DAM Belongs in a Company’s Content Operations—Not in a Data Silo
Why does DAM need to be integrated into an organization’s overall product marketing campaign planning, production, and distribution?
When Digital Asset Management (DAM) first emerged in the late 1980s, it was a single-user (and single-computer) application to help content creators store, organize, and track their many image and
What is a major drawback of standalone DAM systems?
illustration files. It was a big improvement over manual file-and-folder image handling, but it was essentially an isolated “silo” of assets and their metadata.
Even with the advent of the web in the early 1990s and the increasing number of server-based systems, Digital Asset Management was seldom connected to other databases or workflows. Back then, and with most standalone DAM systems today, a major drawback (often a crippling one) is the high cost of the manual effort required to use the managed assets effectively. As print became increasingly complex and cost-sensitive, and as digital marketing channels multiplied, companies’ DAM silos became burdensome IT cost centers.
Is Your DAM System Just a Storage Space?
How can a DAM system become more than just a place to store digital images and videos?
Unlike other databases, a DAM system provides more than the text-only data you might find in a spreadsheet or an inventory system. A modern DAM system offers centralized, controlled access to various types of digital files, including images, illustrations, audio, and video, utilized by production designers.
It also holds critical metadata, or information about each image, illustration, audio, or video. For example, a DAM record for a specific product image would include the product’s SKU number, the date the photo was taken, the file format, and other information needed to identify, classify, and use the asset. But if a DAM system exists in isolation, then it is merely a place to store files. Even if the metadata is accurate and logical, the process will be largely manual. Teams will waste time moving files around, redoing assets, and fixing version issues—to say nothing of overall campaign production slowdowns.
To be more than a mere storage container, a DAM system must be integrated with other key systems, such as the company’s Product Information Management (PIM) system and other essential aspects of content planning, creation, publishing, and execution. By linking these systems, as Comosoft LAGO does, they become active tools for enabling the re-use and scaling of content—vastly improving time-to-market for each campaign.
What Is the Lifecycle of Your Assets?
As most advertising and marketing directors know, every product has a lifecycle, from its first introduction to the public through its many, many improved versions. The same is true for the digital photos and other assets related to each product.
How can enterprises better govern the lifecycle of DAM assets—and use them more productively in campaigns?
A DAM system must keep track of multiple versions of each image or video, sometimes dictated by a “new and improved” version of the product—or by a change in the creative director’s vision. Multiply by the number of products involved and one loses control rapidly.
Because so many variables are involved, a standalone DAM system is especially vulnerable to this sort of chaos. Good governance requires clear visibility and accountability throughout the lifecycle of each digital asset. This means using a comprehensive workflow, including review and approval and rights management integrated into the overall planning, production, and tracking process.
How Connected Are Your Content Workflows?
When DAM systems are not integrated into everyday workflows, teams are often forced to use unofficial file-sharing methods, such as email attachments or file copy-and-paste, to get things done. These “shadow systems” cause massive and costly problems, including version confusion, compliance and liability risks, and weakened brand consistency. These, in turn, affect the bottom line.
How do companies avoid costly asset duplication and version confusion?
But when Digital Asset Management is integrated into the production process, including the layout of complex pages and the creation of multiple versions of those pages, such manual (and costly) workarounds become completely unnecessary.
Freed from the need to manually compensate for standalone DAM systems, marketing and advertising design teams can complete more tasks more quickly and with fewer errors.
Are Your DAM and Production Systems Scalable?
The business environment for major retailers and other enterprise players has rapidly become more complex, with a bewildering array of new marketing channels and customization requirements. Without meaningful integration with other data and workflow systems, traditional, standalone DAM systems are a liability, preventing organizations from scaling marketing content campaigns.
Digital assets alone cannot empower companies to meet these demands. Media files must be meaningfully connected to product information, campaign timing, regional rules and preferences, and channel requirements. Integrating DAM into a connected platform like Comosoft LAGO helps
What are the ways media files must be connected in order for a company to scale its operations?
organizations create a shared operational base. This reduces asset duplication, builds trust in content, and enables enterprises to scale in our multichannel world.
It’s time to rethink how content flows across your organization. Schedule a demo to learn how Comosoft LAGO helps enterprises unify DAM within scalable, connected content operations.
