Adobe unveils new web experience management suite

Adobe has added new features to the CQ content management technology it acquired when it purchased Day Software to improve the control of online marketing campaigns.

Now called Adobe CQ, the new version of the software has campaign creation and mobile web optimisation features built in.

The move is part of Adobe's effort to enable end-to-end web experience management (WEM).

WEM is designed to give firms the ability to not only manage content, but to understand how their customers are interacting with the content, and provide the ability to change it in real time to improve customers' web experience, such as by optimising it for mobile use.

The growth of social media applications such as Facebook, and the increase in the amount and type of mobile devices have created additional channels to market that all need to be managed, explained Adobe's senior product marketing manager, John Carione.

"Traditional transactional and structured database systems have created siloed applications in marketing, sales and service, which means these touch points cannot be optimised for the customer [efficiently] because information cannot be exchanged between these siloed applications," he said.

Demonstrating Adobe CQ for Computing, Carione showed how the software can optimise web content for specific mobile devices.

"There are 4,000 devices in the standard database. That would allow us, for example, to render images optimised for Samsung's Galaxy smartphone and a BlackBerry smartphone, as well as make sure data and text is laid out correctly for those devices."

CQ will allow users to log directly into web analytics services SiteCatalyst and Test&Target, and check if updated content gives more click-through and increased user activity.

Existing beta customers for the technology include Audi, Volkswagen, McDonald's and Nike.

"McDonald's is looking at optimising mobile experiences, and ultimately tying social networking to mobile devices," said Carione.

"If someone is on McDonald's Facebook site posting about Big Macs, then using geolocation services in modern smartphones, McDonald's can check their location and target a coupon for a Big Mac [locally] out to that customer instantly."

Adobe acquired Day Software in July 2010 for $240m (£148m), and web analytics expert Omniture Solutions in October 2009 for $1.8bn.