Brand Asset Management

Brand asset management is an important task for any company that wants to have a consistent and compliant brand. Yet not all companies have implemented processes to manage their brand assets.

Read on to learn how to ensure a brand is maintained, protected and enhanced.

What is a brand asset?

A brand asset is an element connected to a brand. This could be a logo, a slogan, or other assets that are unique to the brand. These types of assets are used to establish an identity that can build up brand recognition among the customer base and enable the brand to stand out from competitors. 

What is brand asset management (BAM)?

Brand asset management (BAM) is the process of managing these different brand assets. Without proper management, brand assets can become decentralized, outdated, and be used inconsistently. This can lead to risks that can decrease brand value. 

Brand asset management combats these challenges by setting up procedures for managing the creation, maintenance and enhancement of these assets. This involves a series of different brand asset management tools that serve different purposes which we’ll look at here.

How does a brand asset management platform work?

Brand asset management tools are becoming increasingly important to use as companies create more brand assets to stand out or to follow trends. That’s why more and more companies turn to BAM platforms to help them manage their growing number of brand assets.

Why is it important for companies to manage their brand assets?

There are several reasons why brands should manage their brand assets. The main reasons are to maintain, protect and enhance their brands.

Advantages of brand asset management

There are several advantages of implementing the right brand asset management procedures. 

1. Consistent brand
   
   If brand assets are managed properly, brands can achieve a more consistent brand that will build trust among customers and other stakeholders. This can lead to increased customer loyalty and ultimately higher brand value.
2. Effective workflow for employees
   
   A central brand asset management hub can streamline the workflow of employees to allow them to work more effectively. This is partly due to the fact that they do not have to search around to find company assets. Using a platform like Templafy that does real time brand compliance monitoring to ensure assets are used in the right way, employees do not have to wait for approval before using the assets, further decreasing the time wasted.
3. Easy roll outs for brand managers
   
   Before DAM systems, brand managers had to manually write emails to employees to notify them of a campaign or a change. For example, if the company changed its guidelines for which brand assets employees should include in their email signatures, these had to be changed manually. When using a brand asset management system that centralizes the brand’s assets, managers can roll out changes and campaigns in an instant without having to notify and follow up with employees to manually enforce the change.
4. Protecting brand against reputational risk from mistakes
   
   Some tools like Templafy that offer brand asset management software as a part of its brand governance platform will not only provide a central hub for storing, managing, and distributing brand assets. It will also get to know the brand’s guidelines to ensure all content produced by employees is compliant with internal and external guidelines. This can protect the brand from reputational damage – a top fear among CEOs, according to a KPMG survey.

Risks of not doing brand asset management

There’s also a series of risks associated with not implementing brand asset management procedures.

1. Brand inconsistency
   
   If a brand does not have brand asset management procedures in place, chances are that the brand will appear inconsistent as there is no central hub to control the use of brand assets. An inconsistent brand will be portrayed as unprofessional and maybe even untrustworthy. This can be detrimental to the brand as trust is an important factor.
2. Less effective workflows
   
   69% of employees admit to using Google to find company assets. This can entail a series of problems as these brand assets can be outdated or in the wrong file formats. It’s also making the workflow less efficient as tabs have to be switched, files downloaded, and formatting done to use the asset.
   
   With a brand governance platform like Templafy, asset management is built into the platform. This means that employees have access to company-approved brand assets within their preferred office editing application, improving their workflow as everything happens without any tabs are being switched.
3. Wasted time spent on rolling out rebranding efforts
   
   If a company decides to do a rebranding or updates their brand guidelines, this can be time-consuming if done manually, since every employee within the organization has to know about the new brand assets and implement them in their email signatures, often used documents, presentations, and other digital files.
4. Reputational risk
   
   Brand asset management is also important for companies to protect their brand from reputational risks. If the right BAM processes aren’t implemented, the brand can become more vulnerable to ending up in a PR crisis as there’s no central way of ensuring internal and external guidelines are adhered to in a consistent manner.

How can brands effectively manage their assets?

Brand assets can be effectively managed by implementing a series of processes. For smaller companies, brand asset management can actually be done manually with free tools. However, once a company reaches a certain size, the number of employees and brand assets can demand automation software to ensure proper brand management and enforcement of guidelines. Here’s how mid-sized and large companies can implement BAM software to accommodate their growing brand asset repository. 

The best brand asset management software

There are several tools on the market for brand asset management. Each of these tools have their own advantages and target audiences. For example, Dash is the go-to BAM tool among small businesses whereas Bynder is a popular choice for mid-sized companies. 

For larger companies and enterprises, it’s rarely enough to just manage brand assets. How the brand assets are used has to be monitored so that compliance with internal and external guidelines is ensured. 

One of the most widely used solutions for supercharging brand asset management software to ensure brand compliance is Templafy. The platform integrates with BAM tools, connecting them to users’ actual workflows to help companies create on-brand, compliant and personalized documents across every employee. 

Templafy’s capabilities for not just enhancing the use of brand assets but also automating brand compliance makes the platform a widely used solution for large companies and enterprises. 

It’s not the only advantage of Templafy’s solution. The platform is known for being laser-focused on security so that all assets stored on the Templafy platform are kept safe and secure. This is important for large companies that may have sensitive assets that need to be protected. 

Templafy is also praised for its integrations with the widely used office editing applications Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace. The ability to integrate with these applications enables employees to streamline their workflows as they do not have to go to separate BAM systems, but can access brand assets within the applications they already work within.

Start managing your brand with Templafy

Templafy is the primary choice for ensuring brand compliance among enterprises. More than 800 customers worldwide are using the platform to manage their brand assets and ensure brand compliance. Request a demo today to protect and enhance your brand!