Increase in sales documented in recent IDC report

25 to 50 percent increase in sales documented in recent IDC report

AUCKLAND New Zealand - 6 May 2003 - Macromedia (Nasdaq: MACR) announced that companies such as Dai Nippon IMS (America) Corp., a division of Dai Nippon Printing, Inc, Ltd. (DNP), Hess Microgen, and MINI USA found clear benefits to deploying rich Internet applications, including increased sales, quicker task completion, decreased hosting costs, and faster development time.

For example, a car configurator application from MINI USA fueled a successful campaign that brought in more than half of all car leads, an average of 60 qualified leads per dealer per month. The application also ignited powerful word-of-mouth, with more than 73 percent of site visitors configuring a car with the option of sending it to friends. MINI USA also exceeded both its goal for registered users by 52 percent and its sales goal by 25 percent.

In addition, a recent IDC white paper found that rich Internet applications, which use Macromedia Flash Player to free users from the page paradigm of traditional web applications, may create a fundamental shift in the experience of Internet applications.

"Having solid return on investment numbers and great real-world examples further prove the powerful business case for rich Internet applications," said Al Ramadan, executive vice president, Macromedia. "The Macromedia MX product family is helping companies deliver these experiences faster and, once they are developed, they are delivering impressive, measurable returns."

The Dai Nippon Printing Group (DNP) is the world's largest manufacturer of thermal transfer ribbons. This Global Fortune 500 company worked with Macromedia Alliance partner MindComet to develop Ribbon Runner, which uses pull-down menus and a one-screen interface to connect customers to the right ribbon. Internal usability testing found the application decreased search time by 24 percent. The application also performs multi-relational searches without page reloads or refreshes, and uses three files and fewer kilobytes to replace 25 PHP files for the HTML version.

"Ribbon Runner optimises the web experience and creates an incredible way for users to find the correct ribbon in a matter of seconds," said Brett Cameron, vice president of sales and marketing, DNP. "Through real time data and inventory management, Ribbon Runner allows partners and internal staff to be self sufficient, retrieving information in a friendly and interactive environment."

Hess Microgen, a pioneer in the packaged cogeneration industry, developed a rich Internet application to enable the field to interact with its systems that monitor and manage remote power generation units distributed around the country. The system automates data collection, improves data quality, streamlines maintenance and billing, and provides customers with better insight and control over their energy usage. The application, developed by Macromedia Alliance partner Fluid, Inc., provides an entirely web-based interface to the company's enterprise information. The system was built 30 percent faster than if it was built as a traditional web application, with 50 percent ongoing cost savings for hosting the application due to the simplified server and network demands, according to Hess Microgen.

"After evaluating a number of third-party solutions, we could not find one that fit our needs. Fluid helped us develop a custom-tailored solution leveraging the latest hardware and software platforms. They recommended Macromedia Flash MX and we now understand why," said Gregg Dixon, director of marketing and sales, Hess Microgen. "Within only six months, they developed an incredibly functional, highly usable enterprise web application that is fully integrated with our units in the field. This entirely web-based system allows us to remotely monitor and manage our units while streamlining front- and back-office operations such as billing, and is a mission critical piece of our business."

The IDC white paper, "The Business Impact of Rich Internet Applications," sponsored by Macromedia and Intel, tracked business results at BlueGreen Vacation rentals, the Broadmoor Hotel, E*Trade, FleetBoston Financial, FootJoy, MINI USA, and Yankee Candle Company, and found clear benefits over traditional web applications. The report is available at http://www.macromedia.com/go/idc-ria/.

"Rich Internet applications let users interact with information in a more obvious way, instead of letting the limits of HTML dictate the user experience," said Joshua Duhl, research director for rich media software, IDC, the author of the white paper. "Looking past the improved user experience, which is significant in and of itself, companies are finding that the development and maintenance costs, development time, and bandwidth needs of rich Internet applications also decrease, making rich Internet applications very attractive to businesses."

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