Digital Directions: The Marketing Silo

The Solution: Learn to Share
There is a better way: a common digital asset platform that manages both content elements and their associated data. Marketing departments can gain insight into works-in-progress by accessing real-time information about them. Publicity teams can access digital assets such as illustration files in a plurality of formats. Equally critical is access to permissions regarding digital assets for publicity purposes.

It is worth noting that this is more than a technology issue; it is an organizational issue as well. There often is a need for greater information sharing across the organization. To be sure, some information is of a confidential nature, and must be distributed on a strictly need-to-know basis. However, most information is not confidential, and yet, it is still not shared.

It is human nature: People hoard information as a means to consolidate their own political power. Publishing organizations are no different. Many have historically been distinctly proprietary about their “personal” data, and have given marketing teams access to it on a very limited basis. Those who fear that greater openness will result in a loss of power keep barriers to information sharing in place.

The information walls are a-crumblin’, bit by bit. Senior management in forward-thinking organizations are bringing down these walls by instituting policies, processes and systems that allow for information sharing. More people across publishing organizations are realizing that hoarding information is counter-productive to selling books.

The digital organization is a more transparent organization. Marketing will directly benefit from this transparency. Siloed no more, marketing and publicity teams will be able to execute more effective programs, and will more compellingly express the value of our content to the wider world.

And that’s when we all win.

Andrew Brenneman is founder and president of Finitiv, a California-based provider of digital content solutions. He has been leading digital media initiatives at major media and technology organizations for over 20 years. He holds a master’s degree in Technology and Communications from New York University and has been awarded U.S. patents for digital media innovation. Contact him at Andrew@Finitiv.com.