The attraction of Detraction

Over the past few weeks we have witnessed a heightening in the marketing fued between Autodesk and SolidWorks. Ralph Grabowski has commented upon the antics of Autodesk's survey on saisfaction with SolidWorks (http://worldcadaccess.typepad.com/blog/2006/01/autodesk_poll_b.html)
He also pointed out Autodesk's anti-SolidWorks signage during the Autodesk Univeristy 2006 event (http://worldcadaccess.typepad.com/blog/2005/12/autocad_whats_n.html). It all seems very specious.

This kind of activity is nothing new: Back in the early days of MicroStation (and Bentley Systems) Scott Bentley was reportedly observed putting down footprints that led IGUG (Intergraph User Group) attendees away to a 'new meeting' with Bentley. None of us can remember the date except it must have been in the early '90's. (Maybe someone from Bentley can send me the date.)
Back in the '90s (was it 1998 I forget) I saw the hiring of several buses, painted with Bentley logos and branding, that were engaged to circle the Philadelphia Convention Center during the Autodesk University event there. The buses were empty, by the way. Last year (dec 2004), when I attended Autodesk U in Vegas, there was an obvious Bentley billboard as you left the airport headed for the hotels.

At SolidWorks World in January 05, Autodesk had a very blatant advert in the Orlando airport declaiming the position of SolidWorks. Autodesk also has reportedly run large page ads in local papers where SolidWorks World has been occuring.

At Autodesk U 2006 there were several puzzling signs in the press room promising the big fight between Autodesk and SolidWorks (http://worldcadaccess.typepad.com/blog/2005/12/autocad_whats_n.html)

Evidently the attraction of detraction (of your competitors) has not paled.

"The American computer technology industry (both software and hardware) has a long and proud tradition of juvenile behavior regarding rivalry and pranks" says Randall Newton, AECnews.com "I see these campaigns as just more of the same."

But the people who matter in all of this are the users. Do they even notice what is going on? I asked a few people and by the time of this article a few resellers had responded.

"None of us really notice," says one source that prefers to remain anonymous. "We're too busy trying to sell software, and users are too busy using it, to pay attention to this nonsense."

Another: "I tend to listen to the street, not what is going on in marketing." says this SolidWorks reseller. "Users that buy SolidWorks love it and users who are forced to upgrade to Inventor by management because its cheaper tend to dislike it. Chat rooms, user groups etc "tend" to carry that message too."

So why does this occur?

My theory: This occurs because if a company does not respond in kind to an attack, it fears it will be regarded as weak. Some of the activity is simply tit-for-tat - they did it to us last year so we will do it to them this year. However the attacks can be quite aggressive, more so, I feel, than they need to be.

And yet the users don't actually appear to notice. So all this does is make a company feel better about itself. Yes, on consideration, I agree with randall - juvenile indeed.

Personally I prefer the approach of SketchUp (@last) and Rhino (Bob Mcneel) who prefer to stand on the merits of their software, not on overt SWAT attacks on competitors.

So what will occur during SolidWorks World this week? Well, already I hear that Autodesk is holding a press conference this next week in Vegas, which is just when SolidWorks World is occuring... Quite coincidentally. I am confident that Bentley will have a few billboards up. I wonder what else we can find?

More coming on this next week.

Comments

[Evan Yares]

I don't think what you see between Autodesk and SolidWorks is a feud.

Feuds require disingenuous behaviour on the part of *both* parties -- and I don't see that here.

While SolidWorks is certainly an aggressive competitor, I've seen no disingenuous behavior on their part. Everything that I've seen SolidWorks do has been above-board, and customer centric. (Of course, anyone who knows better is more than welcome to correct me.)

If you look at initiatives such as eDrawings, DWGeditor, and DWGgateway, you'll see products that deliver real value for users. Are they designed so to reduce the necessity for existing AutoCAD customers put money in Autodesk's bank accounts? Of course. But there's a big difference between winning by providing a better value than your competitor (or providing capabilities that your competitor has chosen not to), and winning by prevarication.

Autodesk's Mechanical Division comprises some excellent people, who are no less customer-centric than the people at SolidWorks. Yet, somehow, when wrapped up in the larger context of Autodesk, the need to win at all costs seems to outweigh all other considerations.

The irony is that SolidWorks is a division of Dassault -- which may hold the industry record for win-at-all-costs behavior. Yet, whether it be by Dassault not wanting to kill the "goose that laid the golden egg," or whether it be by skillful "managing up," SolidWorks has managed to keep its corporate soul.

[Jason]

Here, this was posted on comp.cad.solidworks from a user arriving early at Swworld 2006:

Upon arriving at my hotel tonight (sat) for the 2006 SW World, I noticed a stage set-up located behind the Imperial Palace. Plastered infront of the Imperial Palace are numerous posters stating: "The Perfectly Engineered Surf Party for Solidworks Users".

So I took a walk out to the stage site to see why I hadnt heard about this event sooner. As I walked up to the fenced off area, there were stage hands still setting up the stage, and they were hanging posters inside the fenced in area that read: "Autodesk Inventor, the best
software for Autocad Users".

[ralphg]

> "The Perfectly Engineered Surf
>Party for Solidworks Users".

That's Autodesk Marketing trying to get some publicity for Inventor for SolidWorks World attendees. They're also inviting the media for a free lunch at Monday noon. They've been bugging me to attend, but I told them that Autodesk shouldn't be trying to do this on SolidWorks' dime.