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DAM vs BAM: What's the difference between Digital and Brand Asset Management?

3rd March 2023

There's a good chance that at some point you've heard about Digital Asset Management and Brand Asset Management, and wondered: "Is there a difference?"

DAM and BAM certainly sound similar. After all, brand assets can be digital, and digital assets can be brand-related.

However, there are some key differences between the Brand and Digital Asset Management definition that you should be aware of.

What is Brand Asset Management (BAM)?

Brand Asset Management is a software solution for managing branded assets, and where teams can collaborate on brand-related projects. BAM makes it easy to store and share branded digital assets.

A BAM system (or DAM system that supports brand management) allows organisations to maintain a consistent brand presence across every touchpoint and channel. A BAM or DAM manager will closely control which assets are available and which teams can access those assets, helping to avoid incorrect or outdated assets being used.

And this matters. Research has shown that brand consistency can increase revenue by 33%

How is BAM different from DAM?

The first thing to mention is that you don't need a dedicated Brand Asset Management system if your Digital Asset Management platform can support BAM - which we'll talk about shortly.

The key differences are clearer when comparing a dedicated BAM with a DAM system.

Unlike Digital Asset Management which typically holds far more assets, in various forms and different stages of completion, a BAM is often used exclusively to store curated collections of final assets. For example, a DAM might hold every version of an organisation's brand logo, going right back to the inception of the company. By contrast, a BAM would only store the latest version of the logo.

Ultimately, a BAM is central to brand workflows and designed for the specific purpose of managing your brand, while a DAM meets a much wider range of requirements.

How are BAM and DAM the same?

There are also some key similarities between BAM and DAM:

• Both systems provide a centralised, single single source of truth for digital assets.
• They both facilitate the creation of efficient processes for marketing, creative and sales teams.
• They enable secure and restricted access to digital and brand assets - even with third parties.
• They allow organisations to get better value from their assets by making them more discoverable and easy to use.

There's a key question that needs answering though: do you need separate BAM and DAM systems?

How ResourceSpace supports Brand Asset Management

Although there are dedicated Brand Asset Management platforms out there, a BAM cannot replace a dedicated Digital Asset Management system.

With that in mind, the smartest investment is in a DAM that can also support brand management.

ResourceSpace provides all of the features required for managing your brand assets, without needing to invest in a separate BAM platform. You can strictly control who has access to which assets to ensure no one can use outdated brand collateral, while Featured Collections can be used to clearly store and promote the latest files.

We can demonstrate exactly how ResourceSpace manages brand assets during a free 30-minute demo. Alternatively, click below and launch your free ResourceSpace instance in seconds.