This is the tenth and final video in the series of Widen customer interviews with Jason Barinaga, Manager of eCommerce Initiatives, at Oceania Cruises, Inc. In this video, Jason talks about the multi-site branding available with the Widen digital asset management system. Widen DAM serves as a dual solution used by Oceania Cruises and their sister company—Regent Seven Seas. Oceania Cruises has a niche between the premium and luxury cruise lines where they offer a luxury experience at premium pricing. Regent Seven Seas is a luxury cruise line that is a little more upscale. Each brand has two different catalogs of digital assets partitioned into a Regent side and an Oceania Cruises side. If a user enters through the Regent travel agent center they automatically see all resources from Regent and the same applies to travel agents seeking brand assets from Oceania Cruises. Widen’s ability to have multiple skins for the same digital content management system was instrumental because it satisfied the needs of two different companies. Watch the video to learn more about using digital asset management for multiple brands.
This is the ninth video in the series of Widen customer interviews with Jason Barinaga, Manager of eCommerce Initiatives, at Oceania Cruises, Inc. In this video, Jason talks about the importance of having an easy to use user interface with their digital asset management system and how Widen provided just that. It was essential for Oceania Cruises to have an online resource that looks sleek and professional, fits the brand, and be customizable to some degree. A DAM system needs to be user friendly and organized so their travel agents can find what they need, build personal collections, download what they need and come back again. Watch the video to learn more about the user experience with Widen digital asset management at Oceania Cruises.
This is the eighth video in the series of Widen customer interviews with Jason Barinaga, Manager of eCommerce Initiatives, at Oceania Cruises, Inc. In this video, Jason talks about why they want as many travel agents and media contacts as possible to have easy access to Oceania marketing assets and how they are able to accomplish this using the Widen DAM solution. He explains how everyone is free to visit their marketing asset repository, create an account, and download all the materials they want. Their DAM system exists as a central location where travel partners can go to grab destination photos and brand assets for use in creating custom marketing and promotional materials. Jason explains how their marketing asset management system contributes to their travel agents’ ability to advertise, promote and sell their product through the marketing materials they create and find using the Widen DAM system. Watch the video to learn more about leveraging digital asset management as a marketing and sales tool.
This is the sixth video in the series of Widen customer interviews with Jason Barinaga, Manager of eCommerce Initiatives, at Oceania Cruises, Inc. In this video, Jason talks about the functionality they asked Widen to create for them that would allow travel agents to go seamlessly through the travel agent center to the Widen-powered DAM system to access Oceania brand assets and destination photos. Jason talks about the challenges they had to overcome in building user adoption among travel agents and the technical integrations that had to be done. After several months, Oceania Cruises’ marketing team is receiving a lot of positive feedback from the travel agents and media personnel that used their previous digital asset management system and are now extremely pleased with the Widen DAM solution. Watch the video to learn more about implementing a digital asset management system at Oceania Cruises.
This is the fifth video in the series of Widen customer interviews with Jason Barinaga, Manager of eCommerce Initiatives, at Oceania Cruises, Inc. In this video, Jason talks about why they made the decision to go with a web-based digital asset management software solution because it supports what they wanted to do on the website and allows anyone, anywhere, at any time access to approved digital assets through their secured web portal. Even Oceania’s internal teams were in support of the SaaS-based brand asset management solution. While security is always a factor in deciding to implement brand asset management technologies, Oceania Cruises wanted to make sure that there was a certain percentage of uptime for their customers, but more importantly they wanted to ensure all brand assets and promotional materials were backed up and secure. Watch the video to learn more about overcoming security concerns with web-based digital asset management software.
This is the fourth video in the series of Widen customer interviews with Jason Barinaga, Manager of eCommerce Initiatives, at Oceania Cruises, Inc. In this video, Jason talks about how “ease of use” for their external users – travel agents and media personnel – is of great significance for the success of their digital asset management solution. Internally, the Oceania Cruises graphics department takes on the responsibility of managing the system which includes uploading, categorizing and organizing brand assets. He talks about how the administrators of the Widen DAM tool find it very user friendly to upload assets, catalog and add meta-tags/descriptions, etc. The ability to create and manage various levels of access and permissions is critical to managing the different user roles as well. Jason talks about the positive feedback their users have provided about the ease of use of the Widen Media Collective from a customer service and functionality standpoint in doing everything that they need it to do and provide. Watch the video to learn more about the importance of “ease of use” with digital asset management at Oceania Cruises.
This is the second video in the series of Widen customer interviews with Jason Barinaga, Manager of eCommerce Initiatives, at Oceania Cruises, Inc. In this video, Jason talks about their search for a new digital asset management system in parallel with the launch of a new OceaniaCruises.com last year. One of the things that Oceania wanted to do was find a digital asset library that supported their new website from both a “look and feel” and functionality standpoint. Based on the negative feedback from users of the old system – media, travel agents, etc. – Oceania sought out a more proficient DAM solution that would allow customers to better utilize the resources and brand assets that a wide range of people were looking for. Watch the video to learn more about Oceania’s search for a new digital asset management system.
This series of posts features a video interview with Jason Barinaga, Manager of eCommerce Initiatives, at Oceania Cruises, Inc. In this first video, Jason talks about the pitfalls with digital asset management at Oceania before Widen. Prior to implementing the Widen web-based digital asset management system, Oceania was using another proprietary DAM tool that wasn’t as powerful, robust or scalable as what they found with the Widen DAM solution. There were a number of limitations and, consequently, there was a lot of negative feedback from internal and external users who counted on Oceania brand assets for promotions and marketing collateral. Oceania did not have the ability to store, convert or transcode, and distribute high resolution images or video files, nor did their previous DAM system support the handling of PDF files and other corporate branding documents. Watch the video to learn more about digital asset management at Oceania Cruises before Widen DAM.
Widen Enterprises has released Widen Media Collective® Version 5.5 with its Summer 2010 update to the flagship Software as a Service product for digital asset management (DAM).
Watch the video to learn about the new features and updates with the Widen Collective 5.5 Release.
Updates to the core Digital Asset Management application include search improvements with exact phrase search, stemming support for singular versus plural metatags and the ability to exclude full text search of Microsoft Office and Adobe PDF documents. The search results sort by “file format” function has been added to group assets of the same file type. Video Asset Management improvements were made to include FFMPEG video transcoding for faster video processing and automatic alternate still previews for embed links videos.
The Dynamic Media Building ad and brochure template building application included updates to allow text blocks to have different font and font colors based on end user selections during the build process. This allows one template to be uploaded with the flexibility for different branding. End users can also upload their own image (if the template allows) during the build process.
Updates to Project Collaboration include the ability to Add Notes on image projects. Notes can be added any place on an image. Multiple notes can be added by all users on the route and are reviewed by the owner(s) of the project. All notes added to or removed from the image are tracked with Project Details.
For more specific information about the Widen Media Collective and 5.5 release visit: http://www.widencollective.com.
Digital Asset Management technologies have become essential to efficient and effective marketing operations in 2010 and beyond. DAM is linked to having a direct impact over the top marketing priorities for 2010.
Anderson Analytics recently performed a study that measured, among other things, the importance of various marketing trends to top marketing executives such as Chief Marketing Officers (CMOs). The “Marketing Trends Report 2010” survey was completed between January 11, 2010 and February 8, 2010 by respondents who are members of Marketing Executives Networking Group, hold a position of Vice President or higher and have a minimum base salary of $160,000. The survey showed that the top priorities of the executives are: Marketing ROI, Customer Retention, Brand Loyalty, Positioning/Differentiation, Branding, Customer Satisfaction and Social Media.
It's interesting to note that Digital Asset Management (DAM) can have an important impact on each of these priorities specified by the top marketing executives themselves. DAM software addresses these priorities by providing a central repository for digital media files and a set of tools to store, manage the approval of, find and convert these files to increase their value in the marketing process. DAM systems also make complete or selected subsets of the organization's digital media resources easily available to authorized users such as sales representatives, channel members, the media, etc. These capabilities can have a far-ranging impact on the marketing organization and the enterprise as a whole.
Download the white paper to learn more about how Digital Asset Management can assist with:
Anderson Analytics recently performed a study that measured, among other things, the importance of various marketing trends to top marketing executives such as Chief Marketing Officers (CMOs). The “Marketing Trends Report 2010” survey was completed between January 11, 2010 and February 8, 2010 by respondents who are members of Marketing Executives Networking Group, hold a position of Vice President or higher and have a minimum base salary of $160,000. The survey showed that the top priorities of the executives are: Marketing ROI, Customer Retention, Brand Loyalty, Positioning/Differentiation, Branding, Customer Satisfaction and Social Media.
Slide 14 of the 2010 Marketing Trends Study by Anderson Analytics showing the top marketing buzzwords or trends most important to marketing executives. View the full PowerPoint on SlideShare
It's interesting to note that Digital Asset Management (DAM) can have an important impact on each of these priorities specified by the top marketing executives themselves. DAM software addresses these priorities by providing a central repository for digital media files and a set of tools to store, manage the approval of, find and convert these files to increase their value in the marketing process. DAM systems also make complete or selected subsets of the organization's digital media resources easily available to authorized users such as sales representatives, channel members, the media, etc. These capabilities can have a far-ranging impact on the marketing organization and the enterprise as a whole.
Download the white paper to learn more about how Digital Asset Management can assist with:
- Increasing return on marketing investments
- Raising customer retention rates
- Improving brand loyalty and brand consistency
- Positioning and differentiating products
- Increasing customer satisfaction
We realize all customers need assistance when it comes to the ongoing success of their Digital Asset Management implementation. Watch the video to learn more about Widen’s approach to digital asset management as a service.
In the video, I discuss how the most successful digital asset management deployments start with a very candid conversation to identify the objectives for managing and distributing digital assets. Then, we’ll work with you to create a long-term vision for what’s to be accomplished. We do not manage projects in terms of feature by feature requests. Our mission is to understand your objectives and work with you to create a plan by leveraging our expertise in the DAM space.
How are you going to prove that DAM is going to work for your company? What are you going to do to provide a very clear ROI to your management team? As we’ve done for many successful DAM deployments, we will paint a clear, long-term picture of how our product direction aligns with your vision, while executing in the short term to get the brand under control by centralizing all digital media assets used by the marketing organization. With Widen being a DAM Software as a Service (SaaS) provider, you get the benefit of being on a platform with over one hundred other customers sharing in the same universal functionality to achieve the purposes of meeting their long-term vision.
Widen still recognizes there are certain cases where customers have unique requirements and workflows requiring additional functionality and, oftentimes, customization. There are advantages and disadvantages to this. How do we handle those cases? We still start those customers at the basic brand management level because that platform is consistent with the DAM needs for all customers and users. If requirements are unique and a different level of customization is required to meet specific needs, then we will break you away from the pack of all the other customers on the same universal functionality. We know what works and what doesn’t in DAM and it’s our mission to provide you with the service and technology that proves ongoing success.
In the video, I discuss how the most successful digital asset management deployments start with a very candid conversation to identify the objectives for managing and distributing digital assets. Then, we’ll work with you to create a long-term vision for what’s to be accomplished. We do not manage projects in terms of feature by feature requests. Our mission is to understand your objectives and work with you to create a plan by leveraging our expertise in the DAM space.
How are you going to prove that DAM is going to work for your company? What are you going to do to provide a very clear ROI to your management team? As we’ve done for many successful DAM deployments, we will paint a clear, long-term picture of how our product direction aligns with your vision, while executing in the short term to get the brand under control by centralizing all digital media assets used by the marketing organization. With Widen being a DAM Software as a Service (SaaS) provider, you get the benefit of being on a platform with over one hundred other customers sharing in the same universal functionality to achieve the purposes of meeting their long-term vision.
Widen still recognizes there are certain cases where customers have unique requirements and workflows requiring additional functionality and, oftentimes, customization. There are advantages and disadvantages to this. How do we handle those cases? We still start those customers at the basic brand management level because that platform is consistent with the DAM needs for all customers and users. If requirements are unique and a different level of customization is required to meet specific needs, then we will break you away from the pack of all the other customers on the same universal functionality. We know what works and what doesn’t in DAM and it’s our mission to provide you with the service and technology that proves ongoing success.
What does it mean to reuse a digital asset? What does it mean to repurpose a digital asset?
These two terms are used interchangeably all of the time in the Digital Asset Management (DAM) space.
Do these terms mean the same thing to you?
The goal of this post is to introduce how I distinguish the concepts of RE-USING and RE-PURPOSING digital assets. Join the conversation by submitting a comment as I’m interested in understanding your take.
Digital assets are generally developed for one of three reasons:
RE-USE – To reuse a digital asset is to employ the asset for the purpose in which it was created more than one time.
For example, this image was developed for use in a specific PowerPoint presentation. The first time that presentation is “created” or “given” then that is the point in which the asset is first “used.” The more times the asset is used in another presentation (separate slide deck – OR – staged appearance), then it is being “re-used” for the purpose in which it was produced. Reusing or re-presenting the original PowerPoint presentation or re-deploying the slide (or slides) that contain that digital asset would count toward the number of times it is “re-used.” Again, the reason the image asset was produced in the first place was for use in one or multiple PowerPoint presentations.
RE-PURPOSE – To repurpose a digital asset is to utilize the asset (in its original form or modified) for a new and different purpose than which it was originally produced.
Again, let's say the common image in these examples above was originally developed for use in a PowerPoint presentation; however it was “re-purposed” for use on a website, in a brochure, in a promotional video, conference poster, Facebook page, and Twitter background. It is used in places different than its original intended purpose, thus it is “re-purposed.” The more an asset is repurposed, the more value it provides.
Repurposing is so commonplace in today’s multi-channel marketing environment that it is the standard. Everyone must deploy their message across multiple mediums in order to get the greatest impact and maximize the ROI in the time and money spent producing that asset. As marketers, if there is one thing we have learned over the last few years, we are expected to “do more with less.” It is also incumbent upon us to take advantage of all the latest cost-effective digital marketing vehicles that have come about. Advancements in technology, creativity, digital media management and digital asset optimization mean the emphasis is on efficiency.
Learn about the four key ratios in digital asset management that help customers realize the value of their digital assets. Among those four success metrics with digital asset management programs is the Repurposing Ratio. Download the whitepaper – Maximizing the Value of Digital Assets – to learn more about the Repurposing Ratio.
Read the related article on ChiefMarketer.com – Derive More Value From Your Digital Assets.
These two terms are used interchangeably all of the time in the Digital Asset Management (DAM) space.
Do these terms mean the same thing to you?
The goal of this post is to introduce how I distinguish the concepts of RE-USING and RE-PURPOSING digital assets. Join the conversation by submitting a comment as I’m interested in understanding your take.
Digital assets are generally developed for one of three reasons:
- To make money in businesses where the assets are the actual products being sold, like digital music or movie downloads.
- To market and/or sell products or services where the digital assets represent the product(s) being sold—for example, product images in a catalog or Web site.
- To reinforce a brand image or build brand equity, like a brand logo or logo representing a special occasion such as “60 years of service.”
RE-USE – To reuse a digital asset is to employ the asset for the purpose in which it was created more than one time.
RE-PURPOSE – To repurpose a digital asset is to utilize the asset (in its original form or modified) for a new and different purpose than which it was originally produced.
Again, let's say the common image in these examples above was originally developed for use in a PowerPoint presentation; however it was “re-purposed” for use on a website, in a brochure, in a promotional video, conference poster, Facebook page, and Twitter background. It is used in places different than its original intended purpose, thus it is “re-purposed.” The more an asset is repurposed, the more value it provides.
Repurposing is so commonplace in today’s multi-channel marketing environment that it is the standard. Everyone must deploy their message across multiple mediums in order to get the greatest impact and maximize the ROI in the time and money spent producing that asset. As marketers, if there is one thing we have learned over the last few years, we are expected to “do more with less.” It is also incumbent upon us to take advantage of all the latest cost-effective digital marketing vehicles that have come about. Advancements in technology, creativity, digital media management and digital asset optimization mean the emphasis is on efficiency.
Learn about the four key ratios in digital asset management that help customers realize the value of their digital assets. Among those four success metrics with digital asset management programs is the Repurposing Ratio. Download the whitepaper – Maximizing the Value of Digital Assets – to learn more about the Repurposing Ratio.
Read the related article on ChiefMarketer.com – Derive More Value From Your Digital Assets.
Widen recently had an article published on ChiefMarketer.com – Derive More Value From Your Digital Assets – discussing the role of digital asset management tools in maximizing the value of your digital media and brand assets.
Here’s an excerpt from the article…
An old episode of “Saturday Night Live” spoofed a real commercial, showing two characters arguing over whether the can they were holding was a floor wax or a dessert topping. After about 10 seconds of animosity, a chuckling Chevy Chase stepped in and said, “Hey you two, it’s a floor wax AND a dessert topping.”
That skit demonstrated how everyone feels good when they get more than one use out of something they buy. Wow—I can put it on my pumpkin pie and see myself in my kitchen floor? I must’ve done well when I bought it!
The same mindset is pervading the world of digital assets, particularly in a cost-conscious economy. Organizations are looking to maximize the value of all their digital assets, both to reduce up-front costs and increase the ROI on every expenditure.
That’s why digital asset management (DAM) has become so important to organizations large and small. It provides a way to centralize the organization’s digital assets, ensuring not only that the correct and most current version is being used, but also that it isn’t being duplicated unnecessarily.
Digital assets are generally developed for one of three reasons:
There are two basic ways to do that. You can either re-use a digital asset, which means employing it for the purpose it was created more than once, such as an image created for a specific PowerPoint presentation that is then used in other presentations. Or you can re-purpose the asset, that is, use the image created for one medium in a different one. An example of re-purposing would be to take the image created for the PowerPoint presentation and use it in a brochure, on a Web page, on a Facebook fan page, or in an e-mail marketing piece. Each method creates a different type of value for the asset.
Read the rest of the article at ChiefMarketer.com - Derive More Value From Your Digital Assets
Here’s an excerpt from the article…
An old episode of “Saturday Night Live” spoofed a real commercial, showing two characters arguing over whether the can they were holding was a floor wax or a dessert topping. After about 10 seconds of animosity, a chuckling Chevy Chase stepped in and said, “Hey you two, it’s a floor wax AND a dessert topping.”
That skit demonstrated how everyone feels good when they get more than one use out of something they buy. Wow—I can put it on my pumpkin pie and see myself in my kitchen floor? I must’ve done well when I bought it!
“Shimmer Floor Wax” clip from Saturday Night Live Season 1, Episode 9, 1/10/1976
The same mindset is pervading the world of digital assets, particularly in a cost-conscious economy. Organizations are looking to maximize the value of all their digital assets, both to reduce up-front costs and increase the ROI on every expenditure.
That’s why digital asset management (DAM) has become so important to organizations large and small. It provides a way to centralize the organization’s digital assets, ensuring not only that the correct and most current version is being used, but also that it isn’t being duplicated unnecessarily.
Digital assets are generally developed for one of three reasons:
- To make money in businesses where the assets are the actual products being sold, like digital music or movie downloads.
- To market and/or sell products or services where the digital assets represent the product(s) being sold—for example, product images in a catalog or Web site.
- To reinforce a brand image or build brand equity, like a brand logo or logo for a special occasion such as “60 years of service.”
There are two basic ways to do that. You can either re-use a digital asset, which means employing it for the purpose it was created more than once, such as an image created for a specific PowerPoint presentation that is then used in other presentations. Or you can re-purpose the asset, that is, use the image created for one medium in a different one. An example of re-purposing would be to take the image created for the PowerPoint presentation and use it in a brochure, on a Web page, on a Facebook fan page, or in an e-mail marketing piece. Each method creates a different type of value for the asset.
Read the rest of the article at ChiefMarketer.com - Derive More Value From Your Digital Assets
Names are a big deal with marketing and creative groups; especially when it comes to the everyday business systems and applications you depend on to do your job. Choosing a name for your digital asset management system is key to a successful deployment in building user adoption internally and externally. Not all users of your DAM system will understand what “Digital Asset Management” is, so it’s common to choose a different, more identifiable name. This post will help you understand how to go about naming your digital asset management tool and provide some helpful ways of building a short list of possible names.Best practices in naming your Digital Asset Management System:
- Choose a name that fits the department or functional area leading the project – e.g. marketing communications, creative, public relations, sales, etc.
- Choose a name that fits the primary group(s) of users of the system – internal or external – e.g. marketing partners, sales channels, dealers, etc.
- Choose a name that fits the types of assets that are most common – e.g. images, photos, videos, and marketing materials. If it’s all of the above, use a more general term such as media or brand assets.
- Choose a name that fits your organization, brand(s) or mission. ** The most important best practice because your DAM solution is the single point of management and access to your brand assets.
- Be Creative – Names that are catchy and fun are easier to remember.
- Be Realistic – Names that fit the purpose of the system set clear expectations.
- Be Memorable – Names that are easy to remember improve frequency of use.
- Be Simple – KISS. (You all know what that means...) Confusion turns users away.
Chart for Picking a Two-Word Name for your DAM System:
| Asset Type Descriptor | System Type Descriptor |
| Brand | Bank |
| Creative | Collection |
| Digital | Database |
| Image | Resource |
| Marketing | Tool |
| Media | Library |
| Photo | Toolkit |
| Video | Source |
| Gallery | |
| Portal | |
| Collective | |
| System | |
| Center |
Sample Two-word Names (Not including the Customer/Brand name):
Creative Library, Digital Gallery, Digital Toolkit, Image Library, Marketing Library, Marketing Toolbox, Media Database, Media Library, Media Source, Partner Portal
Sample Three-word Names (Not including the Customer/Brand name):
Brand Asset Library, Creative Resource Bank, Digital Image Gallery, Digital Media Library, Image Management System, Marketing Resource Center, Video Asset Library
Take the tour of the Widen Media Collective DAM Demo Site > Request a Login >
Use Registration Code “collective” when you fill in the required information.
Use Registration Code “collective” when you fill in the required information.
The Widen Media Collective® Brand Name
Media Collective® is the trademarked name for the Widen digital asset management software suite and serves as the default name for Widen customer DAM systems unless you choose your own. Generally, the name will appear in the title of the web-based DAM system, login screen and header within the application. The standard web address is https://customer.widencollective.com.
What if we want a vanity web address?
There is no cost to select a custom name, however additional charges may apply for maintaining a custom vanity URL. Here’s an explanation of the vanity web address options:
Vanity Web Address Redirect: Organizations not wishing to use the standard web address of https://customer.widencollective.com may opt for a vanity web address that is redirected to the standard address. For example, you can direct users to http://WidenMediaCollective.com and they will be redirected to https://demo.widencollective.com when they arrive on the page.
Vanity Web Address: Organizations not wishing to use the standard web address of https://customer.widencollective.com may opt for a vanity web address that is NOT redirected to the standard address. For example, you can direct users to https://WidenMediaCollective.com and that will remain the core part of the URL string throughout their use of the system.
Aberdeen Group recently launched a new benchmark report titled “Marketing Asset Management: Managing Brand Compliance in Distributed Marketing Environments,” authored by Peter Ostrow, Research Director, Sales Effectiveness for Aberdeen Group. The report examined 136 organizations that have deployed marketing asset management (MAM) solutions and found that 100% of the top performing companies improved their return on marketing investments, compared to 26% in other companies. This report from Aberdeen Group follows last year’s Digital Asset Management benchmark study “The Marketers Guide to Justifying Investments in Digital Asset Management.”
According to the study, managing marketing compliance and brand consistency across business units and geographies are among the top priorities of marketing managers and CMOs in 2010. Many organizations continue to stifle efficiency and waste money on unproductive, decentralized marketing resource management processes. As organizations attempt to operate as efficiently and effectively as possible under volatile market conditions and often with fewer resources, MAM solutions empower sales and marketing teams to maximize return on marketing investments by centralizing and improving accessibility to approved marketing resources.
The report reveals what leading companies have been able to achieve through deployment of marketing asset management solutions, including:
Common characteristics among companies enjoying Best-in-Class performance include: 
Obtain a complimentary copy of the Marketing Asset Management report from Aberdeen Group.
Visit Research.Aberdeen.com for additional access to complimentary Customer Management Research.
Learn more about Marketing Asset Management from Widen.
According to the study, managing marketing compliance and brand consistency across business units and geographies are among the top priorities of marketing managers and CMOs in 2010. Many organizations continue to stifle efficiency and waste money on unproductive, decentralized marketing resource management processes. As organizations attempt to operate as efficiently and effectively as possible under volatile market conditions and often with fewer resources, MAM solutions empower sales and marketing teams to maximize return on marketing investments by centralizing and improving accessibility to approved marketing resources.
The report reveals what leading companies have been able to achieve through deployment of marketing asset management solutions, including:
- 24% average year-over-year increase in annual revenue compared to 2% increase in other companies
- 32% average year-over-year improvement in return on marketing investment compared to 4% average decrease for other companies
- 18% average year-over-year improvement in brand consistency compared to 2% improvement by other companies
- 79% deploy a library asset management system for their marketing assets
- 75% use ROI estimates to cost-justify marketing investments
- 71% provide the marketing department with access to all digital assets, allowing them to re-purpose or re-use content and images
- 62% have a process in place to disseminate information on best practices in managing marketing assets to both sales and marketing
Visit Research.Aberdeen.com for additional access to complimentary Customer Management Research.
Learn more about Marketing Asset Management from Widen.
We’re SaaSing back at the conventional wisdom of IT because DAM doesn’t need to be so difficult! Read our article in today’s ECM Connection newsletter--SaaSing Back without Getting Smacked. Here's a bit from that article...
Gartner put out a report in 2008 that indicated the SaaS model has become increasingly popular during the last three to four years. The report said more than 40% of organizations have used SaaS for more than three years and nearly 90% of organizations surveyed expect to maintain or grow their usage of SaaS, citing the following as primary reasons for adoption:
Immediate Deployment
SaaS services are immediately usable and begin returning on the investment immediately.
Service is Just as Important as Technology
Service providers supply implementation, training, software, integration, maintenance, upgrades, and support as part of the total package and are staffed to handle each component themselves.
Infinite Scalability
Software-as-a-service providers are already geared up to handle scalability so when you need to go from 100GB to 100TB, even for 24 hours, you can do it and only pay for what you use.
Lower Price Points and Total Cost of Ownership
Service providers are sharing in the power of user communities, shared technology, and innovation to keep costs down and price points that make installed software pricing look ridiculous. Also, no additional resources needed in a complete software-as-a-service model. No extra IT maintenance is required.
It’s the start of a new month, new quarter and new victories to be had… Are you ready to start increasing your Marketing ROI with Digital Asset Management?
When marketing teams implement Digital Asset Management software technologies to centralize, repurpose and track marketing and brand assets, they’re better equipped to:
Widen makes it simple because 100% DAM SaaS provides you with a guided implementation (including training), automatic upgrades, and powerful web-based DAM without the burden on your internal IT resources.
We’ve reloaded our Demo site and invite you to check it out! Get acquainted with web based digital asset management and take the tour on your own.
Gartner put out a report in 2008 that indicated the SaaS model has become increasingly popular during the last three to four years. The report said more than 40% of organizations have used SaaS for more than three years and nearly 90% of organizations surveyed expect to maintain or grow their usage of SaaS, citing the following as primary reasons for adoption:
Immediate Deployment
SaaS services are immediately usable and begin returning on the investment immediately.
Service is Just as Important as Technology
Service providers supply implementation, training, software, integration, maintenance, upgrades, and support as part of the total package and are staffed to handle each component themselves.
Infinite Scalability
Software-as-a-service providers are already geared up to handle scalability so when you need to go from 100GB to 100TB, even for 24 hours, you can do it and only pay for what you use.
Lower Price Points and Total Cost of Ownership
Service providers are sharing in the power of user communities, shared technology, and innovation to keep costs down and price points that make installed software pricing look ridiculous. Also, no additional resources needed in a complete software-as-a-service model. No extra IT maintenance is required.
It’s the start of a new month, new quarter and new victories to be had… Are you ready to start increasing your Marketing ROI with Digital Asset Management?
When marketing teams implement Digital Asset Management software technologies to centralize, repurpose and track marketing and brand assets, they’re better equipped to:
- Maintain brand consistency and compliance across all media channels and selling channels in different geographic markets
- Reduce time to market with new campaigns by finding existing materials quickly and easily in ready-to-go file formats appropriate for the intended purpose
- Eliminate redundancies creating and distributing assets by reducing the need to recreate lost assets or depend on slower, manual processes for sending files
- Get internal teams and external partners on the same page with access to the same library of marketing and sales materials, collaboration tools and collateral customization
Widen makes it simple because 100% DAM SaaS provides you with a guided implementation (including training), automatic upgrades, and powerful web-based DAM without the burden on your internal IT resources.
We’ve reloaded our Demo site and invite you to check it out! Get acquainted with web based digital asset management and take the tour on your own.
I’ll be the first to admit… Digital Asset Management is not that sexy. As a marketing guy, it’s hard to get excited about databases. However, the content stored in a DAM system is another story… Of all the content types, digital assets—particularly images and videos—got to be the sexiest! Consider the growth and popularity of online video... Gartner Predicts 25% of content in the workforce to be images, audio or video by 2013.I understand… you have a limited marketing budget so you’d rather spend that budget on things like social media, search engine optimization, video players and other “cool things.” Isn’t that convenient… Digital Asset Management is the backbone of your marketing efforts because it allows you to better find, manage and repurpose these assets that are the lifeblood of your marketing and promotion campaigns. Social media, digital asset optimization, and video marketing programs all use digital assets as a core part of the marketing message.
If you’re not sure you need DAM, then you may want to read my last post (Why we don’t need DAM…). I apologize for the overabundant use of sarcasm. Yes, small to medium-sized businesses need DAM just as much as marketing teams at Fortune 500 enterprises. And yes, there are still mid-market digital asset management solutions out there… few and far between… but they’re out there.
Step 1 – Admit you have a DAM problem. Step 2 – Seek help.
Now, more on making the case for digital asset management software in your marketing operations. Reference the recent eMarketer article “Marketers Buzz About ROI” that discusses the Marketing priorities for 2010. Many US marketing executives were planning to increase budgets this year as they were much more optimistic about the economic outlook in February 2010 than in 2009 when the recession was in full swing. However, that doesn’t come without scrutiny because the number one priority is focusing on ROI.
Priority #1: Increase Marketing Return on Investment —according to the “Marketing Trends Report 2010” from Anderson Analytics and the Marketing Executives Networking Group (MENG).
Priority #1 as it relates to DAM—explained. You’ve made investments in the creation of digital media—photo shoots, retouching, video shoots, editing, stock and rights-managed photography purchases, etc. You’ve made investments in assembling the destination points for your digital media—websites, blogs, social networks, advertising, promotions and print. Now, it’s time to invest in a digital asset management product that will help you realize a maximum return on those investments by getting greater use out of your digital assets. DAM tools make those assets easy to find, distribute, reuse and repurpose while also allowing you to track, compare and measure their value.
Priority #2, 3, 4 & 5 will be introduced and explained in later posts. However, point 3 and 5 deal with brand loyalty and branding—another reason why companies invest in DAM technologies.
Focus on Marketing ROI – Reference the 2009 AberdeenGroup DAM Benchmark Report. Best-In-Class companies are using Digital Asset Management systems to improve efficiency, increase brand consistency and improve return on marketing investments. See the key charts from the report in the blog post for “The Marketers Guide to Justifying Investments in Digital Asset Management.”
AberdeenGroup found that best-in-class companies centralizing access to digital assets are two times more likely to use a DAM system for the marketing functions. These same best-in-class companies reported a 23% year over year reduction in time to market and an 18% increase in average return on marketing investments. On the other hand, time to market increased by 11% for DAM laggards and average return on marketing investment fell by 17%.
Download the whitepaper "Why Digital Asset Management Should Be Your First Technology Investment for 2010" to learn more about how DAM adopters achieve substantial return on investment including reducing time to market, improving the performance of marketing campaigns, reducing marketing costs and improving brand consistency.
The Bottom Line
DAM is not all that sexy, but you can’t ignore the fact that you need it to power your marketing operations and improve marketing ROI. In today’s distributed marketing environment, shared drives, FTP, CDs/DVDs and tape libraries won’t cut it. Your marketing partners need instant access to your digital assets and you must be able to find, reuse and repurpose assets multiple times and in multiple locations. Marketers don’t just rely on one channel anymore. We are all multi-channel marketers and publishers. To do more with less, be a more productive marketer and get more out of the investments in creating and distributing assets, you need an asset management system.
Step 1 – Admit you have a DAM problem. Step 2 – Seek help.
Lucky for you, Widen provides DAM as Software as a Service provider, which means YOU GET HELP. With 100% DAM SaaS, you keep on marketing – no IT resources necessary. SaaS includes: guided implementation, shared best practices, help desk available when you need it, admin and end-user training, promotional support, automatic upgrades, ongoing maintenance and technical support. Learn more about Widen DAM SaaS.
This is the eighth video in the series of Widen customer interviews with Jim Scarlata, Senior Marketing Operations Manager for Knaack LLC. In this segment, Jim talks about how in any business there are choices. The digital asset management market has clearly differentiated itself between hosted and installed solutions. To Jim, SaaS made the most sense five years ago and makes the most sense now. Regardless of the relationship, Scarlata explains that if Widen wasn’t performing, Knaack would have to look at replacing that system. However, Widen meets and exceeds expectations in all aspects of the service for managing digital media and brand assets. Watch the video to learn more about why Widen is Knaack’s choice for digital asset management software.
This is the seventh video in the series of Widen customer interviews with Jim Scarlata, Senior Marketing Operations Manager for Knaack LLC. In this segment, Jim talks about how Widen doesn't just start and stop with digital asset management. Dynamic Media Builder allows dealers to customize ad and brochure templates for the specific selling situation, why keeping in line with Knaack brand guidelines for global brand consistency. Watch the video to learn more about Dynamic Media Building with digital asset management systems.
This is the fourth video in the series of Widen customer interviews with Jim Scarlata, Senior Marketing Operations Manager for Knaack LLC. In this segment, Jim talks about how Widen digital asset management services support organizations with multiple brands internationally. The Knaack brand’s focus is mainly in the United States. However, Knaack has a sister brand internationally, Ridgid, that is supports its business expansion internationally. Widen's DAM system provides Knaack the ability to create a multi-branded user interface (UI) to support the various international audiences accessing the same digital asset library, but segmented for different brands and a look to match. Watch the video to learn more about international marketing with digital asset management.
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