Agency Central

Welcome to Agency Central

2006-12-31T10:55:00.000-08:00

Welcome to the Agency Central Blog

This Blog contains information about Agency Central, including: press releases, product release notes and company newsletters. Visit www.agencycentral.com to find out more information about ad agency software.

Agency Central - 100% web-based advertising agency software for: online proofing review and approval, project managment, agency trafficking and client collaboration. Agency Central is a subsidiary of MarketingCentral, LLC.

Photoshop Tip 11-22: Intelligent Logo Design

2005-11-22T07:34:00.000-08:00

Intelligent logos enable the user to quickly change components of the logo (colors, highlights, etc.) without affecting other elements in the logo. Using these tips, you can create a logo that will be easily manipulated, stored and used no matter what your company's objectives.

1) Separate the elements - put text, and graphical treatments on different layers, separating those that are not linked.

2) Create multiple formats - have one folder with a color logo, one with a black and white logo, one with a dark background, and one with a light background. This will give you all the content you need to deploy your logo for any given project.

3) Create the logo in a very large resolution - you may not need a 3235 x 1747 logo for every project, but you may need it for one or two projects over the course of a year. It is much better to have the logo in a very large size than a small size, as it will be nearly impossible to enlarge the image without distortion.

Following these tips will allow you to use your logo effectively no matter what project you are working on.

Photoshop Tip 11-22: Organizing Layers

2005-11-22T07:27:00.000-08:00

Photoshop Tip: Organizing Layers

Organizing your layers is as important as creating separate layers for separate elements of your image. Just as an individual layer can be turned on/off (visible/invisible), a group of layers can be changed by creating a layer folder. Grouping your layers enables you to change the entire group as you would change a layer (apply textures, transparency, etc.).

Grouping also enables you to store different but related content. A good example is grouping layers for your company's logo. You may have one layer folder with your color logo, another with your black and white logo, and a third with a different colored logo. Grouping these in separate folders enables you to quickly toggle between versions.

Photoshop Tip 11-22: Working with Layers

2005-11-22T07:22:00.000-08:00

Welcome to the first installment of our Adobe Photoshop Tips. We will be providing weekly tips for working with Adobe Photoshop, for better usage and understanding of the program's features.

Working with Layers

One of the most powerful functions of using Adobe Photoshop is the ability to create layers. These layers contain different parts of your image, and enable you to add and subtract portions of the image with the click of a button. Styles can also be applied to individual layers, giving parts of your image different highlights.

Agency Central and Advantage Announce New Integration Features

2004-09-13T08:00:00.000-07:00

Integration will automate workflow from agency back office to clients

ATLANTA, GA and CHARLOTTE, NC - September 13, 2004 - Marketing Central, the leading provider of project management, collaboration, and communication tools specifically designed for marketing services agencies and marketing departments, and Advantage Software, the leading provider of agency management systems, today announced new integration plans.

"Advantage Software powers over 300 advertising agencies and marketing services companies today," stated Ellen Coulter, President of Advantage Software." These firms all have the need to share a wide variety of files and documentation produced from the Advantage Agency Management System with their clients. For many, email isn't the right communication solution. Many of these files need to be reviewed, annotated, or approved by several people, and email isn't designed to manage these processes. We've teamed with MarketingCentral, the industry leader in client communication systems, to provide an integrated, best-of-breed solution for full client communication."

Added Dave Ryan, Chief Executive Officer, MarketingCentral, "For most agencies, production work can't start until the client approves an estimate or quote. Advantage Software provides a robust estimating and quoting tool that is in widespread use by agencies all over North America. Many agencies produce dozens of estimates weekly and sometimes daily, and many need to be reviewed and signed off by more than one person. The integration announced today extends the existing integration between our systems by enabling an 'Estimate or Quote' generated in Advantage to be automatically posted for client review in the agency's MarketingCentral account. Now in one safe location accessible through the web, the agency team and clients can collaborate, review, and approve project briefing documents, estimates, schedules, timelines, and creative work."

"Over time, we will be enabling Advantage to post any file or report seamlessly into our clients' MarketingCentral accounts, stated Art Lacerte, founder of Advantage Software. "Our success in the market is tied directly to our customer service and our knowledge of agency management operations. We fully understand the value our clients receive from a robust client communication system, and the integral role that Advantage plays in producing much of the information that flows to our agencies' clients. We're partnering with MarketingCentral because of their specific focus on automating the needs related to client communication and service. Developing the optimal solution for client interaction requires different technologies, different focus, and different skills."

Added Dave Ryan, "The Advantage Software system was developed to manage work and to control the operation of an agency. A function like the general ledger needs to comply with complex accounting processes and laws and is designed and built with very robust capabilities. A tool that is designed to empower a client to review, markup, and approve documents online must be available 24/7/365 from any web browser. The technology used to create the right user experience for this type of work is very different from that used to streamline billing, AP, and general accounting work. It is reasonable to expect an agency person to undergo some training to be able to reconcile a ledger, but an agency's client has neither time nor interest in having to learn a new tool to approve an estimate online. This partnership makes sense because each company brings to it a solution that is highly optimized to solve different problems."

"Early in the decade when most agencies had interactive staff, many developed simple extranets," added John Vasileff, Vice President of Solutions for MarketingCentral. "We saw some pretty clever home-grown extranets. Even though few had the functionality we deliver, one of the biggest reasons agencies began to abandon them was opening their internal networks to inbound Internet traffic. The time and expense, combined with the technical expertise needed to keep equipment safe and free of viruses and worms, compounded the normal work and complexity of hardware and software maintenance, running backups, and other system administration work. We invest a lot of time and money to ensure a 99.98% uptime performance. Few agencies can afford the costs and fewer have the expertise to achieve such performance, but few can afford not to provide excellent availability to their clients. The doors must always, always be open for business."

"There are a lot of bad and bored people out there, " continued John Vasileff. "Message Labs reported that at its peek rate, 1 out of 12 emails on the Internet were MyDoom Viruses. AOL reported intercepting over one half billion virus-laden emails in a 6-month period in 2003. Trend Micro reported that the estimated cost of PC viruses to businesses was approximately $55 billion in damages in 2003, $20-30 billion in 2002, and $13 billion in 2001. And the worst part is that Microsoft Windows server is the choice of small businesses, and the one exposed to inbound Internet traffic is the most targeted and vulnerable server around. In addition to providing our clients a great tool, we offer a superior, high availability service that few agencies could afford or hope to attain."

The automatic estimate posting announced today will be made available to clients in the fourth quarter 2004.

About Advantage Software

The Advantage Software Company, founded in 1977, is the leading provider of automation tools for advertising agencies of all sizes and specialties. Advantage provides technical and software customer support unparalleled in the industry. The Advantage Agency Management System streamlines agency management providing easy to use, innovative and flexible applications. Over 800 leading advertising agencies and other marketing services companies rely on Advantage's software tools to ensure optimal agency productivity and efficiency.

Marketing Central's Marketing Project Management system is a 100% web-based marketing management system, designed to increase marketing efficiency. Over 10,000 users depend on Marketing Central's system for Marketing Resource Management capabilities.

Also see Marketing Project Management by Marketing Central.

Agency Central and Aquent Form Strategic Alliance

2004-06-22T08:00:00.000-07:00

Companies to work together to provide comprehensive software and service solution

ATLANTA, GA and BOSTON, MA - June 22, 2004 - Aquent, a global professional services firm delivering creative and IT solutions, and MarketingCentral, a leading provider of marketing software tools for corporate marketing departments and marketing services agencies, have formed a strategic alliance to deliver a comprehensive solution for world-class marketing process automation. Under the terms of the alliance, Aquent will offer MarketingCentral's Marketing Operations Center solution as one of its brand management solutions and MarketingCentral will recommend Aquent's brand and marketing process consulting services for clients looking to improve their marketing processes.

"Organizations now realize that well designed marketing automation solutions will quickly deliver payback, while reducing marketing costs, improving brand consistency, and speeding the execution of campaigns," says Chris Moody, President of Aquent's consulting division. "As experts in the field of marketing process, we are delighted to be in a position to work with MarketingCentral's leading marketing resource management tool, and advise on optimum solutions on a case-by-case basis."

Aquent's consulting division includes its Marketing and Branding Technology (MBT) practice, the division that is partnering with MarketingCentral. Aquent's MBT practice helps companies optimize marketing processes and helps them find and implement the right technology to automate marketing processes, manage digital assets, and safeguard their brand integrity.

"MarketingCentral has really defined a premier solution for organizations that want to increase productivity quickly and with minimal organizational disruption. We've evaluated the MarketingCentral tools and found them to be highly functional and reliable, and extremely easy to deploy," continued Chris Moody. "We view MarketingCentral as a highly functional tool that can improve productivity and be deployed with almost no planning or process changes. However, combined with some marketing process tuning, the solution delivers exponentially more value. That is where Aquent adds value."

"The ability to offer our clients Aquent's marketing process expertise is very exciting," stated Bill McInerny, President of MarketingCentral. "Many of our clients justify their investment in MarketingCentral through immediate productivity gains. Working with Aquent to improve the marketing processes that are automated will result in more strategic benefits in overall brand management and return on marketing investments."

About Aquent

Aquent (aquent.com) is a global professional services firm that delivers staffing, consulting, and outsourcing solutions for Marketing and Creative Services, IT, and Healthcare. Through a network of more than eighty offices in fifteen countries, Aquent has made over 400,000 matches of contract and full-time professionals with client companies worldwide. The company is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts.

Also see Marketing Project Management by Marketing Central.