Comosoft Newsletter (Spring/Summer 2019)


A Message from our President

With spring at its end and summer finally here, we're already at the halfway point of the year. And it’s a pretty special year for us here at Comosoft: 2019 marks our 25th year making industry-leading marketing production tools. Back in 1994, Comosoft was one of the first companies in the world to tackle the challenges of manual planning and productions workflows, bringing two previously separate entities together: product data and images–the database publishing begins era begins...

Today, Comosoft is at the forefront of digital transformation, helping our customers innovate and optimize their planning and production processes. When systems change, so do roles–something we take very seriously as we help our customers adapt their processes for all sales channels in the quest to reduce time to market.

Since our inception, LAGO has evolved into an end-to-end multichannel marketing solution, from planning to output. Many of the features you know and enjoy today are a result of customer feedback or customizations, which is why we really mean it when we say that none of this would be possible without you, our customers. To all of you, we'd like to take this opportunity to thank you for your support over the years. We look forward to serving you for many more to come.

All the best,
Randy Evans
President


API Survey: Thanks for your participation!

A couple of months back, we sent out a survey to encourage feedback regarding the LAGO API. The results are in: while there are many different use cases out there, the overwhelming majority of you want us to focus on the image handling capabilities of the API first. This doesn't mean we're not also working on other aspects of the API, but rather prioritizing image handling. More API updates coming in the not too distant future.

The API survey is still open. If you'd still like to register your feedback, let us know and we'll send you a link and a password. We've extended the survey deadline to June 30.


LAGO 5: So Many Reasons to Upgrade!

With enhancements to new features and modules, LAGO 5 has unprecedented power and flexibility. Below you'll find a list of some of what's new in LAGO 5:

  • LAGO-specific shortcuts in InDesign
  • LAGO Scripting Enhancements
  • Enhanced Image Alignment Options in Element Layouts
  • New Function for Placement Rule Scripting
  • Search folders in LAGO Proof
  • Enhanced markup tools in LAGO Proof
  • PDF Format for Correction Documents
  • Alpha Channels: Enhanced InDesign integration
  • Ability to copy element layout category settings in document template
  • Support for macOS Mojave & Adobe CC2019

For a full list of all the new features in LAGO 5 or if you have any other questions about upgrading to LAGO 5, please email info@comosoft.com to schedule a demo.

Module Spotlight: LAGO Proof

LAGO 5 brings many new features to the table and Proof is no exception. We've been busy adding tons of great new ways to interact with proofs.
As of the latest release, Proof now offers:

  • Comparison slider for multiple page comparison
  • Pencil tool for freehand markup
  • The ability to link correction marks to elements (instead of the page)
  • The ability to view and store proofs as complete, exportable PDFs
  • Highlight and strikethrough text markup

​These great new proofing features are only available in LAGO 5. Please email info@comosoft.com to schedule a demo preview.


Need Personalized Content? LAGO DIM to the Rescue!

Our latest module addition, LAGO DIM, enables One-to-One personalized messaging.
Back at the LAGO User Conference, we showed you a pre-release demo of LAGO DIM. Fast forward to current day and we're looking for a "test" site. If you're interested in this type of technology and have a use case in mind, let us know.

With LAGO DIM (Direct Individualized Marketing), you can go beyond “One-to-Many” or “One-to-Few” communication—addressing relevant messages to qualified, individual customers and prospects. This module enables you to efficiently combine customer and PIM data to create personalized message campaigns—in print, via email, or in HTML.

Data Personalization Potential:

  • Basic customer information (e.g., name, street, city)
  • Known customer preferences and purchase history
  • Purchased and related product information and images (from PIM and DAM data sources)
  • Your LAGO library of templates for print (direct mail), email, and HTML landing pages
  • Cross-channel references from the printed page to digital pages or e-commerce sites, via image recognition or QR Codes

LAGO’s unique combination of data and marketing systems with template design systems for print and digital channels provides a cost-effective solution for direct, individualized marketing communication.

​For more information or a demo preview of LAGO DIM, please email info@comosoft.com.


Comosoft.com Re-Launch–More to Come in the Months Ahead!

The marketing team at Comosoft has recently completed an extensive makeover of Comosoft.com. if you haven't been there lately, please stop by and check out our new digs! We've added a lot of new content and over the coming months, we'll be adding more module information, case studies, videos and event info. Be sure to check back often for the latest news. We highly value your feedback-please email info@comosoft.com with any website suggestions.


Where in the World is Comosoft?

Comosoft has had an exciting year: we've been very busy onboarding new customers in both the US and EU markets and have several more queued up for the coming months. After we wrap up our latest LAGO implementations in the US, we can safely say that Comosoft owns the retail home improvement landscape, powering retail production for the top three players in this space.

We also recently visited with our friends at Belcorp in Lima, Peru. Belcorp is the largest cosmetics company in South America. We're assisting them with their latest digital transformation project, adding Automated Page building to their production mix.

In addition to onboarding several new clients, we're also busy working on LAGO 5 upgrades. The requests continue to come in and we'd love to help you get this scheduled. If you have any questions regarding the LAGO 5 upgrade process, please email info@comosoft.com.


Welcome to the team!

We'd like to take this opportunity to introduce our latest addition to the Comosoft team, Scott Stafford. Scott comes to us with an extensive history in all the right places. To name a few, Scott is  proficient in SQL, JavaScript, Python, Linux shell scripting, XML, and HTML.

In his role of Technical Support Analyst, Scott will be helping our Support Team and Derrick Pitts serve the technical needs of our customers. In his spare time, Scott is a technology enthusiast who enjoys spending time with his family locally here in Allen, TX.


Tips & Tricks: JIRA Dashboards

Did you know that JIRA allows you to create multiple dashboards to help track issues and ticket assignments? Customized dashboards are a great way to organize your JIRA space. You can easily create widgets for lists, graphs or charts, providing a visual way to track everything on one screen.

For help with setting up a customized JIRA dashboard, please email support@comosoft.com.


Comosoft Newsletter (Winter 2018)



HAPPY HOLIDAYS

With the final weeks of autumn waning and Thanksgiving in the books, the holiday season is upon us–some of you may even have snow on the ground. With holiday production cycles at an end and spring campaigns in planning, we hope LAGO has been good to you and would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for being part of the Comosoft family.

LAGO USER CONFERENCE: PAST & FUTURE

This year's LAGO User Conference @ Big Cedar Lodge was a fantastic event–the days were overflowing with great presentations and lively discussions. We hope you enjoyed it as much as we did! It was also the first time we've had attendees from our European market, making this a truly international event.

This year's User Conference marks both the end of an era and the beginning of a new one: going forward, the LAGO User Conference will become Blueprint, a part of our yearly event series. Furthermore, we've decided to alternate Blueprint's location between Europe and the US.

Our next event, Port of Thoughts, will take place at the Hotel Hafen in Hamburg on June 6th, 2019. Blueprint will resume in 2020 in Hamburg, and alternate with the US in the years to follow. We're looking forward to seeing you there!

COMOSOFT IN THE MEDIA

This week, in partnership with Multichannel Merchant, Comosoft published a LAGO case study produced with the help of our friends at Bass Pro Shops. A huge thanks goes out to Joe Gies and his crew for helping to make this such an interesting read. Be sure to check it out HERE.

MEET THE TEAM

Some of you have probably already met our latest addition to the team, Mark Jones, at this year's User Conference. Mark comes to us with decades of industry experience and will serve as our Executive Vice President, Strategic Partnerships. Mark is an avid golfer, accomplished drummer and excited to be on board with Comosoft.

 

 

 

 

Reyn Ansley is the newest member of the support department. Reyn is a long-time user of LAGO and comes to us with years of experience using LAGO in the day-to-day marketing production for a major office supplies distributor. When not at the office, Reyn likes spending time outdoors and playing video games with his 10 year old twins.


Case Study: Bass Pro Shops

Check out this in-depth case study to see how Bass Pro Shops is using Comosoft LAGO
to maximize the efficiency and effectiveness of their retail marketing operations.

 


Newsletter LAGO 5

Comosoft Newsletter (Summer 2018)


PUBLIC RELEASE: OCTOBER 9!

After many years in the making, LAGO 5 is set for relase on October 9, during our 2018 LAGO User Conference. We've really taken the "5" part of LAGO 5 to heart, transitioning LAGO's Adobe Flash based modules to HTML 5. Along with this major architectural update, we've added many new features too-security enhancements and our first LAGO API just to name two. In the coming weeks, we'll be releasing more LAGO 5 info, so stay tuned!

LAGO USER CONFERENCE

CONFERENCE INFO
Oct. 8, 6:00 PM - Oct. 10, 1:30 PM
Location: Big Cedar Lodge, 190 Top of the Rock Road, Ridgedale, Missouri. Comosoft will provide round-trip transportation from the Springfield, MO Airport (SGF) to Big Cedar Lodge.

We're hoping to see as many of you as possible at our upcoming User Conference-we've planned some really interesting sessions, coming from both Comosoft and our customers. For a full breakdown of the conference agenda and conference information, please visit our website.

MEET OUR PRODUCT MANAGEMENT TEAM

Johnny Cochran
Johnny joined our company back in 2011, transitioning from one of our customers to Head of Professional Services. As one of our key staff members, Johnny has played a role in most of our implementations over the past 7 years, helping to turn concepts into LAGO functionality.

 

 

 

 

Paul Kawano
Paul is our Head of Product Management and has been with us for over 12 years, holding several positions within our company, both in pre-sales and project management. Paul currently works closely with our customers and developers, helping to guide the evolution of LAGO.

 

 

 

 

Michael Siek
As one of our longest tenured staff members and Head of Software Development, Michael has helped to make LAGO all that is today. Starting as a Adobe InDesign and QuarkXpress plugin devloper with Comosoft 18 years ago, Michael now oversees all aspects of LAGO development.


Press Release

COMOSOFT EXPANDS THE SOUTH AMERICAN MARKET 

Comosoft successfully continues course of internationalization and finds the right partner in Brand&Label to develop the Latin American market. 

South American digital transformation experts company Brand&Label SPA and Comosoft form a strong cooperation in South America (LATAM market).

Hamburg/Chile, February 2017: Comosoft, one of the leading providers of multichannel solutions for the segments „Consumer Goods & Retail“, „Mail order & E-Commerce“ as well as „Industry“ continue their course of international expansion launched over 16 years ago and have found the perfect partner in Brand&Label. The aim is to support businesses on the Latin American market actively both in digital transformation as well as with omnichannel commerce.

A solid foundation was laid more than 16 years ago with Comosoft‘s venture into the North American market: leading US agencies as well as some of the world‘s largest retailers (such as e.g. Sears, Lowe‘s, Walgreens, Bass Pro) from a wide range of segments rely on Comosoft GmbH‘s technical competence. About the time Comosoft GmbH entered the North American market, an important and successful trading firm for cosmetics in South America (Peru) was also acquired.

The cooperation with Brand&Label is a logical and important step to further expand in this promising future market. Brand&Label plays an important role in this process, allowing the cooperative venture to meet local customer tastes and requirements in the best possible way.

More than just the language – expertise par excellence 

An important factor to success as a German provider on the LATAM market is to overcome language barriers – no software can be used successfully if it is not professionally implemented with knowledge of the industry. In Brand&Label, Comosoft GmbH has found a young and dynamic team who are qualified in much more than just local languages. The team at Brand&Label are experts when it comes to digitization strategies. They know precisely how they can help businesses to save a lot of time and costs in marketing processes – and now they also have the right software tools in their portfolio.

Think global, act local 

Comosoft now hopes to bring their established expertise from international projects successfully to the Latin American market and work together with partner Brand&Label SPA to further leverage potential. Both companies share a passion for digital transformation/omnichannel commerce, a global mindset and local roots for successful implementations.

Benjamin Ferreau, Managing Director of Comosoft GmbH and responsible for global Sales & Marketing: „We are very excited that we have found a partner in Brand&Label to jointly support businesses in digital transformation. We are combining the best of two worlds – this is a perfect fit, not only in regard to business expertise but also on the people side.“ 

Sebastian Hercovich, Founder and CEO of Brand&Label: „We are a young and dynamic team that provides businesses with solutions that meet the constantly increasing requirements of the market – that‘s why we look for experts with solutions. In Comosoft and the LAGO software, we have found the perfect partner, true experts in everything related to multichannel solutions and product information management. We look forward to working together!“ 

Images available on request.
Contact: Christin Oswald | Sales Assistant | Tel.: +49 40 853318-0 | c.oswald@comosoft.de


Event Movie - Port of Thoughts 2016

Have a look at our 4th retail Summit – Port of Thoughts and enjoy our event movie of this years event.

YouTube

By loading the video, you agree to YouTube's privacy policy.
Learn more

Load video


Press Release RAJA

Comosoft, the leading supplier of PIM- & Multichannel Media Production Software, wins over Europe‘s number one in packaging distribution, the RAJA Group.

RAJA is establishing the basis, with its strategic project entitled “RAJAMEDIA“, for further development of its multichannel customer approach. Comosoft is providing the corresponding software solution (PIM) jointly with IBM (MDM).

 

Hamburg/Paris, October 2016 – The French RAJA Group, with its expertise in packaging products, has been transforming itself into a multichannel player in recent years. Catalogues, online shops, telemarketing and 19 country-specific disctributors in Europe have to date been the main sales channels for the group‘s extensive high-quality range of products. As part of its efforts to expand in this respect, the company launched, in 2015, the RAJAMEDIA Vision project, which has given rise to a wide search for a suitable system solution or solutions. The four-stage selection process has finally found the right candidate: LAGO4 from Comosoft.

These are just a few of the features that helped to swing the decision of the RAJA Group:

  • The combination of complete PIM and MAM systems within the core, including fully integrated transfer of data into the desktop publishing program InDesign.
  • The high-performance “whiteboard“ feature, which allows products to be dragged and dropped quickly and efficiently into catalogue pages for layout planning purposes.
  • Media planning allows the E-Commerce Department to structure and organise all its online shops, complete with
    product-feeds into specified categories.
  • LAGO4 was also the only shortlisted candidate to offer both a fat client and a web client with similar coverage. This allows each department to work in its own way, while also permitting unrestricted access when on the move.

“We have come through a long and intensive selection process, and are 100% confident that we have found, in Comosoft, an enormously innovative, long-term partner with whom we can optimise our internal processes and continue to develop our competitiveness“, states Hélène Gariba, project manager of RAJA MEDIA.

“The important selection factor for us was the combination of technological foresight, functional availability and a good basis for mutual communication“, continues IT program manager Lionel IT Lionel Moraux.

Other joint projects envisaged for the future include automated customisation (based on a one-to-one approach) and an online marketing suite (for the simple creation, approval and distribution of online content).

“We are very pleased, after what has been a long and intensive selection process for us, to be able to satisfy the needs of the RAJA Group. The company is not just totally compatible with our range; the joint team also works together perfectly - which is a well-known prerequisite when it comes to the successful implementation of software-based initiatives. All this is in addition to the fact that RAJA has provided us with a good basis for further expansion into the French market; including the setting-up of a corresponding subsidiary in the course of 2016“, in the words of Benjamin Ferreau, CEO of Comosoft GmbH.

We will be pleased to supply accompanying images on request.

Contact person: Pia Kröger | Marketing Manager | Tel.: +49 40 853318-0 | pia.kroeger@comosoft.de


Presse Release HAWESKO

bildschirmfoto-2016-10-14-um-17-12-02
COMOSOFT ‘BEWITCHES‘ HAWESKO IN MEDIA PRODUCTION - HAWESKO CHOOSES LAGO4.

Germany‘s leading provider of top quality wines and champagnes will be putting its trust in Comosoft GmbH for its PIM and multi-channel media production system. Structured, fast, flexible and multi-channel - Hawesko has been won over by the LAGO4 software from comosoft for its product information management (PIM), media asset management (MAM) and multi-channel export to assure continuous information flow across all sales channels.

Hamburg/Tornesch, March 2016 - Hawesko GmbH has selected LAGO4, one of the world’s leading PIM and multi-channel media production systems by the Comosoft company. Hawesko goes for multi-channel: print, online, mobile, social media. Hawesko went searching for a suitable PIM/MAM and multi-channel provider to expand its approach and the cross-channel activities associated with that.

It focused on finding a software that would meet three essential strategic objectives:

Time 2 Market
Individualization of all media production
Developing new channels

LAGO4 offers a comprehensive, combined core PIM and MAM system as well as a fully integrated export into InDesign, its desktop publishing program and was thus able to exactly meet Hawesko’s expectations. With its high-performing whiteboard, Comosoft’s product manager provides an aid for quickly and efficiently designing catalog pages well as the entire multi-channel activities using drag-and-drop. The e-commerce department will  be able to structure, organize and finalize its integrated webshop by using the media design and product feeding to the desired categories. LAGO4 also provides a fat client and a 100% congruent web client. This allows every department to work in its preferred form and also have unrestricted access when on the road.

“We have a very intensive selection process behind us and are now 100% confident that we have found a very innovative and long-term partner for optimizing our internal processes and expanding our competitiveness,” said Ina Dittman, Project Manager at Hawesko.

“From the beginning, we believed in providing Hawesko with just the right ingredients in the form of software modules - in fact, we dubbed the project the ‘media production bewitchment’. After its intense selection process, we are all the more thrilled that Hawesko decided on us,” declared Benjamin Ferreau, Managing Director of Comosoft GmbH.

Hawesko is already making future plans with Comosoft to address automated individualization (One2One address) and roll-out for further concepts based on the foundation that’s been laid.

 

Please contact the comosoft GmbH Press Office for more information.
CONTACT PERSON: Pia Kröger | Marketing Manager | Tel. : +49 40 853318-62 | pia.kroeger@comosoft.de


COMING SOON

PROF NEWS PLACEHOLDER