Adobe, Where are the ColdFusion Ads?
Earlier in November, I commented on Sean Corfield's Blog about how I felt the both MM & Adobe had, to date, failed miserably in promoting ColdFusion as the application server of choice for web development. Sean replied with:
"Rey, what would you like to see in terms of promotion? Give me some realistic, concrete examples of appropriate ColdFusion marketing..."
Definitely a good question to which I offered lengthy feedback. Part of my reply was about the complete lack of ColdFusion-related ads on sites that are *not* CF-specific. I mentioned the following:
"Why aren't there any CF ads on sites such Red Herring or SitePoint? Oh, wait I did notice the nice Macromedia Studio 8 ad that Adobe is running on SitePoint so I guess in a roundabout way, CF is in there. And I sure see quite a number of those nifty flash-based Flex ads floating around. I mean its great to know that I can go to Adobe's site and learn how to make "My Business Flow with Adobe Acrobat". I guess I'll use that to build my intranet as well. :)"
Well, to further justify my comments about Flex getting more advertising monies than ColdFusion, I started collecting screen caps of ads that I see on various sites. Here are some screen captures that I found on a couple of prominent "Web 2.0" type news sites:
TechCrunch (Same article just at different points in the ad transition) TechCrunch Image 1 (11/28/06) (pic of guy with laptop) TechCrunch Image 2 (11/28/06)
Read/Write Web: (Same article just at different points in the ad transition) R/W Web Image 1 (11/28/06) (red 125x125) R/W Web Image 2 (11/28/06)
Tech Dirt: (Two different articles) TechDirt Image from Article 1 (11/21/06) TechDirt Image from Article 2 (12/1/06)
Now let me clarify something. This is *NOT*, I repeat, this is *NOT* a dig at Flex in any way. Flex is an outstanding product.
This is to show some proof that what I said is actually true and that Flex is getting much more ad time than ColdFusion in ad spaces that are catering to general web development and/or IT content. I realize the Flex is a newer product in the Adobe line but I see plenty of ads for Flash, Photoshop and Acrobat. So thats not justification for completely neglecting any ColdFusion in terms of advertising & marketing.
So Adobe, how about showing some love to one of the best application servers out there? How about asking your marketing team to really give some thought on how to get more press for our beloved ColdFusion?
I share your frustration with the lack of marketing of ColdFusion by Adobe. I want ColdFusion to be the Number 1 Web Programming Language.
However, Flex is positioned and promoted by Adobe to work with many web programming languages (Java, C#, PHP, Ruby) as the backend. What I would like Adobe to do more of (besides better promote/advertise CF) is to also promote CF as the backend web programming language of choice due to the built-in Flex-CF advantages.
My concern is not that Adobe will abandon CF, but rather that CF's market share will actually suffer due to "Web 2.0" technologies like Flex and AJAX providing a new "face" to websites developed in Java, PHP, and C#. There are Ruby-AJAX, Ruby-FLEX, Java-AJAX and Java-FLEX Frameworks out or coming out that significantly reduce CF's claim as a rapid development web programming language.
I want a cool CF ad during the next Super Bowl!
I agree with everything you said. I think that promoting both Flex & ColdFusion in tandem is an excellent idea. What I also want is for this to be done on sites and in magazines that cater to web development in general; not just ColdFusion or Flex.
Great points!
Scene – Big conference room, programmers (casual) and managers (suits) seated and standing. Charts on the screen showing down arrows. Large glass windows looking out on a stormy sky
Head Manager – "We need to improve our web presence, make it more interactive, easier for our customers to use, and more likely to generate sales. We need to move quickly to get ahead of our competitors and we need to get it right the first time. "
(Head Manger looks around the room)
Head Manager – "Robert, your our Java expert, if we use Java on the backend and AJAX on the front, what’s a ballpark for our development time? "
Robert – pained look (like he needs to go to the bathroom bad but can’t leave the meeting) – "Umm, that’s a tough question, our J2EE server is complex, maybe 6 months to a year, but that’s just a guess."
Head Manager – (shakes his head, looks disgusted) "We don’t have that much time to turn this around." (Looks around again) "John, what if switched to .Net on the backend, and went with Flex, the new Web interface programming language from Adobe. How long until we can get a new and better website for our customers?"
John – (wearing cool glasses and looking enthusiastic) – "Wow, Flex, is great and Adobe is a leader in web development. Other companies are rolling out new websites designed using Flex. Users report these sites are better, more interactive. Also Flex sites are shown to improve sales and attract new customers. But .Net on the backend? I don’t know .Net and Flex work together but it’s not as easy as we’d like."
Head Manager – "Yes, we’ve had good reports about Flex and Adobe's rock solid. But what can we do on the backend to connect to our databases, process all the data, maintain security, and improve speed? What other choices are there?"
(Quiet in the room for a few seconds).
Hot, but professional looking blonde female – stands up (all eyes turn to her): "What about ColdFusion? It’s a great web programming language, it is also made by Adobe and works very well with Flex. It’s easy to learn and proven to help people develop great websites quickly. Flex even has built in wizards that generate the ColdFusion code we’d need. Instead of six months using some other technology, we could have our new website ready in six weeks using Flex and ColdFusion together."
Head Manager – (Big Smile – starts to clear up outside the windows) – "Yes! ColdFusion and Flex. Diana, you’re on to something." (Everybody in the room gets excited and starts talking.)
(Pull back shot, beautiful sunshine, bright sky outside) – Voice Over “Flex and ColdFusion made by Adobe –Bring Your Company’s Website into the 21st Century.”
Fade in rapid changing screen shots of company’s new Flex website and Charts showing increased customers, increased sales.
Adobe, are you reading????
I was just recently commenting also on the lack of University support from Adobe. A few years ago when I was still working on my Masters, I participated in a Microsoft program called "Microsoft Student Ambassadors". Basically they sent us tons, seriously TONS of software (WinXp, VS.net, etc), books, posters, giveaways, marketing toys, etc to promote .NET to the students through tech talks and events. And the ambassador's also received food budgets, Laptops, and PDA's to keep for doing their jobs.
It would be nice for Adobe to get the software into the Students hands and promote its features, since this is generally a market of future Software Developers that don't have the money to spend on many of the nice software and books Adobe has to offer.
Even the South Florida CFUG I attend rarely gives out an Adobe product.
I really hope that Adobe uses some of that money a bit more in promoting Coldfusion and other Adobe technologies more than it has been.
All software at labs was Microsoft with all bonus CDs and materials. Every engineer knows Visual Basic and C++/C#. They produce some software also for Samsung cellular phones at North Korea with Microsoft tools. They are creating some websites for Japan companies by using .Net. :)
It was amazing that Microsoft marketing have been reached North Korea also. :)
Adobe? Zzzzzz ....