Henry Stewart DAM 2024: Evolving Strategies for Today’s Digital Asset Challenges

The Henry Stewart New York DAM Conference brought together top industry leaders, DAM vendors, practitioners, and innovators to explore the evolving landscape of Digital Asset Management (DAM). I, for one, never get sick of all the damn puns! I can’t say the same for others who attended the event. This year, one of the main focuses was on bridging the gap between creativity, technology, and business outcomes. Here’s a look at the key insights shared by DAM practitioners from global brands like Nickelodeon, GSK, Airbnb, and Mattel.

DAM Right You Need Governance

So, how can your organization bridge the gap between creativity, technology, and business outcomes? I believe I can say on behalf of all in attendance at this year's conference that without clearly defined policies, procedures, and centralized governance, even the most advanced DAM technology will falter. With proper documentation and structured guidelines, teams can unlock the true value of their technology investments, supporting efficiency, scalability, and brand integrity. DAM governance is not just another box to check in your implementation to-do list but rather an ongoing and ever-evolving set of policies, procedures, and processes that should continually be revisited, reviewed, and improved upon. Put simply, DAM is not a product, it’s a program and programs need governance!

Nickelodeon’s Creative Studio: Powering Creativity with Data

Nickelodeon’s Creative Studio took a unique approach by using creative dashboards that fuel friendly competition among producers. By providing real-time performance dashboards, it encourages creative teams to keep the brand’s bottom line in mind, bringing a business perspective into the creative process. The DAM ecosystem is underpinned by tools like AirTable—serving as the “nervous system” of its marketing and creative tech stack.

Integrating data analytics and work management solutions with your DAM can add immense value to your overall Content Supply Chain. However, adding more technical complexity to your MarTech stack drives an even greater need for centralized governance and well-defined processes.

GSK’s Marketing Technology Center of Excellence

GSK highlighted the critical need in building a Marketing Technology Center of Excellence. It aims to centralize marketing workflows, assets, and operations, establishing a single platform that streamlines collaboration and content management. For more information on the value of developing Centers of Excellence within your Marketing and Creative Services departments, check out my article on Creating a Center of Content Excellence.

Here’s a few topics from GSK’s session that resonated with me:

• Don’t Skimp on Librarian Services: The value of human oversight in managing and curating assets and their metadata remains vital.

• Metadata is Not Dead but is Evolving: Although manual metadata tagging is often no longer needed due to advancements in AI, metadata itself is alive and well. Contextual/semantic search and automated metadata tagging powered by AI are the future. However, humans are now responsible for ensuring data integrity by training AI models on their specific business rules.

• A System Only Moves as Fast as the Bottleneck: GSK's review and approval (MLR) process revealed that workflow bottlenecks limit content throughput, underscoring that a DAM’s value isn’t in sheer volume but in efficient delivery.

I highly recommend all marketing operations and creative services professionals read or reread Eliyahu M. Goldratt’s book, The Goal (I also recommend the highly-influenced modern software interpretation, The Phoenix Project). In the book, Eli introduces the Theory of Constraints (TOC). The core idea of TOC is that every system has a constraint or bottleneck. Prioritizing efforts to better utilize or improve the bottleneck is typically the fastest way to increase profitability.

I was very excited to hear about the emphasis GSK has placed on its Marketing Technology Center of Excellence and governance plan to centralize marketing and creative services. By establishing a centralized governing body, GSK is far better situated to identify and remediate bottlenecks within its Content Supply Chain.

Airbnb: Automation and AI in DAM

For Airbnb, workflow automation is crucial to DAM efficiency. Airbnb’s approach also includes setting up AI Governance and AI Councils to oversee the responsible use of artificial intelligence. Interestingly, it’s moved away from the “all-in-one” DAM model, instead focusing on connecting best-of-breed tools. This approach allows greater flexibility and adaptability in managing assets across various channels. As mentioned previously, connecting various tools can bring about greater operational efficiencies, but also requires an increased focus on governance and system support. Don’t forget about your DAM people and processes.

GLAM Sector Insights with Kristina Huddart

Kristina Huddart shared insights from the GLAM (Galleries, Libraries, Archives, and Museums) sector, where permissions and accessibility are top priorities. This sector demonstrates that metadata is not dead; rather, it’s evolving to keep up with new digital demands. The GLAM perspective emphasizes safe sharing of collections while ensuring they’re accessible and searchable to a broader audience.

I always appreciate Kristina’s approach to thoughtful DAM business design and tool selection. Tool selection is another area in which a DAM/MarTech governance committee plays a crucial role. Bringing together the right mix of business stakeholders and technologists to identify your top priorities will ensure you pick the best tool for your organization's needs.

Content Tracking and AI: Beyond Distribution

An exciting discussion centered around tracking content post-distribution using AI. Techniques like crawling sites, scraping social media, and indexing via open APIs allow organizations to understand how and where their content is used. Custom monitoring solutions and visual similarity searches also aid in locating assets across various digital platforms. As noted, tools like IMATAG enable “exact matching” through its innovative invisible digital watermarking technology to help brands protect their assets.

Protecting Brand Integrity with AI: Adobe’s Innovations

In a session on protecting brand integrity, Adobe showcased tools for verifying asset authenticity as they enter and exit the DAM system. Innovations like Adobe Content Credentials with C2PA use watermarking (both visible and invisible) to ensure authenticity. These tools help brands maintain trust with consumers, particularly in the age of generative AI.

Do the DAM Thing!

The Henry Stewart New York DAM Conference reinforced that DAM is no longer just a back-office function but a strategic component of modern business. From governance to automation, the focus is on scaling digital assets while fostering brand integrity and creative innovation. For organizations looking to enhance their DAM strategy and governance programs, these takeaways offer practical steps toward creating a scalable, efficient, and future-proof DAM infrastructure. Here at Rightpoint we’re focused on establishing scalable and holistic solutions to enhance your marketing and creative workflows.