Re: [flexcoders] Flex Marketing

Thu, 05 Oct 2006 16:11:28 -0700

Seems like Clint and Tariq are starting their own little marketing campaign... throwing this out there to get some diggs and maybe promote a bit more interest perhaps?


http://digg.com/search?s=adobe+flex

Brendan



On 10/5/06, Rogerio Gonzalez <[EMAIL PROTECTED] > wrote:

Hello everyone...

I think this is an extreme complicate issue.
Flex is based on Flash Player. At least in Brazil, softwares made in Flash is "the coolest but not functional", "funny intros" or "games in flash" and such. Is very difficult find some real developer for Flash who really knows AS. And those, charge a fortune.

Based on that, and the plus that Adobe is "the photoshop company", make a little difficult that clients believe on Flex.
I read on a blog (sorry, don´t remember where) that the better way of sell an application on Flex, is not mention a word about flash player, flex, macromedia or adobe. You tell the client what amazing things he will have with this new technology and, after he go nuts, then you tell him that the Big Adobe is who sign the tools.

Then you have other issue. Here, at least, the project managers have the tendency to new technologies. But not new  as meaning "the best"... new  as meaning "microsoft´s the best". I never agree with this vision, but one project manager told me something interesting: "when you buy a new car, you want the 'top most' from that well know company... you don´t want something old, or refurbished."

I think that Adobe is on the right path. Gaining territory from below. Making those project managers accept Flex before final clients. Making those project managers indicate Flex for the applications.
Then, when clients begin to think in Flex before ask for an study, we will have those 1.000.000 developers on stand buy :)

Today, at least here in Brazil, we don´t have much developers, so there is no logic start selling projects without competent developers or we will only mark adobe´s flex as a bad product for the clients (this happen with dotNet and Java here in Brazil).


Regards,

Rogério Gonzalez





On 10/5/06, Ben Lucyk < [EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:

Good points Tariq.  I completely agree about not only targeting the developer base, but also those who call the shots and are responsible for the technology direction of their company. 

 

To be fair, let me just throw out a quick kudos to Adobe for starting to do a good job showcasing how Flex compares/compliments and sizes up next to AJAX style solutions with their Flex track at the AJAX World Conference over the past 2 days in Santa Clara. 

 

http://www2.sys-con.com/ajax_glance.html

 

Ely Greenfield held a good audience at close attention with his "Choosing the right technology: Flex, AJAX, and the FABridge" presentation today.

 

 

PS.  Does the community get to vote on where the tattoo goes, Tariq??  :)  With the right attention and some good pictures, we could use that as a marketing ploy of its own!

 

Ben Lucyk
http://esria.com  
p 1.877.TRY.ESRIA ext 718
c 1.408.489.3913
f  1.877.828.4436

[EMAIL PROTECTED]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]ups.com [mailto: flexcoders@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Tariq Ahmed
Sent: Wednesday, October 04, 2006 3:42 PM
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]ups.com


Subject: Re: [flexcoders] Flex Marketing

 

I agree Paul.

But...

It definitely helps sell the case of Flex when customers feel confident in the technology you're promoting. Keep in mind that the majority of Flex apps are internal in nature, for the Enterprise is where Flex excels. So you're not going to see the many holy s**t apps that already exist. E.g Jon Hirschi and Tom Ortega built an *AMAZING* application over at eBay... .easily could win the MAX best app award, but you'll never hear about it.

I think what Clint and I are asking for is to notch it up a bit, vs "moving forward quietly..." Quiet makes it difficult to sell to a customer that their next Gen Application is rooted in a technology they never heard of. Meanwhile the AJAX bandwagon beats very loud, and many developers who want to take things to the next level will have AJAX on the forefront of their minds as it's 'brand' recognition is so dominant. Technologists gravitate towards what they think is the 'industry standard'.

And it's not just about the mindshare of Developers that need to be focused on. It's more important to capture the minds of those who control the budget and cash flow. The Directors and VPs. All they keep hearing about is AJAX, so from a strategic point of view you want to go with what is perceived as mass adoption (so that the support system is there, and that there's a large talent pool to draw/recruit from).

I personally want people to start believing that Flex is the industrial strength solution, vs some "niche" boutique technology.


Paul Andrews wrote:

Is it just me that thinks Adobe is doing fine just as they are? I think the real Flex breakthroughs will come as developers start releasing clever apps and people start saying "holy s**t".

 

I happen to think that the developer support by Adobe (and Macromedia before them) is phenomenal.  Flex will move forward quietly until it hits it's tipping point, then adoption will surge ahead.

 

Don't worry too much about promoting Flex - let your applications do that for you.

 

Paul

 

----- Original Message -----

Sent: Wednesday, October 04, 2006 9:58 PM

Subject: Re: [flexcoders] Flex Marketing

 

I'd agree to that. The marketing effort seems to heavily rely on the development community doing that job for them. Things like labs and DevNet are KEY to maximizing technology adoption - but people need to know about it in the first place.

To Restate Adobe's Goal: 1 000 000 Flex Developers by 2010.

Some HEAVY DUTY marketing is needed. It definitely made sense to capture those who are most amiable to Flex (CF and Flash developers) first and grow from there. I think someone blogged about this before; in that of course Adobe related blogs are going to be heavy proponents for Adobe technologies. But now it's time to penetrate into the rest of the world.

In polling my heavy duty tech friends in other industries, they BARELY know what Flex is. Many haven't heard of it. And some have heard of it, just because they heard me mention it.

Awareness of the brand and technology needs to be more prevalent.

Gimme a cool Flex decal and I'll put it on my car! :)



Clint Modien wrote:

I mentioned this @ the Silicon Valley Flex User Group meeting the
other day but I wanted to reiterate it here and see if I could invoke
a response from Adobe.

Mr. Mendels?

Where is the marketing for Flex? Why keep the most beautiful
framework in the world for creating applications a secret? Where are
the Visual Studio style banner adds everywhere. Where is the buzz for
it on Slashdot. Why arn't other developers in the world standing up
and saying is creating applications really this easy!?!

I've seen the lights go on in a developers eyes when they get it.
When they see what 5 lines of code can acomplish with Flex. They get
excited. Excitement sells licenses.

(Gets off his soapbox and points to it...) ... Thoughts?



 



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