Managing Your Physical Ad Assets

Physical asset management is one of the most frequently overlooked aspects to producing, delivering, and distributing video ads. This is particularly the case with advertisers and agencies that have produced a high volume of ads. For those that have changed distributors, asset management is compounded by the fact that they are now in multiple locations. And, no matter where they are, you want them protected, archived, easily accessible, consolidated, and most importantly, under your control.

Consolidating physical assets is no easy task, and it loses priority simply because it is a task to which most do not take a shine. As time goes on, the more your assets are neglected and the messier the task becomes.

But it doesn’t have to be.

In fact, it does not even need to be your task alone. Full-service ad delivery vendors will help facilitate the transfer of your physical assets—wherever they may be—to a single storage and archiving facility. As an added bonus, this process has minimal impact on you, leaving you with time to focus on business-critical tasks.

The Benefits of Consolidated Storage

Advertisers are usually faced with the prospect of moving assets when they are in the process of choosing or have already chosen a new distribution partner. But there are certain advantages in consolidating physical assets even if you are not changing distribution vendors. Selecting a storage vendor that is independent of your ad delivery partner streamlines your distribution now and in the future. Consequently, you gain flexibility in selecting your ad delivery vendor without concern for moving your assets again.

The Costs and Your Responsibilities

Before exploring costs, consolidating physical assets is the perfect time to purge outdated and irrelevant assets. Not only does this help organize your library, but also helps lower overall costs. Two types of costs, both of which are often negotiable, are typically associated with asset consolidation:

1. The storage cost at the new storage vendor (often a per-item, per-month cost).
2. The transfer costs from the ad delivery vendor to move the assets from their current location(s).

While an ad delivery vendor will help facilitate the transfer project, you will need to provide logs and inventories on all current assets and their locations. Delivery vendors can also work with current storage locations to negotiate the lowest possible transfer costs for you. However, you will have to work with your new storage vendor to finalize these costs.

Considering how much of the process is handled behind the scenes, transferring and consolidating physical assets is not as burdensome as it may first appear. And once completed, you stand to gain much in the way of simplicity and choice. Assets are in one location, which gives you the flexibility to choose and change distribution partners. But most importantly, you will be in control of your physical assets.