Proposal: DAM workflows and folder structure

Overview
Folder structure
Digital merchandising
Digital brand (content)
Maintenance and archiving
Resources

Overview

A proposal for the workflows and DAM folder structure that should be implemented when we move to Cloudinary from Amplience. We need to take into account searchability, maintainability and the more practical aspects such as maintaining integrations with Hybris. We will propose one solution for the Digital Merchandising team, who select and upload assets that are later synced with Hybris and shown on PLPs / PDPs. This solution is similar to (but improves on) the current workflow. We will propose another solution for the Digital Brand (content) team, who are uploading and organising assets for use in content pages such as stories, guides and campaign pages.

Details of the current workflows can be found in the resources section.

Folder structure

The two top level folders in our Cloudinary account will be Digital Merchandising and Digitial Brand. Image paths are aligned to the folder and subfolders that they are placed in, and the default behaviour is that when an image is moved between folders the path and therefore the URL for that image will update. We are working with Cloudinary to prevent broken links if assets were moved from a folder, however ideally assets should not move between folders once they are uploaded and in use.

Cloudinary folder structure

Digital merchandising

Within the Digital Merchandising subfolder, there will be a subfolder per base SKU. Within each base SKU folder, there will be three more subfolders - one for Gallery image sets, one for Triptych image sets and one for Mannequin image sets. The idea of "sets" doesn't exist in Cloudinary so we would use subfolders in place of sets, but in the same way and for the same purpose. Implementing the folder structure in this way will build an image URL that is easy for Hybris to ingest and therefore sync the assets to the correct products automatically, as soon as they are uploaded (see resources for POC proposal).

We would keep the same naming convention for assets that we already follow.

The normalised filename for mannequin assets is <BASE_PRODUCT_SKU>_<VARIANT_COLOR>_xxx.png
<BASE_PRODUCT_SKU> is the SKU of the base product, e.g. JPW01SS
<VARIANT_COLOR> is the color variant code, e.g. BLW
xxx is any valid string (try to avoid special characters)

Examples:

JPW01SS/Product/JPW01SS_IAL_Product_H122_01

JPW01SS/Gallery/JPW01SS_BLW_3

Workflow

Cloudinary workflow for Digital Merchandising static/img/squads/dam/cloudinary_merchandising_workflow.drawio..svg

Digital brand (content)

Within the Digital Brand folder, assets can be organised as the team wishes as we don't need to sync them with Hybris.The team will be able to create subfolders to help to organise their assets, but once an item has been placed in a folder it cannot be moved (TBC with Cloudinary). An additional feature that will be useful for the Digital Brand team is Collections. Collections in Cloudinary are a dynamic way to create internal conceptual groupings of assets, regardless of their folder structure. This means that the same image could belong to multiple Collections, and moving assets between collections will not affect their path (and therefore their URL). This could be useful for grouping assets for particular features, seasons or campaigns without having to move assets. Collections have a URL that can be shared for others to view all of the assets within that grouping - this can be shared with people that do not have a Cloudinary login too. From speaking to the teams, we understand that some of the assets that would be organised within the Digital Merchandising folder may be used by Digital Brand from time to time - to prevent duplication and broken links, Collections could also be used in this case.

Although there is no requirement for a particular folder structure for Digital Brand, there is a naming convention that should be adhered to. If used correctly, we can use the filename to generate tags which make the DAM much more easily searchable and it will also help identify images to be cleaned up for example if they feature product SKUs that are unapproved. For the full guide, see the resources section. The naming convention:

Location Images

season (or year)_image-type_product-collection_location_file-number

e.g. h117_location_classic_corsica_01

Event Images

year_image-type_event-name_country_file-number

e.g. 2017_event_super-cross-munich_germany_01

Studio Images

season_image-type_collection_product-name_sku_number

e.g. h117_studio_city_cotton-oxford-shirt_OXS02XXPNK_01

Maintenance and archiving

If we agree on and implement these workflows and folder structures, we could easily build solutions that automate the maintenance and cleanup of Cloudinary.

Tagging and adding metadata to assets will enhance Cloudinary's powerful search capabilities, allowing teams to find assets quickly and accurately without having to rely on folder structures. We should implement a clear tagging and metadata process for both teams (pending ongoing discussions).

If we no longer sell a product and it is marked as unapproved in Hyrbis, we can send a message to Cloudinary to remove all of the media associated with that product SKU and put it in cold storage (for example). For assets from that product SKU that are used in our content pages, we would send a message to Contentful and highlight which items are using those assets and that they need to be updated. This will ensure that we keep Cloudinary well organised and we're not paying to keep assets that are no longer in use.

One aspect we need to discuss and think through further is the archiving of location or event assets that are organised under the Digital Brand folder, that are not explicitly associated with a particular product SKU. We could get some thoughts from the Digital Brand team for this, since they follow naming conventions for all assets that contain other identifying information that could be useful for us to identify assets that are possibly stale e.g. the year the asset was created