How Swanndri's content needs led them to partner with Asset Factory.
Arguably one of New Zealand’s most well known outerwear brands, Swanndri was designed in 1913 to keep its customers dry like a swan’s plumage. After more than 100 years in the market, Swanndri is now famous for more than its OG bush shirt (although remaining one of the most popular products), with a range that expands across more than a few hundred garments.
As with most fashion retailers, content is key – we spoke to Swanndri’s Head of Marketing & Digital Jenny Drinkwater about how their content needs found them partnering with Asset Factory.
What were the business requirements when looking to work with Asset Factory?
We needed to streamline the process of creating content for printed catalogues and also for our website. We wanted to increase the number of assets we created for each garment, as well as ensure the quality of images and lighting was consistently high year after year given that a certain % of our ranges are core and therefore carry over each year. We also needed to minimise the amount of editing in post we were doing and find a more cost-effective solution.
How was the production of Swanndri’s content operated/run beforehand?
Before Asset Factory we used a traditional studio set up with photographer, lighting rigs and a separate video set up. For flat lay and detail shots, well we didn’t really have a way to achieve the look we wanted.
How did you find out about Asset Factory’s service and product?
Through talking to the team at Longbeach and seeing the quality they achieved for image creation, and then visiting Jo and the Asset Factory team and having a look at the machines myself.
How did you find working with the team?
Really fabulous, very knowledgeable about what can be achieved with the technology, and helpful and flexible with booking and scheduling. There is as much or as little help available – whatever you need is never a problem. The team is so friendly and relaxed it makes for a really calm creative atmosphere.
What do you see as the main benefits of working with Asset Factory, and what has the technology allowed you/your brand to do?
I think the main benefit for us is consistency of lighting and positioning, so we can maintain a uniform look on our site. Image quality is excellent and it has also helped us with image management at the office, naming thousands of images with one QR code scan has really been a game changer. The StyleShoots technology has allowed us to produce excellent images for high quality print catalogues, as well as cutting the cost of post editing in half. It has really changed the way we organize ourselves internally, knowing that we can create an enormous number of images in a certain timeframe and have them ready for catalogue print runs or web upload is a real bonus when timelines are tight. It has also allowed us to be more creative with content and to think ahead to what we need to create for the web for the coming season – category tiles for example, while weaving our seasonal campaign themes through the images we take.
What do you think the best thing is about the Drop and Run and DIY service?
There’s nothing better when time is tight or garments miss the main shoot for whatever reason. It’s a brilliant safety net for us.
Was there anything outside of the known benefits of the technology that surprised you?
I don’t know if it was a surprise but the detail that you can achieve with the eclipse machine is really outstanding, and having our own settings on the machines so there’s no guesswork each time is very valuable.
How has working with Asset Factory improved business efficiency (if it has)?
It definitely has – it works like clockwork for us now, we book the shoot dates in accordance with our critical path dates – working back from when we need catalogues to be physically ready, all the files come back to us named and ready for editing. Also booking studio time means everyone knows when samples need to arrive from factories, the whole team is aware of the deadlines they need to hit way in advance.
Have you seen any positive influence since working with Asset Factory on your asset requirements? (ie. sale increase, consumer engagement/experience, brand consistency/integrity)
I’d say Asset Factory has been a gamechanger for us, the quality of our imagery is excellent, we are able to capture beautiful details of our garments which inform customers purchasing online. Since using the Asset Factory studio and machines our online conversion rate online has increased, online sales revenues have increased and bounce rates have decreased. We are also seeing amazing results from our Google Shopping ads, which obviously feed from the same images that are on our website so it is a win win.
If you are looking for ways to streamline your content creation, increase productivity and overall efficiency, chat to our team today, or book a tour of our Melbourne studio.