7 GOOD REASONS FOR GENUINE DIGITAL ASSET MANAGEMENT Why you should manage media in a dedicated Digital Asset Management System instead of a (Web) Content Management System. Marketing is all about content. And today, content exists in the form of digital media and multimedia such as images, graphics, advertisements, brochures, banners, newsletters, slides, audio files or video clips. Vital key functions of any marketing platform must therefore be to provide convenient ways of managing relevant media types, to store these media types centrally for rapid access by all stakeholders, and to supply them on demand in the required form.
Doesn t our existing Content Management System do that anyway? In today s age of omnichannel marketing and the rapid rise in media formats and digital publication channels associated with it, media asset management must meet a far greater range of requirements than even a few years ago. Structured Digital Asset Management (DAM) is therefore essential for any professional marketing organization. Many companies assume they can use their existing (Web) Content Management System (CMS) to handle their Digital Asset Management operations. However, they forget that a media database integrated into a CMS was designed for a completely different basic purpose namely, to provide editors who work with the CMS with the media used within the CMS, enabling them to produce (Web) content generated from the CMS. The use case for genuine Digital Asset Management is completely different! In fact, the strength of a fully fledged DAM is precisely its function as a central source that delivers relevant media not merely for one purpose, but for ALL potential purposes and to ALL appropriate users. This is beyond the scope of any CMS-integrated media database or any agency s individually programmed in-house system. Today, professional DAM is a corporate application for which modern, high-performance standard solutions are available. Global leading products include the DAM module of the BrandMaker Marketing Efficiency Cloud: BrandMaker Media Pool. There are many good reasons for choosing a dedicated DAM such as BrandMaker Media Pool. All-round availability Media assets are too valuable to restrict them to individual user groups such as online editors or the company s advertising agency. For this reason, media assets: Must be centrally available for all corporate areas Must be provided across corporate boundaries for service providers, retailers or sales partners Must be available for use as a core component of Local Area Marketing (LAM) or trade marketing Must be open-access (e.g. as a press portal) where required. Acceptance through usability The joy of use of an application determines whether it is accepted and used by its target group. Even the best systems are worthless if they are not used. To maximize acceptance, a DAM: Must win users over with its intuitive navigation and user interface Must be seamlessly integrated into corresponding solutions Must be easy to integrate into the accustomed work environment and support authentication methods such as SSO, Active Directory or LDAP Must provide a rights and roles system that enables an array of user and requirement profiles to be set up. Finding, not searching Today s users are accustomed to finding everything in a central source even if they re not sure exactly what they re looking for. If media assets are scattered among many different systems and cannot be found, they remain unused. To ensure that available media is actually found and used, a DAM: Must support users in their search by offering intelligent semantic autocomplete Must enable media assets to be organized within hierarchical structures Must simplify searches for available media by providing a topic-based click path Must provide a convenient, comprehensive range of search options, such as by keyword, by category etc. Must support multilingual search functions.
Central repository But providing media assets for Web uses is only one of countless applications. A wide variety of file formats, resolutions or dimensions are needed for various purposes. This requires specialist knowledge and is time-consuming if adjustments are made manually. A modern DAM must therefore be able to deliver the right output formats starting from the right original file, and must specifically: Serve as a central repository and therefore help to avoid redundant, and frequently thus inconsistent, filing of media objects ( single file of truth ) Generate the output formats required for specific purposes on demand with a click, starting from an original file Reduce dependency on agencies and cut costs by enabling simple automatic transcoding into the most common formats Supply the functions necessary for versioning of media assets. Media as workflow objects In order to work efficiently and productively with media assets, companies must place media at the center of their workflows. Predefined workflows and sequences give structure to processes and simplify collaboration for all stakeholders, resulting in the maximum transparency, consistency and quality. For this reason, a high-performance DAM: Must enable flexible workflows to be defined Must deliver out of the box approval, release, and review processes Must present consistent workflows for advertising material logistics and event management, thus providing optimum support for typical local area marketing scenarios Must use evaluations and reporting functions to create transparency concerning the actual use of media and advertising materials. Seamless connection of matching solutions A DAM generates genuine added value and synergies when it forms the backbone of a comprehensive marketing platform instead of a standalone solution, and supports all processes along the creative supply chain. BrandMaker Media Pool can thus be seamlessly integrated with other modules in the Marketing Efficiency Cloud: BrandMaker Brand Management Portal brings all market-relevant resources together in a digital style guide, providing a transparent overview of Corporate Identity for all stakeholders. BrandMaker Web-to-Publish enables all marketing materials based on CI-compliant templates to be customized rapidly and simply. BrandMaker Marketing Shop supplies all functions for handling order and delivery processes in advertising material logistics, and provides marketing materials of all kinds for staff at both central headquarters and any decentralized units such as branches. BrandMaker Marketing PIM consolidates all marketing-relevant product data in neutral format and stores them centrally for seamless use, e.g. in automated content creation. BrandMaker Reporting Center combines marketing-related performance indicators from a range of sources and presents all information in a clear dashboard format. System integration thanks to open interfaces Standalone and closed systems obstruct cross-company, cross-division and cross-process workflows. They lead to dead ends and are not future proof. BrandMaker Media Pool therefore makes use of: Open architecture and documented interfaces Flexible integration of any Content Management Systems Flexible integration of any Database Publishing Systems Flexible integration of procurement solutions, e.g. to eliminate duplicate licensing of identical content.
DIGITAL ASSET MANAGEMENT As a core element of integrated marketing platforms Marketing Planning and Workflow Control Procurement Brand Portal Database Publishing Business Intelligence DAM Marketing PIM Marketing Logistics Translation Management Advertising Material Production
THE BRANDMAKER MEDIA POOL Customer-specific configuration Each Media Pool can be configured customer-specifically: from the structure of the topic tree to the views and list formats on through to the required metadata, the permissible file formats, and the selection of keywords. User-specific search Depending on the role and task at hand, different users search using entirely different criteria. There are different methods available for this, from topical searches to the storage of individually-defined search criteria. Everything under control You decide whether a medium is approved and by whom it may be used. Here the rights and roles concept also allows the easy handling of a lot of users. Everything at a click Depending on users individual authorization, they view all available options at a glance from media preview and evaluation to its download or direct mailing.
Media-specific preview From multi-page advertising materials to decks of slides to animated banners: specific preview functions allow a sure selection of the desired medium. Maximum transparency The extensive metadata creates maximum transparency about the origin, technical data, and user evaluation of all media. Rights and license management Stored centrally is also who may see a medium and what he may do with it similarly there may be limitations on defined purposes or the expiration of a license on a defined date. Meaningful hit lists A freely-configurable list view clearly summarizes the results of your search including the relevant metadata. Automatic conversion Depending on the use, you automatically receive the desired medium in the appropriate file format. Guided search Thanks to the customer-specifically configured, topically-oriented user guidance, even non-marketers and casual users can find the assets they are looking for quickly and easily.