Product Information Management (PIM)

1.    DAM vs. PIM: Who does what?

Digital asset management systems (DAM systems) have the primary task of managing and providing unstructured digital content such as images, videos, graphics, and documents. Product information management systems (PIM systems), on the other hand, manage and maintain structured product data and make it available to downstream solutions such as e-commerce and CMS. This product data includes descriptive information like size, weight, color or material, marketing texts, and product images. So why do we actually need an extra DAM system? In this article, we present the most important differences between PIM and DAM and explain who will benefit from investing in both software disciplines and what needs to be considered in order to maximize the ROI of both systems.

2.    In a nutshell

• Different systems, different goals: Along the digital value chain, PIM and DAM fulfill very different purposes. While PIM ensures that every channel is supplied with the right product information, DAM creates the basis for successful brand building and unique product experiences at every touchpoint.
• Product experience management: Product experience management (PXM) describes the application chain and data flow that form the basis for product communication optimized for customer experience. This article explains how PIM and DAM complement each other in this concept.
• Successfully creating synergies: In our best practices, we describe the prerequisites that need to be created for optimal product experience management. Find out why, in addition to the right system selection, perfect integration of the solutions is also important.

Tip: Never look at software solutions in isolation – especially not in data management. Data is needed in different forms everywhere in and outside the company, which is why careful planning and design of the information supply chain is essential.

3.    Direct comparison of DAM and PIM

If we compare DAM and PIM directly, the most important difference lies in the fundamental principles of both software disciplines. In the PIM system, the focus is on a specific product and it collects all the data associated with this one product. In the DAM system, on the other hand, the focus is on the individual media content. Which product is shown in it or which campaign it belongs to is initially downstream of the data object itself. For this reason, conventional image databases with their rigid folder structures quickly reach their limits – they prioritize the purpose of the object and not the object itself. This blog article describes in detail how modern DAM systems overcome these limitations.

In addition to this core approach, there are also significant differences between the managed data itself. While PIM systems manage structured data, DAM systems are developed to efficiently manage and distribute unstructured data.

The difference between structured and unstructured data

Structured data is information that can be written to a table, for example. Attributes such as color can therefore be easily and clearly assigned the corresponding values, such as yellow. Unstructured data, on the other hand, includes objects such as images, videos, audio files, graphics, or logos. They are not easily readable and interpretable, similar to a black box. This also makes the task of managing and maintaining them a completely different one, and the question arises: How do I describe and store this object in such a way that subsequent applications know exactly what it contains?

DAM systems solve this problem with the help of so-called metadata. They take on the task of clearly describing the content, form, and origin of the actual data (i.e., the media objects). As with structured data in the PIM system, it is important that the metadata or attribute values follow an overarching strategy, as they form the basis for subsequent search and filter functions. The more inconsistent, fragmented, and ambiguous the values that are assigned, the poorer the search results – which means that these structures also have a direct impact on product performance in online shops and online marketplaces. Modern DAM systems utilize the many possibilities offered by AI. From the automatic indexing of image data to powerful AI searches, these solutions eliminate the weaknesses of inefficient and faulty search functions.

Additional functions for effective product content

In addition to pure data management, DAM systems and PIM systems offer additional functions that support effective product content management. They do this via either their own functional areas or connections to corresponding tools. For example, PIM systems manage and maintain marketing texts for a wide range of channels in addition to pure product data. The advantage of this is that changes to a product can be maintained centrally and then automatically updated in all channels simultaneously. AI tools can support product managers and marketing teams in the creation of these marketing texts. In addition, most PIM systems offer translation options to automatically cater for different markets.

Modern DAM systems also offer a whole range of helpful functions that significantly reduce the workload of marketing and e-commerce managers. For example, digital rights management functions help to keep an eye on the usage licenses for images and videos. Workspaces offer creative teams shared workspaces for the creation of campaign and brand assets. There are also a variety of AI tools that can, for example, automatically edit images and save them in relevant formats and other derivatives. AI-based search functions and automated tagging also support the rapid localization of required material and data maintenance.

PIM or DAM? Why you need both!

This shows that product management, marketing, sales, e-commerce, and customer service need both DAM and PIM in order to work effectively. You can think of the two disciplines a bit like the right and left hemispheres of the brain: PIM, like the left brain, is more fact-based, rational, and analytical, while DAM, as the right brain, brings creativity, emotion, and visuals to product communication. Both disciplines are always needed to get the right information to the right recipient at the right time, in the right tone of voice and in the right context.

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4.    Centralized control of product information – this is what a PIM system does

To make the connections a little clearer, we would like to describe how PIM and DAM are embedded in the overarching product experience management. PXM describes the entire digital value chain that is necessary to create the best possible customer experience at the touchpoints with customers. PIM and DAM provide the absolute foundation in this application chain, as this is where the granular components of product communication are imported or created, brought to the necessary quality, and networked to create sales-promoting product content.

Syndication

Syndication ensures that this ready-to-use product content ends up in the right channels. Which channels these are depends on companies’ communication goals. For manufacturer brands, these channels can be their own social media accounts such as Instagram and TikTok, their online shop, a product catalogue, and retail partners and online marketplaces such as Amazon and MediaMarkt. In some sectors, global data pools such as the GDSN are also relevant for the food industry. Retailers typically have slightly different channel landscapes, so online shops, marketplaces, apps, and, in some cases, social media are also very relevant here.

Digital Shelf Analytics

While your own online shop or app makes it easy for the marketing and e-commerce team to measure the performance of individual products, monitoring this performance on retailer sites is not quite as simple. Specialized digital shelf analytics tools support brands by extracting the relevant metrics from the retail platforms and, in some cases, comparing them with the performance of direct competitors. Customer reviews can also be analyzed and pricing monitored. This gives brands the opportunity to gain more control over their product communication in retail and to positively influence their sales through optimization measures.

Order management

Order management is particularly important for companies with a complex sales structure so that customer orders can be processed efficiently and reliably – from order initiation and inventory management in conjunction with the ERP to delivery via various shipping service providers. This means that order management systems are also essential for customer satisfaction.

Who is PXM suitable for?

The digital value chain outlined above is particularly relevant for companies with complex or growing product structures and sales strategies. The more products and the more channels, the greater the business value that clean PXM processes can generate – and this applies to both industry and retail.

5.    Best practices for sustainable PXM data processes

This section provides some insights into how companies should define and implement their own PXM strategy:

1. IT map: As a first step, it is important to get an overview of the existing software systems.
2. Data processes: Based on this IT map, the overarching data processes can be visualized – where do the data flows go? Who is responsible for what?
3. Goals: What are the goals of product management, sales, e-commerce, marketing, and customer service? Do expectations and strategies from the C-level need to be taken into account?
4. Requirements: What requirements result from the objectives and the current day-to-day business for the individual software systems, data, and processes?
5. Prioritization: The previous considerations typically result in a series of initial recommendations for action, such as software evaluations or process optimizations. These need to be prioritized in a sensible chronological order in order to exploit synergy effects and prioritize urgent issues.

PIM & DAM: The PXM Dream Team

This article has made one thing very clear: PIM and DAM are inextricably linked in order to optimize the presentation of products on the various sales floors. While some software providers choose to cover both disciplines, we prefer to work with the best PXM technologies on the market and develop common interfaces to offer our customers the greatest possible power for their product data. For this reason, Sharedien has created a native integration with PXM leader Syndigo, Viamedici, and other PIM vendors to produce an end-to-end, high-performance digital supply chain for our joint customers.

Tip: Watch the recording of the joint webinar with Syndigo on the topic of Customer Experience as a Service!

Conclusion and recommendations for action

Can you manage product images in the PIM? Of course – but for meaningful and flexible management and utilization of media assets of all kinds, you need real digital asset management. Only by combining PIM with DAM can companies design their PXM processes in such a way that the customer experience in all relevant channels is optimized sustainably and effectively.

Want to know more?

Our DAM experts will be happy to answer your questions – get in touch with them now!

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