FirstPerspective • Spring 2008

Digital asset management makes the most of marketing materials in the corporate office and the field. If you are like most marketers, your company has created thousands of marketing pieces. In addition to print and other traditional media, today’s organizations have animations, Webinars, interactive Web graphics, advertising, photos, product images, videos, logos, PowerPoint presentations, electronic brochures, podcasts and other types of new media materials. Once created, these materials represent an enormously valuable asset but one that may be tough to manage efficiently.

Are your marketing assets being wasted?
According to Forrester Research, the typical midsize company owns 20,000 to 50,000 mission-critical digital images with a replacement value of about $20 million. Yet very few of those materials are ever reused or repurposed because they are too difficult to track and locate. Forrester concludes that 70 percent of content ends up being recreated rather than reused. That represents around 14 million in wasted assets!

Digital asset management (DAM) programs organize and archive marketing materials so that they’re easy to locate and easy to use. A DAM system provides a centralized online source of materials that can be accessed by your corporate marketing staff or those in the field. It ensures consistency and accuracy and saves time, money and frustration.

Research indicates that 70 percent of content is re-created instead of being reused, representing as much as $14 million of wasted assets for the typical company.

Advantages for the home office and those in the field
"The most easily quantifiable benefit for corporate marketers is reduced labor costs. Employees spend less time dealing with requests for materials from the field and less time creating different versions for different locations or channels because DAM systems make it easy to repurpose materials," says Bill Soddy, iNiche President. "Less measurable but equally important is DAM’s ability to keep branding consistent across the organization," adds Soddy.

"Sale and customer service representatives in the field have the advantage of convenient access to professionally produced, corporate-approved materials that can be ordered as needed and easily customized," says Art Calamari, Vice President of Strategic Accounts.

Managed care organizations are among the industries beginning to use these systems. "Health plans often need different versions of marketing materials for different employer groups as well as customized materials for brokers who market their plans. The system we offer first creates an archive of materials, then allows easy customization to reduce man-hours for producing and archiving numerous versions," reports Ariana Nied, Senior Vice President of Healthy Solutions, First Marketing’s consumer healthcare group.

For marketers across a variety of industries, a DAM system can radically improve a company’s efficient use of assets created. It’s important to develop a strategy that covers the complete continuum from creation of materials to delivery: storing assets and related data, supporting online searches and versioning or customization, and interfacing with automated systems for ordering, production and fulfillment. These advanced DAM systems smooth workflow and save time and money while ensuring that valuable marketing assets don’t go to waste.

TAKE DIGITAL ASSET MANAGEMENT TO THE NEXT LEVEL

Making it easy to find materials stored digitally from a centralized online source is good, but a system that can also automate production and fulfillment of customized materials is even better.

First Marketing’s Channel Options offers both online access to your marketing materials and the convenience of Web-based ordering combined with on-demand, variable data digital printing for personalization.

With Channel Options, your corporate marketing department can maintain brand consistency and curb rogue marketing while giving your representatives in the field the power to manage their own communications. The ability to order personalized marketing materials from the Web site as needed makes it easier to connect with customers and prospects for building long-term, profitable relationships.

For more information on Channel Options, e-mail marketing@first-marketing.com or call 800.736.0145.