Avid Technology, Inc. today announced that it will introduce a major shift in its
approach to serving industry professionals in the digital content
creation, management, and distribution industries. Based on extensive
market research, Avid plans to announce a series of customer-focused
initiatives in 2008 - all of which will be designed to make it easier
for customers, prospects and the media to interact with the company.
The company said it would reveal the full details of its 2008 plan to
the public in February, which will set the stage for a blitz of new
user-community initiatives, technical support programs,
highly-personalized events, and innovative product announcements
throughout the year. The company also announced that it will not have
an exhibition booth at the 2008 National Association of Broadcasters
(NAB) Convention, but plans to be in Las Vegas next April to meet with
customers.
"We are always evaluating the most effective ways to build closer
relationships with our customers and keep pace with the ever-changing
media market. Over the past few months, we've been collecting data
from all of our constituents, and the findings have been clear - we
need to connect with users in new ways," said Graham Sharp, vice
president and general manager of Avid's Video division. "As a result,
we'll unveil a series of initiatives in 2008, which we believe will
shake things up for our industry - in every region of the world and
across all facets of our business. In the past, we've seen how
investing marketing resources in alternative, customer-focused
activities, can be more effective with our users - and to our bottom
line. It's time for Avid to start giving something back to the
industry and these activities will create a more vibrant community
where customers and newcomers can learn, share, and understand where
the industry is headed - and how they can help shape it."
Those who are interested in receiving more information about
Avid's customer-focused initiatives in 2008 can register for e-mail
alerts at: www.avid.com/we-are-listening
Comments (6) for "Avid Announces Major Shift in 2008 Strategy"
1.
Avid is in trouble because Final Cut Studio is cleaning its clock. Final Cut Studio lets the low budget independent filmmaker get into the HD editing game by having inexpensive ways to get data in and out (I/O) of their editing systems through Blackmagic, AJA, etc. for only a couple of thousand dollars. With Avid you have to get their proprietary Adrenaline and DNExcel board for about $20,000 to do real HD editing. And anything you need costs extra. So Avid has basically given up on the budget-minded independent filmmaker. Avid would be much better off correcting this fatal flaw in their products and marketing, than announcing misplaced "consumer-outreach" initiatives that do not solve the critical problem. They are a dinosaur that better act quickly to change their pricing before Apple totally smokes them at all but the most expensive levels of filmmaking.
Posted by David Slater on Monday, November 19, 2007 @ 05:22 PM
2.
I applaud Avid for this decision. Anyone who has followed the company (any big business) knows you have to adapt to change and change takes time. I think this is a great move, besides how much information can you really get at NAB. Last year Apple made all kinds of announcements they haven\'t delivered on yet, why is no one talking about that? I have done the math and to do a basic HD project from scratch costs only $4-$5k more on an Avid for hardware, plus there is the recoup time, I get my money back faster on Avid then FCP.
Apple is a great marketer, but they have yet to prove they can deliver a professional product line for todays demanding video projects. Good Job Avid!
Posted by Old School on Tuesday, November 20, 2007 @ 11:42 AM
3.
The days of the 3 billion dollar, proprietary, edit suite are over boys! The only time AVID changes anything for their \"constituents\" is in direct response to their competition cutting into their bottom line. I remember when Media 100 came out in the 90\'s and suddenly you could get an AVID system for 35K instead of 80K-120k. Young people are very hip to this and they are the editing future. Get hip AVID or you will be blown away by the revolution. I work with 200 people a day that will never shell out that kind of money. They produce all sorts of programming for TV, web and the like. I am experiencing the revolution as I type this. Steve
Posted by College Engineer on Wednesday, November 28, 2007 @ 06:55 PM
4.
"Young people are very hip to this and they are the editing future." That is something that people like "Old School" can't seem to grasp. And that is why they are dying along with Avid, by the wayside. Avid's business model worked back when people were willing to pay out the ass for projects, but that has changed. Technology is flattening the playing field. You can no longer base your business model on being a fat cat in the industry. Someone will come up behind you and work you into the ground, much like Avid has experienced over the past five years. No wonder the aging dinosaurs of the industry are shaking in their boots!
Posted by Jeremy on Thursday, November 29, 2007 @ 02:53 PM
5.
Avid should have taking Liquid and turned it into a Final Cut beater! They had no clue what they bought with Liquid and now have shoved it back because they are TOO proud of their own software to admit it's over priced and difficult.
Posted by Chris on Saturday, December 1, 2007 @ 12:00 AM
6.
Old School, other than Final Cut Server, exactly what has Apple announced at NAB'07 that they haven't already delivered?
Posted by JeffDM on Saturday, December 1, 2007 @ 06:35 PM
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