Purple and Sternwald unite digital publishing with efficient digital Asset Management

The demands on modern publishers keep rising: more channels, more media formats and constant pressure to work more efficiently. To meet these challenges we have formed a strategic partnership with Sternwald. By integrating our CMS solution Purple with the huGO Digital Asset Management system we have created a powerful combination that is already proving its value for joint customers.

Two systems, many advantages for your editorial workflow

The partnership brings together two specialist systems that complement one another perfectly. Purple, as a modular publishing platform, is the central hub for content creation and distribution, while huGO handles the professional management and delivery of your digital assets. The combination is especially valuable for publishers with highly workflow-intensive operations, large volumes of media – or both.

huGO is not simply an archive: it is a comprehensive Content Operations Platform. It collects content from agencies, journalists and editors, normalises the data and passes it on to downstream systems. In addition to our huGO integration we continue to offer connectors to other third-party DAM systems – alongside the built-in Purple DAM, which already covers core functions.

The integration noticeably simplifies day-to-day editorial work. If an editor needs an image for an article on the redevelopment of Berlin Airport, they can access huGO directly from Purple. The system even suggests visually similar images that match the topic.

Sternwald’s latest enhancements take this intelligent linkage even further: when you select an image you now receive related articles, audio or video files – powered by vectorised data from your own content pool. Particularly in the audio and video arena, new options emerge: automatic transcription, AI-driven summaries, precise linking to key moments in a video or automatic generation of scene-based images. A simple media archive becomes an intelligent content hub that actively supports research and reuse.

huGO can also generate topic suggestions when multiple agencies report on the same event. These topics can be enriched automatically with suitable images, article summaries and multimedia content, then sent straight to the editor – or even published directly to the portal for standardised content such as sports results or police reports. The motto: find automatically instead of searching manually.

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How the technical integration works

Operation is straightforward: when creating an article in Purple and you need an image, click the relevant block in the editor. A full huGO search interface opens as an overlay, allowing you to find the right image via keyword or AI-based RAG search. Simply drag and drop it into the editor – ­all metadata are transferred automatically. huGO is also notified where and when the image is published, so your team always knows how assets are used.

Integration goes even further: huGO can export complete e-paper pages that are ingested directly into your Purple app. Once a print product is finished, the e-paper appears automatically in the app – saving yet more manual steps.

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Proven partnership with measurable results

huGO is trusted by leading media houses, from smaller and mid-sized publishers like Berliner Verlag with around 150 users to major players such as RTL with up to 2,000 users and 300,000 assets daily. References also include renowned groups such as Tamedia, NZZ and Handelsblatt. Overall, Sternwald supports more than 180 daily and weekly newspapers and over 500 daily publications. The Purple–Sternwald partnership builds on more than 30 years of experience in developing digital solutions for publishers.

“huGO is an excellent complementary product for our customers. When our CMS is deployed at a publisher, a DAM such as huGO is the perfect addition,” explains Benjamin Kolb, Co-Founder of Purple and the one who leads the partnership on our side. “The integration delivers real efficiency gains, especially for publishers with complex workflows or large media libraries. At Purple we consistently follow a best-of-breed approach to offer the ideal solution for every requirement. Instead of isolated systems we integrate leading specialists – huGO from Sternwald is the best example.”

“I am convinced that combining Purple with huGO as a Content Operations Platform gives our joint customers a decisive edge,” says Ronny Günther, Managing Director and CFO of Sternwald. “Beyond classic DAM functionality, the integration of huGO Spark as a foundation for numerous AI features offers enormous potential. By uniting our AI expertise – Purple in the CMS arena and huGO in content management – we will innovate together in the market. Both potential Purple and huGO customers will benefit greatly. Above all, this partnership delivers not only new features but also speed and efficiency in their workflows. I look forward to working with the excellent Purple team and advancing our integrated solution together.”

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