Creative Asset Management Software for Destination Management Companies [Case Study]

Destination Management Companies help event organizers put so many moving parts together: the venue, food and beverage, design, and even transportation. And since the events are typically fast approaching, time is very much of the essence. 

Accent Indy is a DMC that focuses on designing and implementing corporate events. Founded in 1989 and based in Indianapolis, Indiana, Accent Indy helps corporations plan their events with a hands-on approach that brings together the very best Indiana has to offer.

Like most DMCs, Accent's team needs to be able to pull the right reference photo or video. Looking for a sports-related venue? Take a look at this event we hosted last year at Lucas Oil Stadium; Looking for group activities? Here are some examples of teambuilding experiences.

However, they were struggling with internal asset organizational issues, which became a serious challenge as they continued to grow their client base and onboard new team members.

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The Challenge

Accent Indy previously had all of their photos and videos organized in Photo Station, with additional files saved on SharePoint.

They had 11,812 photos and video files, which they had to manually tag, one by one, with dozens of fields, from Client, Event, and Date, all the way to the Item Names and Activities. The upload process, they tell, had no less than 26 steps (!), and was as tedious as it was prone to human error. "Our old system", they say, "had us manually tagging everything down to item colors - all the things that Tagbox has AI to assist with".

With hundreds of events a year, each event followed by dozens of photos, their previous asset management account was quickly overrun with folders, and the Accent Indy team had to rely on memory to find the right reference. Additionally, since their previous platform did not have integrated AI tools, they spent hours manually tagging each photo upon upload.

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One day, the Accent Indy team had enough. As a company that prides itself on creating memorable experiences for planners and guests alike, they knew that by solving this issue, they could improve their internal process and gain back additional time and resources that was being spent on an outdated asset management solution. 

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The Solution

After researching various digital asset management tools, they eventually landed on Tagbox: the use of AI and manual tags, coupled with deep search, meant they could find any file in seconds. Using collections, they could easily share event photos with clients, reducing the need for back-and-forth emailing, and saving yet more precious time. And as the team puts it: "Tagbox makes us look better and more 'high tech' to clients, and allows us to showcase more photos".

"We had been talking about switching for the last year, but finally switched when we found the right solution for our need, budget, and internal process."

Using Tagbox’s complementary migration service, Accent Indy was able to have all their files uploaded and tagged within a week. With the new tagging system, they could catalog their photos and videos in a tailored way — by service type, vendor, location, client, photographer, theme, color, facial recognition, etc. 

In other words, they choose exactly how they want to find their assets on the platform. So, if someone on the team wants to show a potential client a specific venue, they can instantly find photos from that event. 

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With everyone having access, the team has full independence to find the assets they're looking for when they need them. This minimizes waiting time and helps their team close more deals.

As another great benefit, team members can easily create collections based on specific tags, which they can easily share with team members and clients. For example, by selecting the “Entertainment” and “2023” tags, they can instantly create a collection to show potential clients photos from recent activities. 

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Summary

Accent Indy set out to improve their internal processes, and make it easier for their team to close deals. 

Using Tagbox’s advanced tagging system and AI-powered search, they managed to turn what was once a time-consuming hassle, to an integral part of their sales process. Instead of having to memorize hundreds of folders, they can now filter for content in a flexible way, depending on the specific client’s needs. 

With the technical difficulty out of the way, they can once again focus on what they do best - creating amazing experiences that highlight all the best that Indianapolis has to offer.

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In light of this success, the Tagbox team decided to sponsor and attend the annual ADMEI conference in Atlanta, GA on Feb. 22-24, 2024. If your DMC is attending - stop by our table and check it out for yourself!

Not attending, or reading this post months into the future after we're safely back at our desks? Drop us a line at hello@tagbox.io and we'll be happy to chat, or just sign up for a free account and see for yourselves.