NEW YORK -- August 12, 2003 -- In a new report released today, TrendWatch Graphic Arts (TWGA) announced that Data Asset Management tools are not achieving the successes once considered a given in the graphic arts industry. According to the report, only 6% of respondents see "selling digital asset management services" as a top opportunity for their business. Even fewer (3%) see "using digital asset management technologies in our own workflow" as an opportunity. This rises slightly only among prepress shops (4%). Yet the report does indicate strong acceptance of DMAM in the packaging industry, where 13% of Consumer Product Companies and 20% of Converters reported planned purchases. DMAM also fairs well among Catalog Publishers, with 15% of survey respondents planning to make a purchase in the next 12 months. The complete report is available online in PDF format at the TrendWatch Graphic Arts website (www.trendwatchgraphicarts.com). Researcher's Quote... "DMAM is an applications-driven purchase," notes Vince Naselli, Director, TrendWatch Graphic Arts. "Companies don't just go out and purchase DMAM because they think it's a good idea. Something has to drive them to make this investment. For publishers, it was the need to develop an Internet presence. For packaging companies, it's the need to manage a global presence. For cutting-edge printers, it's the need to develop value-added services and workflows. So in order to sell DMAM, as a technology provider or as a shop selling DMAM-driven applications to a customer, you have to sell more than technology. You have to sell vision. And that's not something that comes in a bottle." What is DMAM... Digital Media Asset Management is most often defined as a computer software and/or hardware system that archives, tracks and manages digital page elements (including but not limited to text, graphic and photo images, pages, templates, line art, logos, finished layouts, PDFs, and more recently, video and audio clips). DMAM systems allow users to quickly recall these elements for re-use in new jobs, saving the production time of recreating them. Though some would argue that a plain paper job bag is a form of DMAM, in the last 10 years, DMAM has been referenced as a digital software and/or hardware solution. According to the Report... -- CREATIVE INVESTMENT: 9% of all creative professionals plan to purchase some form of digital asset management system in the next 12 months -- this rises to 16% of corporate designers and 12% of photographers. -- CPC's PLANNED PURCHASE: Among Consumer Product Companies, DMAM came in as the seventh most popular planned purchase, with 13% of CPCs planning to make this investment in the next 12 months -- among graphics personnel, this nearly tripled to 31%; -- TOP BUSINESS CHALLENGE: 7% of creative professionals see "implementing digital asset management" as a top business challenge -- this doubles to 12% of corporate designers. About the Report... In this report, TWGA examines the current rate of adoption of DMAM software and how it is being used in the printing, publishing, creative, and Internet design and development markets. As a special bonus, TWGA also examines DMAM data from the recently released TWGA Packaging Directional Trends report, which provides insight into the use of DMAM in the packaging market, both by consumer product companies and packaging converters. The report also studies the relationship between DMAM and cross media. Cross media is rapidly become an indispensable part of the workflow of creative professionals, publishers, and packagers, and cross media is virtually impossible without some form of DMAM. Therefore, the importance of DMAM rises and falls with the importance of cross media. One area of particular excitement is packaging. Of all of the market segments surveyed, packaging shines the brightest for digital media asset management technologies. While plans to purchase DMAM come in somewhere around the bottom of the list for the other industry segments, they come in at the top in packaging. Methodology... Data from this report was derived from TWGA Printing #17, TWGA Printing Historical Database, TWGA Design & Production #15, TWGA Design & Production Historical Database, TWGA Publishing #15, TWGA Publishing Historical Database, TWGA Internet Design & Development #6, TWGA Internet Design & Development Historical Database, TWGA Packaging 2003 Directional Trends Survey (Converters), and TWGA Packaging 2003 Directional Trends Survey (Consumer Packaging Companies), as well as based on proprietary TWGA interviews and analysis. Availability... The TrendWatch Graphic Arts "Digital Asset Management: Are We There Yet?" report is available for purchase by visiting the secure TrendWatch Graphic Arts eStore online at www.trendwatchgraphicarts.com or by phone at 866-873-6310. The price for the report is $1595. TrendWatch Graphic Arts eStore customers can download this report in PDF Acrobat format immediately after purchase.