We are very excited about the opportunities ahead: Adobe CEO

•  Digital Marketing revenue has been growing annually since 2010
• However, percentage of revenue contribution to the group's overall revenue has been rather flattish

ADOBE Systems Inc, a San Jose, California-based software maker popular for its creative softwares like Photoshop and Illustrator, sees great potential in its Digital Marketing business. 

Currently, Adobe has three main business segments: Digital Media (whereby its solutions help companies to develop contents, such as Photoshop, Creative Cloud, Illustrator, Dreamweaver, Flash Professional and others); Print and Publishing (whereby it makes money via licensing technologies like PostScript and PDF); as well as Digital Marketing (comprising solutions like Adobe Marketing Cloud, Adobe Analytics, Adobe Campaign and others).

Since 2010, the group's Digital Marketing business has shown growth annually -- from US$739.4 million (in 2010) to US$1.74 billion in 2016. 

When it comes to the segment's contribution - in terms of percentage of the group's total revenue - it has been on a flattish trend. Over the past three financial years, the segment's revenue contribution to the group's total revenue has declined -- from 33% in 2014 to 30% in 2016. This was mainly driven by the stronger performance of its Digital Media business.

Although Adobe chief executive officer and president Shantanu Narayen (pic above) did not reveal if the percentage (of revenue contribution) will increase in the near to medium term, he remained very optimistic and confident on Digital Marketing's prospects.

"We see this as a US$40 billion addressable market.... and we are very excited about the opportunities ahead," said Narayen during a media briefing at Adobe Summit 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Tuesday noon.

During the Adobe Summit, the company announced a series of new solutions as well as partnerships that essentially helps brands and companies to achieve their marketing goals efficiently.

New launches and partnerships

There were several announcements that caught industry observers' attention. First, is the announcement of its partnership with Microsoft -- whereby both will be integrating their sales, marketing and analytics solutions -- allowing enterprises to better manage and understand their customers. 

The partnership involves the integration of Adobe Campaign and Microsoft Dynamics 365; Adobe Analytic plus Microsoft Power BI; as well as making Adobe Experience Manager Sites Managed Service available on Microsoft Azure.

The company also introduced significant enhancements to its Adobe Cloud Platform -- a cross-cloud architecture that unifies content and data, and leverages Adobe's artificial intelligence and machine learning framework Adobe Sensei.

The new enhancements include the unveil of Adobe Launch, its tag management solution built on the Adobe Cloud Platform, as well as upgrades on Adobe I/O, the company's cross-cloud developer portal.

During the summit, Adobe unveiled its new Adobe Advertising Cloud -- the industry's first end-to-end platform for managing advertising across tradition and digital formats. The new Adobe Advertising Cloud comes with capabilities from Adobe Media Optimiser and its recently-acquired TubeMogul.

With the new Adobe Advertising Cloud, companies and advertisers will be able to place TV advertisements to their targeted customers/ audience in a seamless and simple manner. 

"With Adobe Advertising Cloud, brands can centralise all advertising planning and buying through one trusted platform with full transparency into exactly where their ads appear and how effective they are at driving business results,” said Brett Wilson, vice president and general manager, Advertising at Adobe. “We are bridging longstanding media gaps – not just between TV and digital, but also between brand and performance advertising.”

Launch of Adobe Experience Cloud

During the Adobe Summit, executive vice president and general manager of Digital Marketing Brad Rencher (pic above) says that the digital economy has disrupted every industry. With the growing amount of data, proliferation of devices, and increasing customer expectations, enterprises are forced to rethink about their level of customer experience.

"You need to be personal, be consistent, be elegant, and be everywhere. Companies that meet these requirements will forge stronger connections with their customers, resulting in brand loyalty and growth," said Rencher.

To help companies to deliver better customer experience, Adobe has unveiled Adobe Experience Cloud. The solution is comprise of Adobe Marketing Cloud, Adobe Advertising Cloud and Adobe Analytics Cloud. It is also built on the Adobe Cloud Platform, and leverages Adobe Sensei's machine learning and artificial intelligence capabilities. It also integrates with Adobe Creative Cloud and Document Cloud.

“At Adobe, we believe experience is the great differentiator, the make-or-break attribute to ignite life-long customer advocacy and growth,” said Rencher. “Leveraging deep customer intelligence, Adobe Experience Cloud gives businesses everything they need to deliver a well-designed, personal and consistent experience that delights customers at every touchpoint.”

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