Business communications have developed dramatically both in sheer quantity and the available delivery paths. The way you engage your audience can make or break business relations - inside and outside the firewall - and with the total number of Internet-connected devices growing dramatically from approx. 3 billion in 2007 to 5 billion by 2012, your messages need to be on target and in the right medium: be it in print, on line, or on device.

This year in the USA, the Atlantic City Convention & Visitors' Authority (ACCVA) switched to interactive PDF delivery, using Adobe Creative Suite products. Starting from files created in Adobe Creative Suite, ACCVA's in-house media relations team developed an interactive press kit to include sample itineraries, podcasts, audio of 'jingles', press releases, 'destination' feature story ideas and links to interactive maps. While the recipient works off just one PDF file to access all the information, there are a total of over 55 files that are unseen in order to make the interactivity work.

The resulting tiered campaigns – for the US local, regional and national media – were a hit. The ACCVA's design team is now in the process of converting the convention sales team's Destination and Event planning guides to the same format, with the Authority's services directory and visitor guides to golf, film and sports next on the list.

Engaging communications can also be great for the bottom line. More than just a dynamic new way of promoting Atlantic City, the switch to paper-free, graphic interactivity on the ACCVA's first initiative saved $US20,000 compared to past promotions of a similar scope. Two projects in development now will take the combined savings on all three campaigns to around $US60,000 within the year.

The new tools in Adobe Creative Suite 4 offer businesses the opportunity to produce engaging content no matter what the media. Marketing material, web sites and even forms can be designed and shared across all stages of media creation: print, web, Rich Internet Applications, interactive, video and mobile.

With both Adobe Flash Player and Adobe Reader being standard on most connected desktops, building communication pieces with CS4 allows businesses the ability to export open, flexible file formats with ubiquitous playback. Adobe has an unmatched foundation on which to build this engagement platform. Adobe Reader is found on 89% of all Internet connected devices and Flash Player is found on 98% of all Internet connected devices.

With CS4, Adobe delivers real cross-media functionality, allowing streamlined delivery across media which adds up to simplified workflows, cost savings, and ultimately for an engaging experience for your customers that will help you stand above your competition.