Osmosis Overview

Introduction

Ordering marketing material has never been this

easy, this fast or this cost effective. This is

particularly true in the case of National &

International companies.

The Osmosis Brand Manager (OBM) is internet-

based software. It manages all of a company’s

marketing collateral (and thus its corporate identity)

from a single interface. This includes the storage,

viewing, updating, ordering, re-ordering and

archiving of marketing material. OBM protects

brand consistency while allowing any approved

employee to make their own information updates

and place orders for business cards, stationery,

clothing, posters, brochures, billboards, point of

sale material, advertisements etc.

OBM enables the licensed company to enjoy

significant savings regarding the ordering and

production of such materials. It is a web based

procurement system, a content management

system, a digital asset management (DAM)

platform and more.

Saving Time Direct Ordering & Approval The individual or branch may place orders directly

without contacting head office or external agencies.

Corporate identity compliance is assured. The

preset approval procedure further drastically saves

administration time.

Changes are Immediate Any brand changes or additions are made to the

central database. No rollout is required.

Saving Money Dynamic Artwork Creation Costs for changes to corporate identity (CI) material

occur primarily when the information changes (e.g.

details on a business card). OBM allows staff

members to make these changes while ordering.

No agency is needed.

Reduced Printing Spend A printer of choice may be designated and

discounts negotiated since multiple orders from

multiple locations may be consolidated into single

scheduled print runs.

Streamlined Approval Any company member may order online from any

location (no phone calls or administration). The

approval procedure provides the necessary

protection of brand consistency, ensures

accountability and radically reduces time.

Other Benefits Reporting Compare marketing collateral spend across an

entire company. Export these to Excel. Receive

daily email reports re orders and production.

Global Access e.g. Individuals in Tanzania may view branding

material and CI activity being carried out by their

South African colleagues.

Expandable Any number of users may be added, as well as any

number of CI items (e.g. 100s of advert types).

Case Study, Blue FSBlue Financial Services through a number of mergers and acquisitions where expanding quickly. There was a massive need to implement a consistent brand across an international company. Osmosis Brand Manager (OBM) was implemented to store and order international marketing material covering stationary, point of sale, and billboard

Problem 1 Implementing a consistent brand internationally Blue had a massive problem in converting new branches to the "blue brand". Many people in multiple countries needed access to the company’s corporate ID. This proved a massive administration task for their marketing department.

Solution 1 OBM is an online application that can be accessed from anywhere in the world at anytime. User levels determine functionality and authority. OBM has tiered country, company, region, and branch details management tool which proved invaluable to managing their rapidly changing company and staff information. This information spilled into the companies stationary to rapidly edit business cards and letterheads. OBM is Blue central repository for their marketing material. The Branding is pre-designed and cannot be changed. The system holds these items in print ready PDF format so they can be sent straight to print. The regional managers and agency use OBM to re-order point of sale material from a centralised printer.

 

Problem 2 Little control of print spend If every branch of blue had the freedom to produce branded items as they please costs tend to spiral out of control. Not only is this an expensive exercise, it is also very hard for head office to keep track of costs incurred and the overall company misses out on bulk discounts. Head office is left in the dark in terms of which branch is responsible for what costs and in many cases head office covers those costs.

Solution 2 OBM operates from a database that keeps track of the traffic from each registered user. Blue operations management is able to pull detailed reports of orders and can clearly see exactly how much money the branches are spending, and what they are spending it on. Management can then keep each branch responsible for it’s own marketing spend and in the process regulate spend to fit the budget. OBM allows management to centralise all printing with one pre-approved printer. This means that bulk discounts can be negotiated and Blue saves thousands in printing costs annually.

 

Case Study, Blue FS

Problem 3 A streamlined order process Blue marketing department and operations had a headache of managing their international marketing spends. When looking at something as simple as the ordering of a standard business card through the right channels, blue realized why they needed OBM.

Solution 3 OBM allows quick and easy ordering of any branded items but also crunches an elaborate approval process into a few simple steps. This process is managed by the approval process. Sign off on larger orders is escalated to higher management. Operations is kept in the loop with regards to marketing spend.

Problem 4 Managing marketing campaigns Blue run multiple campaigns in multiple countries. With the constant additions and archiving, Blue had a headache in managing their digital assets.

Solution 4 With OBM as the central repository for all branded material, old campaigns can be archived and new campaigns added. Notification to the branches is made via the communications section. One mass email to all or targeted emails to countries have made this process simple.

 Every Company and business can put OBM to use and see the benefits immediately.

Nissan Diesel South Africa has 60 dealerships nationwide. Osmosis Brand Manager (OBM) was implemented to store and order all company marketing material from a single interface. Why?

Problem 1

Providing marketing material to a dealership network There are a lot of people in the dealership network who need access to Nissan Diesels corporate ID. This was time consuming. The dealerships tend to take matters into their own hands. In the process the brand gets debased and branding becomes inconsistent.

Solution 1 OBM can be accessed from anywhere in the world at anytime. OBM provided Nissan Diesel with a tiered dealership list of dealerships their company and staff information. OBM serves as a central storage space for the Nissan Diesel branded marketing collateral. The system holds these items in print ready PDF-X format so they can be sent straight to print or publication. The Branding is pre-designed and cannot be changed. The only editable elements are the variable details such as name, telephone number, street address etc. This means that anyone with access can go online, select the item they want to order, change the relevant details without touching the branding and send it off to a pre-approved printer.

Problem 2 Brand consistency The most important element of branding is consistency. What Nissan Diesel had experienced was incorrect colors and stretched text appearing in publications and stationary.

Solution 2 OBM allows it’s users to change personal or branch specific details within set parameters. Now dealerships are able to customise their stationary and adverts within the Nissan Diesel brand bible. They simply edit the necessary details and send the job off for approval. Branding is now consistent.

Problem 3 No control of marketing spend As every dealership was producing their adverts and stationary there was no idea of how much was being spent. It was very hard for head office to keep track of costs incurred n short it could not be accurately measured.

  

Solution 3 OBM operates from a database that keeps track of the orders from each registered user. Now head office is able to pull detailed reports of orders and can clearly see exactly how much money the dealerships are spending, and what they are spending it on. Now each dealership is responsible for it’s own marketing spend to fit their budget. OBM allows management to centralise all printing with pre-approved printers. This means that bulk discounts can be negotiated saving thousands in printing costs annually.

Case Study, Nissan Diesel 

 

Problem 4 No approval process When looking at something as simple as the ordering a standard business card through the right channels, Nissan Diesel realized the process is extremely time consuming and goods take too long to be approved and delivered.

Solution 4 OBM allows for quick and easy ordering of any branded items but also crunches an elaborate approval process into these few simple steps. The user logs into OBM. The User will then select which branded item they want to order and is presented with a preview of what it will look like. The User can enter the relevant details and selects quantity or insertion date with relevant costs based on pre-arranged rates. The User places the order and emails will go out the approval process. The person who needs to approve the order can do so by viewing the final artwork and Purchase order/Copy instruction. If all is in order they approve the job by a click of a button and all relevant details are sent to either the printer or publication. This entire process takes about 10 minutes to order and approve.

Problem 5 Quick, global changes to material Nissan Diesel often launches new Trucks to the market. These must be made available to the dealership network. Using the present adverts they are able to simply add a new product image and default copy.

Solution 5 We realize that artwork is not static, with OBM as the central repository for all artwork elements including fonts, image libraries, and PDF formats, With the communication section, one mass email can be sent to the dealerships introducing them to the new product and instructing them to place their orders, OBM will do the rest. No need for time consuming, expensive presentations. Every Company and business can put OBM to use and see the benefits immediately.

Case Study, Nissan Diesel 

Required Information

An Internal Expert

There should be an individual from head office

appointed to manage the implementation of

Osmosis Brand Manager (OBM).

Ideally such a person should be appointed at the

outset of the project.

This individual will need to facilitate the gathering of

required information.

It is recommended that the appointment of the

Internal Expert be considered as soon as the

project is signed off.

This individual should:

• Be Internet literate

• Be vested with the authority of being

responsible for the OBM implementation

• Have the authority to gather the

information listed in this document

• Have understanding of supplier

arrangements

What follows is a broad summary of critical

information for successful implementation.

Company Structure

There need to be a top level understanding of the

company, its subsidiaries, divisions and branches.

This needs to be understood by the developers in

order to structure the OBM interface accordingly.

The developers need to understand that e.g. a user

falls under a branch, a branch under a company, a

company under a country (or vica versa) and so

on. This user fits under approval center "x".

This structure is directly related to the User Level

requirements below.

User Levels

The OBM system allows for many levels of use, i.e.

what a user is authorized to view, order or approve

etc.

User Levels are central to the functioning of the

OBM.

OBM user levels relate primarily to marketing

managers, branch and company managers and

billing positions – this requires some research and

consideration on the part of the client, in

conjunction with the developers.

Client will need to consider:

• who is allowed access OBM

• who is to edit what in which template;

• who will be responsible for approval

• who manages budgets.

• who signs off purchase orders

Once we have an understanding of the company

structure and procurement process therein we will

make user level recommendations. These will be

discussed with client.

 

Required Information

New Users When a new user registers on the system two key

attributes need to be addressed:

• Assigning the user a User Level

• Approving the user for OBM access

Once the User Level structure is defined, the

internal expert or “high-level” key personnel users

can manage new users that register on the system.

Approval Process The approval process is critical to the ordering of

material online. Orders incur hard costs and need

to be approved by more than one person in a

company.

User Levels are central to the order approval

process. While most users will be allowed to place

orders, only a select few will have the authority to

approve an order.

Each item that may be ordered needs an approval

process attached to it – which may be generic or

specific (e.g. the users that need to approve a

magazine advertisement placement may be

different from those who might approve basic

company stationery such as a business card order).

The OBM automates this process, calling upon the

appointed persons via email to log in and take the

necessary action.

The following are examples of approval processes, listing the key personnel who might be designated to approve an order on OBM:

Example 1 - National Franchise Franchise (places order) > Head Office Marketing >

Head Office Finance

Example 2 - National Company Branch (places order) > Branch Manager > Branch

Billing > Head Office Manager > Head Office Billing

Example 3 - International Company Branch (places order) > Regional Manager >

Country Manager > Country Billing > Company

Manager > Company Billing > Marketing Head

Office > Head Office Billing

These approval processes need not necessarily take place in order, but may do so if desired.

Required Information

Suppliers

Once an order is approved you are able to send

the purchase order to the supplier. OBM transmits

this to the client’s designated supplier in

electronic/digital format. The most common

examples of suppliers required by the OBM are as

follows:

• Printer (for marketing material)

• Packager

• Media Booker or Publisher

Tree needs to liaise directly with suppliers during

the OBM setup process to:

• Educate them on the quoting procedures

• Understand the suppliers capabilities

• Vet the supplier

In our experience attempting to use unsuitable or

uncooperative suppliers can be a frustrating, time

consuming and expensive process. We constantly

are working on reporting ways to ensure this

doesn’t happen.

With regards to tender processes, requirements

need to be discussed and clearly laid out for the

supplier.

Every item that is loaded on to the OBM, be it

stationery or advertising or other, and needs to be

allocated a supplier prior to being made live on the

OBM system.

When loaded items can include guidelines for

production i.e. paper weight, colour requirements,

run quantities, bulk discounts, completion dates

and so forth.

Distribution

Printed goods require delivery and often storage.

Quiet often warehousing creates economies of

scale savings for client.

These logistics and costs need to be evaluated and

considered during implementation.

Trees experience allows us to advise the client on

these issues with transparency.

While centralized production, collection and

distribution may be ideal for brand consistency –

this is not always practical. OBM allows for

centralised or dispersed models.

Successful distribution is essential for the success

of the overall OBM system.

Payment

Who pays the bills? The purchase order generated

reflects the arrangement between client and the

supplier.

OBM and client need to be mutually clear on how

purchase orders are settled.

If integration is need to existing bookkeeping

software this can be arranged? However most

clients have found this isn’t necessary

 

Required Information

Templates “Templates” are corporate identity items that are

available for a user of the OBM program to order.

(e.g. one particular business card design).

Usually it is an advertising or design agency that

needs to supply the initial template source files in

PDF to the developers.

Templates are made up of a base PDF, source

images, source text, and specific code which

enables a user of the OBM to create PDFs ready for

use by a commercial printer. For instance a

template could be an A5 Flyer which:

• can use numerous images relating to

different products

• can use various default texts

(e.g. English or French)

• can have editable text fields

These elements drawn together will be used by the

Program to form a print-ready PDF.

NB: any variation in the size or layout or colours of

a CI item will require a separate template

Template Requirements

• Template supply should take place at the

beginning of the OBM setup

• An approved 300dpi PDF file is supplied

to the developers for each template

• Time is needed to process each template

PDF to a OBM compliant template

• Information is needed on the destination

supplier for each template (e.g.

newspaper printing requires colour

correction)

• pantone colours,

• paper weight

• editable fields

• user level rights

Printing of final OBM PDF proofs for signoff by

client (at completion of BMT setup) signals the end

of development, ensuring that the finished product

matches the original

Additional Considerations Internal Communication The OBM, by its very nature, holds employee

contact information.

There is enormous scope for adapting it to a full

Intranet or expanding the OBM with additional

functionality. Simple examples would be, business

directories, face book applications, forums, polls,

job listings etc

Implementation How to get extended client company to adopt the

use of the OBM system is an internal challenge

because people simply resist change

This is the most vital and the most overlooked part

of IT. Without serious commitment in this area the

implementation is likely to fail to deliver return on

investment in the first year of adoption.

For this reason please see our separate document on Change Management (i.e. guidelines for implementing the OBM).

Implementation of new software within a National

or International company requires commitment at

the highest level and training that reaches down to

the lowest level of software user. Without such

authority and action the implementation is likely to

fail to deliver return on investment.

The Osmosis Brand Manager (OBM) is specifically

designed to be intuitive to the average Internet user

and is accompanied with step by step online

documentation. However, our experience has

taught us that the success of a OBM

implementation is directly related to the effort and

commitment of the client to making it a success.

Change Goals

Overall To increase efficiency, decrease production costs,

ensure consistent branding and support

administration in terms of the ordering and

approval of marketing (CI) material.

Procurement To consolidate all marketing material procurement

to the central system.

Employees To ensure that all employees who need to order such material are registered and educated users of the OBM. (i.e. that they use the system to place such orders, be it for stationery or press advertisements).

Defining the Change Staff throughout the client organization are now

being asked to follow a very different procedure in

terms of ordering corporate identity (CI) material.

Any CI requirements (from a business card to an

outdoor billboard or advertisement) now need to

be ordered online.

Persons responsible for placing such orders

(whether they be at a Branch, a Regional, a Country

or a Head Office level) need to be aware of the

OBM system, its capabilities and how to use it.

Indeed they need to be aware that they are

required to use it – for it is in bulk ordering that

much of the financial savings of the system lie.

The following key points are thus strongly

recommended regarding OBM implementation:

An Internal Campaign

An internal company campaign should be run in

much the same way as an external marketing

campaign would be. This should involve all levels of

internal communication such as the following:

• Launch Event

• Presentations

• Intranet

• Email

• Newsletter

• Documentation (OBM help files)

• Training

• Support

…continued 1

Implementation

 

Implementation

Key Departments & Personnel

The following key departments and employees

should be involved in the campaign/change

process:

Marketing Managers At all levels – the system is designed to alleviate

much of their departments’ workload.

Internal Communications It is recommended that this department, or the

Marketing department drive the change process.

Training Department All traditional training avenues should be pursued,

however they function within the company. Hands-

on person to person training needs to be pro-

actively delivered to departments/branches

IT Department This department needs to be informed and aware

more than involved. They may see and suggest

additional functionality such as a contact

database/intranet link.

Help Desk / Call Centre In the same way as any training department should

be active, phone & email support should be

available.

One Internal Expert A single person or persons within the client

organization should be made responsible for the

functioning, use and support of other employees

using the OBM system. This is what is referred to as

the “training the trainer” principle, where the OBM

developers are able to focus their training and

documentation efforts on this and other key

employees – who in turn pass on their expertise to

the wider employee base. This individual should:

• Be Internet and computer literate

• Be vested with the authority of being

responsible for the OBM

• Monitor OBM use on a daily basis

• Monitor the internal education process

• Co-ordinate support of employees using

the OBM

• Provide email and phone support where

needed

• Maintain and monitor OBM user lists and

their access levels

User Levels

These deserve a special mention as they are central

to the functioning of OBM. For any order placed

there will be a hierarchy of users who need to

approve said order. Our expert should be very

familiar with this process and monitor it in case of

individuals being on leave etc.

…continued 2

 

Phases

Depending on the size, structure and geographic

distribution of the client company employing OBM

a phased approach may be recommended to

ensure smooth rollout. A basic example for an

international company would be as follows:

Phase One - Head Office This may be kept very small, say 25 designated

employees. The chosen internal methods to be

used in the larger campaign may be tested here on

a micro level. Users, once informed, should register

and test runs of order placement may be generated

if desired.

Phase Two - National The above model may then be tweaked and rolled

out in an improved form per-branch.

Phase Three - International Again this rollout would be based upon lessons learnt at the National level and then duplicated on a per-country basis. Additional training and support resources should be made available..

Measuring Effectiveness The effectiveness of the OBM implementation may

be measured in the following ways

Registration • A list of personnel that should be using the

OBM may be generated at the outset of a

Phase (e.g. it could be decided that 25 of

100 head office employees need approval

and ordering access to the OBM). They are

then trained and asked to register and

familiarize themselves with the system –

and to follow up with any further

questions.

• This list may then compared to the

registered users on the OBM, for a

percentage success rate

Ordering Costs • A list of ordering costs over a fixed period

may be generated at the outset of a Phase

(e.g. Country X orders Y amount of

marketing material on average every three

months)

• OBM order figures and costs may then be

compared to these previous figures once

users are registered and using the system

in place of the traditional previous

paperwork and agency based processes.

Conclusion

The client company holds the keys to making its

OBM implementation a success. The OBM

developers are best employed in terms of “training

the trainers” within the client company. Dedicated

and authorized employees should then drive the

use of OBM internally and form the point of contact

with the developers.

…end.

Implementation

 

Osmosis AgreementsThe Osmosis Brand Manager (OBM) is internet-

based software designed to streamline the

management of a company’s corporate identity

(CI). This includes the storage, viewing, updating,

ordering and re-ordering of CI material from a

single internet interface. The tool protects brand

consistency while allowing any approved

employee to make their own information updates

and place orders for business cards, stationery,

clothing, posters, brochures, billboards, point of

sale material, advertisements etc. This is a brief

summary and not a full list of OBM features.

Customized features are further available on

request from Tree Organic Technology.

As software, it should be understood that the

OBM Program is being licensed by Tree Organic

Technology to the Client - as defined by two legal

documents:

• License Agreement

• Service Agreement

License Agreement

This is a traditional Software License. It provides a

legal context for both parties while licensing a

single copy of the program to the client. The

content of this agreement includes the following:

• Copyright

• Confidentiality

• Updates

• Warranty

• Disclaimers

• Termination

Service Agreement

This is a traditional Service Level Agreement. It may

be defined as the financial agreement between

Tree Organic Technology and the client regarding

the costs associated with the License Agreement.

This includes the specification of licensing, hosting

and support fees and services. The content of this

agreement includes the following:

• Services

• Copyright

• Confidentiality

• Cancellation

• Remuneration

• Implementation & training

• Dispute resolution

• Program logistics

• Duration

Price StructureOsmosis is comprised of setup fees, a quarterly

hosting fee and an annual license fee :

• Setup Fee : these fees are once-off and

vary according to clients’ needs

• Hosting Fee (quarterly) : this is a flat fee

(per version/type of Osmosis)

• License Fee (annual) : this is a per-county

cost, on a sliding scale

Optional extras and custom solutions are available.

These are quoted for individually.

Enterprise Version (includes 40 order templates)

Sections: Order Job, View Jobs, Details,

Communications, Files, Reports, Help Print/Media Tools: Stationery, POS, Outdoor,

Press, Magazine, Packaging

Digital Tools: Digital Signatures, Email &

Newsletter Generator, Files Section

Category Start Quarterly Annually

Setup

Design 1000

40 Order templates

15200

Implementation 2500

Hosting Maintenance, server, dbases

2500

License

Software license, upgrades

5000

Total 18700 2500 5000

First year total: 33 700

Following years: 15 000

Training and Implementation The implementation cost provided includes web-based help documentation and limited remote support – both of which are suited to users who are internet and computer literate. Any other implementation needs or training requirements that may arise will be quoted for separately. The same applies to any associated travel or accommodation expenses.

Small Business Version (includes 10 order templates) Sections: Order Job, View Jobs, Details, Help

Print/Media Tools: Stationery, POS, Outdoor,

Press, Magazine, Packaging, Signatures

Category Start Quarterly Annually

Setup

10 Order templates

5000

Implementation 700

Hosting Maintenance, server, dbases

750

License

Software license, upgrades

1250

Total 5700 750 1250

First year total: 9 950

Following years: 4 250

 

 

Price Structure

Order Templates

It is important to note that any variation in the size

or layout of a template item will require a separate

template (i.e. if there are multiple A5 flyer layouts

there will need to be multiple A5 flyer templates).

This will increase costs accordingly on a per-

template basis.

Optional Extras

Category Price

Design (client look and feel) 1000

An average per-template cost (orders of 10 or more will result in a lower per template cost)

380

Additional languages per language across the entire system

10000

Currency conversion across countries 10000 Integration with existing employee details system

20000

Market research tools 10000

Custom report generation (per report) 2000

Dynamic template library 5000

Licensing & Hosting Annual license includes:

• unlimited users in the number of countries being licensed, periodic software upgrades

Quarterly hosting includes: • bandwidth, hosting, maintenance, email

technical support

Acceptance of an Osmosis quotation is subject to

the signing of a Software License Agreement and a

Service Agreement.

Invoicing

The License fee and Hosting fees are invoiced on

and dated from the Osmosis launch date as

specified in the Service Agreement. 100% of annual

license and quarterly hosting fees are due on

invoicing, in advance of the period.

The following invoicing structure is binding upon

the signing of an Osmosis Setup cost estimate:

• Initial 50% of invoice due within 30 days of

signing of the quotation

• Remaining 50% of invoice due on

completion of work in the quotation (or

within 90 days of commencement of work,

should delays be caused by client)

With regard to the annual License fee the following

discounts apply:

• 2 years paid up front = 10% discount

• 3 years paid up front = 15% discount

Confidentiality

It is understood and agreed that any information

received by the recipient in connection with this

document or the Osmosis software, will be

maintained as confidential and will be used only for

the purpose of the business relationship between

Tree Organic Technology and the recipient. Neither

party may publicize or disclose the contents of this

document or the functionality of the Osmosis

software without the prior written consent of the

other party first having been received, unless

required by an applicable law.