The Client
Side Effect Software is a long standing industry icon in 3D animation and best known for its flagship software, Houdini that has been widely used in Visual Effects for Hollywood feature films for more than past 20 years.

The Need
Houdini had become a partial prisoner of its own success recognized as a high end 3D animation solution that made the complex easy, but was also difficult to lean quickly and consequently complicated to learn in comparison with competitor packages in broader use. In 2007, Side Effects was launching Houdini 9.0 that included a radial redesign of the software UI to a more common industry standard and needed to get a renewed and shifted perception of its brand in the industry.

Strategy
C2E worked with the internal marketing and sales team at Side Effects to help develop a new brand position for Houdini 9 and to integrate the repositioned brand through sales force training and spokesperson media message training. Supported with a brand new visual identity, Houdini 9 was launched to the marketplace at the leading industry conference SIGGRAPH in August 2007 through strategic media outreach from C2E who facilitated outreach, interviews and media follow-up.

Results
Through training the Side Effects sales team was able to help effectively market the product positioning of Houdini 9 and was aided in the sales outreach efforts by more than 15 articles in computer animation and film industry worldwide during and immediately afterwards in the months following SIGGRAPH 2007. In 2008, C2E continues to work on an ongoing basis with the Side Effects software team to promote feature film and commercial production success enabled through Houdini, product reviews and marketing promotional activity.