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HARMAN needed a centralized and scalable solution to organize their brand and product content.
They wanted a system that could integrate with other software, to support e-commerce workflows between teams and regions.
Acquia DAM (Widen), including the Assets, Insights, and Portals applications, and integrations
With Acquia DAM at the center of their marketing technology (martech) stack, they publish approved and current content across global channels.
HARMAN designs and engineers connected products and solutions, including car systems, audio and visual products, enterprise automation solutions, and services for automakers, consumers, and enterprises worldwide.
HARMAN’s brand and product content was stored and shared across a range of tools — including file transfer protocol (FTP), Dropbox, network drives, WeTransfer, and more — which made locating approved and current content extremely difficult. In addition, growth across their e-commerce business demanded a more structured and streamlined content distribution process.
A range of internal teams and external partners needed brand and product content to market or sell HARMAN products. And with business units and distributors expanding across the globe, supplying stakeholders with the right assets at the right time was very challenging – especially when numerous products were introduced at once.
HARMAN needed more efficient, automated, and scalable software to manage and share their brand content.
HARMAN’S Director of Global E-Commerce and Operations, Arthur Werner, shared, “We realized we had some issues with getting quality content out quickly, and with the growing business and the additional focus on e-commerce, we needed to get our product [content] out sooner rather than later.” They used an integrated approach to digital asset management (DAM) and product information management (PIM) technology to find a faster, better way to publish and distribute content. “First of all we needed a good PIM [system] to drive [traffic] to our website, and then once we had that PIM [system], we realized we also needed a good DAM [system],” Arthur said.
Their DAM selection process led them to Acquia DAM. “We definitely wanted this to be SaaS-based,” Arthur shared. “We didn’t want our internal IT capacities to hold us back or to be any barrier for growth when it came to speed and global access.” Further, ease of use was a priority, and they liked the [Acquia DAM] user interface (UI). Ultimately, Arthur shared, Acquia DAM “was a great match.”
With the integration between their PIM and DAM solutions in place, HARMAN developed a workflow using metadata fields and embed codes to streamline how content is published to their website. When an asset is added to the DAM system, it is assigned a product ID that associates it with a product in the PIM system. And if an asset on their website is updated in the DAM system, the most current version of that file is automatically published online. This integration facilitates a seamless flow between Acquia DAM, their separate PIM system, and their website, with the DAM solution as the single source of truth for all of HARMAN’s assets. “This integration has really been very successful,” Arthur shared. “It allows us to save a lot of time.”
Acquia DAM also provides time-saving efficiencies between teams. Storing all of their content in Acquia DAM eliminates the need to check multiple platforms for the latest version of an asset. “If you want to work with us,” Arthur said, “you must be able to deliver your materials through [the DAM system].” And they use upload profiles to support metadata creation. By selecting the correct profile during asset upload, Acquia DAM will automatically assign the correct category, basic metadata, and asset group with security settings. “It doesn’t tie up people that really shouldn’t be spending their time on processing assets, but should just be using these assets.”
Further, he said, Acquia DAM expedites time-saving collaboration through immediate, self-serve access to assets “the moment they are signed off.” This translates to more efficient workflows, enhanced brand consistency, and better speed to market.
