Creating Digital Assets: Service

I mentioned the other day that I’m attempting to build a digital asset – not my first, but the first that will be built to sell from day one (even if I never attempt to sell it).

The elevator pitch will be a work-in-progress for some time I think, but here goes: It’s a centralised, sharable, always-up-to-date repository for your brand assets called BrandPocket. If you’ve ever seen or used a brand guidelines document, it’s essentially that–just in digital form.

(Climate-focused interlude: It’s hosted on green servers and designed following the “low carbon/sustainable web design” method to keep the footprint light, which is a mouthful to squish into an elevator pitch, but I don’t want to not include that… so keeping that as just a feature for now. However, something I’ll need to draw attention to is that the “green” servers are using offsets, not running on renewable energy, so that’s a piece I’d like to improve on, and will be a transparent part as I build it).

BrandPocket is far from the first of it’s kind – Frontify, BrandFolder and Corebook are just a few big names in this space. All of them are completely customisable, with features up to the eyeballs, and like everyone else, starting to sprinkle in some AI for good measure.

At a glance, they’re competitors–really big, strong ones.

And they’re far better feature-wise: They’ll allow you to upload gigabytes of files including logo files, templates, photographs, video, campaign files–whatever you like.

Whereas BrandPocket is currently only for core brand identity elements, like logos, fonts, colour palettes, and high-level copy (like a mission statement), along with some basic usage guidelines and some core photography if needed… but no big photo libraries, videos, or other marketing templates.

When the other 3 already exist, with better features, more upload allowance, and a track-record of big names already using their software… who’d buy BrandPocket?

For one, perhaps (and this is not a dig at the other 3) someone who’d like some service to go with their software.

The other 3 don’t directly offer services – the software is an account that needs to be filled up with stuff. Currently, that’s either on the buyer to fill it, or hire a 3rd-party who knows the software (or is willing to learn it, ideally not on your clock).

And that’s the case for a lot of software-as-a-service (SaaS) products. If they’re empty-box products like this, that need content or data added, and it’d take someone time to learn how to do that properly, service providers can swoop in and save the day.

I’m currently exploring all the components that make up the DNA of a sellable digital asset, but so far I’ve identified at least 9 – and if you’re in the services game, it won’t surprise you that “service” is the first one for assets of this kind.

The second one that jumps out at me is having a known buyer–more on that tomorrow.

(If you disagree with anything here, or have more to add, please fire away).