Edward Boatman • Jun 16th
…And Why That Puts Your Brand at Risk
If your team spends more time looking for files than using them, you’re not alone.
Google Drive is one of the most widely used file storage platforms on the planet. It’s fast, familiar, and often already in place across marketing, creative, and ops teams. But when it comes to managing brand assets like logos, templates, product visuals, decks, and everything in between, it quietly breaks down.
It’s not because files are missing. It’s because no one can find them at the moment they need them.
This is how creative work slows down, brand inconsistency creeps in, and teams waste hours recreating work that already exists. Let’s take a closer look at how “lost” assets happen — and what that really means for your brand.
When we say assets get “lost,” we don’t mean deleted or disappeared. We mean:
At a certain point, storing your files isn't enough. You need a system that keeps them visible, accurate, and usable by everyone who touches your brand.
“Lost doesn’t mean deleted. It means no one can find it when they need it most.”
As teams grow, move faster, and collaborate across departments or regions, the cracks in Google Drive’s structure start to show. These are the most common patterns we see when assets go “missing.”
It starts organized. Your folders have clear naming conventions and your file structure makes sense. And then, you start to grow. (Great problem to have, right?) But as campaigns, contributors, and content grow, so does the folder complexity. Different teams have different logic, and without governance, file paths get deep and naming gets inconsistent.
Marketing > Q3 Campaigns > FINAL > Final_Final_UseThis.zip
The result? Even if the asset exists, no one’s confident they’ve found the right one.
Drive is built for documents, not brand libraries. File previews aren’t always helpful. Search isn’t refined enough to filter by usage, format, or campaign. That forces teams to click into file after file hoping for a match, or settling for something that is ‘close enough’ to what you need.
Who owns the latest version of the product deck? Is it in the company folder or someone’s personal Drive? What happens when that person leaves?
Assets get lost not because they’re gone, but because no one knows who’s responsible for keeping them updated or where they belong.
Maybe someone finds the right logo. But can they tell if it’s okay to use externally? Is this for digital, or print? Should it go to the press?
When assets are stripped of guidance, teams rely on assumptions. That’s where brand inconsistency starts to spread.
When brand assets are hard to find or easy to misuse, it doesn’t just slow your team down. It chips away at trust both internally and externally.
One marketing lead put it best:
“We had three teams using three different logos. No one was wrong, but none of them were right either.”
This isn’t just a file management issue. It’s a brand visibility issue. And it only gets more painful as your creative output scales.
Google Drive helps you store files. But brand management is about more than storage.
It’s about:
This is where Lingo comes in.
It’s not a replacement for Drive, it's a Google Drive alternative. It’s a creative system built to work with tools like Drive, but focused on organizing and distributing brand assets with context and control.
With Lingo, teams don’t just “store” brand assets, they make them easy to find, understand, and use. Kits group assets by purpose. Portals create branded environments for different audiences, like you see by state for Lingo customer, Bloom. Permissions give you flexibility without losing control.
The problem with lost brand assets isn’t just about missing files. It’s about missing alignment, consistency, and control.
If your team is outgrowing Google Drive, it might be time to try something built for how creative work actually works.
Start your 30-day trial to experience the difference Lingo can make with your digital asset files today.