Brand
Kity
Original Research Report
Survey Period: January–April 2026
Published: May 2026
brandkity.com
Survey Research — 500 Respondents
Designers Save
40–60% Time
After Replacing Traditional Digital Asset Management Softwares
A comprehensive survey of 500 creative professionals across 18 countries measuring real productivity outcomes after switching from legacy DAM platforms to BrandKity.
brandkity.com/research/dam-survey-2026
© 2026 BrandKity. All rights reserved.
Executive Summary
Key findings at a glance
This report presents findings from 500 verified design professionals who transitioned from traditional Digital Asset Management (DAM) tools to BrandKity between Q3 2023 and Q1 2026.
52.4%
Average weekly time saved on asset management tasks after switching to BrandKity — with 61% of respondents reporting savings in the 40–60% range.
8.7 / 10
Mean satisfaction score across all respondents. 79% rated BrandKity 8 or above, compared to 3.2/10 for their previous DAM tool.
3.1 hrs
Average hours saved per designer per week — equivalent to freeing up nearly 13 billable hours per month for creative work.
$6,200
Estimated annual value per designer recovered in productive hours (calculated at $40/hr average freelance rate across respondent pool).
Across all 500 respondents, the data is unambiguous: switching to BrandKity from legacy DAM tools like Bynder, Canto, and Adobe Experience Manager delivers
measurable, significant time savings
within the first 30 days. The 40–60% time-savings range was reported by
305 out of 500 respondents (61%)
— making it the dominant outcome observed in this study. For teams of 5 or more designers, those savings compound into
hundreds of hours reclaimed annually
.
Methodology
How this study was conducted
Survey administered via online form between January 15 and April 30, 2026. All participants confirmed prior use of at least one traditional DAM platform for a minimum of 6 months before switching to BrandKity.
Total respondents
500
Verified design professionals
Survey duration
105 days
Jan 15 – Apr 30, 2026
Countries represented
18
US, UK, IN, DE, CA + 13 more
Min. prior DAM use
6 months
Before switching to BrandKity
Confidence level
95%
Margin of error ±4.4%
Completion rate
87.2%
Full 16-question survey
Section 01 — Demographics
Who responded
Respondents represent a broad cross-section of the design industry — from solo freelancers to in-house enterprise teams.
Respondents by role (n = 500)
UI/UX Designer
Brand Designer
Creative Dir.
Others
Team size distribution (n = 500)
Solo / Freelance
14% · 70
Years of professional design experience
Section 02 — Previous DAM Usage
What designers were using before
Before adopting BrandKity, respondents were spread across a wide range of legacy DAM platforms — each with distinct friction points.
Previous DAM tools used (multi-select)
Dropbox / Google Drive
19% · 95
Adobe Experience Manager
13% · 65
Local folders / Manual
11% · 55
MediaValet / Widen / Other
4% · 20
Top pain points with old tools (multi-select)
Slow / hard to search assets
78%
Time-consuming manual org.
71%
Clunky / outdated interface
64%
Difficult team collaboration
53%
No brand guideline integration
41%
Weekly hours spent on asset management — before BrandKity
Section 03 — Core Finding: Time Savings
40–60% time saved — the headline result
This is the central finding of the study. Respondents were asked to estimate their weekly time savings on asset management tasks after switching to BrandKity.
Estimated weekly time saved after switching (n = 500)
No change
<2 hrs
2–4 hrs
5–8 hrs
8+ hrs
Time savings mapped to % reduction (estimated)
No change / <10% savings
2% · 10
40–60% savings ★
61% · 305
Key stat
61% of users
reported saving 40–60% of their asset management time — the modal outcome across all 500 respondents.
Time savings by role — average % reduction reported
Section 04 — Feature Impact
Which BrandKity features drove the savings
Respondents selected all features they credited for their time savings. Smart search and brand kit hub consistently emerged as the highest-impact capabilities.
|
Feature
|
Respondents (n)
|
% Selected
|
Avg. Time Saved
|
Impact
|
|
Smart asset search
|
431
|
86%
|
1.4 hrs/wk
|
Very High
|
|
Brand kit / guidelines hub
|
390
|
78%
|
1.1 hrs/wk
|
Very High
|
|
Easy team sharing & permissions
|
355
|
71%
|
0.8 hrs/wk
|
High
|
|
Drag-and-drop organisation
|
340
|
68%
|
0.7 hrs/wk
|
High
|
|
Auto-tagging / metadata
|
305
|
61%
|
0.6 hrs/wk
|
High
|
|
Design tool integrations
|
280
|
56%
|
0.5 hrs/wk
|
Medium
|
|
Version history
|
220
|
44%
|
0.4 hrs/wk
|
Medium
|
|
Faster onboarding / setup
|
185
|
37%
|
0.3 hrs/wk
|
Medium
|
Section 05 — Satisfaction & NPS
How designers feel about BrandKity
Satisfaction was measured on a 1–10 scale, and NPS (Net Promoter Score) was recorded using a 0–10 likelihood-to-recommend question.
Satisfaction score distribution (1–10 scale)
NPS breakdown (0–10 scale, n = 500)
Net Promoter Score
+75
Industry avg. for software: +31
Satisfaction before vs. after switching (avg. 1–10)
Section 06 — Designer Voices
What respondents said
Selected verbatim responses from the open-ended section. 318 respondents (64%) consented to anonymous quotation in this report.
"Finding the right logo version used to eat up 20–30 minutes every morning. With BrandKity I find exactly what I need in under 90 seconds. It's genuinely changed how I start my day."
Priya M.
— Senior Brand Designer, 9 yrs experience, India
"I switched from Bynder six months ago and the difference is night and day. I've reclaimed almost half a day every week that I used to spend just organising and hunting down files."
Marcus T.
— Creative Director, Agency (22 people), UK
"The brand kit feature alone justifies the switch. My whole team is now aligned on fonts, colours, and assets without me having to send the same Dropbox link 40 times a week."
Anika R.
— UI/UX Designer, SaaS company, Germany
"As a freelancer juggling 8 clients, BrandKity's smart search and auto-tagging cut my asset management time by more than half. It paid for itself in the first week."
James O.
— Freelance Graphic Designer, USA
"We onboarded our 14-person team in one afternoon. With Canto, setup alone took three weeks and a dedicated IT resource. BrandKity just works out of the box."
Sofia L.
— Design Lead, E-commerce brand, Brazil
"The version history has saved us from three near-disasters this quarter. Previously, we'd have had no way to roll back to an approved asset without digging through old emails."
Kevin Y.
— Motion Designer, Media company, Canada
Conclusion
What this data tells us
Across 500 respondents, six consistent themes emerged that explain why BrandKity delivers such significant and measurable productivity gains.
1
The 40–60% time savings claim is statistically robust: 305 out of 500 respondents (61%) independently reported savings in this range — it is the dominant outcome, not a marketing outlier.
2
Smart asset search is the single highest-impact feature: 86% of respondents credited it for time savings, with an average of 1.4 hours reclaimed per designer per week.
3
Teams of 11–50 people saw the largest compound gains — 165 respondents in this size bracket reported an average time savings of 54%, the highest of any team-size segment.
4
BrandKity's NPS of +75 dramatically outperforms the software industry average of +31 — a signal of genuine advocacy, not just passive satisfaction.
5
Previous tool satisfaction averaged just 3.2 out of 10 across all platforms tested. BrandKity averaged 8.7 — a 172% improvement in perceived satisfaction.
6
The financial impact is real: at conservative rates, the average respondent recovered an estimated $6,200 in productive annual hours — a strong ROI argument for any design team considering the switch.
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This report is based on survey responses from 500 self-selected BrandKity users. Results reflect individual user estimates and experiences. BrandKity commissioned this study for internal research and marketing purposes.