Brand asset sharing for hotel groups without a full DAM
A simple brand asset sharing workflow for hotel groups: a brand page per brand, folders per property.
Brand asset sharing is the job of getting the right logo, photo or font to the right property team or agency, and keeping old copies from circulating. For a hotel group, resort or property management agency, you can run it with one brand page per brand, a folder per property, a file request for incoming photos and links that expire. You do not need a full digital asset management (DAM) system to start.
This article gives you a workflow in four stages and a checklist at the end. The focus is many properties, many partners and a steady flow of photos.
Why sharing brand assets across properties goes wrong
A logo goes out in an email thread, a property manager saves it to a desktop, and an outside agency keeps its own copy of last year's fonts. Before long, properties can end up with different versions of the logo, and nobody is sure which photo is cleared for use.
The fix is not more rules. It is one place that holds the latest version, a clear way to hand it to people, and a way to take access back. The four stages below do exactly that.
Stage 1: Prepare one brand page per brand
Start with the source of truth. Create one brand page for each brand in your group, holding logos, colours, fonts and approved images. On Free, your organization can have one brand page. Pro and Agency have no limit on brand pages, so a group with several brands needs one of those plans. See pricing for what each plan includes.
In Tarkle, open Brands and start a new brand. The editor has eight tabs: Basics, Links, Logos, Colors, Fonts, Assets, SEO and Settings. Add the brand story in Basics. Put your usage rules in the guidelines on the Assets tab, such as how much clear space a logo needs and which colours are allowed on photography. Rules that sit next to the files get read. Rules in a separate PDF do not.
The Settings tab sets who can open the brand page: Public or Password protected. It also holds a download approval switch, so visitors must ask for access before they can download. How download approval works explains the steps.
Keep the approved photo set small and up to date. Thirty photos that are cleared for use beat three hundred that nobody has checked.
If your group has one master brand and several sub-brands, make a brand page for each, so a partner working on one property never has to guess which logo applies.
Stage 2: Organise folders by property
A brand page is the showcase for your assets. Behind it you still need working files: full-resolution photos, campaign material, seasonal menus. Set up folders with a clear pattern, for example brand first, then property, then type of file. Keep the names plain enough that a new starter finds things without asking.
Where several teams work in one organization, team folders give each team its own space. Team folders are on Pro and Agency, and Agency includes everything in Pro.
Name every share link after its recipient, such as the property or agency name. When one partner leaves, you can disable that one link without breaking anyone else's.
Stage 3: Deliver to property teams and outside agencies
Send each property team and each agency its own link to the files it needs, rather than one link for everyone. Put a password on a transfer and send the password through a different channel from the link. A public transfer opens without a Tarkle account, which matters when a seasonal agency needs files today.
Use a view-only transfer when someone needs to look at material in the browser but should not download it, such as a draft campaign shown to a regional manager. A view-only transfer has no download button.
Get photos and content back with a file request
Guest photos, updated property images and agency deliveries come back through a file request. Anyone with the link can send files to it with no sign-in. You write the instructions, pick the destination folder, and send one link. You can turn on an email for each upload.
Use one request for each kind of return, such as "Spring guest photos" and "Spa menu update", so each one has its own title and instructions.
Set the instructions to say what you want and how the files may be used: the type of photos, and who may appear in them. You can also close a request on a date and set the most one submission may carry in total, with request deadlines and limits. For the guest side of this process, see collect photos from guests: a request process for hotels.
Guest photos can show children or reveal health or religious details. Write your own consent wording, ask your legal adviser to review it, and put it in the request instructions.
Stage 4: Control access and end it cleanly
Access should have an end date. Set link expiration on transfers and file requests so a link stops working after a campaign or season. When an agency contract ends or a property changes hands, disable the transfer link. A disabled transfer shows a Disabled badge.
Then check what happened. On a transfer, the badges show whether it was delivered, viewed or downloaded, so you know whether the new property team actually opened the brand files. How to see if a recipient opened your transfer shows where to look. Do this review after each campaign and twice a year for old links.
Checklist: brand asset sharing without a DAM
One brand page per brand, with logos, colours, fonts, approved images and short usage rules.
One folder per brand, then per property, with plain names.
One share link per property team and per outside agency, named after the recipient.
A password on any link that holds unreleased material, sent separately from the link.
An expiry date on each one-off transfer and on each file request that should close.
A file request for each recurring return, with instructions and a destination folder.
Your own consent wording in the instructions for guest photos, reviewed by your legal adviser.
A twice-yearly check of live links, with a disable for any partner who has left.
When a full DAM is the better choice
This workflow suits a group with a manageable library and a small marketing team. It does not cover a multi-step approval chain before anything is published, or licence dates for each image. If you need those, a dedicated DAM is the better fit, so decide that before you build on this workflow. Tarkle also has client feedback on images and PDFs. It sends them as one link and collects pinned comments and an approve or request-changes answer. Client feedback is on Free too.
Set this up today
Create a brand page for your main brand and add logos, colours, fonts and ten approved photos.
Build the folder pattern for one property and move its files in.
Send that property team its own transfer link, with an expiry date.
Create one file request for guest photos, with consent wording in the instructions.
Put a review date in the calendar to check live links.
What to remember about Tarkle
Tarkle keeps each brand on its own brand page and collects guest photos with a file request. Free is for one person, with one brand page, file requests and password-protected sharing. Pro adds unlimited brand pages and team folders for a team. Start for free to build your first brand page.
