Murrquan
October 16th, 2007, 05:05 PM
I read something a little while ago that stayed with me, and got me thinking. I'd link you all to it, but unfortunately, I forgot the URL. >.< The point is a valid one, though. And while you may already know it, I wanted to apply the principles that I'd learned and articulate for myself why Ubuntu is taking the world by storm.
How come Windows is so popular?
It's a well-known "secret" that Microsoft is not really a tech company. What they are is a marketing company, with a well-funded legal department and a horribly kludgy product. But it's one that keeps getting sold, because of their OEM deals and because of their marketing.
Marketing is not something weird and arcane. You don't have to lie in order to market, and it isn't a "necessary evil" -- because it is necessary, and it's not inherently evil. In fact, it can enhance the user experience. Just visit any Microsoft website; (http://www.microsoft.com/athome/default.mspx) they're shiny and streamlined, designed to help users feel good about buying a Windows PC and to show them neat things they can do with it.
Why is it evil when Microsoft does it? Because the message they're trying to send is wrong, and is tainted by their ulterior motives. Behind every "tips and tricks" article is the message that you need to buy Windows Vista and Office 2007, and use IE and Windows Media Player. Oh, and get Windows Defender to block out the inevitable spyware.
But the fact that Microsoft's ad campaigns are designed to promote their monopoly doesn't mean that ad campaigns are bad. Whether an ad campaign's bad or not depends on the motive, and on the message.
In Ubuntu's case, the motive is to share and to help others, and the message is ... what? Stay tuned, and find out how you're already a part of the biggest pro-Linux ad campaign ever.
Sending the Wrong Message
In some markets, like, say, laundry detergent, the ads are all about how THIS brand does the job better than THAT brand. You've probably seen the commercials.
The best ad campaigns, however, aren't like that. Why? Because those commercials remind the viewer of the other product. The thing that you're marketing becomes, in essence, the same as the other product -- just "better." And this is a claim that invites challenge.
Tell someone that Ubuntu is better than Windows, and the answer is not usually "Wow, tell me more!" For someone who's grown up on Windows, the answer is quite often skepticism. "Can it do this?" they ask. "Can it do that?" And so you tell them about Wine, and OpenOffice.org, and the more they hear about it the more they think it's like a copy of Windows that doesn't work right.
Sending a POWERFUL Message
The best way to differentiate yourself from your competitors is to focus on your strengths, not their weaknesses. Instead of sending the message that "This is what I am not," you need to send the message that "This is what I am."
Take Apple. Their Mac ads are an example of a weaker message. Everyone remember "Hi, I'm a Mac / And I'm a PC?" (http://www.apple.com/getamac/ads/) The message is "Macs are better computers." A lot of people are frustrated with Windows, so this message is powerful for some. It's the kind of thing you remember next time you have problems with Windows. I used to keep quoting an older commercial of theirs -- "I'm going to Jimmy's, he has a Mac" -- because that kind of situation kept coming up in real life. But most people put up with their PCs, like I did, because they don't think it'd be realistic to switch to a Mac. The Mac's market share is growing, but not nearly as fast as Vista's.
Now look at the iPod ads. What do they tell you? I don't remember who first spelled it out for me, but their message is "iPod = Music." And that is a message that took hold. Along with their product's clean and elegant design, those ads helped the iPod take an 80% market share. In today's marketplace, iPods are music. It's that simple.
Microsoft's Strategy
In Microsoft's ad campaigns, Windows is computing. Just look at their online Microsoft Home Magazine (http://www.microsoft.com/canada/home/default.aspx) ... it's all about how to do things with "your computer."
Even when they mention Microsoft software, it's like "Use Windows Media Player to do this with your computer," or "Use Microsoft Office to do this on your computer." The fact that your computer is running Windows is a given, because Windows = computers. Their writers don't have love/hate relationships with Windows XP, they have love/hate relationships with their computers. (http://www.microsoft.com/canada/home/whoweare/6.1.0_contributors.aspx#70) Linux? What the heck is that? Is it contagious?
Part of the reason Vista uptake has been so slow, aside from OEM copies, is because Vista does not equal computing. Vista is "a better Windows XP." Aside from the fact that it just plain isn't, most people don't want to "upgrade" when what they have already works.
So what is Ubuntu?
The reason Ubuntu has caught on so fast is because you have a strong identity also. Windows may equal computers, and iPods may equal music, but Ubuntu is ...
Wait for it ...
You!
You're the reason Ubuntu is so successful. Ubuntu is the community.
I know you could've told me that, but it bears repeating. Because this is the biggest thing that sets you apart from Windows and Mac, and from all other Linux distros. It's what you have that they don't, and it's what all your marketing emphasizes. "Linux for Human Beings!" Pictures of smiling people holding hands!
The spirit of Ubuntu is a natural outgrowth of the best parts of human nature. And it has become contagious, as the community members reach out to friends and family and share Ubuntu with them. You may not have much of a marketing budget, but you've definitely got an ad campaign going, and every one of you is a part of it. And thanks in part to your efforts, Linux use on the desktop more than doubled in the past year (http://linux.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/10/07/1215245).
Keep it up. ^.^ And remember that what you have isn't "Better than Windows," "Better than Mac," or even "Better than other Linux distros." It's Ubuntu, and it can stand on its own.
Jared Spurbeck, aka Murrquan, is a webserial author (http://www.snowglobestory.com), who loves Linux and has way too much time on his hands. He tried Ubuntu a while back, and while he went back to Fedora soon afterwards he was highly impressed with Ubuntu's community. He wrote up this essay in Notepad, because he thought of it while booted into XP and waiting for the Halo demo to download.
How come Windows is so popular?
It's a well-known "secret" that Microsoft is not really a tech company. What they are is a marketing company, with a well-funded legal department and a horribly kludgy product. But it's one that keeps getting sold, because of their OEM deals and because of their marketing.
Marketing is not something weird and arcane. You don't have to lie in order to market, and it isn't a "necessary evil" -- because it is necessary, and it's not inherently evil. In fact, it can enhance the user experience. Just visit any Microsoft website; (http://www.microsoft.com/athome/default.mspx) they're shiny and streamlined, designed to help users feel good about buying a Windows PC and to show them neat things they can do with it.
Why is it evil when Microsoft does it? Because the message they're trying to send is wrong, and is tainted by their ulterior motives. Behind every "tips and tricks" article is the message that you need to buy Windows Vista and Office 2007, and use IE and Windows Media Player. Oh, and get Windows Defender to block out the inevitable spyware.
But the fact that Microsoft's ad campaigns are designed to promote their monopoly doesn't mean that ad campaigns are bad. Whether an ad campaign's bad or not depends on the motive, and on the message.
In Ubuntu's case, the motive is to share and to help others, and the message is ... what? Stay tuned, and find out how you're already a part of the biggest pro-Linux ad campaign ever.
Sending the Wrong Message
In some markets, like, say, laundry detergent, the ads are all about how THIS brand does the job better than THAT brand. You've probably seen the commercials.
The best ad campaigns, however, aren't like that. Why? Because those commercials remind the viewer of the other product. The thing that you're marketing becomes, in essence, the same as the other product -- just "better." And this is a claim that invites challenge.
Tell someone that Ubuntu is better than Windows, and the answer is not usually "Wow, tell me more!" For someone who's grown up on Windows, the answer is quite often skepticism. "Can it do this?" they ask. "Can it do that?" And so you tell them about Wine, and OpenOffice.org, and the more they hear about it the more they think it's like a copy of Windows that doesn't work right.
Sending a POWERFUL Message
The best way to differentiate yourself from your competitors is to focus on your strengths, not their weaknesses. Instead of sending the message that "This is what I am not," you need to send the message that "This is what I am."
Take Apple. Their Mac ads are an example of a weaker message. Everyone remember "Hi, I'm a Mac / And I'm a PC?" (http://www.apple.com/getamac/ads/) The message is "Macs are better computers." A lot of people are frustrated with Windows, so this message is powerful for some. It's the kind of thing you remember next time you have problems with Windows. I used to keep quoting an older commercial of theirs -- "I'm going to Jimmy's, he has a Mac" -- because that kind of situation kept coming up in real life. But most people put up with their PCs, like I did, because they don't think it'd be realistic to switch to a Mac. The Mac's market share is growing, but not nearly as fast as Vista's.
Now look at the iPod ads. What do they tell you? I don't remember who first spelled it out for me, but their message is "iPod = Music." And that is a message that took hold. Along with their product's clean and elegant design, those ads helped the iPod take an 80% market share. In today's marketplace, iPods are music. It's that simple.
Microsoft's Strategy
In Microsoft's ad campaigns, Windows is computing. Just look at their online Microsoft Home Magazine (http://www.microsoft.com/canada/home/default.aspx) ... it's all about how to do things with "your computer."
Even when they mention Microsoft software, it's like "Use Windows Media Player to do this with your computer," or "Use Microsoft Office to do this on your computer." The fact that your computer is running Windows is a given, because Windows = computers. Their writers don't have love/hate relationships with Windows XP, they have love/hate relationships with their computers. (http://www.microsoft.com/canada/home/whoweare/6.1.0_contributors.aspx#70) Linux? What the heck is that? Is it contagious?
Part of the reason Vista uptake has been so slow, aside from OEM copies, is because Vista does not equal computing. Vista is "a better Windows XP." Aside from the fact that it just plain isn't, most people don't want to "upgrade" when what they have already works.
So what is Ubuntu?
The reason Ubuntu has caught on so fast is because you have a strong identity also. Windows may equal computers, and iPods may equal music, but Ubuntu is ...
Wait for it ...
You!
You're the reason Ubuntu is so successful. Ubuntu is the community.
I know you could've told me that, but it bears repeating. Because this is the biggest thing that sets you apart from Windows and Mac, and from all other Linux distros. It's what you have that they don't, and it's what all your marketing emphasizes. "Linux for Human Beings!" Pictures of smiling people holding hands!
The spirit of Ubuntu is a natural outgrowth of the best parts of human nature. And it has become contagious, as the community members reach out to friends and family and share Ubuntu with them. You may not have much of a marketing budget, but you've definitely got an ad campaign going, and every one of you is a part of it. And thanks in part to your efforts, Linux use on the desktop more than doubled in the past year (http://linux.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/10/07/1215245).
Keep it up. ^.^ And remember that what you have isn't "Better than Windows," "Better than Mac," or even "Better than other Linux distros." It's Ubuntu, and it can stand on its own.
Jared Spurbeck, aka Murrquan, is a webserial author (http://www.snowglobestory.com), who loves Linux and has way too much time on his hands. He tried Ubuntu a while back, and while he went back to Fedora soon afterwards he was highly impressed with Ubuntu's community. He wrote up this essay in Notepad, because he thought of it while booted into XP and waiting for the Halo demo to download.