ASDA

Specle offers a range of services designed to simplify the management and delivery of advertising materials, making it an ideal partner for companies like Asda looking to optimize their advertising workflow.

Background

Founded in the 1960s in Yorkshire, Asda is one of Britain’s leading retailers and helps customers save money and live better in stores, online and through their mobile devices. Its main office is in Leeds, Yorkshire and its George clothing division is in Lutterworth, Leicestershire. Asda joined Walmart, the world’s number-one retailer, in 1999.

Each week more than 18 million customers visit its 639 stores - including 30 Supercentres, 394 Superstores, 159 Supermarkets, 33 Asda Living stores, and 18 standalone petrol stations - and websites, and are served by 145,000 colleagues. www.asda.com and www.george.com deliver to 99% of the UK’s homes and to its 505 click-and-collect sites across the UK.

“We wanted a scalable and flexible system that would allow studio368, our in-house studio, to seamlessly control colour management and upload validation of our press advertising throughout the end-to-end process - from studio to publication house.”

Asda launched Studio368 following an extensive evaluation of their agency eco-system to gain better control, transparency and cost efficiencies of their artwork outputs. Studio368 has been established to manage artwork production for advertising, POS and leaflets across various media channels, yet, needed to be able to cope with all types of campaigns – print, press and OOH. This is where Specle steps in. Asda approached Specle with the goal of improving the quality and consistency of the advertising materials for print publications.

Evaluation

With thousands of ads being sent every week, designers, brands, and studios need assurance that their ads meet specification requirements without sacrificing the brand's integrity. With Specle, companies like Asda can fully control their production output with a transparent and cost-effective solution to ad validation and delivery.

Specle proposed and implemented the following features:

• Manage multiple ad delivery channels
• Use the campaign tool to send artwork to different publications
• Colour manage their brand with ease and confidence
• Validate and deliver advertising material to newspapers and magazines worldwide

Solution

Studio368 now has a platform that can grow, develop, and integrate with other MRM systems. Specle’s technological flexibility will allow Asda to further automate other processes resulting in a seamless and universal system providing all stakeholders in the business with visibility and control; a workflow that lets them manage their campaigns and integrate with their existing systems.

“Ultimately this is about providing more efficient marketing services to enable us to provide the best value products to our customers. Saving money internally enables us to pass savings onto our customers”

Specle's automated preflight checks help to catch any potential errors or issues in the advertising materials before they are sent to Asda, saving time and resources for both the retailer and their suppliers. This has helped Asda reduce the number of revisions needed for each ad, resulting in faster turnaround times and improved satisfaction for all parties involved.

In addition, Specle's ad delivery platform has made it easier for Asda to receive and review advertising materials from their suppliers. With Specle, suppliers can upload and submit their ads directly to Asda, eliminating the need for manual file transfers and ensuring a smooth and efficient delivery process.

Recommendation

Already, Studio368 has streamlined the validation and colour management process for Asda’s print advertising. Having an internal team has seen a huge improvement in accountability, reporting, and output. The early success will now allow Asda to investigate further automation across its marketing function in order to generate even better savings.

Overall, the partnership between Asda and Specle has proven to be successful, with Asda seeing significant improvements in their advertising production process. By leveraging Specle's ad creation tools, preflight checks, and ad delivery platform, Asda has been able to streamline their workflow, improve efficiency, and maintain their reputation as a top supermarket retailer in the UK. The partnership with Specle has not only benefited Asda but has also enhanced the experience for their suppliers, making it easier for them to create and deliver high-quality advertising materials to the retailer.