[Linux-aus] Vista v. Linux Movie

[Brent Wallis]

Hi,

The issue surrounding the marketing of FOSS and Linux has been bandied
about now for many years and there has been no single resolution to do
something.....lots of "love" around the idea but nothing concrete....

If I may, some pertinent issues that have been raised before that need
considering, plus some emerging ideas:

0. Marketing 101 dictates that any promotional message MUST be
consistent to the point of "nazi paranoia". Large companies spend big
bucks to ensure their logos and advertising presence are ALWAYS
consistent down to the "nanometer". This is a BIG problem when it
comes to FOSS and Linux marketing because there is NO single "face" to
show. Removing singularity for the sake of a plural approach is a
strength in Open Source development, but it is at odds with
traditional marketing. Inevitably, (wild example from fantasy only...)
SUSE guys n gals have different ideas on the subject to Debianistas
whose outlook differs to that of Fedora hackers.....and when the
debate finishes...everyone just walks away from it.

1. Traditional media adds like TV and Newspaper are too expensive. We
live in a new world people....ask any marketer and they will tell you
that the spend on advertising in those mediums is falling away
dramatically! Notwithstanding the fact that a single advert will have
little or no effect. Advertising in these media requires a lengthy and
expensive "stay" if there is going to be any positive ongoing effect.

2. We live in a world where our target audience mostly don't read
newspapers and their TV screen time is far and away out done by their
Internet screen time.

3. Several large companies are starting to realize the benefits and
better bang for buck that new media channels provide.

There have been several successful campaigns run through media like
YouTube and it there I would suggest a start be made. Someone on this
or another list also mentioned billboards in sites like Second
Life....that falls in the same vein...using new media and making sure
the ad itself targets the correct audience in an entertaining and
engaging way. Ads that people WANT to watch are worth so much more
than those shoved down their throats on TV....

Something that can done right NOW:

Gather a team of 4 parts:
1 part a creative panel that comes up with several storyboards for ads.
1 part that garners community input and controls the debate over which
storyboard gets produced.
1 part that produces video from the story boards.
1 part that follows up and does things to point people to the video ads...
..then do it again and again and again....

Create something light and funny, something easily understood but most
off all something that is entertaining and targeted at the normal PC
user that concentrates solely on the benefits that normal users can
gain by using Linux. An example of the sort of "attitude" I mean is
partially  represented by this IPod add on Youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JJZiZHVovU
(apologies to any blonds on the list...:-) )

If its entertaining enough, there will be no problem with getting the
message out....best of all is the low cost of creation (community
effort),  and distribution...

Rgds
BW

On 2/6/07, Nigel Cunningham <nigel at nigel.suspend2.net> wrote:
> Hi,
>
> On Tue, 2007-02-06 at 09:38 +0930, Anthony Hornby wrote:
> > Hi All,
> > If linux is ready for the desktop (and I think it is) this sort of
> > thing should be on TV, in the newspapers, on posters at your local
> > computer shop, on TV "tech shows" etc etc etc ...
> >
> > Brand recognition is what it is all about (as much as I hate to admit
> > it). Average consumers do not, and will not, invest a lot of time
> > making purchasing decisions about computers and software - they just
> > pick what they have seen recommended in the media or what the salesman
> > at their local shop recommends.
> >
> > We need some of the bigger organisations to be actively promoting
> > linux products in this way to get inroads into the home user market.
> >
> > It is market share that will bring along all the other things we want
> > like more openness from hardware vendors (so better driver support for
> > new stuff, better support for games and other commercial software
> > packages (either natively or via wine) etc etc etc ...
> >
> > Get significant market share on the desktop and IE starts losing its
> > grip in the browser stakes. Outlook becomes less important as an email
> > client.
> >
> > Here's hoping ....
> >
> > Regards Anthony.
>
> Amen! I'd love to see ads on telly right now. Some applying that Wow
> slogan in ways Microsoft didn't intend...
>
> Wow! They can shut down my windows installation just like that!
> Wow! They get that data from my computer!
>
> That said, it would probably be much better just to present the facts
> there and try not to make it nasty.
>
> Regards,
>
> Nigel
>
>
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