I had lunch last weekend with the CEO of an cognac brandy producer where we discussed the similaries and differences between our products (Java developer tool versus fine cognac).
In both cases, we've very well defined target audiences. The market for cognac brandy is a lot more diverse than Java tools and a lot harder to reach. The age profile is very different - cognac drinkers are much older than Java developers! Both markets have a strong Asian component. But whereas cognac is popular in Thailand, Vietnam, and Japan, Java is important in India.
One striking similarity is the effect of time on the value of Java products versus the best cognac. French cognac is stored in wooden barrels that loose about 5% of the volume each year. The slippage for Java toolsis a lot more - new JDKs, application servers, database versions, etc make tools go out of date much sooner. The key difference is that Java tools loose value while French cognac gains value.
Overall, the impression I got was that marketing fine cognac is about having a very high quality product and carefully positioning it as unique in a crowded market. So not too different from the Java tools market.
PJ Murray
CodeFutures Software
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