How Brands Utilize AI to Enhance Visual Asset Management

Transforming Visual Asset Management with AI

In today's digital landscape, brands are increasingly recognizing the critical role that images and videos play in building online trust and credibility. With rapid advancements in technology, a recent survey by Cloudinary highlights the challenges brands face in managing their digital asset workflows. As businesses aim for efficiency in scaling, personalizing, and collaborating across departments, the insights from this first global digital asset management (DAM) survey provide a clear perspective on the current state of visual asset management.

The State of DAM Usage Today

The Importance of Visual Content

As brands navigate the expanding visual economy, they depend heavily on visual content. According to the survey, organizations leverage images and videos for five primary purposes: fostering brand trust (64%), enhancing product credibility (62%), boosting market awareness and SEO (59%), driving product sales (52%), and minimizing product returns (31%). Consequently, the volume of digital assets continues to escalate, with 25% of brands storing 50,000 assets or more.

Trends in Asset Types

Text-based assets, like documents and presentations, still constitute the majority of what brands store in their DAM systems (85%). However, the prevalence of images and videos is noteworthy, with 79% and 66%, respectively. The future promises further growth in visual assets, as brands anticipate increased usage of images (65%), short-form videos (64%), 3D assets (41%), and live-streaming content (34%).

Bottlenecks in Workflow and Post-Production

Identifying the Challenges

Despite the apparent reliance on digital assets, brands face significant challenges in efficiently delivering visual experiences. The survey points out bottlenecks specifically in workflow, collaboration, and post-production processes. The top barrier identified is a lack of management resources, noted by 51% of respondents. Additionally, time and effort required for creating asset variations pose considerable difficulties, affecting 48% of brands.

Workflow Management Issues

When it comes to coordinating with development teams for web operations, managing requests and feedback stands out as the primary concern (44%). Following this, challenges such as timely asset deployment and receiving delayed responses on assets complicate matters (39% each). There are also considerable quality issues with assets received from creative partners, highlighting the importance of reliability in the asset delivery process.

The Future: Embracing Automation and Generative AI

Looking Ahead

With on-going challenges in mind, brands are optimistic about the potential role of automation and generative AI in alleviating these issues. The survey outlines that the top five tasks brands desire to see automated in their DAM systems include personalized asset creation (53%), generating variations for different channels (49%), moderating brand guidelines (43%), and handling user-generated content (UGC) moderation and normalization (32% and 25%, respectively).

The Role of Generative AI

As businesses adapt to technological innovations, generative AI is set to revolutionize the DAM landscape. Key capabilities that organizations are excited about include asset editing (54%), text generation (53%), and automated management of images and videos (52%). Furthermore, the promise of automatic content modification and valuable asset insights could substantially optimize workflows, driving efficiency across marketing efforts.

Final Thoughts from Experts

Wanda Cadigan, Senior Vice President of Marketing at Cloudinary, comments on the survey’s findings: “Our research clearly demonstrates that brands depend on us to streamline and automate the visual content lifecycle at an unprecedented scale. Conventional DAM systems are ill-equipped to support the fast-evolving landscape of visual-first experiences we are witnessing today.”

Methodology

The Cloudinary Global DAM Survey was carried out by an independent research firm, collecting insights from 420 DAM users at various levels including marketing, IT, and executive roles from around the globe.

About Cloudinary

Cloudinary is an innovative platform that empowers some of the world’s most renowned brands to deliver transformative visual experiences at scale. Currently trusted by over two million users and 10,000 clients—including renowned names such as Apartment Therapy, Grubhub, and Peloton—Cloudinary’s suite of image and video APIs, driven by advanced artificial intelligence and patented technology, establishes a single reliable resource for brands to manage, optimize, and distribute visual content efficiently. The results speak volumes, showing brands achieving up to a 203% return on investment through their solutions.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What does the Cloudinary survey reveal about DAM usage?

The survey highlights that most brands use multiple DAM solutions and face several challenges in integrating and managing their digital assets efficiently.

2. What are the primary reasons brands utilize visual content?

Brands primarily use visual content to build trust, enhance credibility, improve SEO, drive purchases, and reduce returns.

3. What major challenges do brands face in asset management?

Key challenges include workflow and collaboration bottlenecks, as well as post-production delays and asset quality issues.

4. How can automation and AI benefit visual asset management?

Automation and AI can significantly streamline repetitive tasks, enhance asset personalization, and improve overall efficiency in managing visual content.

5. What is Cloudinary's role in the digital asset management landscape?

Cloudinary offers a powerful platform to help brands manage visual content at scale, optimizing delivery and enhancing user engagement with cutting-edge solutions.

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