A lot of the discussions about Digital Asset Management systems is concerned with the storage and retrieval of brand assets. An area that is growing in significance, however, is the use of DAM to originate new collateral also.
The range of media channels employed by firms is increasing at a rapid pace. As well as providing brand assets, there is now a clear need to provide tools that help staff and partners to use media assets in a manner that complies with brand.
Many brand asset management tools are disconnected from the production phase i.e. where photos, videos, fonts etc. get transformed from being simple files into the marketing collateral that PR, Sales and Marcomms staff use to realise the firm’s marketing strategy.
More advanced solutions add further value by including facilities to assist staff and external agencies develop collateral from the assets retrieved. For example:
- Usage history for assets that a designer has selected for use in marketing materials.
- Identify assets which require clearance before use.
- Provide shared folders (or lightboxes) which can be seen and commented on by internal and external agency staff throughout the creative process.
- Offer details of potential licence costs so budgets can be monitored.
Furthermore, advanced brand asset management systems can integrate with media production software to add powerful features. For example, those systems integrated with design software such as Quark or In-Design can enable print quality photos and illustrations to be accessed directly from users’ lightboxes. Similarly, versatile systems can integrate with conventional desktop applications, like Word or PowerPoint, to assist with the semi-auto generation of proposals or presentations.
When integrated with multimedia sales presenter toolkits or personalised print on demand solutions, for example, Daydream’s FocusOPEN Presentation Add-On, a second generation brand asset management system can provide some very powerful marketing communications tools.
The Presenter Add-On enables highly visual slides with animation, photos or videos to be assembled very quickly using a drag and drop interface and can act as a complete Presentation Management System. By connecting it to a repository of brand assets, it is possible to update footage and material live without needing to manually obtain the file and edit the presentation. For events or pitches where assets may be changing right up to the last minute, this kind of flexibility can give the company a significant advantage over less agile competitors.
Read more about sales presenters.