Getting Noticed

Many of you may remember Autodesk’s Inventor ad campaign at SolidWorks World in New Orleans this February. The one where Autodesk splashed the number of Inventor users all across New Orleans. The CAD press and bloggers had a lot to say about the campaign. As I wrote earlier, “Bloggers and readers are commenting on Autodesk’s stupidity on having such an ad campaign. What they do not seem to realise is that they are part of the ad campaign. The Inventor ads can be seen only to people going to the SolidWorks conference, but now thanks to the CAD press they are now visible to people all over the world, which is exactly the whole point of this seemingly stupid excercise.”

I suspect something similar is going to happen at Autodesk University 2007. After being kicked out from AU, I have learnt that SpaceClaim is now going to have their own mini-event in a hotel close to AU. If the marketing and PR people at SpaceClaim play their cards properly, this can be far more effective than sitting in a booth in AU.

Many believe that SpaceClaim is a company which does not appear to be in the pink of health. If they don’t generate a respectable number of sales soon, then going by Ralph Grabowski’s financial analysis, they may need another round of funding (if there is one available). Common sense tells me that for sales to happen people need to first notice the product. What better place to get noticed and written about than Autodesk University, one of the most talked about events in the CAD world. And SpaceClaim, the company and the software, badly needs to get noticed. If they do something smart (or stupid) enough at AU or in its vincinity, it is bound to get noticed and written about.

A well known CEO of a well known CAD software company once told me, “Any press is good press, as long as your name is spelled correctly.“