Global Web Search as a New Marketing Planning Tool for CAD Vendors, 2004-2008
21 October 2008
By Marek Villermann
The Business Advantage Group plc
Article Highlights:
- Search volume for MCAD products by year
- Search volume trends and regional interest
Objectives
Business Advantage conducted some analysis into the changing levels of interest in leading Mechanical CAD solutions between 2004 and 2008.
Products included in the study were Inventor (Autodesk), SolidWorks Office and CATIA (Dassault Systèmes), Solid Edge and NX (Siemens), Pro/ENGINEER (PTC).
The study analyzes the actual search volume trends for each MCAD product, looks at the mid-range and high-end MCAD products groups as separate entities and shows search volume through various geographic segments. Dynamics of interest and regional differences in search volume are typically aligned to vendors’ global strategies and channel partner activities, highlighting how vendors are contributing to the growth in interest in their own products. Considering web search volume, could become a valuable tool for CAD vendors and their partners in marketing planning.
Methodology
Our analysis is based on data from the Google Insights for Search
(a recent service launched by Google in August 2008) represented in the "Volume"
column in the table below which shows which MCAD products were entered into the Google search engine. To ensure the analysis meets brand and chronological
compliance we selected "Autodesk Inventor", "SolidWorks Office", "Solid Edge", "CATIA", "Pro/ENGINEER", "UG NX"
(for 2004-2007) and "Siemens NX" (2008 only). The data for these particular product names is based on IP addresses and analyzes a portion of
worldwide Google web searches from all Google domains and indicates interest over time, plotted on a
scale from 0 to 100.
Notes
- The words "search volume" and "interest" used in this article are considered as equivalent terms
- RP 0% stands for Reference Point from which other percentages are calculated
Search Volume for MCAD Products by Year
Percentage in the "Change" column represents current search volume strength vs. previous year, e.g. interest for Autodesk Inventor changed by -1% in 2008 vs. 2007.
2005 (vs. 2004)
- Overall there was a reduction (-13%) in web search volume in 2005, across the six leading MCAD products
2006 (vs. 2005)
- Declining interest for five MCAD products (Autodesk Inventor, Solid Edge, CATIA, Pro/ENGINEER, and UG NX) continues to deepen (-14%) In contrast interest for SolidWorks Office shows grows strongly 22%
2007 (vs. 2006)
- Decline in interest for Autodesk Inventor, Solid Edge, CATIA, Pro/ENGINEER and UG NX continues (-6%) however this was much lower than 2005-2006, and showed signs of stability. A slight decline for Autodesk Inventor (66) and Solid Edge (58) on the levels of the previous year - 68 and 59 respectively – but a bigger decrease for Pro/ENGINEER (-9%) , UG NX (-9%) and CATIA (-8%)
- SolidWorks Office’s growth of interest continues by 21% remaining robust and similar to the previous year
2008 (vs. 2007)
- The current leader in terms of search volume strength is SolidWorks Office (81), followed by Siemens NX (67), Autodesk Inventor (65) and CATIA (63). In 2008, interest for the five MCAD products remained similar to levels of 2007 with negligible fluctuations, the exception being Siemens NX
- Interest in NX 56% appears to be strengthening, reaching the second highest five year level (67), apparently due to the acquisition of UGS by Siemens in 2007
Search Volume Trends and Regional Interest
MCAD Products Mean Search Volume |
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MCAD Product Groups
Traditional
MCAD Product Groups typically include:
- Mid-range market products (e.g. Autodesk Inventor, SolidWorks Office, Solid Edge)
- High-end market products (e.g. CATIA, NX, Pro/ENGINEER)
Our analysis of retrospective data from 2004-2008 does not take into account the new MCAD product group proposition, where Pro/ENGINEER now broadly fits the category of mainstream MCAD (mid-range group).
Mid-Range MCAD Product GroupAutodesk Inventor
Search volume strength for Autodesk Inventor shrinks in 2005-2006 (-19%). However for the whole period 2004-2008 Autodesk Inventor’s average interest (71.6) was strongest with 9.8% above MSV and remained robust with minor search volume fluctuations in 2007-2008. |  |
Top cities generating the strongest search volumes in 2004-Year-to-date 2008 include:
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SolidWorks Office
The average interest in SolidWorks Office (68.2) was one of the strongest in 2004-2008 with 4.3% above MSV. Interest turned positive in 2006 and increased significantly later, however in the previous year 2004-2005 interest was considerably lower. In 2006-2008 SolidWorks Office search volume reached its peak and remains robust. |  |
Google Insights for Search did not have enough search volume to show results for top cities.
Solid Edge
Average search volume for Solid Edge in 2004-2008 was -1.1% in line with the MSV. From 2006 the search volume dropped to another -4% below the level of MSV and until Year-to-date 2008 remained robust. |  |
Top cities generating the strongest search volumes in 2004-Year-to-date 2008 include:
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Trends in the Mid-Range Product Group
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CATIA
Average search volume (69.8) was strongest amongst the high-end products in 2004-2008 with 6.4% above MSV. Interest decreased in 2005-2006 similarly to the mid-range product group however in 2007 dropped to -8% . |  |
Top cities generating the strongest search volumes in 2004-Year-to-date 2008 include:
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Pro/ENGINEER
Average search volume (61.8) was -5.4% below the MSV in 2004-2008. In 2005-2006 Pro/ENGINEER followed to the mid-range product group decrease. However in 2007 continued to decrease to -9% below MSV. . |  |
Top cities generating the strongest search volumes in 2004-Year-to-date 2008 include:
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NX
Average search volume (56) was very weak -14.2% below MSV in 2004-2008. Lowest levels of interest for NX were in 2006-2007. In 2007 changes of ownership boosted the interest for NX and in 2008 interest reached the highest five year level. |  |
Top cities generating the strongest search volumes in 2004-Year-to-date 2008 include:
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Trends in the Mid-Range and High-End Product Groups
- In 2005-2006 search volume for the high-end product group had tumbled to -30% below the MSV with CATIA at -23% of search volume, Pro/ENGINEER and NX both at -34%. High-end group search volume loss tripled in comparison to the mid-range product group (-10%) for the same period
- In 2007 search volume for the high-end product group continued to decrease accounting for -9% for the group. For the same year 2007 the mid-range product group average was positive (5%) ahead of the high-end product group by 14%
- General search volume for both mid-range and high-end product groups indicated that in part interest had switched from the high-end product group to the mid-range one. For example, to follow the market needs Pro/ENGINEER has repositioned itself in recent years, it more broadly fits the category of mainstream MCAD with PLM focus according to the new MCAD product group proposition
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Follow Up
Search volume updates for MCAD products including geographic segments and industry sectors as well as similar insights for other CAD products and markets will be provided in future editions of CAD Spaghetti.
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