A DAM Industry
This post is about a digital asset management (DAM) industry. (Note that I wrote “a” DAM industry instead of “the” DAM industry.)
DAM (as I learned it) is the acronym/adjective that professionals in one DAM industry have used to describe their skills, their software platforms, their processes, etc.
In that space “DAM” means something along these lines:
Digital Asset Management (DAM) is a collective term applied to the process of storing, cataloguing, searching and delivering computer files (or ‘digital assets’). These may take the form of video, audio, images, print marketing collateral, office documents, fonts or 3D models. Digital Asset Management
(DAM) systems centralise assets and establish a systematic approach to ingesting assets so they can be located more easily and used appropriately.
(Source: The DAM Glossary)
In this particular DAM industry, there is some recurring controversy about whether “digital asset management” is a still a viable term (if it ever was) for this particular group of professionals, their products, and their services.
Some have suggested that the term “digital asset management” is inherently confusing or that it is outdated (or both); therefore it should be retired. I agree with this.
There are other professionals, who feel that this DAM party is just getting started, and their DAM acronym is getting more buzz in corporate conversations than ever. Thus, it should be preserved. I agree with this, too.
I’ll touch on these philosophies soon enough, though do need to take care of one bit of business.
The Elephant in the DAM Room
Right now, I implore you to make a DAM joke.
It doesn’t matter what the term “digital asset management” means to you, but let’s just agree that DAM jokes are pretty damn hilarious.
Just succumb to your urge and crack wisely — about this DAM blog post, about this DAM industry, or somebody else’s DAM industry.
Don’t hold it back; that’s not healthy.
Here’s a primer, to get you in the DAM spirit:
(Hoover Dam Scene from National Lampoon Vacation)
Feels good to get that out of your damn system, eh?
My DAM Journey
I didn’t realize it at the time, but my first encounter with some DAM software was when I worked for a Chicago ad agency in the previous millennium.
In the spring of 1993, my company purchased a copy of Aldus Fetch (an ancestor of Extensis Portfolio). We referred to it as the “art catalogue” software.
I don’t know if the term “DAM” had even been coined yet.
(Demo Video of Aldus Fetch Software)
I didn’t hear the term digital asset management until several years later. Though it didn’t matter much. Not nearly as much as the problems it solved, with its scant-few features.
First, I could actually SEE what an image, or illustration, looked like —without having to open its source application! It wasn’t that long ago when it might take several minutes to launch Photoshop to open a file. The file preview was a huge timesaver.
Also, the keywords feature allowed users to add descriptors so that we might actually FIND files —within a few seconds — without clicking through a cumbersome, and inaccurate folder structure on a server.
Since I didn’t know what the technology was called, and didn’t really give a damn.
I encountered the term “digital asset management” in about 1997. By then, I had actually several years of (on and off) experience in the DAM field.
Digital Asset Management didn’t seem like a good term to me then. When my colleague first mentioned it, I thought he was talking about money. It was an ill-fitting description of what the solutions actually provided.
However, I didn’t have a better term to offer. So, I ran with DAM. If nothing else, it was an attention-grabbing, giggle-inducing, acronym I used when trying to sell corner-office decision makers on the idea of enterprise-wide solutions.
However it seemed that I had to spend a lot of calories, explaining what the hell “DAM” meant. Even then, I was still met with a lot of polite nodding or vacant stares. “DAM” was a pain in my damn neck.
With the advent of the Dot-com bubble, there were suddenly a lot of companies that professed to provide solutions that managed content in some way or another. Soon “digital asset” management, “enterprise content” management systems were all rather meaningless.
The terms were subjective and rather elastic. They might be working with different types of content, and in different ways, but they were all managing content.
In my opinion, the terms and the associated acronyms (DAM, DM, ECM…) were pretty much useless.
Every damn one them.
Follow The DAM Money
Digital asset management (Content) has never been a good term. It offers more confusion than clarity. I found myself using it less and less when discussing content management solutions, focusing more on what my employers and clients hoped to accomplish.
A few years ago, an impassioned DAM discussion, that began on a Linkedin group, spilled out into the streets (actually a public-facing web site). Professions offered compelling reasons to drop, and to keep, the damn “DAM.”
One key point: there was a new DAM in town. The financial sector was beginning to the use the terms “digital asset” and “digital asset management” to describe their offerings in Bitcoin and other crypto currencies.
DAM (Content) Guru David Diamond, who wrote a “DAM” book and a “Content Management” book wrote on Linkedin:
“Major players in the Financial sector are using “digital assets” to describe Bitcoin and related “digital” financial resources. They’re calling the tools used to manage those resources “digital asset management” systems. I say that, as an industry, we abandon this term before companies like Fidelity take over all the Google search results that matter to us.”
Quite a cogent point and with a clear call to action for the industry to change its damn name.
Companies like Fidelity, Morgan Stanley were (and still are) tightening their embrace of “digital asset management” and the DAM (Money) industry would always have the ability to outspend the DAM (Content) industry in the search-engine-optimization wars.
Essentially, this brand-damn-new DAM (Money) industry would eventually get all the DAM traffic search results because they have more damn money to spend to buy loyalty from the likes of Google, BING, etc.
I thought this assessment was on the money (No apologies here. My puns are intentional).
Though I also agreed with the contingent that held that DAM (Content) was starting to gain traction as a term and that we should think thrice before abandoning it now. True, this DAM (Content) industry was becoming a fairly hot area. It’s interesting that, after 25+ years in existence that our DAM (Content) industry had achieved “overnight” success.
Still, that doesn’t change the fact, that DAM was never (in my opinion) a good term for the management for content files. DAM (Content) is 1/4 century (or more) into its lifespan and it’s still (again my opinion) a fairly small speck in corporate discussions.
The End is Damn Nigh
I’ve been seeing DAM (Money) creeping into my DAM (Content) web search results for a few years. Though today, for the first time, I tried searching for “digital asset” and “digital asset management” on Linkedin.
When I used the “People” filter, nearly all of the results are for DAM (Content) practitioners. That makes sense because my network is loaded with people in that space.
Then, I did the same searches with the “Content” filter. I surprised that the DAM (Money) articles and posts far outnumbered those of DAM (Content) by a large margin. “Well, I’ll be damned,” I thought.
This suggests that people are: writing posts about, commenting on, and linking to, content that is about DAM (Money) more than they are about DAM (Content). Not what I’d expected, given the makeup of my network.
This helped solidify my opinion is that we’re nearing the end of DAM (Content) road.
As I’ve said, I have been in a slow-moving breakup with the term “DAM” (Content) for several years, so I will have no difficulty in eventually letting it go altogether. It’s been a good run.
A DAM good run.
(For related reading: please see my posts: The Laswellian Definition of Content Management and The Digital Liability. )
I am extremely inspired with your writing
skills as neatly as with the format for your blog.
Is this a paid subject matter or did you
modify it yourself? Either way keep up the nice quality writing,
it’s uncommon to see a nice weblog like this one nowadays..
Wonderful post but I was wondering if you could write a litte more on this topic?
I’d be very grateful if you could elaborate a little bit further.
Bless you!
I don’t even know how I ended up here, but I thought this
post was great. I do not know who you are but definitely you’re going to a famous
blogger if you aren’t already 😉 Cheers!
Nice post. I was checking constantly this weblog and I am inspired!
Extremely helpful information specifically the final phase 🙂
I maintain such information a lot. I was seeking this particular
information for a very lengthy time. Thanks and good luck.
Become a successful trader and start making up to $5000 a day.
The more you earn, the more we both profit.Copy Binary Options Trades
of course like your web-site however you need to take a look at the spelling
on several of your posts. Many of them are rife with spelling issues and
I find it very bothersome to inform the truth then again I will
surely come back again.
I am not sure where you’re getting your information, but great topic.
I needs to spend some time learning more or understanding more.
Thanks for excellent information I was looking for this information for my mission.
What i do not realize is actually how you’re not actually a lot more smartly-preferred
than you may be right now. You’re so intelligent.
You recognize therefore significantly in relation to this subject, produced me individually consider it from numerous varied angles.
Its like women and men aren’t interested except it’s one thing to accomplish with Lady gaga!
Your personal stuffs nice. At all times take care of
it up!
Hey very cool blog!! Man .. Excellent .. Superb .. I’ll bookmark your web site and take
the feeds also? I’m happy to search out so many helpful info right here within the put up,
we’d like work out extra techniques in this regard, thanks for
sharing. . . . . .
It’s awesome to go to see this website and reading the views of all friends regarding this post,
while I am also eager of getting familiarity.
This site was… how do you say it? Relevant!! Finally I’ve found something
which helped me. Thanks!
Aw, this was an extremely nice post. Taking a few minutes and
actual effort to produce a top notch article… but what can I say… I
procrastinate a lot and never manage to get anything done.
Hi there! I just want to give you a huge thumbs up for your
great information you have here on this post. I will be
returning to your website for more soon.
Undeniably believe that which you said. Your favourite reason appeared to be at the web the easiest factor to be aware of.
I say to you, I definitely get annoyed at the same time
as other people think about worries that they just don’t understand
about. You managed to hit the nail upon the highest as neatly as outlined out the whole thing with no need side-effects , folks could take a signal.
Will likely be back to get more. Thank you
Look at my web blog Airdrop Treasure and NFTs token eligibility
you are in reality a just right webmaster. The web site loading velocity is
amazing. It kind of feels that you are doing any unique
trick. In addition, The contents are masterwork. you’ve performed
a excellent job on this subject!
Very good info. Lucky me I discovered your site by
chance (stumbleupon). I have bookmarked it for later!
I believe everything typed made a bunch of sense.
However, what about this? what if you were to write a killer headline?
I ain’t suggesting your content isn’t good., but suppose you added a post title that makes people desire more?
I mean A DAM Industry: “What Should We Call This Damn Industry?” | Invisible Fist is a little plain. You might look
at Yahoo’s home page and see how they create article
headlines to grab viewers to click. You might try
adding a video or a pic or two to get readers excited about everything’ve got to say.
Just my opinion, it would bring your website a little livelier.
Everything composed was very logical. But, what about
this? what if you were to create a awesome
title? I ain’t suggesting your information isn’t solid., however
suppose you added something that makes people desire more?
I mean A DAM Industry: “What Should We Call This Damn Industry?” | Invisible Fist is a little plain. You ought to glance at Yahoo’s front page and watch how they create article
headlines to grab people interested. You might add a related video or a related pic or two to get
readers excited about what you’ve got to say. In my opinion, it would bring your posts a little livelier.
Its like you learn my thoughts! You appear to grasp so much about
this, such as you wrote the guide in it or something.
I feel that you just could do with some % to drive
the message home a bit, but instead of that, this is magnificent blog.
A great read. I will certainly be back.
Hey! I know this is kind of off-topic but I had to ask.
Does managing a well-established website such as yours require a large amount of work?
I am brand new to running a blog however I do write in my journal
everyday. I’d like to start a blog so I will be able to share my own experience and views online.
Please let me know if you have any recommendations or tips for brand new
aspiring blog owners. Thankyou!
Let me give you a thumbs up man. Can I with heart reach out amazing values and if you want
to really findout? and also share valuable info about how to
change your life yalla lready know follow me my
fellow commenters!.
Hi there, I desire to subscribe for this website to get newest updates, therefore where can i do it please help.
Hi i am kavin, its my first time to commenting anyplace, when i
read this paragraph i thought i could also make comment due to this brilliant
piece of writing.
It’s difficult to find experienced people for this topic, however, you seem like you know what you’re
talking about! Thanks
Have you ever considered about including a little bit more
than just your articles? I mean, what you say is valuable and all.
But think of if you added some great graphics or video clips to give your posts more, “pop”!
Your content is excellent but with images and videos, this website could undeniably be one of the
most beneficial in its field. Awesome blog!
Good day! Do you use Twitter? I’d like to follow
you if that would be okay. I’m absolutely enjoying your blog and look forward to new updates.
I feel that is one of the such a lot important information for me.
And i’m happy studying your article. However should statement on some normal things,
The site style is perfect, the articles is actually excellent : D.
Excellent process, cheers
What’s Going down i’m new to this, I stumbled upon this I’ve discovered
It absolutely useful and it has helped me out loads.
I hope to contribute & assist other customers like its helped me.
Good job.
Link exchange is nothing else but it is just placing the other person’s web site link on your page at appropriate place and other person will
also do similar in support of you.
Its like you read my mind! You seem to know so much
about this, like you wrote the book in it
or something. I think that you could do with a few pics
to drive the message home a bit, but other than that,
this is fantastic blog. A great read. I will definitely
be back.
I know this web page presents quality depending posts and additional stuff,
is there any other web page which offers such information in quality?