Smart Brand Management

For all organizations, the consistency of their brand expression is one of the most important criteria for success. As the number of touch points increases, consumers become increasingly sophisticated and sensitive, and brand managers play an increasingly important role in ensuring the consistent coherence of each customer's brand experience.

In response to this problem, Interbrand and its digital asset management system company, BrandWizard, conducted research on what brand managers thought were missing in their current systems and the desire for improvements. The findings are in fact a comprehensive discussion of the consistency of brand expression and how digital asset management (DAM) can help them succeed.

Consistent consistency is defined as the degree to which a brand can successfully handle all of its touchpoint and presentational experiences. In a perfect world, the expression of a brand in New York and New South Wales should be exactly the same. In reality, there will be constant challenges in the implementation process. This is a process that consumes both time and money. It is not only necessary to correct mistakes and ensure that best practices are implemented, but also that employees receive training on the importance of brand consistency. When a company conducts business in multiple categories and regions, the likelihood of inconsistent practices harming the brand's value will be greatly increased.

There are guidelines and templates in the toolbox that have been the traditional assistants of brand managers. They provide formal standards to ensure that the traditional colors match the regulations and that the use of paper can convey the right impression. Unfortunately, as contact points continue to increase, these tools often lack the flexibility to ensure consistent, consistent experiences where brands can appear wherever they are.

Brand managers have found that the simpler the method of acquiring and using an online platform, the more welcome users will be.

In a recent survey, Interbrand contacted many brand managers and conducted a survey on their current asset management systems; almost half of the managers stated that they were not satisfied and thought there was plenty of room for improvement. This survey clearly shows that most managers are fully aware of the importance of effective systems in maintaining brand consistency.

As a response to this phenomenon, more and more brand managers are turning to the DAM system for help. Similar to the LAN of a company, these online platforms provide resources for employees at all levels within the organization so that they can understand their brand and use the necessary tools to effectively communicate brand information.

Preventing the creation of brand value by mistake requires years of hard work, but the results may be destroyed. Some seemingly insignificant trifles, such as the use of the previous version of the logo or the wrong logotype, all indicate that a company lacks discipline or blunder. In a world where passionate opinions are expressed through blogs, twitter, and photo-sharing websites, the potential damage to businesses can be rapid and huge.

The design of the DAM system can avoid the above and other errors, because the system can store the latest identification assets and guidance programs and templates that explain how to use them. These platforms are very easy to enter and easy to use. They eliminate guesswork and liberate brand managers from dealing with countless questions about what is allowed and what is out of date, providing managers with powerful help. Brand managers have reduced the burden of supervising tasks and correcting mistakes. Not only can they save a large budget, but they can also devote more time to the work of maximizing brand value.

The right proportion Because of the different needs of each company, it is impossible to have a system suitable for all companies or most companies. The advantage of the DAM system is that it can modify its size and architecture according to the needs of the brand. By eliminating unnecessary parts and functions, users can browse content more easily and can only transfer content for their projects or their roles. As the company continues to expand its business portfolio and enter new markets, DAM systems can scale up to meet the broader needs of customers and help more employees provide a consistent, consistent brand experience.

For companies that publish or redistribute their brands worldwide, the DAM system plays a key role in ensuring that first-time displays are seamless, save valuable resources, and increase the efficiency of budget utilization.

Think about who is using its traditional online tools that are designed around functionality and continue to evolve to include the full range of functional features, with user experience being placed second. Unsurprisingly, this approach made unskilled users uneasy and turned to alternative solutions.

As DAM design continues to improve, a smooth and approachable interface becomes as important as content and functionality. Brand managers already understand that the simpler the method of entering and operating an online platform, the more welcome users will be. Because the better-designed DAM system has the look, feel and ease of use features of popular websites, employees will feel that it is more cordial, usage rate will increase, input-output ratio will increase, and brand consistency will be stronger. .

Stay focused. A well-implemented DAM system will completely change the way employees work by providing centralized workflow management tools. By collecting key documents, tracking project progress stages, updating delivery times, monitoring resources, and other—usually in minutes—the DAM system becomes the most important resource that concentrates all employee efforts.

With greater transparency, finding inefficiencies, it also means that the opportunity to save money becomes easier – which means that a brand can enter the market faster and have a clear advantage in the competition.

Extended Value Many brand managers use the DAM system not only to store document data. They also use it to transmit data in various formats, thus extending its value.

Creating brand value takes years, but it may destroy it.

For example, the DAM system can more easily track versions when managing assets, provide access to files, and facilitate exchanges between related groups.

Now take an employee's original article on the brand's idea as an example. The draft of the article enters the DAM system in its original format and the version is tracked. Other groups such as editors, web experts and designers can easily access this file. By facilitating communication between these groups, the DAM system can make it easier to transfer assets between different media, from logs to networks to case studies to archives.

Many brand managers do not view these platforms as asset storage rooms, but content delivery systems, and they invite other groups within the organization to use these platforms as well. In the process, they will reach more people and realize more value than before.

What is the result? With more and more effective systems appearing, this refers to systems that can really take into account the needs of the brand and its employees. Brand managers can anticipate that these systems will be used on a large scale and will eventually promote branding. Consistency.

One of the benefits, of course, is to gain a more powerful and authoritative brand. This brand is significantly different from its competitors and the market prefers it. In short, this is a brand worthy of customer loyalty.

In addition, companies can obtain even more immediate benefits, especially input-output ratios. Through a well-designed DAM system, process and output efficiency can be greatly improved. Compared with the traditional implementation and management strategy to quickly consume budget, DAM system can save operating expenses.

Once DAM is in place, it can even bring about cultural change by promoting internal understanding of the brand itself, brand goals, and how it can be disseminated. When brands are in such a central position in people's daily life, brand managers will be more likely than ever to achieve consistency in brand expression, which is crucial for a successful brand.

(The writer Simon Ward is director of business development for Interbrand BrandWizard, responsible for new global business and marketing. Like most people, Simon Ward uses new technology every day to communicate with friends, colleagues and brands. Simon Ward combines personal experience, brand consulting background With BrandWizard's scientific knowledge, it is firmly believed that business and marketing personnel can use new technology more effectively to promote the strategic growth of the brand.Interbrand is an international leading comprehensive brand strategy consultant and design group with rigorous strategies and analysis of management consulting companies. Skills, as well as creative branding and design advantages, Interbrand provides companies and institutions with a full range of brand consulting services, creates and manages the brand value of companies and products, leverages the brand's leverage on tangible assets, and uses brands. Power influences consumer behavior and increases corporate earnings)