The Importance of Brand Consistency

Brand consistency. Easy to say, hard to achieve. Any brand owner or marketer can confirm. Making sure that every single instance of a brand’s identity is presented in the correct way is a huge challenge and becomes even harder to achieve as more staff, agencies and locations are involved. What’s more, with the sheer volume of content being created by most organizations, the problem is set to become even bigger.

Using DAM to Manage Your Brand

It’s not just a question of centralized control, but also knowing who is creating what and where (not to mention how brand assets are used). Fortunately, gaining – or regaining – control over brand consistency can be helped hugely by implementing a digital asset management system. In fact, maintaining a consistent brand is one of the primary drivers of DAM adoption which helps organizations to have a more proactive – rather than reactive and remedial – approach. In other words, the right DAM solution can prevent problems occurring in the first place.

Still Managing Your Assets via Email?

More and more organizations are moving away from over reliance on ‘old school’ methods of sharing and distributing information and turning to digital asset management to protect brand consistency. According to recent research by e Media, an alarming 70 percent of participants still rely on email to manage digital assets.

How Exactly Does DAM Deliver Brand Consistency?

A digital asset management system can ensure that the correct rights management information travels with each asset by making every piece of core marketing content easily accessible to everyone within the organization, regardless of location, time zone or language. Thus, the temptation to recreate material locally is removed. Of course, that means having a DAM solution and culture that supports localization, translation and local rights or regulatory information. There’s a delicate balance between having sufficient control over brand assets while maintaining flexibility.

What to Look for in a DAM

When selecting a DAM solution, it’s imperative that the system is highly intuitive and simple to use. As we all know – when it comes to technology – if users don’t find it easy to use, they will find a workaround. The right DAM solution should make the user feel that their working day just got that little bit easier, not more complicated.

Of course, even the best solutions need the right culture, people and processes in place to succeed. This often begins in the initial phase of selecting and implementing a DAM with the inclusion of a wide range of relevant stakeholders such as the legal and purchasing departments, not just marketing-related functions.

Protect Your Brand Value

In conclusion, the contribution that brand value can make to the bottom line of an organization is huge. That being said, ensuring brand consistency – to present a cohesive and compliant image to the outside world – is top priority, with DAM increasingly providing a pivotal role in its management.