A DAM Hub
what the Hub of the Universe can teach us about our DAMs
I grew up in Boston, aka The Hub of the Universe. Putting aside the self-importance of that nickname (learn about how it started as a sick burn that we naturally converted into praise), it really is a place where all corners of the world come together - tons of international students, industries, business and academics in a city of under 700k people, 1/3 fewer every summer. Part of its importance is as a literal hub - or connector - where each of these fields benefits from the others’ proximity and value.
Being a connector is how your DAM can go from being a lovely little place to park your assets into a greater-than-the-sum-of-its-parts hub. Sure, that leafy suburb beacons with peace and quiet, but a thriving DAM needs a little more action. Connecting the DAM both upstream to creative tools, project management platforms and other ways of delivering valuable assets into the DAM will help make it part of the content lifecycle across your team. Then downstream delivery of assets from the DAM into CMS, print platforms and other outputs can ensure only searchable, approved assets make it out into the world. I’ve been looking at Adobe’s new Content Hub (great name!) as a user-friendly solution for sharing brand assets with excellent search capabilities. In each case, the DAM is more valuable as the single source of truth in the center of an ever-growing series of spokes that can rely on the DAM center to hold.
One thing about hubs, though, is that they have to be strong enough to be relied upon while also flexible enough to change and expand to remain valued. Growing up, Boston was separated literally by a highway that cut across the city and isolated neighborhoods from each other. It took a little (ha!) $8 billion infrastructure upgrade called the Big Dig (the stats are staggering) to reconnect the city. Your DAM will need upgrades to keep current too, as well as expansion to new areas of content or audiences over time. Keep it fresh and embrace the chaos along the way, hoping that the end results are worth it, while you balance the pull from competing spokes. Hubs are busy and we shouldn’t want it any other way.