A passionate winemaker upgrades to DAM

The wine-growing company Vignobles André Lurton has always had a need to store and manage photos for the promotion of their wines, for corporate communications, and for adding to the websites and catalogues of their distributors.

After years of using a media library tool that didn’t really meet their needs (it was expensive, entirely in English, and not very intuitive), they made the decision to implement a true DAM solution. The company’s documentalist was chosen to be the project manager. In 2005, the person in charge of documents implemented Image Director, Hélène Brun-Puginier remembers. However, this application’s design was outdated, its ergonomics were mediocre, and the company ended up using it very little. On top of that, it became very expensive. The company’s documentalist, Hélène, remembers that the application also had a bunch of useless bells and whistles.

After searching on the internet and reading positive reviews from photographers, Hélène decided to turn toward a different solution in SaaS mode. “What I saw online immediately won me over,” she adds. “Especially because we wanted a secure, customizable tool.”

Today, this new media library is home to 3,500 files (photos, PDFs, and videos), but more than double that number of media remains to be indexed. Those resources are hosted by the solution’s developer and it’s mainly internal users who utilize the media, particularly staff from the marketing and communications teams. For now, there are few external contributors, but that could change in the future because Hélène Brun-Puginier notes that people are realizing just how useful this solution is. “The people who use it say that it’s simple and that the features offered perfectly meet their needs.”

Recently, the winemaker even used QR codes on its description labels in China. Each QR code links to a photo or a photo album. This helps improve the winemaker’s image, Hélène explains.

While the price was an important factor for Vignobles André Lurton in choosing this solution, above all, it was the simple usage that won them over. Today, even the most technology-averse employees use the solution, Hélène Brun-Puginier adds. “I’ve only received positive feedback compared to the old system. Especially because we now have many features available, notably the ability to download photos in different resolutions and to send them directly via email. That’s a feature we use a lot.”

All that’s left for the company to do is add and index the rest of its multimedia library. “We have to do that and do it right because that will make it much easier and faster for us to use the tool,” says Hélène. Once the right keywords are entered, searches will immediately be faster for salespeople. “A single person is in charge of indexing, and that’s me,” Hélène adds. There may be a number of contributors, but just one person doing the indexing.

One important clarification: for this type of solution to be fully operational, you need a good internet connection, especially for video. “Since we upgraded to a fiber-optic connection, I can see the difference,” the documentalist concludes.