When Every Step Counts: How Three Footwear Giants Mastered Digital Asset Chaos

The following is a recap of a panel session from Engage Boston 2025. You can find a recording of the session on Acquia TV. 

A panel on digital asset management might not seem like the most animated part of a tech conference — unless, of course, it features three powerhouse footwear brands who collectively manage millions of product images, videos, and marketing assets across the globe. Then it becomes something else: part masterclass, part group therapy.

That's what we had at Acquia Engage, where I had the pleasure of moderating a lively, sharp, and surprisingly candid conversation with digital asset managers  from New Balance, Brooks, and Keen.

To break the ice, I pulled a few props from my wardrobe — New Balance dad shoes, Brooks runners, and a pair of Keens — all of which got their moment on stage. ("Jake, I was wondering when you were going to slip into something more comfortable," Keen's Christian Walburg deadpanned.)

DAM by the Numbers

The panelists came prepared with real numbers.

• Taylor Hiltz from Brooks: 130,000 assets, 1,700 users, and up to 10 images per footwear style.
• Christian from Keen: 300,000 assets representing over 5,500 active styles.
• Kristine Crawford Castay from New Balance: "Metadata queen" (her words), overseeing content tied to 30,000 shoe styles and 400,000 users globally.

Each panelist offered a sharp view into what it takes to run a DAM system at an enterprise scale. This isn't just about asset organization; it's about enforcing brand consistency, enabling global teams to work in sync, and eliminating the kinds of bottlenecks that quietly drain resources. And when metadata breaks down? As Kristine from New Balance put it: "If you don't have metadata, you don't have anything."

From Pandemic Pivot to Strategic Advantage

The transformation stories revealed how quickly DAM evolved from necessity to competitive edge. Kristine was particularly direct: "The pandemic forced us to pivot and look at the way we work because we were no longer able to receive a product and handle it and sit together as teams and review it."

What emerged wasn't just a replacement for in-person collaboration; it was a new way of working. New Balance's DAM became a global nerve center where teams across Asia, EMEA, and Latin America could follow a shoe's complete lifecycle—from initial concept through to B2B distribution.

At Keen, Christian explained how integrating DAM with their PIM (Product Information Management) system unlocked new efficiencies—both technical and human. "We've started to define what should go in the DAM, which forces clarity across teams. It's cut down on asset duplication and helped us better serve global markets with specific content needs."

The operational details matter enormously. In Japan, for instance, Keen can't show images with tattoos, so their permission structures ensure users only see appropriate content for their region.

Over at Brooks, Taylor emphasized the DAM's role in adapting to a broader set of users: "It started as a creative team tool, but it's become something else entirely. We've had to rethink workflows, permissions, and even asset relevance for our international teams."

At New Balance, the impact has extended far beyond marketing. "We're making fewer physical samples now," Kristine said. "That cuts waste, saves time, and supports our sustainability goals. The DAM helps us prototype, share, and collaborate before anything hits a production line."

Selling DAM to Non-Believers

One theme emerged repeatedly: if you want your DAM to matter, stop talking about it.

"No one cares about DAM," Christian said. "They care about brand trust, campaign delivery, and consistency. Tie your goals to those and you'll get traction."

His approach is to listen for what the CMO prioritizes — brand trust, brand consistency, sales pipeline — then position DAM as the solution. It's organizational alignment at its best.

Taylor echoed that: "We try to create 'Why should I give a DAM?' moments — ways to show stakeholders how this work connects to what they care about."

Looking Ahead

The roadmaps at all three companies point in a similar direction: increased automation, enhanced security, and more intelligent AI.

But Christian's vision suggests we're moving beyond traditional thinking: "People have been so used to a folder system and that is how DAMs were initially set up. But now people are searching like Google — typing in 'find an image of a guy hiking a mountain, wearing Keen boots.'"

Taylor's team is exploring AI-assisted tagging and better tools for mapping metadata from filenames. Christian is looking at contextual search and recommendation capabilities. Kristine is pushing for AI that supports native-language access globally and digital watermarking to secure embargoed athlete imagery. 

"The more ambassadors we sign, the more critical it is to lock things down," she said.

New Balance has created what they call their "gold standard" portal system—portals within portals within portals, organized by season, campaign, and athlete. When they sign athletes like Cooper Flagg or Coco Gauff, she noted, campaign collateral gets organized for easy access and brand consistency.

What to Remember

We concluded the session with advice for peers who are just starting their DAM journey or rethinking it midstream.

"Start with metadata and metrics," Christian said. "You can't automate chaos. And you need numbers to prove what DAM saves you—season over season."

"Know your stakeholders," Kristine added. "This isn't for IT. It's not even for us. It's for the customer."

Taylor emphasized thinking bigger: "Remember that everything changes. Whatever system you've created, make sure it's something that you can scale as your business grows."

DAM may never be glamorous, but after this panel, it's clear that when it works well, it's indispensable.