What is a DAM system?
A Digital Asset Management or DAM system can best be compared to an online library: a storage and delivery site for electronic files.
In the system, your marketing department can store all its images, graphics, logos, videos, etc.
But they can also store finished products – as reference material (advertisements, brochures, banners, presentations, …).
By assigning keywords and categories to each file, you create a practical library, and that library is as large as you need. We’ve even installed a DAM system for a single user. In that case, the system replaced a few shoeboxes filled with photo-CDs that the communication manager kept in a cabinet.
Who has access to the system?
That’s something you decide for yourself. You decide who sees what information, and who can use which information.
That could be a selected group of people within your organisation, as well as external parties such as distributors, suppliers, your advertising agency, journalists, and yes, even customers.
The benefits of a DAM system
1. DAM strengthens your brand
Unified communication is one of the cornerstones of a strong brand. With a DAM system there can be no doubt as to which pictures and logos are OK for use in your communications. That’s because you only put documents in the system that respect the corporate identity of your organization from a to z. Do you have new campaign images? Then put them online and lock the old images so that right away everybody can only use the correct images.
2. DAM reduces costs
Every image, every digital file, every brochure – your organization has invested in each of these assets. What it comes down to is getting these investments work, by using them yourself and allowing others to use them. Because everyone can find the right material quickly, you save time and it’s a nice way to work.
3. Easy to use. Even for non-techies
Are you looking for a picture for a PowerPoint presentation, or on a poster, or on the website? There’s no need to worry about which format. All files are stored in their native high-res format in the DAM system. Anyone requesting an image only needs to indicate what he wants to use it for and the image is automatically converted and delivered in the format he needs.
