Founded in 2012, the LADbible Group now spans multiple brands and is one of the internet’s most recognised publishers, with its viral videos being watched literally billions of times per year.
With such a massive repository of original and user-generated content in its archives, licensing these unique assets to other publishers, brands and news organisations is a major revenue stream.
However, the sheer volume of assets in their catalogue presented significant challenges for staff tasked with finding the relevant assets for each client.
LADbible had a number of key requirements for a new content management and delivery platform, and one of the most crucial was improved search. With such a vast amount and variety of content, they needed the capability to quickly discover assets relevant to clients’ needs.
In their existing system, video files were hosted on YouTube, which did not allow for granular searches, based on important audience rating criteria. This made it difficult to match content to the unique needs of each client’s brand. Furthermore, YouTube would sometimes incorrectly flag content as inappropriate, or present other content alongside videos that was not relevant to the client, or representative of the LADbible brand.
As a result, the admin work required to manage and license assets grew out of control. Staff had to manage the process manually, either using spreadsheets or their own knowledge, neither of which was a sustainable or scalable way to manage content licensing. And, when assets were successfully licensed, staff needed to locate them manually on a separate local server and use a file transfer system to deliver them to the client, again all manually.
LADbible recognised the potential of Imagen’s premium content management and delivery platform to organise its content and streamline its operation.
With Imagen’s powerful workflows and cataloguing tools, LADbible could finally organise its entire library of assets and include accurate metadata for searches. Staff and clients are now able to filter media by the categories they need, such as ‘Fails’, ‘Pets’, ‘Kids’ and so on, eliminating the huge number of hours wasted to unnecessary admin.
Customers with direct access to the platform could also find what they needed 24/7, without the requirement to wait for UK office hours or for staff to research and deliver the master files. With Imagen’s self-serve platform, customers can simply log in, find what they need and even download it straight away, thanks to the watermarked downloads that are available for rough edits. Previously, even the processing of watermarking files was something that had to be done manually.
Importantly, all of these powerful features were delivered within a fully branded portal, so that LADbible’s customers engaged with the brand during every stage of the process.
“The Imagen solution was easy to set up and the team has been really straightforward and responsive,” said Luke Smedley, Submissions and Acquisition Manager of LADbible Group. “The platform has saved us a huge number of staff hours and allowed us to really scale our content licensing business. And, when we have run into issues, the Imagen support team have been quick to find a solution.”
Thanks to Imagen, LADbible staff can now be more proactive and less reactive. Rather than spending hours trying to find relevant content in a poorly catalogued system, showing it to potential clients inside a platform that didn’t reflect their brand, staff can now focus on new business development and growing revenue.
"The Imagen platform has saved us a huge number of staff hours and allowed us to really scale our content licensing business."
Luke Smedley, Submissions and Acquisitions Manager, Ladbible Group