Looking for a storage unit or storage system?

Earlier this week, I spoke to a marketing manager. She was looking for a way to share media and other brand-related content with colleagues. She had looked at our system with interest, but during our conversation wondered aloud if sharing files via Dropbox, OneDrive or WeTransfer isn't actually just as easy. And isn't it actually?

Two closets, world of difference

Unsurprisingly, as a co-owner of Comrads, I immediately digressed. Still, she got me thinking. What exactly are these differences? We've drawn the comparison to a closet before. But what really makes this closet called DAM different from any storage space in the cloud? After all, you can also think of Dropbox or OneDrive as a closet - or a filing cabinet, if you will. These 5 things set a DAM system apart from them.

1 Structure

DAM is more than just a closet of five shelves and a door. DAM gives you a structure, a way to organize your content. It can even be several closets in one, where the whole team uses labels and categories to organize all the stuff in such a way that it can be used for different needs and purposes, but can be easily found by everyone. Everyone can grab something from the closet and use it for his - or her - application.

2 Quality

Meanwhile, you can rest assured that whoever grabs the same item from the closet after you will be holding the exact same thing as its predecessor. That way, you'll always have the same pair of shorts or long dress, with no store hooks, color difference or shrinkage. Some pick up a logo to put in the upper left corner of stationery, others use it for on packaging, and yet others deploy it for a dynamic online campaign. But every time, the logo is identical.

3 Different formats

But then again, some wear size small, others wear extra large. A DAM system therefore ensures that that logo, that one mood image or that video clip is present in different formats. A low-resolution clip to share on social media or a mood image in extremely high resolution for that towering advertising mast? DAM will take care of it for you. If you save your files in any storage space, you have to download a file, edit it - with all the possible consequences - and upload it again. Before you know it, you're looking at a misshapen logo or a mood image with just the wrong filter over it.

4 Searching and finding

You can also search in Dropbox. But whether you find anything remains to be seen. You won't get much further than a file name and perhaps some metadata. But one pair of zippered pants is not the same as another. In a DAM system, you can add the context of your entire corporate household so that you actually find what you're looking for. In the right color, the right size, with the right closure and of the right fabric.

5 Rights of use

As much as you like to share the contents of your closet, there are always items that are special. That only certain people are allowed to touch. Within Dropbox or a similar storage tool, you can control this in a very limited way. What hangs in your closet hangs in your closet. You can share individual files or folders with others, but that's about it. Within a DAM system, you can also make certain content, sub-sections, or specific collections available to specific campaigns or organizational units by deploying usage rights. Not to mention the fact that with a good DAM system you can also post your assets directly to their final destination such as a website or webshop, through a host of external integrations.

What are you looking for?

I can imagine you are considering sharing your content through a tool like Dropbox, OneDrive or WeTransfer. But are you looking for structure and quality, do you want to find what you are looking for, do you want to be able to share files with proper access rights and do you value security, overview and good management? Then I would really look for a good DAM system.

Start today - remotely

Through a few online workshops, we can also set up your environment completely remotely. In the coming period we will offer creative solutions for the one-time DAM set-up costs. So get started today by requesting a personal demo or no-obligation quote.