-based media library specifically made for marketing teams.
Canto is seeking to displace the use of more generalized online platforms, such as Box and Dropbox, as marketing tools for visualizing and managing brand assets, the company said.
Software-as-a-Service DAM
This software-as-a-service digital asset management (DAM) solution includes a refreshed user interface with upgraded features, such as a new Masonry Grid Layout View, which gives Flight PHL users a faster, clearer view of their brand assets than traditional cloud storage platforms, Canto said.
To improve privacy controls, Flight PHL introduced a new private collaboration Workspace feature that facilitates secure sharing of images, videos and other visual content. Light and dark themes available in Flight PHL allow teams to further brand their media library for on-brand user experiences in-house and via distribution Portals, the company said.
“Box, Dropbox and other cloud storage platforms are fine for business users in need of a simple file sharing or storage solution, but they lack features for visualizing and organizing brand assets to create better marketing workflows,” Canto Marketing Director Leslie Weller said. “Flight PHL makes DAM more visual, powerful and streamlined, offering marketing teams an easier and more intuitive approach to brand-asset management than anything out there today.”
Flight PHL gives marketing teams a centralized online location for sharing, storing, searching and collaborating on essential brand assets, including capabilities for cropping images on-the-fly and relating assets to associate them with one another. The enhanced UI allows greater control over permissions, enabling marketers to better manage who can see what across their media library, Weller said.
Flight Also Features Digital Copyright Protection
In an era in which the use of unlicensed images can translate into millions of dollars in lawsuits, not to mention a loss in brand trust, Flight PHL also offers organizations another advantage over traditional cloud storage platforms: digital copyright management capabilities.
With Flight PHL, assets can be shared with granular insight into copyright details such as expiration dates, terms and conditions, watermarking and more. Flight PHL users can also relate assets under management, such as linking a model release form (a signed contract/PDF file) to the associated photo. In-app notifications keep marketing teams aware of changes and updates throughout the entire content lifecycle.
Flight PHL also allows content to be shared through multiple platforms, including Slack; to social sites such as Facebook and Twitter; and through restricted portals.
University’s Creative Team Organizes Thousands of Files with Flight
The creative team at Furman University, a private liberal arts college in Greenville, South Carolina, originally stored their image photo library on Flickr, with support from local drives. The image-hosting site proved to be less than ideal for their needs, so they turned to Flight to gain a cloud-based central repository with better search, tagging, navigation and organization options.
“With the ability to store any file type, Flight has made locating and sharing assets so much easier for us,” said Kaylee Welgraven, a graphic designer for Furman University. “We can categorize assets in folders and albums, include descriptions, link to similar assets, set expirations and collaborate on files. These and many other features, along with Canto’s competitive pricing, make Flight a game-changing tool.”
Canto will hold a webinar titled “What’s New in Flight PHL” on Dec. 20 at 10 a.m. Pacific time. To register, go here.
For further information, visit canto.com. To start a free Flight trial, go here.