WASHINGTON, DC and VANCOUVER, BC--(Marketwired - March 10, 2015) - Brand USA, the destination marketing organization charged with marketing the United States, has awarded MediaValet (TSX VENTURE: MVP) the contract to manage 50 TBs of digital assets. Brand USA formally awarded the contract to MediaValet this week and work is already well underway to aggregate, organize and secure Brand USA's vast database of high definition videos, photos, and other related marketing collateral.
A public-private entity, Brand USA was established in 2011 to spearhead the nation's first global marketing effort to promote the Unites States as a premier travel destination and to communicate U.S. entry/exit procedures to worldwide travelers. Working in close partnership with the travel industry and through its public web site -- DiscoverAmerica.com -- the organization's goal is to attract international tourism and maintain a vibrant tourism industry.
Brand USA required a massively scalable, globally accessible, and highly secure digital asset management system, which would provide thousands of users a stable and intuitive user experience for accessing and sharing their massive library of digital assets. Of primary importance to Brand USA was that the digital asset management system be cloud-based and provide:
- storage and serving capacity to easily and cost effectively scale beyond 50 TBs,
- user-management tools to control system access and asset usage,
- administrative control to approve all assets before being made available to users,
- ability to upload digital assets simultaneously from various international locations,
- powerful search and filter capabilities via keywords, embedded meta data, file names, file extensions, file types, asset ratings, asset rights, and asset status, and
- detailed user and asset activity reporting.
"Managing digital assets seems like a simple process, but it's really more complex than just 'parking' your videos and photos in folders. With 50 TBs and thousands of users worldwide, we knew this would further complicate the process," commented Mark Lapidus, Director, Digital and Social Media at Brand USA. "To succeed, it would take a DAMS partner with the infrastructure and experience to support not only our massive library and worldwide access and security needs, but also provide a simple and intuitive user experience with the training and customer support needed to ensure all our users are happy. MediaValet met all these needs and is well positioned to meet our future requirements."
MediaValet is leading an entirely new generation of digital asset management systems (DAMS) that are forged in the cloud. Built from the ground up on Microsoft's Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) cloud offering, Microsoft Azure, MediaValet makes it easier for organizations to securely aggregate, organize, manage and share their entire library of digital assets -- no matter its size.
"We understand the pressures digital marketers are under to delivery timely, accurate and relevant messages to tech-savvy consumers. Successful organizations, like Brand USA, are turning to the cloud and Software-as-a-Service solutions to enable them to move faster and increase the productivity of their teams," commented David MacLaren, CEO at MediaValet. "We built MediaValet specifically to handle the digital asset management needs of organizations such as Brand USA. Thanks to Microsoft Azure and our dedicated team of programmers, Brand USA will be able to take full advantage of the most advanced cloud infrastructure available to DAMS customers. We're thrilled to be working with Brand USA to help them make immediate improvements to the global productivity and communications around their digital assets."
About Brand USA
Brand USA, the destination marketing organization for the United States, was established by the Travel Promotion Act to spearhead the nation's first global marketing effort to promote the United States as a premier travel destination and to communicate U.S. entry/exit policies and procedures to worldwide travelers. Formed as the Corporation for Travel Promotion in 2010, the public-private entity began operations in May 2011 and does business as Brand USA. With a mission of increasing international visitation to the United States, Brand USA works in close partnership with the travel industry to maximize the economic and social benefits of travel. These benefits include creating jobs essential to the economy and fostering understanding between people and cultures.
According to a study done by Oxford Economics, Brand USA's marketing initiatives in 2013 alone resulted in an incremental increase of 1.1 million visitors to the USA and total impact on the U.S. economy of $7.4 billion in spending, which supported 53,000 new jobs.
Brand USA's activities are funded at no cost to U.S. taxpayers through a combination of private-sector investment and matching funds collected by the U.S. Government from international visitors who come to the U.S. under the Visa Waiver Program. Through its call-to-action -- Discover America -- Brand USA inspires travelers to explore the United States of America's boundless possibilities.
For industry or partner information about Brand USA, visit www.TheBrandUSA.com. For information about exceptional and unexpected travel experiences in the United States, please visit Brand USA's consumer website at www.DiscoverAmerica.com
About MediaValet Inc.
MediaValet stands at the forefront of the emerging cloud-based digital asset management industry. Dedicated to delivering enterprise cloud software, with an in-depth understanding of Azure, and leveraging a strong relationship with Microsoft, MediaValet is uniquely equipped to meet the digital asset management needs of any organization, no matter its size, its industry or its location. Cutting edge technology, exceptional product design, and unlimited friendly customer service are at the core of MediaValet's DNA -- ensuring exceptional customer and user experiences are delivered at all times.
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