Field Notes Inside an Integrated Communications Agency

OK, so I waited a loooooooong time before writing about my thoughts on Adobe's $1.8B acquisition of web analytics vendor, Omniture. I've probably missed the boat on saying anything groundbreaking, but I've wanted to espouse my beliefs ever since it was announced.

I've worked a ton with Omniture over the last 3 plus years and even interviewed with them for some positions recently, so when this showed up over the wire, people were peppering me with questions on what this means. So...I'll try to explore what I think it means and hopefully somewhere in here I have something that somebody else hasn't mentioned before.

Adobe?

This was the hardest piece to figure out at first. It seemed like it came out of left field. I always thought that it might make more sense for a company like SAP, Interwoven/Autonomy, or IBM to be the one to buy Omniture and integrate with their web platforms to create a seamless web ecosystem, where the content and the presentation of that content is based on the data being collected. Think of the Amazon model, where you come to the site and it 'knows' about you and suggests things based on behavior. That isn't done through magic. It's all web analytics and algorithms. Ok, and a little magic thrown in. So for an IBM, you'd throw Omniture on top of Websphere and all of a sudden you have a decision engine integrated with a web platform. Web personalization and delivery become a little easier.

But once I thought about it for a while, Adobe started to make more sense. Adobe wants Omniture so tracking of Flash and rich media becomes common place and tightly integrated. Tracking Flash applications today is not exactly the easiest thing in the world. Once you get the hang of it is not terribly difficult, but imagine if it was already in there out of the box with a few checkboxes to click to turn on. All of a sudden you have can track all the wonderful interactions inside of Flash. Here is something I learned a long time ago, if you can see how things work from a measurement perspective you end up doing more of it and do it smarter/better. The easier it is to track interactive media, the better the end products of marketers and web designers.

I'll give you a simplified view...one of the reasons Google Analytics exists is to drive more Paid Search and Banner ads. Why? Because if you can measure the effectiveness of these tactics you'll end up spending more to drive it. Google gives it away with hopes that it gives you a view into your online campaigns so you do more of them. I am thinking some of the same characteristics exist with this deal. If you can see what is happening with Flash or other Adobe applications, you'll use them more.

Optimization is key

A lot of folks might only use Omniture's SiteCatalyst and not realize that Omniture has bought a ton of technology over the years in the realm of optimization. In fact, over the last year they viewed themselves as an optimization platform, not a web analytics vendor. The notion is that you can leverage the huge amounts of data collected to determine what gets presented to visitors of a site. Behavioral targeting and personalization are possible using some of these tools as they utilize the reams of data to dictate the content, images, messaging, color, whatever you want. A/B and multivariate testing are part of the solution to designing better web sites as well as recommending content or products to visitors who have exhibited certain behaviors either on this visit or on previous encounters. Its pretty awesome stuff and a marketers dream. This is where the web is heading in a big way.

So...take it again into Flash or other rich media applications. All of a sudden you can have Omniture's Test & Target/TouchClarity platform underneath the application to generate different versions of content based on behaviors. This could be used on site as well as in off-site rich media banners for demand generation, especially around retargeting or different messaging based on what site you are on. Imagine if that was all integrated into the tools so you didn't have to think about it, you just come up with the content (no small task mind you). And you track it.

All of a sudden the applications become somewhat self-learning and the content more revelant for the visitors. I am oversimplifying, but I think you get the idea. The Omniture piece creates the feedback mechanism that drives the content through Flash.

Different Businesses

Unlike a lot of mergers where there is often cross-over with businesses and the deal is just to grow market-share, this is a deal that really broadens Adobe's business. Not much overlap with what Omniture does and what Adobe typically does. Theoretically, Omniture will benefit from Adobe's funding and software expertise.

Concerns

My biggest fear is that being owned by a particular web platform will mess up Omniture's agnostic view of web applications. For example, will Omniture devote as much time to figuring out how to track Silverlight applications now that its owned by the guys that create Flash? 

Will all the guys that have built up Omniture over the last decade jump ship and Adobe runs it into the ground? I've seen it all too often where a company buys another and all the talent eventually flees or the integration doesn't really fit because of cultural differences. Time will tell.

Implications

As I mentioned before, in theory this might help bring web analytics more into the mainstream as I would imagine this might get embedded inside of all of Adobe's software so that tracking is common place and not an IT exercise. I got to thinking though, if that happens doesn't that open up the door for some level of free web analytics? If it's in the tools, would you have to pay for an Omniture license or is it out of the box? And in that case, does it create different versions of Omniture SiteCatalyst where you have the free bare-bones one that comes with Flash, Dreamweaver, etc, or a pimped-out enterprise version that does everything and costs you something. Is that the way to compete with Google on this? And by being free with the tools, does that grow the usage of Adobe products? 

It's possible that Adobe isn't going to integrate it with their products so maybe the above never becomes an issue, but I sort of think integration makes the most logical sense. 

So...there you have my thoughts on the situation. What are your thoughts? Did I overlook something? Am I crazy/delusional?

It doesn't take much to read between the lines of Adobe's release of Flash player 10.1. Just one word sums it up - mobile. Adobe is working it's tail off to get the newest version of Flash onto devices.

Adobe realizes that if the Flash platform is going to survive, it needs to get off of the desktop and go mobile. Enter Adobe Flash 10.1 with new features to program in the mobile environment. The highlights include support for:

• Multi-touch
• Accelerometers (used to detect motion of the physical device)
• Screen orientation
• and power consumption throttles

The other thing Adobe needs is to get the Flash player onto as many next-gen platforms as possible. So far the list includes Android, MS Mobile, Palm WebOS, and Simbian. Not bad, but the the iPhone and the Blackberry are still holding Flash at arms length. Those manufacturers have cited Flash's power consumption as the reason to not allow Flash. We'll see if Adobe's latest efforts is enough to woo them.

More info at adobe.com.

 Author: John Romano

Adobe's Flash has lost a key battle in the plug-in wars to Microsoft's Silverlight. Netflix has chosen Microsoft's Silverlight, a Flash competitor because it includes DRM software.

Netflix, the mail order movie-rental giant knows that in the future, movies will stream over the internet, right into your home and won't come via US mail on DVD. The problem is that movie companies won't let their movies be streamed unless they are protected. The solution is DRM (digital rights managed) technology - a technique that encrypts the data so it can't be ripped off (well, that's the theory at least).

Adobe's Flash plug-in is the most popular video technology on the Web. YouTube single-handedly vaulted them over Windows Media and Apple Quicktime. So you would think that Netflix would naturally look to Adobe to solve its video needs. But that's not what happened. They went to Microsoft.

I'm still trying to figure out how this happened? Can it be that Microsoft is giving away the software now to gain adoption? Is it possible that Adobe has become difficult to work with since it maintains such plug-in market dominance? Or is it that Adobe is limiting its DRM solutions only to people willing to buy into its more expensive and limited server products? Is it possible that it's easier to use a Microsoft product to release a Web-based service to multiple platforms and browsers?

My guess: Netflix is hoping that Microsoft can help them bridge the chasm between computer and living room. Their survival depends on being where people watch movies, and Netflix thinks that Xbox support (that they are planning) is the easiest way finally get into people's living rooms (internet enabled Silverlight support is planned on the next generation of XBoxes).

Regardless, I think that this loss is more severe that Adobe cares to admit.

More info:
The Netflix Blog

Life Hacker

Adobe Flash 10 hit the streets and it sports a ton of new design tools. But there are two new features that are going to dominate the graphic design of the next 2 years: the new Z property and the new 3-D features.

The addition of the Z (depth) axis in additon to the X (horizontal) and Y (vertical) axis right in the authoring environment is going to spur a use of "depth" as a design element/style. Expect to see designers adopting this new feature and incorporating it into design even more than we have seen.

Combine this new feature with the 3D translation and rotation tools in Flash and we see a rudimentary 3D environment taking shape.

For people wanting greater 3D capabilities (and there will be many), expect Papervision 3D and Away 3D to become more popular as they mature and build upon the new native Flash 10 features.

Using 19 smaller lenses, Adobe's "Magic Lens", shoots the object from multiple angles simultaneously, enabling you to control the image's depth of field and camera angle.

One of our most important goals at Capstrat is to be a step ahead. To a senior developer, part of being a step ahead is knowing what the tools are capable of. As we craft a story, some of us are constantly looking forward to how an idea will be built. While limitations of technology may close down some ideas, the capabilities of technology open up new ones. The ideas and the technology often play off each other and drive ideas forward in exciting and new ways.

Adobe, Apple, and the open source community are out there creating tools for this new media landscape. This software allows "creatives" to develop innovative communications. Good tools have been, and always needs to be, a step ahead of the people who are a step ahead. They allow us to be creative, make promises, dream big, innovate, and deliver.

When creative people work, they put old, new, unsuspected, and often disparate ideas into the creative black box. They add a healthy does of insight and as much talent and experience as they can muster. They give it a good shake. What comes out hopefully informs, challenges, connects, delights, angers, or inspires people. And very often it pushes boundaries.

In the world of online communications, pushing boundaries is sometimes scary business. It means you sit there with co-workers and sometimes even the client and describe something that you may not know how to build - or even scarier, something that can't be build. But you can't admit that. You have to sell the idea and worry about how to build it later.

This is the dirty little secret that creative people tend to keep to themselves. It is only after you have convinced the decision makers (and get the signed check) that you go back to your desk and ask yourself "how in the blazes am I going to build this thing?"

That trepidation is exhilarating to some people. I would go so far as to say that I'm addicted to that feeling. The fact that this situation is common practice in Web and interactive work is probably one of the reasons that I am part of the industry.

What clients initially buy into when they partner with a creative organization is not the final idea, but rather the promise that the "creatives" will come up with something great. All creatives make promises that they don't know how they will deliver. It's part of the business and part of the magic.

What I find amazing is that as creatives develop ideas, only rarely do the tools or even your own abilities prevent you from making your idea come to life. More often it is the budget or time line that puts the kibosh on an idea.

But interactive isn't alone - every creative discipline has it's own version of this. Photographers must find that exact moment in time, where the conditions are perfect to push the button. Copywriters must find the story, hone it to it's essentials, and say it with economy, clarity, and character. And interactive folks must use technology to deliver great experiences with machines that are intuitive, informative, and enjoyable.

Risk is inherent in all creative endeavors. Sometimes things don't work. So creatives offer up their portfolio and their good name as the collateral. So the next time that you need something creative done, especially in the interactive world, look for people with experience, ingenuity, perseverance, and talent.

If what you are doing pushes the boundaries, then listen for the trace of honesty. When asked how they are going to build the product, the best interactive people may say "I don't exactly know. But we'll make it happen. One way or another."

Enter Adobe Media Player.

Let me paint the picture that Adobe is dreaming. Imagine software as fast as a desktop application, but as Internet capable as a browser. Imagine getting your favorite TV shows on demand.

Not enough you say? TIVO does that?

OK. Now imagine if it's as open and social as YouTube. Imagine CBS programming next to the most local, niche, weird, or highly specialized show. Or your show! Not only can you post your videos, now you can have your very own TV channel.

Of course you can subscribe and get the newest episodes as soon as they are released. And once you download them, shows are local to you computer. Take them with you. Watch them on the train or on the way to the beach.

Now, hitch all this up to a next generation advertising and sales model. Shows can be free, ad-based, or subscription based. Not only can ads can be live and contextual, they can be based on timecode in the show. You can actually advertise things that people see in context of the show, in real time. Oh yea, and ads aren't restricted to a banner, they can overlay the show and can be contain video of their own.

Now if you are in the communications business, image helping your clients harness all this potential. Imagine working with them to develop a TV show concept that will extend their brand into this new, decentralized TV world. Image the research, design, and execution effort that it will take.

You can see Adobe positioning itself in the center of the Internet video universe. It released the Flash video format, now used by YouTube and Google. It upgraded the Adobe Flash player to support high def video, it created tools to extend Flash as an application development platform . Now it's partnering with online video companies and Internet ad networks.

Now that all the pieces are in place, Adobe has finally begun an earnest development of the Adobe Media Player.

So what are you doing to align your self with this new world of TV?