CUSTOMER SUCCESS MANAGER & DAM SPECIALIST
From the shutter click to the server farm, every digital asset takes a journey. Some travel first class. Others, like Percy, are currently stuffed in a digital overhead locker next to a leaking tuna sandwich.
Percy was born in a high-end studio in Shoreditch. He is a 300dpi, 16-bit Master TIFF of a perfectly glazed sourdough loaf. He was created to be the face of a global bakery campaign. He has potential. He has pedigree.
But then, the tragedy occurred. Instead of being ingested into a Digital Asset Management (DAM) system, Percy was "saved for later" on a Marketing Manager's desktop.
To Exemplar (his cousin born within a DAM system), Percy represents a cautionary tale. To the rest of the world, he is just a file that won't open.
Scroll down to witness the 12 stages of Percy's digital degradation.
"The Birth. Ingestion."
Exemplar was 'onboarded' via a secure gateway with a validation handshake. I was dragged onto a desktop by a man eating a ham sandwich who couldn't remember where he’d put his spectacles.
DAM Advantage: Validated Ingestion"The Naming Ceremony. The UUID."
He has a 36-character immutable unique identifier. I’ve been renamed 'IMG_FINAL_v2_USE_THIS.jpg'. I feel like a child named 'Human_Male_03'. My identity is a suggestion, not a fact.
DAM Advantage: Unique Identifiers"The Intelligence! Metadata."
Exemplar knows his creator, his GPS origin, and his rights. My only metadata is 'Date Modified' and a smear of mustard on my blue channel. I’m digital amnesia in a box.
DAM Advantage: Embedded Metadata"The Filing. Taxonomy."
He is filed under 'Global Assets > Branding'. I was thrown into a random folder. I am officially categorized as 'New Folder (7)'. Type 'Logo' and you find him right away with all his relevent chums. Type '*Final*' and you find me... after an age!
DAM Advantage: Controlled Taxonomy"The Purgatory. Workflow."
Exemplar moves through automated status triggers. I’m stuck in a 'Pending' folder because the only person with the password is on a walking holiday in the Lake District.
DAM Advantage: Automated Workflow"The Evolution. Versioning."
He has a neat stack of historical edits. Every time someone 'fixes' me, they just save over the original. I’ve lost my highlights, my shadows, and my will to live.
DAM Advantage: Version Governance"The Squeezing. Renditions."
To fit a mobile banner, I’ve been compressed into a 40KB thumbnail. I look like I was photographed through a wet paper bag by someone with a grudge. Is this art? No, it’s 'web-optimized'.
DAM Advantage: Dynamic Transformations"The Mangle. Aspect Ratio Lock."
Some lad in Marketing just stretched me in PowerPoint without holding Shift. I’m now twice as wide as I am tall. I’m a sourdough loaf that’s been sat on by a very determined elephant.
DAM Advantage: Aspect Ratio Enforcement"The Velvet Rope. Permissions."
Exemplar is protected by Role-Based Access Control. Anyone with a USB stick and a lack of morals can kidnap me. I’m basically public property at this point.
DAM Advantage: Role-Based Access Security"The Travel. CDN Delivery."
He’s flying across a high-speed Edge network. I’m being emailed as an attachment to 14 people, half of whom won't be able to open me because their inbox is full.
DAM Advantage: Global Distribution"The Discovery. Search."
You can find him by searching for 'Joy'. To find me, you have to remember that I’m hidden in a folder called 'Stuff_2022' on a drive under someone's desk.
DAM Advantage: Elastic Search"The Grave. Secure Archival."
He’s on a redundant cloud array. I’m on a local drive being used as a coaster for a lukewarm tea. I can feel the magnetism fading. Tell my mother I was... a Master TIFF."
DAM Advantage: Secure ArchivalTHE END IS NIGH (FOR YOUR DATA).
Stop the rot. Get a DAM.
It’s a bit of a peculiar way to spend an afternoon, isn’t it? Realising that you’ve just gained a comprehensive understanding of enterprise-grade Digital Asset Management architecture by witnessing the slow-motion car crash of a fictional photograph of a sourdough loaf named Percy.
You’ve seen him poked, stretched, and eventually left to rot on a damp hard drive, all while his cousin Exemplar lived the life of digital royalty. Without a DAM, you’re just one ham sandwich away from losing your best work to the Great 404 in the Sky.
Don't let your pixels become Percys.