Adobe: Canva’s SMB Surge
Former Product Manager at Adobe
inpractise.com/articles/adobe-canvas-smb-surge
Former Product Manager at Adobe
Interview Transcript
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More broadly. Over the last five to ten years, Adobe's pricing has increased relative to both alternatives and in absolute terms. I understand some of this is due to the change in the business model, but considering the competition today, especially with free AI-first apps, is Adobe's pricing sustainable? Does it still maintain its mission criticality and high customer retention?
Switching to the SMB space, you are seeing Azure, and I am noticing people using Canva and other new AI creative software. The reason is that Adobe software, even Adobe Express, which they promote, has a very cumbersome workflow, to be honest. For instance, try making a video yourself; it's not very easy. If you use products like Canva or others, it's much easier to accomplish what you need with speed and ease.
This is a snippet of the transcript, sign up to read more.
More broadly. Over the last five to ten years, Adobe's pricing has increased relative to both alternatives and in absolute terms. I understand some of this is due to the change in the business model, but considering the competition today, especially with free AI-first apps, is Adobe's pricing sustainable? Does it still maintain its mission criticality and high customer retention?
This is crucial for the SMB space. In the SMB space, Adobe's market is definitely being eroded. There's no doubt about that. I believe the division line was around 2021. When I was there, I was advocating for Adobe to switch to mobile and web platforms. However, Photoshop was still the cash cow at the time, so nobody really cared. But I would say 2021 was the division line.
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So, going back to Canva for a minute, can you contextualize how big Canva is? What are the key features of Adobe that Canva is targeting and taking share from?
It's actually the reverse. Canva didn't target Adobe when they launched their product. It was unique because they saw a gap in the market. You can't directly compete with the incumbent, so you spot a gap and go after it.
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