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Unit 14: Disseminating Product Information to Retail Personnel

simply stored in a folder hierarchy on a file server. Rather, Cumulus ensures that company Notes
employees can manage and maintain all photos in a consistent manner, organized by
product categories and other relevant, descriptive categories.
Integrating Cumulus with Monster’s Product Information Management System
Working with a systems integrator, Modula, Klar has integrated Cumulus with Monster’s
product database. (Monster uses FileMaker to maintain the product categories in a relational
database.) Specifically, Monster manages its products in a structured manner, first by
product families, then by product types, and finally by individual product names and SKU
numbers. Monster maintains all of its product-related metadata within the product database.

Monster then relies on the scripting capabilities within Cumulus to synchronize the
metadata schema from the product database with the categories for the digital asset
management system.
Cumulus is able to automatically replicate the product categories for digital assets from
those defined by the product database, and use them to tag product photographs. When
adding or removing products in its product database—a frequent occurrence in the
consumer electronics industry—Monster can immediately update the categories for digital
assets, and ensure that the terms for indexing digital assets match the categories within the
product database. Staff photographers, who are responsible for archiving the finished
photographs at the end of a photo shoot, launch the script to automatically tag new assets
within Cumulus.
Consistent Browsing and Searching Capabilities

As a result, whether they are looking for product information in the database or product
photos in Cumulus, graphic designers and content creators can browse or search for
content using a consistent set of indexing terms and categories. Once they locate a set of
photos based on product-related metadata, they can browse through the group to view
photos with different background colors, photo styles, packaging, and cutaways.
For instance, Monster Cable, one of the company’s product families, produces different
types of cables, including audio cables, video cables, computer cables, and mounts, as
shown in Illustration 1.
The photos themselves feature different backgrounds, packaging formats, and cable
presentations. Graphic designers, Web developers, and others can thus find a range of
photos from which to choose when searching for pictures of a specific product.
Monster continues to refine the browsing and searching capabilities of Cumulus. Monster
employees can search by product name, product description, model name, and inventory
number. Monster also includes the short product descriptions as entries in the keyword
field within Cumulus, enabling graphic designers and others to find pictures based on
their keywords. “With so many categories and keywords available, it’s easy for somebody
at Monster to find the product photos they need,” Klar says

The Impact of Cumulus within Monster
Reducing Time and Costs for Developing Marketing Materials
More photos lead to more opportunities for merchandising Monster products more
effectively. With Cumulus in place, Monster can centrally manage the more than 12,000
photos that capture its entire product line. Graphic designers and content creators can
readily access previously created photos when developing new marketing collateral.
They no longer have to request new photos for products that are released and shipping.
Contd...

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