I'm so down with the changes that Avid has been making.  Loving my MC 3.0 and couldn't be happier - but I have one question:  what will my future NLE be?

Avid: did you know that someone actually posted on this forum this week asking if any big Hollywood movies were cut with your software? 

If (IF) Final Cut had the opportunity to cut something like Dark Knight (that will most likely break the Titanic theater record), all of America would know about it.  You'd see freaking bill boards and TV commercials all the way to a farm community in Illinois.

Avid, you cut the big films every day!  EVERY DAY.  Commercials should be running right now saying "cut your wedding videos, your movies (etc) with the same tools used in Hollywood".  And then show clip after clip from Dark Knight to every other big picture that Apple only wishes Final Cut were involved in.

Mark my words - if Apple does get a bigger hold on union features, they will make the rest of the world think they do them all.  They would be parading stuff like Dark Knight all over the place....

You have got to beat them to the punch.  I want to always use Avid. 

[EDIT] And capatalize on your Windows compatibility.  There are a lot of ipods out there, but still way more Windows systems.  Grab the attention of that market - they don't have to move to a Mac to cut with the best Hollywood tool...

Marketing and Avid was not a good marriage. Avid recently decided to file for divorce. He is now with his second wife. We will need to wait to see if the kids look good.

jasperfdo:

Commercials should be running right now saying "cut your wedding videos, your movies (etc) with the same tools used in Hollywood".

I agree 100%, but I bet most of the elitist here will scream "NOOOOOOO"!

Or, "What do you mean you're shooting in MPEG?!? You can't do that!!"

jasperfdo:

You have got to beat them to the punch.  I want to always use Avid. 

Couldn't agree more. Avid is extremely weak in this arena of promotion. Visibility. Widespread product and name recognition. And a certain degree of "bragging rights" to trump the competition. Major improvements are sorely needed in these areas. And if it's a question of conflicting marketing styles...well, styles change and you need to be flexible enough in your approach to change with them to survive. Those who choose to swim against a strong current are inevitably swept away.

I too, would like to be using Avid products for many years to come.

I think big companies that have stellar product who have ruled an industry for awhile always suffer from the same marketing disease.  Take IBM for example - I used to work for an IBM Solution Provider so I know the genius that IBM contains deep within their company ranks.  However, their marketing is horrible...and it wasn't until I worked selling and installing their solutions did I know that they were any good.

Same with Avid.  They have so much to market over other NLE's it isn't funny.  There is a huge untapped Windows based market that they could lock in forever.

When I came to Hollywood in 2005 I assumed that I'd have to move to Mac to edit.  Didn't care really...but then got here and film school showed me Avid on Windows.  Three indie features later that is what I'm still doing.

I think there's always been a little bit of an aversion from Avid to marketing to the masses. Avid isn't a particularly user friendly program when you first use it. It doesn't behave the way many users might expect. The learning curve is steep and the demands in terms of hardware, drivers and other little things are quite exacting.

Avid markets to the broadcasters, and the studios, and the production companies, and that should be good enough, that's the primary market. But it's not good enough.

The market has changed - the YouTube generation and all... The 'kids' are pirating a copy of FCP for the IMac and learning to use it, no skin of Apple's nose really, you have to buy a $3k 'dongle' from Apple to use FCP, pirated or otherwise, anyway. Those 'kids' are the ones who are making their way up the ladder, and when someone asks them what's the 'best' for the job, they will say FCP.

So perhaps Avid should be marketing to the wider public more? But there's a potential downfall there I think. If Avid goes out and tells the world that they can cut their home movies on the same software that Hollywood uses there is going to be a backlash - because that's not really true in many cases. Avid has some fairly specific hardware requirements to work properly. And the learning curve is steep. And then there's the absurd number of non-edit-friendly formats now being shot that simply won't play nice with Avid.

I think Avid should bring back Free DV, or better still some slightly cutdown version of Media Composer. They should promote the academic pricing more agressively. All things to get the YouTube generation into Avid. They are interested and motivated, they will be willing to make a few adjustments themselves to fit the 'Avid way'.

If I were making these decisions, I would team up with YouTube and have a competition - use your Avid Free Composer (I'd have made it exist) to cut a video from this month's footage. Best one wins full Media Composer.

 But as you say, the Youtubers and next generation FCPer's are exactly that...the next generation who will within the next 10 years become firmly entrenched in our craft and our business. Finding a way to win them over is in my opinion, ABSOLUTELY CRITICAL TO AVID'S SURVIVAL in the long term. There must be a way...

What I find disturbing is younger film makers coming to me and asking what I have against FCP when they see I cut on Avid for preference.  I find it disturbing that they use the generic term Final Cut to describe any NLE.  I find it very disturbing that they often don't know that Avid exists.  The overall thing that I find most disturbing is the perception amongst that group that in using Avid I'm old fashioned.

Avid's lack of a mainstream marketing approach doesn't just hurt them.  It hurts their users as well.

I don't see a lot of benefit in marketing to the wider public. But there is a huge potential benefit in marketing to the Youtubers.

The perceptions in that market (where they are actually aware of Avid) are often very wrong.

I think I should see Avid banners everytime I visit YouTube.

If nothing else I feel that editing in Avid teaches good practices. Practices and habits that can largely be applied in other NLEs as well.

As an Avid user I do hate the situations where I find myself defending Avid to producers, camera guys and people in general.

Got an "open letter" from Gary in my email today. He didn't say anything about agressive marketing, but he did mention opening up to 3rd party partners. If he's talking about AJA and the like, it may be the thing that could bring some Final Cutters around.

Sycophant:

I don't see a lot of benefit in marketing to the wider public. But there is a huge potential benefit in marketing to the Youtubers.

Good comments from everyone. The whole "steep learning curve" argument doesn't hold up for me.   there are plenty of other apps like Adobe Photoshop that have steep learning curves.  What may seem steep to us will not be as steep to the kid that was playing XBox at the age of three.

And marketing to the masses has evolved into the requirement.  As mentioned by Larry above, it is the generation learning now that will decide the NLE of the future.  Case closed, no argument to that.  I've listened to a Hollywood director and producer look for an editor for their next feature (editorial PAs get to hear so much).  Guess what neither of them cared about?  What NLE the editor used.  They were on imdb seeing WHAT they had done.

The only time a director cares about an NLE is when it is an indie director that has their nose into everything, and wants to take your work home at night and mess with it.

So if the new generation of editors wants to use Final Cut, that is what Hollywood will operate on.  I don't care if Avid starts giving Media Composer away. 

Now is the crunch time - Avid has one shot at this.  Only one....if they miss this round they should  pack their bags right now and sell the company while their is still profit for the share holders.

 Here's a related thread regarding "the letter" and Avid's reorginization...

interesting....they are really ripping on that guy.  you know what, i don't care if he roasts puppies for breakfast.  just freaking market this stuff.

 jwrl, said it best.  mass marketing wouldn't hurt if done properly, positioning the avid brand as the premium, choice NLE - even more than selling the program.  much in the same way Adobe has positioned Photoshop (which is also now an accepted, lenguistic exspression - as a verb, a noun, etc).

not too long ago, i was asked by the head professor of technology in the School of Architecture at a major university (in texas, usa) whether they should teach Avid or FCP in their curriculum, along side the leading, industry-standard 3D modeling applications.  i don't know if they took my advice, but i do know that the same university teaches most exclusively FCP in their mass-comm departments, including their school of design & digital arts.  a kid may pirate a copy of FCP, but many of tomorrows editors & producers will get their first taste of a "professional" NLE in school.  that means Avid needs more than good "academic pricing", they need to win the battle for classroom & lab space.

shane

 Interesting.

There is one thing I know about marketing. Defining your target group is very important! As some of you say, it's about the kids now learning to edit not our grandmother. I believe avid has marketing problems cause they do not know who there target group is (anymore) or their target group is changing. Probably both at the same time.

In the past video editing was for "pro" users only. Avid always knew how to reach those... or better the pro's knew how to reach avid. Now anybody can get all the equipment needed for a relative small amount of money. There are plenty of (cracked) editing tools out there.  That, next to wide spread (broadband) internet availability, explains the succes of youtube. And youtube is the best example of how the market is changing. Avid needs to adapt as a company and in its aplications to these changes in the market. The lines between pro and consumer are disapearing...like it or not. What will remain is that being pro is defined in your attitude towards your work, not in the application used.

So I believe that avid should not market its products with every movie made on avid. They should define their target user group (if they haven't). See what is changing (demands) within that user group and advertise avid better towards that (new) user group. That would definitly include media academies and other media related schools.

If avid's target group is watching a certain movie then maybe an add around that movie.... but if all companies would do so then HP, IIyama, microsoft, intel, arri, sachtler, vinten sony ikegami, etc, etc.... all the thousands of companies that make equipment used in the movie would do the same. I don't see that now and don't expect that to happen anytime soon. It's like saying that the new madonna cd (example I'm not sure) was recorded on protools and it writes that big on the cover. It's sometimes mentioned somewhere in the small letters in the cd book but calling that advertisement....no, those are more credentials which some read.

I agree that avid can improve it's marketing strategy but not by putting a "this was edited with Avid MC v3" add in front and after every product that comes out of avid. If that would become the common marketing strategy then soon we will go the bakkery and see: This bread was baked in a philips oven and it was brought to you by DAF trucks, which had michelin tires, used shell petrol, bosch ignition sytems etc.... etc... etc.... etc....etc.......... that is not how marketing works.