After many years of product and industry specific marketing Autodesk is trying some corporate branding. Tracey Stout, Autodesk vice president, worldwide marketing said in an article (paid subscription required now, wasn't when I read it!) in AdWeek its the first time for such a push. The new campaign launched this week a week before the theoretical announcement of AutoCAD 2006, which slipped out early. The theme of the campaign is "Ideas. Realized." It shows via series of graphics on consecutive pages in newspapers the evolution of raw ideas into something wonderful. WongDoody is doing the creative, its first for Autodesk. notes that Autodesk's 2004 global advertising budget is estimated at about $5 million, with about $2.2 million aimed at U.S. marketing.



Ok, so it's worth asking: Was the leak in Autodesk's 2006 coverage arranged to match the timing of this new campaign? Some have suggested to me that "Autodesk knows exactly what it's doing."