TOP 9 LIST: Project Management Systems for Fashion & Apparel
In an age when studio operations teams are more distributed than ever and utilizing an even greater...
Head of Community at Creative Force
Head of Community at Creative Force
One of the leading solutions to remain organized and increase content velocity is a digital asset management, or DAM, platform. Read on to learn more about what a DAM platform does and which DAM providers help fashion and apparel companies keep up with content demands for eCommerce.
Why Do You Need a DAM System?
With DAM, you can store all of your brand’s media assets in one place, so that you don’t have to compete with “sources of truth” when it comes to determining the most current and compliant version of a needed file. It’s your one-stop repository for images, videos, audio files, PDFs, and any other digital asset imaginable.
As retail has moved to eCommerce, the market for digital asset management has grown exponentially. According to a 2020 Markets and Markets report, the DAM market size is slated to grow from $3.4 billion (USD) in 2020 to $6 billion by 2025.
Looking for reasons you need a DAM platform? Well, your competition likely is already, and you need to match not only their pace of content production but the speed at which they’re serving up those assets to potential customers.
What’s the Best DAM for Fashion and Apparel eCommerce?
There are many DAM providers out there (with more and more entering the market every year), and while they have similar standard features, they vary in some important ways, like cloud-storing your file revision history, the ability to present branded content portals available to your external stakeholders or even repurpose assets with built-in creative tools. Some are standalone services, while others are packaged with PIM services and other digital organization tools.
But at their core, DAM platforms simply help you store, preview, and distribute media files from one place, eliminating confusion.
Because we at Creative Force are on the mission of reducing stress and clutter and helping creatives focus on being creative, we want to point out other types of workflow services, like PIM and DAM, that save you time and stress and stack well with your Creative Force platform. So we’ve gathered a list of 19 DAM providers that serve eCommerce clients like ours.
Disclaimer: This list (displayed in alphabetical order), has been compiled without bias. We have no financial incentive to make this list or to have you select a particular provider.
1. Adobe Experience Manager
Billed by Adobe as “the only DAM that lets you find, edit, manage, and deliver assets in a single platform,” Adobe Experience Manager allows you to track who uses which asset, govern licensing permissions, and manage workflows. Of course, being an Adobe product, it integrates entirely with Illustrator, Photoshop, and InDesign. Adobe promises to update EM with so-called “microservices,” like third-party integration and bulk asset creation, to continuously improve your user experience.
Relevant customers: Old Navy, LinkedIn, Samsung
adobe.io/apis/experiencecloud
2. Airtable
Change is generally good unless you’re scurrying to find an important file in its pre-revised state before you last saved it. Airtable supplies you with a living history of saved versions for your files, so you can hop back in time to see your projects at several stages, restoring files as needed.
Airtable employs several pricing tiers, including a free version for users who need just base-level features. But to get the most extensive file history, request a quote for Airtable’s Enterprise package, which comes with a dedicated customer success manager and individualized onboarding.
Relevant customers: Netflix, Levi's, Spotify, intuit, shopify, TIME
airtable.com
3. Aprimo
Offering digital asset management along with productivity management and brand planning services, Aprimo helps eCommerce customers achieve agility and gather insights to improve their omnichannel customer experience. “In an industry going through massive digital disruption, ensure your marketing investments are optimized for the future,” Aprimo’s website says.
Relevant customers: ASOS, AT&T, Bank of America
aprimo.com
4. Brandfolder
Brandfolder promises retail customers the ability to maintain images, tackle seasonal change-outs, manage campaign assets across all channels worldwide, and streamline rights management for all vendor relationships. “Whether you have five or six thousand products in retail, we have custom fields to match the uniqueness of every SKU,” the Brandfolder website reads.
Relevant customers: slack, lyft, P.F.Changs, Russel Stover, ABInBev, mastercard, Kroger
brandfolder.com
5. Brandworkz
One cool feature of Brandworkz is its AI-powered color search, which allows you to identify files in whatever color you need for a given assignment. The system’s AI capabilities extend to its automated metadata creation and suggested search tools.
Brandworkz pledges to keep your files secure, as the platform is compliant with ISO 27001, an international standard for information security.
Relevant customers: Dr. Martens, aetna, University of Greenwich, ally, Queensland University of Technology
brandworkz.com
6. Bynder
Experienced with global brands but equipped for start-ups, Bynder offers not only digital asset management services but also brand guideline advice, video, and print asset templates, and video production pointers. Whatever your venture, expect Bynder’s team to hear about your goals. “We listen to all of our clients to ensure we understand the business needs of each and every customer and are united with you in the drive to get the best from your project,” Bynder’s website says.
Relevant customers: Puma, Scotch & Soda, Spotify, Five Guys, King's Hawaiian
bynder.com
7. Canto
Like Airtable, Canto keeps a detailed, searchable audit trail of your file version histories. But the platform’s reporting goes further, showing you who downloaded what files and when, and which search terms and downloads were your most employed.
Canto offers connectors to Adobe InDesign, Photoshop, WordPress, DropBox, Box, Slack, Facebook, Google Drive, Pinterest, and Twitter, as well as an API that will allow you to custom-build your integration.
Relevant customers: Birkenstock, Gymshark, LinkedIn, Godiva, Columbia University
canto.com
8. Cloudinary
A DAM provider used by several global brands in the fashion industry across merchandising, media, and more, Cloudinary refers to itself as “a single source of truth, from creation to consumption.” Its media management API can be used by website developers to deliver optimized media files to your digital properties.
Relevant customers: AWS, Whole Foods, Virgin, Etsy, Tesla, Sony, Disney
cloudinary.com
9. Comosoft
Used by several leading brands in outdoor recreation merchandise and home improvement, Comosoft’s LAGO platform can be used for DAM, PIM, and DIM, as well as creative design for fliers and circular designs.
Relevant customers: Bass Pro Shops, The Home Depot, Kroger, Lowe's, giant eagle
comosoft.com
10. Extensis
Unique to this list, Extensis combines digital asset management with font management, helping you find, share, and automate fonts through a cloud-based service. But with Extensis Connect, the company’s DAM platform, emphasizes ease—Extensis calls it easy to launch, easy to learn, and easy to use. While not publicly listing any fashion and apparel clients among its customer base, Extensis has, in our view, functionalities to serve that sector.
Relevant customers: DDB, dentsu, Disney, The New York Times, Schawk!
extensis.com
11. Filecamp
This cloud-based SaaS platform offers unlimited users at no extra cost. With Filecamp, you can white-label the platform to display your logo and branding—a nice feature, especially when clients occasionally view your file system.
Relevant customers: The Wall Street Journal, Clear Channel, Trivago, HBO, Unilever, Saatchi & Saatchi
filecamp.com
12. Image Relay
A recognized B-Corporation—the designation goes to companies that display responsibility in environmental impact, financial transparency, worker compensation, and so on—Image Relay makes it easy for you to judge the value of its DAM services through its ROI calculator. Per its website, Image Relay promises to “put an end to scattered assets, annoying file requests, frustrating searches, broken sharing tools, and give you back time for your favorite things.”
Relevant customers: Ben & Jerry's, Champlain College, jane iredale, Dietz & Watson
imagerelay.com
13. Intelligence Bank
Intelligence Bank promises you’ll soon “kiss your shared drive goodbye and see how easy it is to take control of your creative content,” according to the company’s website. With Intelligence Bank’s digital asset management platform and its minimalist interface, you can easily track usage rights, audit user engagement of your content, and view ROI relative to the impressions of any piece of content.
Relevant customers: KFC, Baptist Health, nab, Hyatt, medibank, community transit
intelligencebank.com
14. Kontainer
A PIM provider as well, Kontainer bundles DAM into its PIM services, making it a natural choice for customers in need of both services. Kontainer’s digital asset management capabilities are robust, from its ability to preview .eps, .tiff, and more than 100 other file types to its power to find, edit, and post social media content directly from its interface.
Relevant customers: About You, Cardinal Health, Specsavers, Ping, Universal, Buster + Punch
kontainer.com
15. Lectra Kubix Link
Kubix Link is Lectra’s DAM, PIM, and PLM cloud-based platform specific to the fashion industry. Modern consumers of fashion “are well-informed, looking for constant newness,” Lectra’s website says, and they’re holding “high expectations in terms of product quality, fit, production ethics and delivery times.” The goal of Kubix Link is to help fashion brands boost productivity, reduce lead times, and digitize workflows to meet consumer expectations.
Relevant customers: for all mankind, Atelier Emé, Bally, Bravissimo, Black Yak
lectra.com/en/products/kubix-link
16. Media Beacon
Counting the retail and apparel industry among those it serves, Media Beacon helps fashion customers keep media consistently branded and securely stored. With a good sense of the legalities surrounding media rights, Media Beacon allows customers to control multiple tiers of file access, set expiration dates on media to stay compliant with licensing and make collaborators acknowledge licensing agreements before downloading files.
Relevant customers: Showtime, Guggenheim, Mercedez Benz, Buck Wear, Room & Board
mediabeacon.com
17. Media Valet
Another DAM provider with detailed tracking is Media Valet, which allows you to analyze how your distributed media assets perform. Media Valet is also among the digital asset management services to provide access to past renditions of a file.
Relevant customers: Razer, Jane Goodall Institute, Experian, Hard Rock Hotel, OSF Healthcare
mediavalet.com
18. Northplains
While Northplains offers all sorts of services—content lifecycle management, brand management, customer loyalty, and data analytics—the company has continued to provide digital asset management, after being among the earliest to do so. “Northplains’ experience in digital asset management goes back decades,” says Gregg Schoonover, CTO. “It was founded in the early 90s. Really at that time, the DAM market didn’t exist, and Northplains really helped create that market.”
Through Xinet, Northplains’digital asset management platform, you open, edit, and create assets directly within the system. Xinet’s mounted drives and Adobe CC plugin simplify the process of saving files to the platform.
Relevant customers: none provided
northplains.com
19. Nuxeo
Nuxeo appeals to customers who produce consumer packaged goods. “Traditional marketing DAM systems lack the flexibility and sophistication CPG companies need to manage the full creative lifecycle and they can’t adapt as business needs change,” Nuxeo’s website says.
Want to search for files without your query leading to lag? When Nuxeo’sdigital asset management was put through tests involving file databases of 1 billion assets, it performed file searches in less than one-twentieth of a second.
Relevant customers: EA, L'Oreal, Fox, orange, LVMH, Wieden + Kennedy, CVS Health
nuxeo.com
20. OpenText
OpenText offers several different digital asset management products, making it a complex but robust choice for fashion and apparel clients seeking a provider. OpenText Media Management, the company’s base-level DAM, can support more than 1 billion assets and conduct searches for at least 25 metadata fields in under a second. With OpenText Media Management, you protect your assets with single sign-on or custom passwords and two-factor authentication. Utilize the system’s metadata model, selecting from predefined or build-your-own tags, expiry dates, usage rights, and more.
Relevant customers: Heineken, Coca-Cola Bandeirantes, Bumble Bee Foods, MAD Security
opentext.com
21. PhotoShelter for Brands
Formerly known as Libris Workspaces For Effortless Collaboration, PhotoShelter is a DAM provider with several clients in athletics and athletic apparel.
With PhotoShelter Brands, you get a digital asset management platform designed with modern teams and workflows in mind. “Based on the unprecedented needs of remote creative teams, Workspaces offers an unlimited number of projects, collaborators, and invited users to PhotoShelter Brands users,” the PhotoShelter website says.
Relevant customers: GE, New York Jets, Chicago Blackhawks, Applegate, Chick-fil-a, NCAA, PBS
brands.photoshelter.com
22. Pimberly
Choose from a range of plans—tiers are based on your number of SKUs per year—from a provider of both DAM and PIM services. Want a partner that knows fashion industry eCommerce? Pimberly already counts several fashion retailers and manufacturers among its customer base.
Relevant customers: Monkhouse, Oakhouse Foods, Westcoast, moda, Gill, Interflora
pimberly.com
23. Pimcore
Don’t let the name mislead you—Pimcore offers not only PIM services but also DAM and MDM functionalities.
Need to reach an international audience? Pimcore is suited for global customers, as the platform supports German, English, French, Italian, Japanese, Dutch, Norwegian, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, Chinese, and more.
Relevant customers: Burger King, T-Mobile, Audi, Vespa, Intersport, Gabor
pimcore.com
24. Quable
Making a list of companies that supply both DAM and PIM? Add Quable, which packages both services within its PXM suite. It includes colorimetry profiles, so you can apply color settings to your files and stay precisely consistent across every image and channel.
Relevant customers: Club Med, Berluti, Mitsubishi Electric, Gemo, Bioderma
quable.com/en
25. Salsify
Another provider of both DAM and PIM, Salsify bundles the two, along with its Experience Builder, as part of its Product Experience Management suite. “Thousands of brands across all major retail and industrial categories trust Salsify with their digital shelf,” its website says.
Relevant customers: Samsung, McCormick, Kellogg's, Bic, Philips, Energizer, Columbia Sportswear
salsify.com
26. Sitecore
This CMS provider offers a DAM that emphasizes the importance of compliance with permissions and expirations surrounding your digital assets. Sitecore’s digital asset management integrates with its digital rights management platform, which empowers you to conduct file searches based on usage rights. Speaking of searches, Sitecore’s DAM has a machine-learning program, Image Similarity, that provides a batch of suggested assets based on your past searches and selections.
Relevant customers: Azure Apparel, Canon, Toshiba, Subway
sitecore.com
27. Widen
Widen gives creatives, marketers, and IT pros a central place for files as well as a wide array of prebuilt integrations and powerful APIs. Through its digital asset management platform, Widen pledges to help retail and consumer goods customers “deliver visuals to wherever your customers are,” per Widen’s website.
Relevant customers: Autodesk, Energizer, Crayola, Hootsuite, dyson, New Balance
widen.com
28. Wedia
This team is trusted by some Fortune 500 powerhouse companies. Wedia powers personalized customer experiences on a global scale, and gathers insightful data from the customer journey to fuel content production and better engage audiences.
Wedia streamlines the ideation, production, management, control, and delivery of rich media (photos, videos-3D, banners, etc.) and marketing content (flyers, ads, POS materials) for large and global organizations.
Relevant customers: Harley Davidson, Bayer, Michelin, Renault Trucks, VW, Volvo, Estée Lauder
wedia-group.com
29. Wiredrive
Want a DAM provider trusted by leading ad agencies and media companies? See Wiredrive, which boasts a clean interface that allows you to find your assets quickly and work without visual clutter.
With Wiredrive, you can batch-upload all sorts of files; send large files for playback (downloads optional but not required!) in 4K, 8K, 360, and other large file formats; establish private project rooms, to collaborate on works in progress; and put passwords and expiring links on files for those in-progress projects.
Relevant customers: Wieden + Kennedy, Ogilvy, FX, Paramount, Cisco, dk, firstborn, razorfish
wiredrive.com
In Summary
With such a deluge of digital asset management options, you should be able to determine which one meets your industry and needs. Say goodbye to the frustration of never knowing which local or cloud-based folder is housing that media asset your team desperately needs.
At Creative Operations, we want your organization and production workflows to be simple and intuitive—through the PIM, DAM, ERP, and other systems in your tech stack—so you can take control of content creation and your creatives can focus energy on what they do best.
