• Enhanced search capability - predictive search words, As soon as you start to type in the Asset Store Search Box, the system shows you the 6 most popular recently searched keywords that contain the text you have typed.
• Reports email instructions - Clients can now manage the preface of any report as part of subscription email content text. Ability to give clear instruction to the end user.
• Mark-up tool enhanced - To make it easier for reviewers in multi-asset workflows, we have added a new “Review Next Asset” button within the Mark Up Tool.

The UK's leading ethical financial services group has selected be the brand experience to create and deploy a large-scale marketing resource management system. The customised system (alf), caters for Co-operative Bank, Co-operative Insurance and Smile Bank, and provides a robust and auditable process for managing the development and use ofall marketing materials. The system is customised to suit the size and complexity of CFS’s organisational processes and supply chain, and also includes a centralised asset store from which the latest versions of all marketing materials can be accessed.

The system places a particular emphasis on ensuring compliance with FSA regulations during the approval process, and key anticipated benefits include greater control and visibility, reduced lead times, faster signoff and less document circulation. Other benefits result from increasing the value realised from brand assets, and reducing the costs associated with creating and updating them.

CFS has recently undergone a large restructure and alf is a key part of their new way of working. The transformation was a collaborative effort involving a number of parties, including be the brand experience.

be the brand experience provided full training for all users, who ranged from Compliance and Marketing to Legal, Technical and Business Management. be also successfully integrated multiple design and print agencies into the final solution and had them fully trained prior to going live. The system was successfully launched late February 2008, following a well-executed pilot run.

"We are delighted that CFS chose be the brand experience to help them manage the process for creating, approving and storing their marketing and communications materials and we are proud to be working with the market leader in ethical FS products"

Jes Ongley, be the brand experience

About Co-operative Financial Services (CFS)

With some 6.5 million customers, Co-operative Financial Services (CFS) is a leading provider of car insurance, mortgages, current accounts, home and contents insurance, credit cards, life assurance, personal loan and pensions. CFS was formed in 2002 to bring The Co-operative Bank, Smile and the Co-operative Insurance Society (CIS) together, and has developed a reputation for providing quality products and services and leading the way on ethics and the environment.

About be the brand experience

Be the brand experience is a leading provider of Marketing Resource Management technology (MRM). Be the brand experience enables clients to achieve more by developing effective, affordable custom-built technology solutions that empower users to better manage marketing workflows, brand assets and suppliers, resulting in lower costs, lower lead times and greater brand consistency and compliance. For more information, please contact info@be-thebrand.com.

be the brand experience has just launched a powerful new tool that revolutionises the way document owners interact with their colleagues during the reviewing process. The solution emerged out of be’s extensive experience of reviewing processes in a number of blue-chip client organisations, and not only ensures that the right people are involved at each stage, but also captures their comments in a simple and collaborative online environment. The final document is only made available after having been approved by all stakeholders.

Early uptake amongst a number of be’s existing clients has confirmed that the tool is able to significantly reduce the number of times documents need to be circulated, freeing up valuable time and resources within client organisations.

Main Features:

- Collaborative reviewing - allows reviewing to take place in a simple collaborative online environment

- Full comment history - captures all comments in full

- Enables rapid creation of agency brief

Recent Client Highlights

- "Removes need for every system user to have Adobe Acrobat in full, which greatly reduces our Adobe licensing fees"

- "Process efficiencies - no need to collate all comments from different reviewers into a single document, (saves project manager huge amount of time and effort)"

- Reduced number of document circulations saves effort and reduces lead times”

For more information, or to take advantage of this fantastic new solution, contact your client services manager now, or email us at info@be-thebrand.com.

About be the brand experience

be the brand experience is a leading provider of Marketing Resource Management technology (MRM). be the brand experience enables clients to achieve more by developing effective, affordable custom-built technology solutions that empower users to better manage marketing workflows, brand assets and suppliers, resulting in lower costs, lower lead times and greater brand consistency and compliance. For more information, please contact info@be-thebrand.com.