The time when brand managers only had to be concerned with positioning their logo on their letterhead and email signatures is long gone. Today brands need to deliver assets for more channels and platforms than ever. 

And with more brand assets and platforms comes more accountability for how companies use and share these branding components. This is where an effective brand asset management strategy comes in. 

In this article, we’ll examine brand management strategy and why it’s important for your business.

Let’s start with the obvious question: What are brand assets?

What are brand assets?

There are numerous elements associated with your brand. However, the true definition of branding assets is anything that is both unique to your company and well-known and associated with it. This includes the following:

• Logos: Resized and styled for different channels and uses.
• Designs and imagery: Graphics, photos, headers, portraits.
• Copy: Bios, boilerplates, histories and other frequently used copy. 
• Brand guidelines:  Color, style, logo placement and brand presentation guides.
• Videos: Brand explainers, interviews and other communications.
• Audio: jingles, sound logos, theme songs, podcasts.

What is brand asset management?

The process of organizing, storing, and accessing a company's brand assets is known as brand asset management (BAM). It includes:

• What your resource library should contain (e.g. white papers, blog posts, case studies, audio branding, etc.)
• A palette style guide that includes approved primary colors, secondary colors, typefaces, color combinations, tint, tone, and other colors.
• Case studies and sound branding files.
• The software you use to organize and access assets.
• File naming convention.
• How assets should be distributed.
• Where files and assets are kept.
• Stakeholders who have access to the resources.
• How old assets are archived.
• The file formats used to save assets.
• How assets are used in campaigns, media, and other forms of marketing.
• How frequently brand assets are inventoried, updated, and archived.
• Specifics about your intended market.
• Communication principles for utilizing brand assets.

A key component of long-term brand asset management strategy is often having an inside employee that’s well-versed in your brand strategy and the objectives of your digital marketing.

This person will serve as the point of contact for marketers, creatives, and other stakeholders who might need to get in touch with particular assets for projects to ensure that your brand is represented correctly when your assets are used. 

Are Brand Asset Management and Digital Asset Management the same?

BAM and Digital Asset Management (DAM) are frequently confused with each other. BAM is one particular component of DAM. 

It deals with the assets used specifically for branding and marketing, as opposed to digital asset management, which is concerned with all files across the entire organization. 

BAM improves the functionality of DAM software, which gives users access to the most recent versions of assets and adds usage context. 

It also frequently (but not always) comes with collaborative features, which enable individuals to work collaboratively on a selected file. 

In essence, brand asset management is a type of DAM that aids staff members in efficiently managing the brand assets of their organizations. 

It makes it simple for staff to use the most recent resources and accomplish proper implementation, which helps firms retain crucial brand requirements.

Benefits of brand asset management

A brand asset management platform may easily manage even the largest collection of digital assets. One of the main advantages is that priceless files no longer disappear, saving time and money on duplication. Here are some other benefits of investing in a brand asset management strategy.

Saves time and money

A BAM provides busy marketing teams with numerous efficiency savings opportunities. The time it takes to find assets is reduced via quick and intuitive searching. 

Version management, on the other hand, makes sure that marketers use the right file execution or iteration rather than the closest match they could locate. Teams may integrate brand asset management directly into their workflows via APIs and other capabilities, leveraging Brand Compliance software solutions. This integration helps in reducing routine processes and increasing efficiency while ensuring brand consistency and compliance throughout the workflow.

Reduces errors and approval time

Brand asset management is also an important tool for managing asset creation and approval across multiple stakeholders.

 It ensures clarity on revisions and source material by providing a central, version-controlled repository, removing the potential for error when working with agencies and creative teams. Consequently, it also reduces the number of revision cycles and the approval time.

Prevents brand abuse

The proliferation of digital assets has necessitated proactive management as well. This is due to the ease with which digital files can be copied, shared, altered, and misused. 

A lesser-known company, for example, may create a lookalike logo in order for people to associate them with your company.

A brand asset management system provides secure access to external partners, allowing them to be integrated directly into your processes rather than through unmanaged third-party solutions such as DropBox. 

It controls access, protects valuable assets in storage and transit, limits ongoing access to only finalized assets, and prevents brand abuse.

How Artwork Flow helps manage your brand assets effectively

Artwork Flow is a workflow automation, project management, and digital asset management (DAM) platform rolled into one. Since BAM is a subset of DAM, Artwork Flow also doubles as brand asset management software.

Here’s how it helps creative teams:

• Helps you store and find assets easily.
• Share files of any size with internal and external stakeholders. 
• Search and find any asset in your library quickly. 
• Find the most recent artwork version easily. 

Wrapping up

Whether your priority is brand growth or ensuring consistency in messaging and customer experience, brand asset management can make a significant difference.

 A brand asset management solution improves your agility and efficiency while making your budget go further by eliminating errors and streamlining the creation, approval, and retrieval of brand assets.