How creative agencies can improve workflow, collaboration and remote working – while saving cost.

From the time Web Imp partnered up with Dropbox Singapore to offer Dropbox Business as a solution, we have managed to help more than 40 organisations transform their workflow, transition to remote working, and increase productivity.

(Learn more: What is Dropbox Business?)

We noticed that some types of businesess that especially enjoyed the benefits of Dropbox Business are the creative, branding, and design agencies.

We spoke to 3 creative/design agencies who switched to Dropbox Business to learn how they improved their workflow efficiency and team collaboration – all while saving costs!

3 agencies using Dropbox Business

Alvin Tan from The Ad Makers Pte Ltd. The Ad Makers is a creative agency that does integrated marketing ideation for their clients.

April Chen from Studio Ensemble Pte Ltd. Studio Ensemble is a one-stop creative shop for branding, website, exhibition and events.

Kerk Siang Ying from Yellow Octopus Pte Ltd. Yellow Octopus is a design agency devoted to graphic design rooted in creative strategy.

Web Imp: What challenges did your agency face which led you to look for alternative solutions?

Ad Maker: We had a consistent bank of growing archived files that was getting too expensive to maintain through buying our own servers.

Studio Ensemble: Our team had been using Dropbox Personal for all our cloud storage, but it ended up becoming more expensive and it had a limitation in storage space.

Yellow Octopus: There was no central filing system that was accessible when we had to work off-site. Also, when one team member goes on leave, we have to access from the team member’s computer.

When we had lockdown and had to work-from-home (WFH), it was a nightmare trying to get files from our physical Network-attached storage (NAS) server in the office (as the server can only be accessed in office.)

Web Imp: This is actually a common theme amongst customers that switched to Dropbox Business. Many of them needed a way for their team to access work documents no matter where they are. This is especially so when remote working and WFH became the norm.

Web Imp: Which feature of Dropbox Business attracted you to start using it for your business?

Web Imp: We know that cloud storage solutions aren’t foreign to you. What made you consider the switch to Dropbox business?

Ad Maker: The reason why we upgraded from the personal version of Dropbox to Business was for the unlimited storage and team management capabilities. We also used the file-sharing function a lot.

Studio Ensemble: We needed the unlimited storage space & we liked the user interface of Dropbox Business.

Yellow Octopus: There were a few features that we liked and now use on a daily basis.

• Unlimited cloud storage/ file backup
• Large file sharing
• Team management
• Smart Sync

Web Imp: We noticed that creative, design, and media agencies have certain requirements in common. They tend to have large media files that are shared amongst the team and clients.

Smart Sync allows large files to be stored on the cloud, only to be intelligently downloaded to hard drives when you need it. This frees up space on hard drives, and the unlimited cloud storage does not tax the hard drives on laptops and computers.

Web Imp: What was the biggest benefit you noticed?

Ad Maker: It improved the workflow for the team. Remote working is now easy and seamless.

There are cost savings in the long run compared to consistently having to buy and maintain servers.

Studio Ensemble: We have been looking for the best practice to store our heavy files. We wanted to explore physical servers and hard drives. Instead, we realized that we should have everything on the cloud for easy file retrieval and file sharing.

It improved everything.

Yellow Octopus: It is definitely more cost-efficient to have all files on Dropbox VS buying a NAS server and accessing it remotely from out of office.

It is also easier when we need to hand over files to the next team member, as all files are on Dropbox and the team has gotten used to working off Dropbox.

Web Imp: How did your team start using Dropbox Business? Were there any challenges?

Ad Maker: It was easy and seamless, we just implemented the current process that we had on the local NAS into Dropbox.

Studio Ensemble: It was fluid, and we seamlessly transferred from Dropbox Personal to Business.

Yellow Octopus: We first started migrating our work-in-progress work onto Dropbox and there were huge files. Simultaneously, we transferred our files from the physical NAS servers to Dropbox.

We also asked our team to start working off Dropbox. It would be easier if one of them needs help in covering the work, it can be accessed easily without having to transfer files over via a link.

Admins also set up Team folders and re-organized the folders accordingly, while setting up access rights.

When we first started migrating our work onto Dropbox, there were huge files. Many of us were not fully aware of the Smart Sync function. Our computers quickly ran out of storage very soon and couldn’t sync. We had to clear our files one by one.

Some file syncs took so long that it’s almost impossible to work on the computer as well.

Thankfully, Web Imp was very co-operative and was able to come to our ‘rescue’ ASAP. I only had to message Rain and he replies almost quite immediately. He even offered to do a Zoom and helped to troubleshoot our problems.

What did we learn

We learned that creative, media, and design agencies face unique challenges on an operational level, digitally. They typically have huge libraries of large media files and design assets that require bigger storage spaces.

These agencies need to share files between team members who might be remote working or out in the field. Files in folders need to be shared with clients without giving them access to more sensitive documents.

Modern problems require modern solutions, and Dropbox Business is a modern solution that fits them.

Further reading:

• Dropbox Business vs Google Workspace (GSuite)- Which is Better For Your Business?
• OneDrive VS Dropbox Business – Which Should Your Business Use?
• Dropbox Business Review: What we love, and what we don’t