Asset Intake and Rights Clearance (Onboarding)

Asset Intake and Rights Clearance (Onboarding)

1. 01

   Inventory every asset source before a single file moves into the client library

   List the shared drives, ad accounts, stock subscriptions, and legacy folders that hold approved brand material. Agencies that skip this step discover orphaned logo variants six weeks into a retainer.

2. 02

   Separate licensed stock from owned creative at the folder level

   Getty Images and similar libraries carry per-asset license terms that differ from client-owned photography. Tagging the distinction at intake prevents a takedown request from landing mid-campaign.

3. 03

   Capture usage rights, territory, and expiry for each licensed item

   Record the license window and permitted channels in a metadata field, not a spreadsheet. Rights management is the part of brand asset management that most often fails silently.

4. 04

   Confirm the master logo and type files the client considers canonical

   Ask for the vector source and the approved color values in writing. Frontify and similar brand portals often hold the definitive version, but the client's legal team holds the authority.

5. 05

   Assign a naming convention and apply it retroactively to the intake batch

   A predictable pattern (client, campaign, channel, version, date) makes natural language search work later. Filecamp and Canto both index on filename when metadata is thin.

6. 06

   Flag assets with unclear provenance for client sign-off before publishing

   Anything sourced from a freelancer, a previous agency, or an unlabeled drive gets a hold status. Do not let unverified files enter the searchable pool.

7. 07

   Document the intake decision log and hand it to the account lead

   The log records what was accepted, what was rejected, and why. It becomes the reference point when a client asks in month three why a specific file is missing.