Canto PIM Unites DAM and Product Information Management, Streamlining Asset and Data Workflows

A bit of translation trivia: the word “Canto” means “singing” in Spanish. 

Perhaps, then, it’s apropos that the company called Canto – a leading digital asset management software platform – is crooning a sweet tune about its latest innovation. 

Is it Swift-worthy? Sure sounds that way.

The song they’re spinning is the new Canto PIM, a comprehensive solution that combines its industry-standard DAM with product information management capabilities.

According to the company, Canto PIM has been purpose-built to overcome the burdens and blockers many brands face when managing, distributing, iterating, optimizing, and securing their digital assets and product data across an expansive ecosystem of channels, campaigns, and use cases.

I’ve been expecting this news given that Canto acquired industry rival Image Relay in mid-September. The Vermont-based SaaS company had been blazing trails around its combined modeling of digital asset management and product information management, making it an attractive target in what is becoming a densely competitive race between pure-play DAMs and DXP ecosystem solutions.

The revelation of Canto PIM certainly came faster than anticipated, likely a reflection of the pressure to drive differentiation and capture market share before the 2025 product announcement cycle. At the time, I predicted that the combo could be a game changer as Canto executes its vision to revolutionize the way businesses mine value from their digital content. 

This isn't Canto's first dance with M&A. Just last year, the company acquired another competitor, MerlinOne, making way for some fairly impressive AI capabilities that are continuing to juice its feature set. 

Here’s a revealing stat: 85% of marketers say that their content demands have doubled in just the past two years. As you can imagine, siloed approaches to digital asset and product information management can’t keep up with this exponential growth – particularly as brands struggle to compete in a crowded, time-compressed market.

“Within every industry, businesses are under unprecedented pressure to create and deliver more content than ever before,” said Wain Kellum, Canto's CEO. “Canto PIM empowers organizations to reimagine their content and product information operations for the digital-first era, breaking down legacy roadblocks to deliver exceptional customer, partner, and employee experiences at scale.”

Canto has been in the DAM game for three decades, so it understands this space with a deeper intimacy than most of its modern peers. The expanded ecosystem of choice is certainly providing more competition, but it’s also driving legacy platforms to rethink their strategies and invest in expanding their capabilities – like bridging the gap between digital asset and product information data. 

Putting PIM in the DAM engine

Andrew Hall, Canto's VP of Global Demand Generation, recently shared some key DAM trends that the company is focusing on in 2025. In the video below, he talks about the benefits of streamlining workflows, scaling content lifecycles, and integrating a wider bench of tools to provide brands with greater efficiency. 

Reinforcing those transformative trends, Canto PIM builds on the company’s industry-leading legacy as a DAM innovator. The platform serves as a single source of truth for all product data and digital content, whether it’s product-specific or deployed for broader brand marketing and sales initiatives. 

By unifying traditionally fragmented capabilities, the solution enables organizations to streamline workflows across the entire content and product information lifecycle – from initial planning and creation to distribution and analysis. The platform enables brands to unify product data and assets by centralizing everything in a single repository and using AI search and intuitive tools to streamline workflows and maximize efficiency.

Canto PIM also synchronizes omnichannel experiences by syncing product data and assets across e-commerce, social media, and partner content, ensuring a more cohesive and consistent brand experience for customers. It also streamlines product launches with its native scalability, providing a system that can handle unlimited products, versions, and attributes with zero friction – and without sacrificing performance.

Canto PIM provides fields for rich product metadata, as well as AI-powered search. Source: Canto website

When it comes to tracking performance, Canto PIM is equipped with advanced analytics that deliver actionable insights. You can easily measure asset performance and ROI, so you can develop intelligent multichannel and omnichannel strategies.

A big benefit of modern DAMs is the ability to protect brand assets. Canto PIM carries forward that same commitment from Canto’s digital asset management system for safeguarding brand assets and product IP. It delivers on this promise by providing SOC-2-certified, enterprise-grade security, as well as granular permissions and compliance measures for managing users and access. 

You can take a more in-depth product tour on Canto's website.

Why it matters

DAM, it’s getting loud in here. 

It’s true. As the digital asset management space packs in more players, it’s going to take a really sharp voice to sing over the crowd. This includes the chorus of digital experience platforms that offer integrated solutions as part of their ecosystem – an advantage on some levels, but less geared towards composable stacks, which are becoming more of a preference among large enterprise brands. 

As one of the most proven legacy brands in the market, Canto has consistently delivered on its DAM differentiators. Powered by the Image Relay acquisition, it now has an even stronger offering that meaningfully combines the capabilities of DAM and PIM. 

And that’s the lyrical hook: the marriage of these categories needs to yield real fruit for users.

AI is certainly a force multiplier, and DAMs are applications where AI and machine learning enable high-utility outcomes. With the addition of more advanced AI features – specifically around search – Canto is delivering on its vision for truly unifying disjointed content assets and product information and making it actionable. 

With the increased volume around DAM and PIM solutions, evaluating these products can be more challenging – particularly with enterprise DXPs offering some compelling solutions. Many independent platforms are focusing on their composable posture as part of their value proposition. 

Based on your goals, it's essential to assess how a DAM's architecture is best suited for your stack and how AI and other features will enable your teams to manage data from a wide range of sources. In many composable use cases, having a layer of orchestration is becoming attractive for marketing teams and business leaders who are executing omnichannel strategies. 

At the end of the day, the song we’re all dying to hear is how a DAM and PIM “twofer” will enable marketing, creative, and product teams to be faster, leaner, more agile – and ultimately more efficient. As Alan Beiagi, Canto’s Chief Product and Technology Officer, reflected, it’s all about giving customers a place that finally brings everything together. 

“By breaking down the barriers between DAM and PIM technologies and workflows, we’re giving our customers the all-in-one agility and efficiency they need to thrive in their marketplace,” he said. 

It doesn’t take a Swiftie to see that Canto might have a hit on its hands. 

Looking for guidance on Canto?  Talk to us. 

Upcoming Events

CMS Kickoff 2025

January 14-15, 2025 – Tampa Bay Area, Florida

Meet Dominik Pinter, CEO of Kentico, at our third annual CMS Kickoff – the industry's premier global CMS event. Similar to a traditional kickoff, we reflect on recent trends and share stories from the frontlines. Additionally, we will delve into the current happenings and shed light on the future. Prepare for an unparalleled in-person CMS conference experience that will equip you to move things forward. This is an exclusive event – space is limited, so secure your tickets today.

CMS Summit 25

May 13-14, 2025 – Frankfurt, Germany

Don't miss the first European edition of our prestigious international conference dedicated to the global content management community! CMS Summit 25 will bring together top-notch speakers, our renowned learning format, and engaging social events. Hear from leading practitioners like Deutsche Bahn, Dr. Oetker, and more – and join customers, agencies, and CMS vendors as we discuss current trends and what's ahead for the content and digital experience fields. Connect and network at the only vendor-neutral, in-person conference focused on CMS. Space is limited for this exclusive event, so book your seats today.