Physical Production Media Storage – The Historical Problem

Chances are everyone can remember an advertising campaign from the past that made an impression. So, what happened to all the physical video, film and audio materials afterward? Many companies are facing the daunting challenge of not knowing exactly what archived assets they are storing, where they are being stored and how much they are paying for them.

Previously, a single advertising campaign could easily have created a staggering 4-6 cartons of physical elements for which advertisers were then being billed a monthly storage fee (per carton).

Here’s the dirty little secret that no one tells you: depending on the size of the company, its historical and digital advertising archive, a company could still be paying upwards of $300,000 annually simply to store its archived marketing production assets.

Digital Storage – The Modern Problem

Today, advertisers’ production storage problems are being further compounded by a vast amount of digital materials being produced to provide for an ever-expanding choice of digital, social and interactive media platforms. Since the production industry has moved from a film and video tape workflow to a digital workflow, there is significantly more content created.

Most Advertisers are now moving towards implementing a cloud-based storage solution. The challenge then becomes how to efficiently store, locate and manage these files properly, which can often be a very time-consuming and costly process.

Why Address the Production Storage Problem?

There are a variety of reasons why companies should take the time to evaluate and audit their production storage. They include:

1. Identifying unwanted stockpiled production material – an easy way to reduce storage costs
2. Archiving & Digitizing Historical assets – valuable for historical campaigns
3. Managing new elements & finished campaigns – useful for repurposing content for new projects

Companies that have undertaken the arduous process of cleaning up their data and transferring to a more modern cloud based organization method have reported cost savings upwards of 80% annually. 

The APR Solution to Production Storage:

By working with our partner, Creative Services/Video Opticals, Inc., APR has helped develop a process that enables you to access your production assets, archive what’s necessary, and eliminate what’s not. This can be done at no cost to you.

Creative Services/Video Optical Inc.’s “storage redesign” process involves 3 stages:

1.)     Discovery

• What is stored where and for how much?
• What should be purged and what saved?
• What are the savings opportunities?

2.)     Sort/Purge

• Sort and separate material
• Purge unwanted assets (like rough-cut cassettes that will never be used)

3.)     Digitize

• Assets of importance (masters, product footage, etc.)
• Upload to D.A.M. (Digital Asset Management) for easy accessibility
• Add database and metadata lists to easily track and identify what you have

After implementing the discovery and purge process, companies will then know exactly what assets they have in addition to knowing where and how they are being organized within the cloud. Organizations can then rest assure their production materials are in a safe, usable and modernized digital format. By taking these steps, your company can implement an ongoing asset retention policy that prevents future unnecessary build-ups of materials – and the associated fees.

This service has been designed for clients who have been worn down over the years by the complications and high price of asset storage. Does this describe your company? If so, call us for details.