In the age of global business, where multinationals have distributors and sales teams throughout the world, companies need to be able to provide up-to-date branding and marketing materials to these representatives, and one of the most effective ways to do this is via an online central resource portal or extranet.

Ambrose Fox designed and developed an extranet system for 3M for some of their divisions, in particular, in the Personal Safety division, to be used as a portal by such users.

The division can choose the structure of the site, which Ambrose Fox designs and implements to suit their needs, including images and branding. Prior to launch, the site is populated with marketing assets relating to the brands, and a launch email is initiated using a batch upload of user details using a standard template.

The assets can be in various file formats, including .jpg and .png images; .pdf documents including presentations, brochures and advertising leaflets; and mp4 videos. Typically the assets include adverts, banners, gifs and advertising videos.

Once the site is up and running, the Content Management System (CMS) can be used to manage these assets, either by the designated administrator from the client, or by the AF team who can provide ongoing support. New users are moderated by the administrator, and once they have been given access, they can download any content that they need, via a ‘basket’, to promote the products to their distribution network.

Consequently, Ambrose Fox enables 3M to distribute their branding and marketing materials across the globe.