Edda Media makes the production of ads with WebProof automated and more efficient

By Jan Eskildsen

When you have to produce ads for many newspapers everyday, there are extraordinary demands for performance, stability and security. All characteristics, that Edda Media has found in Webproof.

Edda Media is a centralised prepress company, that has the production responsibility for the handling and production of ads for 19 newspapers in Norway. Edda Media is part of the Mecom group, one of Europe’s biggest and leading media groups.

Håkon Andersen is responsible for the production, and when it was time to choose software for the handling of all the ads, a working group, consisting of representatives from both IT and production, was formed.
This group, that already had a lot of experience in ad production, set up a list of requirement specifications, examined the market for this type of software, compared performances, visited references, and generally took time to pretest, before they made a decision on what to buy.

There were 5 significant factors, that needed to be documented:

1. The product had to be web-based and have documented extremely high operating stability, even with many users online at the same time, because, among other factors, the newspapers are spread across all of Norway.
2. It had to be able to handle more production locations at the same time.
3. It had to be able to totally integrate with the ad system.
4. No matter which newspaper, all ad and production departments, and not least advertisers, should be able to have access 24/7, and easily be able to view and follow the process, though only on the ads that each have responsibility for.
5. The ad workflow had to be totally automated and demand the absolute minimum amount of manpower, in order to avoid those mistakes that often happen, when manual processes are involved. Moreover, the workflow had to be organised in a way that even if parts of sections stopped working for unaccountable reasons, the production would still go on.

”It’s a big task, but there was complete agreement in the group that the most convincing software for handling ad productions is WebProof and the integrated WebFlow. Their XML integration for our ad system means that the ad file workflow runs completely automated, and we got exactly the data that we wanted incorporated in WebProof, where you can search for pretty much everything,” says Håkon Andersen.

Advantages of the system

”The newspaper and the ads are automatically being set up in WebProof without any demands for manpower. We can, in a very simple way, attach layout, text or pictures to the individual ad, and drop the finished ad into a folder, upon which it will automatically be put on the Internet for online approval – it can’t be done quicker or more simple,” says Håkon Andersen, and continues:

”The advanced WebFlow’s animated workflow makes it simple, even for people who aren’t IT geeks, to understand and keep up with it. Moreover, WebProof’s operating stability is not dependent on, for example, our ad system’s database, which means that WebProof would still be able to work, even if, for example, the ad database should be down. Also, the workflow is set up so that you can run it manually, if other systems are down. The fact that there is an automated text/email alert when, for example, the ad preflight stops, was an extra fantastic safety feature.”

”When the advertiser approves the ad that he has automatically received online on either text or email, the ad is automatically moved and ends up in the editorial system. That way, the newspapers, no matter where in Norway they are, have access to place the ad – and all this without manpower being involved. This swift and automated online approval is something that WebProof has solved very elegantly,” Håkon Andersen explains.

”Overall, there is no doubt that WebProof isn’t just the most advanced web-based software for handling ad production, but also economically the best,” Håkon Andersen says with a confident smile.

WebProof has the wind in its sails

In the last six months, WebProof has had installations at more than a dozen companies, and it sees the clear signs of how the global competition’s demand for reduction of prices and time within the graphical field has made many companies automate and outsource their production. The fight for the contracts is both global and very tough, and it takes minimising of costs and use of time. This all applies, no matter if you’re an advertising agency, if you have an in-house production, or if you’re a full-service printing house, for that matter. Newspapers and magazines are not exempt from this, and it’s necessary to reduce time and costs in the production, even down to the smallest of ad levels.


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Graphic arts specialist Jan Eskildsen serves as freelance editor for AGI and PACKmarkedet (in Denmark) and as contributor to The Seybold Report (USA).

Published January 19, 2007