Corel Is Not Ulead

[Jerry Jones]

I have to say it.

Corel's performance to date has been incredibly disappointing.

Corel seems to be a boring, B-O-R-I-N-G firm.

It's just sad to have witnessed Ulead's acquisition by InterVideo and then Corel.

Ulead was an interesting, innovative company.

That seems to be gone now.

Sad.

Jerry Jones

http://www.jonesgroup.net

[wkulecz]

Corel has a well established history of being where software goes to die.

--wally.

[Hulk]

I still use CorelDraw on a regular basis. I think it's a great piece of software.

[Mikele]

What about Media Studio Pro?
Is in the Death Row?
Hummm... Bad sensations...

[Jerry Jones]

Well, the fact Corel hasn't officially said anything about MediaStudio Pro seems to speak volumes.

In other words, kiss it good-bye.

We'll probably see some sort of attempt to make VideoStudio more attractive to super-enthusiasts, but I'm not holding my breath.

Yeah, I still use Corel Draw, too, but there hasn't been much excitement for that product in the marketplace for a few years now.

You can get cheaper and arguably better vector-based solutions these days.

Jerry Jones

http://www.jonesgroup.net

[Hulk]

You're probably right Jerry but I don't want to deal with the learning curve with another piece of software. Besides Adobe Illustrator what vector drawing programs do you recommend?

[Jerry Jones]

Vector drawing programs:

1. Serif DrawPlus X2 ($99)

http://www.serif.com/drawplus/drawplusx2/

2. Canvas

http://www.acdamerica.com/products-x/default.html

3. Freehand MX

http://www.adobe.com/products/freehand/

Just a few examples.

Jerry Jones

http://www.jonesgroup.net

[Jerry Jones]

Here's an interesting opinion from a stock analyst who believes Corel was "brilliant" to acquire InterVideo and Ulead:

http://www.fool.com/investing/value/2007/09/25/foolish-forecast-corels-brilliant-buy.aspx

Jerry Jones

http://www.jonesgroup.net

[wkulecz]

Brilliant?

Pump & Dump?

--wally.

[Jerry Jones]

And how about the decision regarding MediaStudio Pro.

Oooops.

I forgot.

No decision has been officially announced.

So I guess all of the loyal fans of MediaStudio Pro will just have to keep pretending that they matter to Corel... until the outcome of the software is explained officially... if ever.

Jerry Jones

http://www.jonesgroup.net

[Jerry Jones]

Here's the closest thing to a public comment from Corel's Web site:

QUESTION: Will Corel keep offering all InterVideo and Ulead products for sale?
ANSWER: Currently, there are no plans to discontinue any existing InterVideo or Ulead software products.

http://www.corel.com/servlet/Satellite/us/en/Content/1182953734126

If this is true, then I'll have to think twice about switching to Apple.

If they continue to support MediaStudio Pro's evolution by supporting Vista, then I'll have to consider staying on the Windows platform.

Jerry Jones

http://www.jonesgroup.net

[Jerry Jones]

One other thing is puzzling about the Corel acquisition.

Branding.

What they've done so far puzzles me.

If Corel shareholders want their "value" enhanced, would that not imply that all of this wonderful Ulead and InterVideo technology would -- eventually -- need to be stamped with the Corel brand?

What we're seeing -- at least it seems this way from my outsider perspective -- is that there has been a debate within the Corel organization about branding and that those in favor of retaining the Ulead brand have -- for now anyway -- won.

So notice how the consumer now needs to interpret a sort of "double brand" such as Corel Ulead MediaStudio Pro or Corel Ulead VideoStudio 11 Plus.

I'm not convinced this works.

I understand the concept of sticking to a consistent brand, which is something Ulead seemed to do well.

But after the acquisitions -- beginning with the InterVideo acquisition -- the branding seemed confused.

Was this an InterVideo product or a Ulead product?

Did Ulead acquire InterVideo or did InterVideo acquire Ulead?

Etc.

Corporate acquisitions really mess up branding, in my view.

I don't know how I'd handle it if I were calling the marketing shots.

But I suppose I lean toward the idea that they should just start over with the Corel brand and build that brand.

When I worked for city government, every department director fancied himself as the head of an independent "company."

So you wouldn't believe how complex it could get.

You had the airport with their own logo.

You had the police department with their own logo.

You had the fire department with their own logo.

You had the public works department with their own logo.

You had the parks department with their own logo.

In the end... the identity of the CITY... was lost in this vast sea of municipal logos.

Many confused citizens thought parks was a county agency.

Others made the same mistaken assumption with the airport.

And talk about the extra expense involved in creating marketing materials and letterhead.

There were business cards that conformed to no set standard.

Departments made expensive requests for their logo to be included on letterhead, brochures, etc.

And so on.

So we just finally said enough was enough.

We decided to dump departmental logos.

We settled on one CITY logo.

The only exception was that we allowed the police department to have their own seal.

But the CITY logo went on every city enterprise.

Now the consumers of the services seem to know that the services they receive are coming from the CITY.

I wonder how Corel is going to manage.

They're apparently preserving these older brands.

But will that work?

It's a fascinating question for me as I've always been skeptical of many popular marketing theories.

I suppose I gravitate toward the idea that simpler is better.

Jerry Jones

http://www.jonesgroup.net

[wkulecz]

Corporate acquisitions really mess up branding, in my view.

I don't know, I believe Chevrolet, Buick, Pontiac were independent automakers at one time and until recently more or less prospered as being General Motors.

I'm happy to stay with Ulead/Corel/Whatever Media Studio Pro ends up being called as long as they run on Windows 2000. I hate XP and won't go near Vista.

--wally.

[Jerry Jones]

My view of MediaStudio Pro is that I'll keep using it.

But in the future, I believe it is important that it run on Vista.

Because that means the product will continue to be improved.

As for Vista, I believe it's Microsoft's attempt to copy Apple OS X.

So it's a "copycat" operating system with bloated code.

No, not the best.

But I'm familiar with the interface of MediaStudio Pro.

And that would be enough to keep me on Windows for a little more time.

But I would advise Corel that time is running out for them.

They're going to have to be specific about MediaStudio Pro's future very soon or I'm going to be so disgusted that I'm going to switch to the APPLE Macintosh OS X.

Jerry Jones

http://www.jonesgroup.net

[Jerry Jones]

But do we see cars branded as "General Motors Buick" or "General Motors Pontiac?"

I think not.

Instead we see cars branded as "Buick" or "Chevrolet" and the "General Motors" brand is almost invisible.

With the Corel/Ulead/InterVideo approach, we see double brands... each given almost equal weight.

I don't get it.

Jerry Jones

http://www.jonesgroup.net

I don't know, I believe Chevrolet, Buick, Pontiac were independent automakers at one time and until recently more or less prospered as being General Motors.