Published: July 2, 2018
Written by: Bart Lammertyn
Having attended this event for many years, I can say that the 2018 Henry Stewart DAM Europe Conference in London (June 27 – 28) was most definitely the largest Digital Asset Management event ever in Europe, with over 250 registrants. Speakers from leading brands such as Philips, Arsenal Football Club, and Ubisoft Entertainment shared their DAM experiences on stage. The exhibitor space was packed with both traditional DAM vendors as well as service partners to help customers get the most out of their Digital Asset Management projects.
Did you miss the biggest European DAM conference this year? Here are some pointers picked up on site for “How to Play Your Best Team to Win at DAM”.
Many conversations and sessions during the conference didn’t focus on DAM technology, but rather on the project team. An often heard dilemma is that without proper staffing, DAM managers struggle to get user adoption and further the integrations within their technology landscape.
In DAM, many people need to be excited about the project. Therefore, the leading team should at minimum consist of a project owner, a project manager, a subject matter expert, an infrastructure resource, and the project sponsor.
Some fun in communicating the project to the rest of the organization doesn’t hurt either. As an example, check out this video from Tyson Foods, Inc. to drive awareness and adoption for their DAM, which they codenamed JIVE.
For a DAM initiative to succeed, a combination of talented people, mature processes, and innovative systems is mandatory.
The DAM vendor should obviously be providing robust, scalable, and easy-to-use technologies. Since the customer and the vendor will be partnering for some time, customers need to look for a loyal and trustworthy partner with experienced and nimble people on board to help. A vendor that provides a standard and well documented implementation process is probably an indication that the company has the right team.
Finally, each customer has unique needs and expectations. The key to success is to have a partner that understands these nuances and is able to cater its solution to meet your needs. Once that has been achieved, the goal is to continuously improve and innovate to stay a step ahead of the growth that will inevitably follow once the foundations are in place.
One of the attendees at the Henry Stewart event last week noted: “It’s amazing to experience the open communication between all attendees – customers, consultants and vendors - at this event.” And we can only agree.
Veteran DAM Experts, such as Theresa Regli and John Horodyski are regular visitors of the event and are open to share their wealth of experiences in our field.
(Their publications on Digital and Marketing Asset Management and Digital Content Strategies to optimize your business for growth are must-reads when dealing with DAM.)
But existing DAM users also have open conversations with people new to DAM, sharing their experiences with particular vendors and how to drive successful projects. Experienced DAM experts give the newbies a head-start.
Such honest and open conversations are driven by the combined passion for the industry and its users from experts, users, and vendors. The Henry Stewart DAM Conferences are taking up the responsibility to drive collaboration within the DAM space as part of the bigger MarTech ecosystem.
Finally, at DAM Europe 2018, there was room for entertainment. MediaBeacon had the pleasure of inviting customers, prospects, partners and “DAM Friends” to watch the World Cup game between The Three Lions and The Red Devils. (0-1 as a gentle reminder).
