Marketing Ubuntu (and Linux)

[ankitmalik]

I just read a comment on OSNEWS, here it is...

"Why shouldn't MS "integrate" (whatever that really means) RSS into Windows? It's a new technology that Windows needs to stay current. People like the all-or-nothing approach of Windows. If given an option to install something called "RSS Tools", 99 of 100 people wouldn't know what "RSS Tools" means. Tell them, though, that Windows can automatically update news headlines, sport scores, and stock info and they'll say "Yes"."

Well we got to agree that Linux distros are better but we dont market them well, Ubuntu is a step in the right direction but we could still go a real further.

For eg. Since ages Ubuntu distros have had those RSS readers but it is MS now which steals the limelight. It is because they are marketing well; like they are saying automatic scores, stocks , news instead of RSS..That way people get it more...

But all is not lost...we could begin marketing Ubuntu's good features with Breezy Badger. Not hyping the features but atleast giving them credit.

For eg.

a) Awesome Out of the box eye candy and integrated tools to skin your applications
b) The All-in-one Messenger- no need to login to different clients. just use one gaim to login to all your Y! hotmail! AIM etc. accounts
c) Integrated Photo Suite : Get going with your digicam. Gthumb helps you import images in a flash, f-spot helps you export it to flickr and burn cds and stuff and then gimp is for more hifi stuff etc.
d) Beagle Search: Search anything anywhere on your computer

e) Your Stuff remains private > to show that each one has seperate home dirs :D
Of course I am not a marketing person, so not wording the stuff right...and someone could put them in better words...but just an idea...what do you think..???

Showing ppl what work they can get done rather than what apps a distro has seems a cooler way...what do you think?? Opinions please;.

[rockmusic88]

seems like a good idea. the one thing i have noticed about linux distros is they usaly dont do enough marketing. if it was promted in the way you said. e.g. telling people what the programs or features do instead of telling them what the program or feature was called im sure linux would do a lot better.

[MadMan2k]

you mean something like that:
http://images.linspire.com/linspire5.0intro4-8-5.swf ?

I dont know if the benefit would be enough to outweight the loss in niveau. ;)

[ankitmalik]

And Also how about a comparison sheet


Breezy Badger vs. Windows vs. Apple Mac OS X

Integrated Graphics Suite --> Yes No No
Integrated All in one MEssenger --> Yes No No?
Immune to virus --> Yes No Yes
Eye Candy Tools Out of the box --> Yes No Yes

And more....

[UbuWu]

Eye Candy Tools Out of the box --> Yes No Yes


Ubuntu definitely needs more eyecandy before you can say that... currently it is comparable to windows, and nothing compared to os x. But I like the idea of a comparison sheet.

[Arthemys]

A quick little thing to keep in mind about the Linspire marketting approach... You have to pay for Linspire, that money goes to marketting and making everything fully compatible like their CNR. Granted paying for free software is pretty dumb, when you use CNR in Linspire, it's them saying "YES it will run as designed" vs. "Maybe it will run on your system."

Just my quick two cents. (No I'm not a linspire fan)

[jzke]

mmm, I dislike the idea of Linspire too... but I do agree we need better marketing. Ubuntu is such a great distro, it really should be marketed, as Linux, particularly Ubuntu, has gotten to the point where it is entirely usable out-of-the-box, or, straight after a clean install. Ubuntu is a very memorable name, I think it will become one of the better known brands in Linux (it pretty much already has I guess)... I don't know, but we really need to market Ubuntu, and establish a brand name among everyday people.

[CAE]

mmm, I dislike the idea of Linspire too... but I do agree we need better marketing. Ubuntu is such a great distro, it really should be marketed, as Linux, particularly Ubuntu, has gotten to the point where it is entirely usable out-of-the-box, or, straight after a clean install. Ubuntu is a very memorable name, I think it will become one of the better known brands in Linux (it pretty much already has I guess)... I don't know, but we really need to market Ubuntu, and establish a brand name among everyday people.
I like the idea of marketing Ubuntu, too. Hell, I like marketing in general, it's what I study and what I practice. ;) I would be more than willing to help devise a campaign for Breezy, or Ubuntu, in general, should that be direction Canonical wish to take (and whether they want community involvement at that level). Just shoot me a PM.

[N'Jal]

Might i point you to this thread then? Of course i will be biased to my idea but i don't do marketing, so i don't actually know what sells.

Ubuntu Commercial (http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?p=227216)

[Nightblade]

If you're to make a commercial you need to include LOTS of more stuff in the basic install. You'll need something like:

* Office suite (OOo 2)
* Internet suite (I'd say Mozilla Firefox + Thunderbird +GAIM)
* Multimedia suite (Rythmbox + Mplayer with all codecs)
* Easy setup tool for a gfxcard. For example, a entry in the menu called "Install your graphics card here!" and it autodetects the card, downloads the driver and activates it.
* Antivirus protection (prolly uneccesary but people wanna feel safe)
* Firewall (Firestarter is EXCELLENT, I love it)
* Graphics/movie suite (GIMP2, maybe Blender and some camsoftware, Kino)
* Burning software (Gnomebaker/DVD::RIP)
* Win32 emu (wine)
* Synaptic! Needs to be intergrated and a lot more "availible". Like, a nice big description too it telling us that this is the packetmanager where you can also download VERY much other programs, a wide variety of apps. All for free too! :)

I do realize most of this stuff is already intergrated but I think a DVD-release would really make things more attractive for the averge user. Also, a graphical install (maybe a choice can be made here, "Installation for people new to Linux" or "Traditional install".).

Another thing is a automated script for automounting your harddrives, the script detecting filesystem & adding entry in fstab.


Just my thoughts. :)

[Trojan1313]

you mean something like that:
http://images.linspire.com/linspire5.0intro4-8-5.swf ?

I dont know if the benefit would be enough to outweight the loss in niveau. ;)
They have already heard 'bout Linspire before seeing that.

I think an important thing with in marketing Linux would be to use a graphical installer, like Red Hat do. Isn't Anaconda OpenSource anyway? I'm not very updated on the new Ubuntu, perhaps it's already decided to use Anaconda. I think that would be another step in the right direction. If someone finally decides to try Linux out we wouldn't want to frighten them at installation. :)

Also a Red Hat-like detect-the-gfx-card would be good. When I installed RedHat 8 it asked me if I thought they got my gfx-card right, and I could to choose what drive to use.

Say what you will 'bout RedHat, they got the installer right. :)

[CAE]

Might i point you to this thread then? Of course i will be biased to my idea but i don't do marketing, so i don't actually know what sells.

Ubuntu Commercial (http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?p=227216)

There are some good ideas in that thread. Let me just address a few of them.


Let's create a super funny commercial in flash. The quality of the commercial has to be really high. It also has to be super funny because we want to spread this commercial like a fire in a dry plain!

Super funny? No, I don't think so. Marketing communications should reflect what is being marketed. Just how is Ubuntu side-splitingly funny? Plus, we're not targeting kids here.

High quality? Sure. As I said, should reflect the product.

Spread like wild-fire? Absoultely. In recent times, other companies such as Google have been great at using what's known as "viral marketing". It's where you have the users of the product marketing to good for the firm. It works particularly well with tech/online products.

Personally, I'd rather mount a campaign similar to the one Firefox mounted.

[veritas366]

There's one big problem with trying to "compete" with Windows: multimedia. I realize that it is the closed source/proprietary codecs business that is is much of the problem but just plain folks who would respond to this sort of marketing want to be able to watch videos in various places...movie previews, music videos, news videos. For whatever reasons, different systems have different problems. And the problems change. I could never get Mplayer to work embedded. I replaced with Totem Xine and had to go thru a pretty elaborate process (installing and editing mozplugger) to get that to work as an embedded player. I swear that at one point I could play wmv files but now they are scrambled and the sound is so choppy as to be unintelligble.

Not trying to start a flame war about viewers or ask questions about players here. I'm just pointing out that multimedia is important and I think that you, quite frankly, have to sacrifice some of that for the switch to any Linux distro.

The other area of marketing difficulty is games but that's a specific demographic. There are lots of people out there who don't play PC games (I mean the latest and greatest, not Tux Racer). Sure, with a lot of luck you can get some of these to play in Linux, but I, for example, have not had such luck.

The nice thing about any Linux distro, though, is that you can be honest in your advertising. That is, it doesn't hurt your "bottom line" to suggest that if the latest games are your interest you may want to retain Windows. I think of the ads for Progressive car insurance which say you can go to their website and get quotes from different companies, even if Progressive's is not the best rate.

But the multimedia thing is a big hurdle for attracting mainstream users. The folks who just want to browse the web and check email and maybe write some letters and look at digital photos would be an obvious target for Ubuntu, but such people will NOT have the patience to try to deal with multimedia hassles, even while acknowledging some good how to's on this site. I think Ubuntu should pick a media player and just really work with it to see all the different ways they can make it work better with Ubuntu. This will mean venturing into codecs...so it would have to be officially unofficial or would that be unofficially official? In any event, the legal issues may make this undoable and that, in turn, makes it tough for Ubuntu (or any other distro) to be ready for prime time.

[Trojan1313]

I haven't had any problems viewing my media, until I reinstalled firefox, trying to patch things up again though.

I don't think the codecs will be a big problem, I think the games will be a major problem (I personally don't play much games anymore, so I have no problems with that). But you might be able to attract enough users to make companies aware of the fact that Linux is growing, and people want products for Linux. You have to start somewhere.

I think it would be a good idea if someone could make information sheets send them out to highly populated areas with good and bad sides of Linux. I think a lot of people would try it out atleast, wich would lagren the Linux community.

By the way, why did Doom 3 come out to Linux? Is there some special relation between Doom and Linux or is it part of a new fade?

[N'Jal]

These are good things to include, however looking at the MS adverts on english TV there's no mention of what windows is/does/includes it's someone talking about their life, then some spokes man saying no matter what your preference we are inspired to create software your your needs.

[monchichi]

I've been leaving dozens of Ubuntu Cd's around the city, at bus-stops and laundromats and what not.. now that's what I call marketing. Guerilla marketing. I also recommend Ubuntu to all of my customers, and give them an install cd and live cd if they are interested. Ubuntu will essentially market itself-- if we spread the word on a grassroots level.

I'm also working on an Adbusters style full page ad right now... satirizing the M$ advertisements that have the chalk outlines and say "We See..." I should be done in a couple of days.. also have plans to do an Ubuntu stencil so I can spraypaint Ubuntu propaganda on sidewalks. (P.S. such activities are not endorsed by Ubuntu in any way blah blah blah)

Grassroots marketing, Guerrilla marketing... do your part!

[jzke]

Haha... yeah well word-of-mouth is better than anything...

[Nequeo]

This made me laugh... and then stop to think.


I've been leaving dozens of Ubuntu Cd's around the city, at bus-stops and laundromats and what not.. now that's what I call marketing. Guerilla marketing. I also recommend Ubuntu to all of my customers, and give them an install cd and live cd if they are interested. Ubuntu will essentially market itself-- if we spread the word on a grassroots level.

<snip>

Grassroots marketing, Guerrilla marketing... do your part!



When I read this my first thought was Chick Tracts (http://www.chick.com/). I don't live in America, so I haven't actually seen any of these in the wild, so to speak, but you are encouraged to leave them lying around at bus-stops, hotel rooms, etc. etc.

We're all about tolerance here, so I'll refrain from making any comment about the content of these tracts. But if you read the 'Here's How' section of the site, I'm sure you'll see the simularities. In fact, I can't help wondering if that's what Canonical had in mind when they offered to ship out free CDs.

That being said, I just finished a thesis on the use of IT by several non-government organisations here in Australia. The focus was on the ability of IT to spread information at a grass-roots level. Guerilla News was used as a point of comparison. I am steeped in the philosophies and mindset of aid workers, humanitarians and all those campaigning for a better future.

So it came as a bit of an intellectual shock that my first thought about a perfectly sensible grass-roots marketing suggestion hit me as "How evangelical!". This is exactly the sort of behaviour that gets me foaming at the mouth when I see it in others. And yet... Every day I walk past Oxfam aid workers who solicit for donors. They always stop me - and of late I've considered carrying around a few of those lovely CDs canonical shipped out to me so I can pass them on to the Oxfam workers. Hypocritical, no?

Anyway, just something to think about it. I guess that makes Linux my religion.

Keep the faith, Brother (and sisters)!

[alexhawdon]

They have already heard 'bout Linspire before seeing that.

I think an important thing with in marketing Linux would be to use a graphical installer, like Red Hat do. Isn't Anaconda OpenSource anyway? I'm not very updated on the new Ubuntu, perhaps it's already decided to use Anaconda. I think that would be another step in the right direction. If someone finally decides to try Linux out we wouldn't want to frighten them at installation. :)

Also a Red Hat-like detect-the-gfx-card would be good. When I installed RedHat 8 it asked me if I thought they got my gfx-card right, and I could to choose what drive to use.

Say what you will 'bout RedHat, they got the installer right. :)
Must say i disagree with the comments about requiring a graphical installer, I think Canonical has made a wise decision focusing the Ubuntu efforts on the actual OS. Most folks are apprehensive about installing ANY os. Ubuntus installer is functional and (with the exception of the ease with which you can wipe your HD) has the fewest newbie pitfalls of a linux install I've seen. Yes, none of them are perfect in this regard, but i do think Ubuntu's install is the least tricky for a lay person.

[lameaim]

FYI, Breezy will have a graphical installer (integrated with the livecd).

[skoal]

[...]Super funny? No, I don't think so. Marketing communications should reflect what is being marketed. Just how is Ubuntu side-splitingly funny? Plus, we're not targeting kids here.
CAE, you make some good points in your post, but I have to disagree (in part, not in full) with you on this one. Having been in sales, I have some indirect experience in marketing. Just a few "quick" points:

Humor is effective - I watched the Linspire 'flick' in it's entirety, and I'm just using it as an example here. I was roundly impressed by their presentation, but quite uninspired (nor moved) until I saw the words "Absolutely Brilliant!" flash across my screen. My mind quickly wandered and began to regain "focus". Brilliant!? brilliant?? Where have I heard that before?? A quick google rewarded me with this, Guinness Beer. Most in the United States know what ad campaign I'm referring to. The one with "Southpark" type cartoon characters. That's why "humor" is used in marketing, and used quite often.
Humor gets attention - How did my attention quickly turn from Linspire, possibly our own commercial, or even this thread, to remembering what funny beer commercial that was. See my point? Maybe I'm just a drunk. I don't know. However...
Humor lasts - As illustrated by my first point, humor is effective, and more importantly, lasting. Unfortunately humorous ads tend to disasocciate the connection between the humor and the product. Brand name retention is low. Marketing analysis will (and has) shown that. Remember the cheetah ad in the Super Bowl? What product was it that was pulled from the Cheetah's mouth? Yet it was the most effective ad campaign of them all...
Humor opens closed doors - The overall net effect of humor in advertising is not for product association (or even use, worth, or value of said product), but rather, "sticking your foot in a door" when everyone else just knocks. The salespitch comes later. Just imagine an Encyclopedia salesman inside your house talking to you on the couch as he glances over at your computer with a browser window left open on wikipedia.com. Why did you let him in? And, for the love of God, why are you reaching for the checkbook...
Image is everything - Humor can be quite detrimental in many product marketing campaigns, since it's very subjective. Case in point, the dancing Six Flags old timer scares the living cazoongas out of me. Similiarly, on opposite age extremes, the Quiznos baby is freakish and makes me want to castrate myself in the offchance possibility I might produce something just as hellish.
s/Quality/Humor/ - Or to the point, Guinness beer sucks. Yet after seeing this Linspire commercial, reconnecting with another completely unrelated product's anecdote, I did a quick 'beer run', grabbed myself a 6-pack of Guinness, and find myself sipping from this bottle of horse **** as I type to you now. Effective? I hope you see my point. Or am I just plain stupid? An equally valid conclusion. Either way, I'm out $6 and will keep the remaining 5 bottles in the fridge, offering them to "friends" when they visit. Whoever provided that link to the linspire commercial owes me big time.
Humor > Logic - How many of you ever bought a "bobble doll" for your car dashboard? How many of you wish you still had front teeth after quickly applying the brakes one day?

What was this thread about anyway? I forget. By the way, are you still thinking about Linux, beer, or even "bobble dolls"? That's the short term effect. Effective marketing is concerned with the long term effect. That's the hard part, and humor helps in that end. Most importantly, know your market! - "we're not targeting kids here?" Who is more inclined to try Linux (Ubuntu), as is (with it's many unpolished quirks)? Saavy teenagers? Or Grandparents? I honestly don't know, but your point is well taken.

\\//_

[N'Jal]

Although Yes the ubuntu installer is very easy it's damn ugly, it's like asking who'd like cde over gnome, i know cde is comformant to lett's rule but face it, it's damn ugly.

Though i would like an ubuntu installer of it's own. Anaconda is good but i found that so is mandriva's (even though i dislike the distro) YaST2 (that's not going to happen i know). I'd like to see an ubuntu graphical installer something that can be called our own.

[CAE]

CAE, you make some good points in your post, but I have to disagree (in part, not in full) with you on this one. Having been in sales, I have some indirect experience in marketing. Just a few "quick" points:

Hi skoal, I'd like to take the time to address some of the very good points you've made. But first, I'd like to point out that when it comes to marketing (or people in general) everything is subjective and no one is entirely the same.


Humor is effective - I watched the Linspire 'flick' in it's entirety, and I'm just using it as an example here. I was roundly impressed by their presentation, but quite uninspired (nor moved) until I saw the words "Absolutely Brilliant!" flash across my screen. My mind quickly wandered and began to regain "focus". Brilliant!? brilliant?? Where have I heard that before?? A quick google rewarded me with this, Guinness Beer. Most in the United States know what ad campaign I'm referring to. The one with "Southpark" type cartoon characters. That's why "humor" is used in marketing, and used quite often.

I, for one, never made that connection and yes, I have seen the Guinness commercials before. Know why? Because, while that commercial is mildy amusing (the first few times...), "brilliant" is a pretty weak way of creating product distinction. No one's going to come out and say "we'd like you to buy our below average product". Amusing catchphrases are all well and good, but they do nothing to build product image, which is generally what you want to do with new products.


Humor gets attention - How did my attention quickly turn from Linspire, possibly our own commercial, or even this thread, to remembering what funny beer commercial that was. See my point? Maybe I'm just a drunk. I don't know. However...

I'd say that you remember the "brilliant!" bit because it was simple and heavily repeated, not because it is truly reflective of the product. Indeed, you said yourself that you couldn't even remember the product until you googled it. Did you really associate "brilliant!" with humor straight away, or was it after you determined the product and recalled the commercials?


Humor lasts - As illustrated by my first point, humor is effective, and more importantly, lasting. Unfortunately humorous ads tend to disasocciate the connection between the humor and the product. Brand name retention is low. Marketing analysis will (and has) shown that. Remember the cheetah ad in the Super Bowl? What product was it that was pulled from the Cheetah's mouth? Yet it was the most effective ad campaign of them all...

I disagree with the "lasting" point here. Humor tends to get old, quickly. However I agree with the rest. Simple messages and images last and are easily associated with a product.


Humor opens closed doors - The overall net effect of humor in advertising is not for product association (or even use, worth, or value of said product), but rather, "sticking your foot in a door" when everyone else just knocks. The salespitch comes later. Just imagine an Encyclopedia salesman inside your house talking to you on the couch as he glances over at your computer with a browser window left open on wikipedia.com. Why did you let him in? And, for the love of God, why are you reaching for the checkbook...

I believe there are other, more effective ways of doing this. Again, this is my opinion. Personally, I'd prefer the "shock and awe" method (I'd also prefer if I stopped using that metaphor, too). I tend to favour campaigns that dazzle potential customers before the pitch. Have them thinking "wow, this is awesome!" or "I could do so much with this!" or "I'd love to try this!" before hammering the point home. It's also this reason why I think I need Ubuntu Art needs a shot in the arm and why eye candy should be pursued, but I digress.


Image is everything - Humor can be quite detrimental in many product marketing campaigns, since it's very subjective. Case in point, the dancing Six Flags old timer scares the living cazoongas out of me. Similiarly, on opposite age extremes, the Quiznos baby is freakish and makes me want to castrate myself in the offchance possibility I might produce something just as hellish.

Can't agree more here. It's all so hit or miss, and more often or not, you're going to miss.


s/Quality/Humor/ - Or to the point, Guinness beer sucks. Yet after seeing this Linspire commercial, reconnecting with another completely unrelated product's anecdote, I did a quick 'beer run', grabbed myself a 6-pack of Guinness, and find myself sipping from this bottle of horse **** as I type to you now. Effective? I hope you see my point. Or am I just plain stupid? An equally valid conclusion. Either way, I'm out $6 and will keep the remaining 5 bottles in the fridge, offering them to "friends" when they visit. Whoever provided that link to the linspire commercial owes me big time.

Again, just my opinion, but I don't know too many people who install an OS on a whim, after seeing a tagline or logo. You know, just as "something to do". Unless of course, they're a geeky kind of person, in which case, marketing Ubuntu to them would not be particularly effective, anyway. Beer's different, (given you're of legal age ;)) it's simple to go buy and consume it on an impulse. An OS, on the other hand, I feel, is slightly different. While Ubuntu is free, a potential "customer" must invest time in readying their computer, installing, getting the hang of it, trouble shooting, et cetera.


Humor > Logic - How many of you ever bought a "bobble doll" for your car dashboard? How many of you wish you still had front teeth after quickly applying the brakes one day?

I'll confess, I have no idea what point you're trying to make here. :)

[Trojan1313]

Only on the Live? Why?

[skoal]

Howdy CAE, I hope these points are relevant to this thread (at least I think so from the subject line), and I enjoy the exchange of ideas, especially coming from someone of your background and experience.

"Amusing catchphrases are all well and good, but they do nothing to build product image, which is generally what you want to do with new products".

I disagree, especially when you're talking about Linux. All you need to do is read that other commercial thread, sample from a few of those replys, and you'll see what I'm talking about. Those people in that thread are your market, and a good sampling of it. Linux is not new, except for converts from Windows, but is that the "market" we're talking about here? If so, I disagree with the greater Ubuntu minds who think so. The target audience should be other distros.

Having used Linux since it's infancy, circa 1993, I'm quite aware of what image most people have of Linux (in general). To be perfectly frank, it's not good. If you want to set yourself apart from all the other distros out there, I think a clever association with youthful energy, charm, and reckless spirit will help achieve that. Humor will help in that end. No, Humor will help desperately in that end. Then you close the deal and dazzle them with the specifics, much like the Encyclopedia salesman talking to the wikipedia.com user.

"I'd say that you remember the "brilliant!" bit because it was simple and heavily repeated, not because it is truly reflective of the product."

As I was using myself as exhibit A, the guinnea (or Guinness) pig for this discussion, I was trying to stress the importance of lasting impressions, not repetitions. The old Bartyles & James commercials come to mind, the "Less filling, Tastes Great" debates, or even the cute and funny Verizon commercials. All three of those have lasting images of humor associated with their products. The list goes on. Repitition, yes, helps in some, but most burn lasting humorous images on your psyche - old men sitting on the front porch drinking a wine cooler, a bar fight or two beautiful women ripping clothes off eachother, or a cute littel girl with cake powder on her face laughing at the man in a "trench coat", with respect to those 3 commercials cited above. And you're right, it's not "reflective" of the product, but we're utlimately talking about human behavior here. In grammar school, remembering your alphabet was much effective when using assocation, "A is for Apple, B is for Banana...". Repitition alone does not achieve that, nor does an Apple or Banana "reflect" the letter A or B directly.

The important point is, without that association I had with talking Southpark characters, I seriously doubt I would even remember that beer the next time I stood before a grocery store freezer, scribbling "?" (question marks) on the frosty door while trying to make a decision. Granted, we're buying a distro here, not a beer - but the same applies to purchasing a Verizon phone, a technical product amidst many alternatives, which is very relevant here. As with cell phones and various calling plans, with respect to Ubuntu and various distros, what helps sell your product? Ultimately, a well informed decision. But in lieu of name recognition or vivid association with images (humorous ones possibly), that product may be inevitably left out of that final decision. That's just human nature. In sales, we say "drive drive that image home. They may not buy now, but they will remember!"

"Humor > Logic (reference) - I'll confess, I have no idea what point you're trying to make here."

Yes, sir. I probably missed on this one, and that goes back to some of the other points we agree on, with humor used in marketing. However, the point I was trying to stress was how many of us have closets full of crap, pure crap we bought because we thought it was cute or funny, and later questioned our sanity for buying it. That's the effect of humor in marketing. It wins over purchases solely based on logic, or dare say, even need. I've been around before we even landed on the moon, and in all my life there are several traits we universally share (and inherit by birth) across all generations - humor, love, and a few others. However, logic is not one of those.

I was just trying to make an analogy, albeit a subtle one. When humor is used wisely and effectively in marketing campaigns, it helps in far more cases than it hurts. Can we agree on that? I think we agree on most other points. It just seemed you originally dismissed that notion too quickly, IMHO.

\\//_

[lameaim]

Only on the Live? Why?
There won't be a Install CD, only a Live CD with a graphical installer.

[Trojan1313]

There won't be a Install CD, only a Live CD with a graphical installer.
Ah, right, the current one is a Live CD as well, isn't it?
Is it "live" to boot as a live CD?

[marketing_ubuntu]

Hi all,

Is it just me, or is there a major vacuum in the marketing strategy?

Has anybody noticed that (like many distos) the focus seems to be extremely insular - like going to a linux expo is about it? Marketing to a few businesses that only somebody involved in the tech market will see?

How long will we wait until a global strategy is organised to really push this to the general public? I mean, like - users - not techies. A year?

Mark listed Bug #1 to be fixed, yet I have seen no evidence of a support network to enable 'People People' to take this to the massess and really talk, help, install..

I'm sorry, but I just feel that this is a brilliant distro and it's ready. A year might just be too late. The time is now! It seems the support is not there. How can we make this happen? Does anyone agree that we don't see this from the user perspective?

I think that until anyone wishing to market Ubuntu can't feel confident that they have the support (for printed media etc). and that this delay will continue and it will be another (not so good) disto that steps up and takes the throne, just because they have a better marketing strategy.

Look what happened last time: Microsoft.

LH

"Although personally I am quite content with existing explosives, I feel we must not stand in the path of improvement." - Winston Churchill

[ubuntu_demon]

true
look here : http://www.ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=41771

[aysiu]

I think the progress that Ubuntu is making has to do largely with your location in the world. First of all, you have to consider that Mark Shuttleworth is from South Africa, and one of his goals is to make Ubuntu available to South African schools. Ubuntu is really about availability to the masses. It's not, as I understand it, a primarily commercial distro (though, obviously, it has that potential, too) like Red Hat or SuSE.

Also, there was a recent announcement by HP that it would start preloading computers with Ubuntu. It may not happen in the US, but it's probably going to happen. Given that recently that's only one of two similar announcements (the other being Dell preloading a notebook with Mandriva in France), I think that's quite a bit of progress!

Can we do more? Sure. How about some concrete suggestions that people on this forum can follow?

[marketing_ubuntu]

Thanks ubuntu_daemon.

Ok, I'm seeing great ideas - lots of innovation (hey, that's what we do, right?).

But we need to look at the big picture. A commercial is a good idea. Flyers are great too. The most important point about marketing is that it is much less effective if it is not timed correctly. For example, you send a flyer to a house and the call around the day after to tell them how great your double glazing is - and they say "I've heard of you"..you get me?

This is irrelevant for what we are doing, but you see the point. The whole marketing plan needs to be organised. We need to be inline with Canonicals plans. We need to be working towards a common goal. We need to be focused.

Most of all, we need to dispell any ideas that we have loads of time. Just because you are efficient does not mean you are not precise.

I have contacted Mark regarding this and it seems there is no 'immediate' support to us want-to-be-advocates. By support I mean correlation, organisation, time-sensitivity and action.

TARGET: To get Linux into pole-position on the desktop
COMMENCING: Now
QUALITY CONTROL: Extremely high
METHOD: Via Ubuntu distro
VEHICLES: Talking to end users, groups, university students, CD's, printed media, organising events in connection with local chamber of commerce, small business enterprise boards etc. Talking to public representatives, politicians, governement bodies.
OPERATIVE WORDS: organisation, speaker literature, talk, talk, talk, talk, large groups of people, windows users, group, marketing support, canonical, contracts

I am at home developing in MM Flash and an accomplished professional web developer. The difference with web developers is that we actually talk to customers in the real world, unlike core developers.

The major point here is that commercial /design/printed media must come under the umbrella of the whole marketing effort for it to be effective. It cannot survive alone. We are a disorganised bunch of extremely passionate people.

Rally around and let's get on this. We do not have 12 months to fix this bug -

https://launchpad.net/distros/ubuntu/+bug/1

Regarding the 'commercial' (presentation/etc):
I will help you by assisting you in the organisation of your projects. We will collaborate and select the 'cream'. We will have a visual forum where anyone can get anything into a JPG and throw it up. We'll look and decide and democratically take action. If that's what you want (can I get a hell yeah?) lol.

But what we can do today, immediately is to look at really advocating like professionals. We need a booklet for speakers. We need to train each other in the best delivery methods for talks and how to GET IN places to talk.

We also need Canonical to get off their butts and back us up. We need it now and we need to do it right.

I am writng a booklet, but also this should not be in a vacuum. As soon as I have something worth looking at (give me 2 weeks), I'll post a link.

I'll also explain why we need to focus on one distro to market, if someone doesn't get why.

If there's anything here that's a problem to you - tell. I'll explain what I mean and if _we_ decide I'm wrong, (eventually, lol), then I am. Democratically.

I'll post this in the other forum post too, because I would like to keep a focus on the 'umbrella' too.

Good ideas. Like the warm one about the logo in the sky, sun going down except I think it should be penguins walking into the sunset. Zoom out from LCD to see it was all on screen. Human minimises window, checks email and opens a DOC file called 'Productivity'. Write on screen (in MS Sans Serif, lol) "Linux for humans. (and penguins too)" *chuckle* Just an idea.

This is all fun, but we need to make it happen. And we cannot do anything with the support from Canonical. As soon as we're organised, we can make a proposition and I'll head that if you want.

Regardless, the point is feeling. I will be OHPing some cool Flash stuff in my upcoming talks in Ireland, if I can get support (in all ways - especially Canonical). But the focus is in talking to these users and giving them a human. Not expecting them to install it (they do not know how). GO to their home / business and install it for them. Train them and get them to advocate too. 2 users turned advocates are much more effective than 40 people wandering off with CD's to put in their CD racks.

Respect to all posters.

Lloyd

PS. The first draft of the booklet for 'User Speakers' is coming.

--------

Corporate deisgners, advertising execs, artists, Flash developers and TV companies who want to give us ads for free go here: http://www.ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=53813&page=2

Tell us your *BEST* skills and time you can commit.

People who like speaking to an audience, will be able to possibly meet somewhere in the world for training and would *almost* kill for the success of Ubuntu go here and tell us how much time you can commit and the area you can cover:

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=73132

Also, Canonical employees / CEO's etc. that actually want Ubuntu to be a success, go to the above link (73132) and tell us what you can do for us. (We don't need money, we need support).

[ubuntu_demon]

thnx for being so enthusiastic!

What do you think if I merged this thread into the commercial thread ?

you sound like you know a lot about marketing and commercials. I have to think about your input before giving more input myself.

Please take the time to read at least the first couple of posts and the last couple of posts of the commercial thread. You'll see references to other threads (one in particular namely the one about who wants to be in the team).

personally I just want to brainstorm. I don't want to be in the team (don't have the time and I'm not the type for it).

[marketing_ubuntu]

Roger that aysiu,

I think the key is in talking to real people that aren't in the Linux community.

I think Ubuntu has already had a massive effect and for the reasons you have mentioned, I think projects like the 'commercial' should be clearly within a global marketing strategy based on talking to people, installing, training and supporting them.

I think we don't need developers talking to users. It's nice, but there is a massive knowledge gap. I think we need users talking to users. There should be a quality control level for speakers and that should be guided by an informational booklet (thus my ongoing work for the next 2 weeks).

I need to connect to other wanna-be speakers out there and get some kind of understanding as to how, where and when talks will be most effective. All you have to do is to like Ubuntu - and like talking to people (no introverts please, lol).

Within a complete marketing strategy, hundreds of different projects can exist for example, things that people who don't like public speaking can do. They can provide presentaional media, for the OHP display, support, design, assistance at talks and anytinhg else they can think of.

But I think we need to stop thinking 'hey, we could do this next year' and start thinking 'I can get a crowd of small businesses in my local village hall'. I think we need to promote the whole benefits of open source, but not confuse listeners with 3000 different distros. They don't care.

It's actually harder for me to talk to developers and get them to understand why we need support through Canonical and the Ubuntu community than it is to speak to a load of Windows users and get them to install Ubuntu. We need to change the way we think fast.

I need speakers who can install and support users (or have someone close by), who have some time and are extremely passionate about the project. Then, we need to collaborate on the whole marketing issue - including the 'commercial' thread. Just remember we don't have $'s and this 'commercial' isn't going to be on TV, unless you manage to perform a miracle.

Regarding the merging of threads - thanks for the idea. I don't mind if thse posts show up anywhere, but at the same time I'd like it to be separate for obvious structural reasons:

- Under the umbrella of Marketing Ubuntu - Talks, presentations (including the 'commercial' project), CD's disto's, flyers, trade shows etc. -

So, the point is that 'Marketing Ubuntu' is more than a commercial, or a talk - it's the whole thing. In my opinion it pivots around talking to people, to users. And talk is cheap, lol. so, we won't run out of money.

Stand up speakers and let's roll! Stand up support and let's get organised. One vision. One goal. One team.

Forget titles and and arguing over minor issues. Let's get major and change the world. Just for the hell of it. I've got a LOT of time (no, I'm not unemployed, lol) and I have a reasonably good deal of resources. I don't expect everyone to be as fortunate as me, but I need others who have some time to spread the word.

Enlist now! Review the booklet in 2 weeks time and give feedback, or give some now if you have sometinhg that might help shape the draft of a 'User Speaker' handbook. I'm going to adhere to it myself, when I talk to the community (ie. the rest of the world).

I'm thinking about a league table of confirmed 'sales', eh? Now that would be fun. I think I'll aim for 1000 a month? lol.

In order to manage this, I intend to nurture the listeners - make speakers out of them, make some tech support out of them, some trainers etc. Then let the waterfall continue. No pessimists are allowed to post, heh.

I'll post the URL soon.

;)

PS. I read the whole of the commercial forum before I posted. ;)

[poofyhairguy]

Make an Ubuntu PR site. Really. I would but I'm swamped with the forum. I have a lot of documents to put on there. "spreadubuntu" or whatever. I'll help- make it work with the forums when ready.

Just do it if you want. Make a site designed to help shape perceptions of Ubuntu. I have plenty of ideas about it. And much writing. So....if you can. do it! We will all be thankful.

[fredricsolstad]

Well.. I for one am doing what I can in this small town where I live..

At the moment, I'm spreading cd:s from shipit to friends and family, and I'm in the process of making flyers to put up at school (College) to (hopefully) get some more ppl intrested. I've also sent some cd:s to friends of mine who work as heads of IT at large IT companies here in Sweden, and I'm also spreading the word of Ubuntu on several Swedish forums, not only linux/ubuntu based ones..

As for Swedish Ubuntu-users like myself we also have ubuntulinux.se, where we spread the word. I've also ordered more cd:s from shipit to give out to stores that sell computer stuff here in Arboga (it's a small town, so there isn't that many), as well as the public library and our fair trade-store (since Ubuntu is Mark Shuttleworths little project and his work will make the ppl at the fair trade-store want to hand out Ubuntu)..

Unfortunently Sweden is a wery MS friendly country, so it's not the easiest thing in the world to convince others to switch.. Luckily for me however, Ubuntu runs without a problem on my laptop, so I have it with me at all time to be able to demonstrate Ubuntu.

[Kvark]

Make an Ubuntu PR site. Really. I would but I'm swamped with the forum. I have a lot of documents to put on there. "spreadubuntu" or whatever. I'll help- make it work with the forums when ready.

Just do it if you want. Make a site designed to help shape perceptions of Ubuntu. I have plenty of ideas about it. And much writing. So....if you can. do it! We will all be thankful.
Yeah, a site with guides, tips, handout templates and other stuff for spreading Ubuntu would be great. And a forum section for it would be awesome too. A lot of people would be willing to help spreading Ubuntu.

The most important role of a community effort on this area would be to avoid looking bad. If one geek after another comes up to average Joe and preaches to him about how evil Microsoft is and how supperior Linux is then he is going to start responding with "yeah, yeah, I've heard that before, I'm not religious, please leave me alone".

[marketing_ubuntu]

Thank you all for your input, I really mean it. You guys rock.

poofyhairguy - You got it. I'm on it. I'll start now. Hey - it's what I do, lol. I will be in touch v. soon for all of your data and you might help me direct all the energy that's fractured around these forums to one, combined, focused effort. Thank you. Talk soon. ;)

fredricsolstad - I'd be delighted to hear more about your experiences - good and bad of talking to people about Ubuntu and the situation in Sweden. Thanks for your input so far.

Kvark - you have made an excellent point. The first thing I'd like to do is to get the consensus from the Ubuntu and Canonical (legal / PR) about the finer points of speaking about this great distro on the new site. Then, immediate guidelines on quality for delivery can be drawn up - as part of the speakers handbook. I am also prepared to visit individuals/groups in different countries to maintain the quality of speakers and perhaps video some of my own for reference for those at a distance. I would appreciate other professionals providing Audio/Video/-Anything to help assure quality- where possible.

Then, new individuals can continue as speakers with the same quality of delivery. What we most certainly don't want is crazy coots running around or standing on a stage and saying "erm, it's good". 'Amen' to that, lol.

Drawing Up Provisional: Speakers Handbook + Users (listeners / attendees) Handbook

So the stage is set. This is where we are strong - one helluva community ;)

* Working on the site - give me a couple of days...*

Then, let's mobilise!

L.

PS. Thanks to all posters. Open to further constructive comments / people who want to speak / want to help. Let's roll.

[fredricsolstad]

well.. I just took it all one step further and ordered some apparel from the Ubuntushop.. You can't get better marketing than that :)

Swedes in general like to help other nations (about 1/5 of the money dissapering from Sweden every year goes to supporting other nations), so when I angel it with the moral that Ubuntu gives, and Mr. Shuttleworths work ppl are more and more intrested.. and then there is the whole piracy issue..

In Sweden about 50% (if not more) of the OS:es running on computers are pirated, when I state that Ubuntu is free (both as in freedom and free beer) people get even more intrested.. The most common questions are if they can surf the net and handle email as before.. my reply is always "yes, but with less problems".. then I give them the whole virus / firewall / hijacking speech..

Since my last post I've gotten a email from my aunt who unfortunently is physically handicapped. She wants to test Ubuntu, aswell as the girls working with her (helpers).. this meens that on wednesday I'm demonstrating Ubuntu to 10 new persons. Wich me luck :smile:

[marketing_ubuntu]

Thanks for your insight, Fredric.

I think you're right that the students around you are a good place to start, too. If it were possible to encourage them to show Ubuntu to other OS users they know outside the university, you might just have thousands of potential Ubuntu users on your hands. Cool. Do you think it would be a good idea to plan a talk and motivate lots of students to switch to Ubuntu? Perhaps you could lead on from the flyers for those not convinced by paper, inviting them to attend, in a classroom or hall? Asking a tutor for help (explaining the whole open source thing) might be a good idea - and if you're not a designer yourself (perhaps you are), it might be a good idea to enlist one of your friends to help give your flyer a professional look. Perhaps you could even ask Canonical / The Ubuntu Foundation for some of _their_ flyers and stick a sticker on it with contact details / date and time of a presentation.

*- Actually, does anyone know the story with using the Ubuntu trademark on publications? Do we need to get rights? Who is the best contact at Canonical / The Ubuntu Foundation? -*

The important thing here is to look professional, like Kvark said. If you're happy to go ahead now, that's cool - and if you want to wait for a little more support in the next week or so from the new site before setting up a presentation, feel free to depend on it.

What you're doing is great - think of all those worried minds that go to sleep at night, wondering if they'll be caught with their illegal software? You're easy their minds with something they don't have to steal - because it's free, lol.

Good look with your next demo. Give my regards to your aunt - I'm sure she and her helpers will love it! ;)

I will also check the Ubuntu shop..ty.

Thanks again Fredric,

Lloyd

PS. Ok, we might need to poll something soon - such as to the top Q's from Windows users.

A. Can I Surf the 'Net?
B. Can I Check My Email?
C. Can I open Office Documents?
D. Can I ......

I'm sure poofyhairguy has lots of info here - anyone elses input would be appreciated, too. (Don't worry - I'm not going tooo far down this avenue until the new site's up :)

They might sound silly, but we don't just want answers that answer the questions - we want answers that lead to more questions, so we can find the real concerns and really show this product in the best way.

Hey, Ubuntu's A+ - it deserves it, right?

* Tapping furiously at keyboard - site is on the way *

[fredricsolstad]

They might sound silly, but we don't just want answers that answer the questions - we want answers that lead to more questions, so we can find the real concerns and really show this product in the best way.

*

I agree, having questions that lead to more questions will give what we need to know to be able to spread Ubuntu further.

I have acctually been playing around with the idea of having a larger presentation about Ubuntu for a while now, and we do have a good auditorium (complete with VGA/XGA projectors) and all that in a more public buildning that the school uses, and thus making a presentation more "open to the public" then a presentation at the in-house auditorium of school would be.

Unfortunently for me, the flyers that I had in mind are at a halt right now, got some schoolwork that has to go first, but as soon as I have them ready, I will make sure that you all can see them. I haven't done any pro designwork myself, but I have done some flyers a while back(just fiddled some for an Amiga usergroup, an Amiga convention and such) .. I would however like to have pro ones made and sent to me from canonical / ubuntu if that would be possible. and there is another reason for it too. If we can show that Canonical / Ubuntu foundation really are involved, and help out (unlike some other large companies) that would also show the public that they are dealing with ppl that acctually care about the users, and not just the users money.

I'm also thinking along the line of starting an Ubuntu usergroup for the region, since this would give me a better way of helping new Ubuntu users, and in that way, by giving good service (I've worked as both a IT service tech. and programmer) and careing about other users, make them spread the word of Ubuntu even further.

But, this weekend and the beginning of next week school has priority one.. I have a paper due on thursday about nuclearpower (why I don't know.. I want to become a nurse, so what nuclearpower has to do with that.. scheeeehs..)

[PsyberOneZero]

Here's a composite of my post's from the commercial thread, I think they are better suited here.

I think this is something that will be important for the future of Ubuntu, but we need to be careful. Personally I feel that we should start out with "Street Teams". Start out locally, please respect any local laws for posting flyers the last thing we need is negative press.

Phase 1 - Get flyers and Live CD's
Time Frame: Start Now (Breezy)
Take these to local Internet Cafe's, Starbucks, Coffee Houses, College Computer Labs, and other gathering places where people would have laptops. *Ask* the owner/manager is you can drop off some CD's (all 3: x86, amd64, and ppc), with a little flyer describing what Ubuntu is and what a LiveCD is (i.e. No install, won't do anything to existing data) and put the Website where they can download it if they like and to pass the CD on to others.

Phase 2 - Start floating small internet ads.
Time Frame: Dapper
Make a few 10-15 second teasers (Flash, SVG, etc). Something just focusing on the Name, Where to Download (cool music in the background)

Phase 3 - Full blown TV commercial
Time Frame: Dapper+1
This should be something to aim for, for the release of Dapper+1. That would give people ~1 year to organize the commercial, get it professionally done and line up advertising time slots. I've read this thread top to bottom and here are my person favorite Commercial Ideas:




---------------------------------------------------------------
Title: "Don't Be A Sheep"
---------------------------------------------------------------
Have agreen hill/blue sky setting (like the Windows XP default background), and have a bunch of sheep walking in a single direction in straight lines, possibly towards a window that sees to hang in space.

Have one of the sheep morph into a human being and deviates from the path the other sheep have taken. Music starts (the modernzed version of "Somewhere over the rainbow"). The camera zooms out a little to follow him as he walks towards an Ubuntu logo hanging in space. Camera pans around so that it can see what's happening behind this person, and you see a bunch of other sheep morphing into humans and walking in the same general direction as our hero.

And then, a soft female voice with a hint of seduction narrates "Ubuntu - Linux for human beings."




Music starts (the modernzed version of "Somewhere over the rainbow")

Me First and the Gimme Gimmes - Somewhere Over the Rainbow
Album - Are A Drag
They use the song in taxicab confessions, it's a punk cover.



---------------------------------------------------------------
Title: "Don't Monkey Around"
---------------------------------------------------------------
A bunch of monkeys in a large dingy room shackled to their desks, and using computers, quietly at first. Then the virus and spyware alert messages start showing up with an appropriately annoying audible one. At first the the monkeys complain through an occasional squawk or screech, with the crescendo growing to an ear-shattering symphony of the audible warning sounds emitted by Windows.

Three monkeys "escape" by discovering that their shackles aren't really keeping them there, and they wander into the hallway (as dark, dirty as their orignal room) with one covering his eyes, one his ears, and one his mouth. They notice a brightly lit doorway at he end of the hall and walk towards it.

The closer they get, the more human they look. They get to the door and are each met by a beautiful woman and guided work station with the Ubuntu logon screen. They log in (with user names like "see no evil", etc) and are greeted with the Ubuntu login sound, and they being working.

They eventually noticed that they are now fully human. The scene fades to an Ubunto logo on a black background (as it fades, the Ubuntu startup sound plays in the background), and a soft female voice with ahint of sedcutiveness says "Ubuntu - Linux for human beings."


Personally the teen market is the perfect place to start, for one they have the least to lose by switching OS's, very few 17 year old have Mission Critical data on their home systems. That segment is also rapidly going to saturate the job market with ~2/3rds of the curent work force about to hit retirement age, they will be taking over and if enough people grow up on linux then they will be more likely to push for more widespread adoption.

...Along with *ANYONE* who just uses the computer to browse websites, check e-mail, play solitare, and IM. That is - I believe - the core of who Ubuntu is going for, and that's where we should start the marketing effort. I used to work for a large computer chain, you don't realize how many people get brand new, top of the line computers just to play solitare. I know HP is now using Ubuntu as their desktop linux option, but unless these people see that linux isn't scary they wont bother clicking the dropdown menu when they order their next computer. Just start wherever you can.

Has anyone made up a flyer for ubuntu yet?, if not just burn-off a handful of live cd's and pass them around to friends neighbors, let them know where to get it if they do want to use it, if it's a small enough group of people - help them set it up. Word of mouth is probably the most powerful advertising tool.

[openmind]

I hate to be the naysayer amongst all these positive vibes, but..............

Why?:confused:

As much as I know about Linux in general (not too much!) it's not designed to be a replacment for Windows. It's just not for everybody, evidenced by the "Ubuntu sucks" or "It would be better if it was more like windows" crowds. Are we going to start an Evangelical movement to take over all Desktops, (with some inevitable compromises), or are we really happy with the O/S that we have?

If it's as good as we all know it is, (and much of the press too) it will stand on it's own and converts will come to see what all the fuss is about, but it will never be Everybody, or perhaps even a majority. By starting a marketing campaign many potential users might be put off by the percieved "Linux Evangelists", Roll their eyes and move on.

[PsyberOneZero]

This isn't about converting everyone to Ubuntu, just giving everyone a fair chance. If M$ is all they know then what choice do you have XP vs. Vista, just by letting the public en mass know who we are and what we are doing, that we are giving them an option, at that point it's up to them to decide whether or not to keep it. We do not want to push this like crazy people, or go on an evangelical crusade, all that will do is tick people off and tarnish the community as a whole.

One reason we do need to put a message out there is you need to spark their curiousity. I personally stubled across Ubuntu last October, but I wouldn't be using it had I not done that. No one around me uses Ubuntu or even really knows about it. All this is doing is getting the name in the public forum and letting people know what we have to offer. From that point - we know what we have - and then others will too, and people will start filtering in. By no means should this be a borg-like assimilation of all desktops, just a damn good option

[openmind]

I see your point, I really do, (especially the part about sparking their curiosity) but right off the top of my head, I would say less than a third of all computer users have even heard of Linux, and about 10% of those have heard of Ubuntu. A small percentage of those have the drive, ambition and savvy to install it on their boxes.

Hell, 90% of people never use anything other than what was on their box when they bought it!

Sure, tell your friends, convert your family, but a marketing campaign? come on.

[marketing_ubuntu]

PsyberOneZero - I like your ideas. For this to be a greater success, we need to be diverse in our strategy analysis. At the same time, we do need to be unified and make sure that everything we do will not have a negative effect on spreading the word of Ubuntu, as you mentioned, we need to be 'careful'. I would replace that with professional, precise and organised. I would love your support and input to futher ther project of marketing Ubuntu in general and also to focus on the specific areas you obviously have great ideas for. Thanks for this post - I value your support and would love to see you help the new marketing community. I hope we can count on your participation (I'm sure we can). In that way, we can document and further explore all of your ideas. ;)

Generally, I have already mentioned that in the early stages, it is my perception that connecting with people *human>human* and guiding them through the changeover is paramount. I will not know if this is the most import part of marketing Ubuntu until I have global feedback in the new development, but embrace the ideas (lol, and perceptions of perceptions) of all others.

openmind - You have raised what is probably the most important issue so far: Why?

It is my understanding that for many years we have all been locked into proprietary software vendors. I also understand that the very nature of open source is to share and contribute. I feel that I am doing an injustice by not allowing others to experience the alternative that is Linux.

Linux may not have been primarily designed as a replacement for windows, but with a distro like Ubuntu, it is finally ready.

To stop the restriction that vendor lock-in has placed on developers and users alike, Linux must (and most certainly will) come to the desktop, in the majority of situations. The important part is to counteract the ongoing misunderstanding that Linux is not an alternative to Windows. It most certainly is.

Ubuntu, apart from being an excellent distro, ready for the desktop market, gives us one major benefit over going out and saying - "dude, use open source". Open source is good for everyone, except greedy software companies (it's even good for them if they get on the band wagon and stop trying to pretend Linux isn't gaining market share).

But the most specific point here is that whilst 'computer savvy' individuals can focus on testing different distros, the average user is unable, does not know about Open Source and thus doesn't care.

This is not about evangelism. This is about choice.

You have to remember that whenever we try to give the user choice (just by it being there - so find it yourself), the proprietary software vendors are spending 'billions' on marketing their 'no choice' software.

The only way to counteract this in a reasonable time is with an equally professional (without the budget) marketing strategy, I believe.

No rough pitches to users, as if we're from some crazy cult religion - true. That will probably be our hardest job and would harm us much more than help. But does it mean we don't do _something_ to help the community at large? Not on your nelly.

Thanks to you guys, we are here today, with choice. By using Linux, you made it available to me and now it's time for payback. I want everyone to benefit from this , don't you?

"Open source works because we all walk the path together. Whether the path is hard or easy, if you have OK people at your back anybody can walk any path." Alan Cox.

Operative: Open Source works. Ubuntu just gives us a vehicle in which to deliver Open Source to the wider community, for the better of 'All Mankind' - lol, there's your evangelism ;)

Thanks for your post. This needed to be addressed.

;)

LH

[marketing_ubuntu]

openmind - in your second post you are answering your own question. That is exactly why we need a marketing 'strategy' (as opposed to a 'campain').

To maintain quality in delivery whilst 'spreading the word' and to stop the very problems you previously mentioned, guidelines will help. A central community will help - people who may not have the technical ability to develop the kernel can help. That's what we're about.

LH.

PS. Have contacted Ubuntu Found. re. new site, to get go-ahead (trademark / domain etc). I'll let you know when we're ready to collaborate (further) on the site. ;) More points like openmind's please... let's get them addressed.

[PsyberOneZero]

Sure, tell your friends, convert your family, but a marketing campaign? come on.

I guess I should choose my words a little more carefully, I was just using campaign to describe a unified effort. but strategy is probably the better word to use.

I don't think conversion is the right word either, that sounds very forced and directed, migration or just awareness would be more appropriate, especially this early in the game. From what I have understood, right now we are just trying to get the name out there and show people (as many people as possible, not just friends and family) what Ubuntu is all about.

I've started draughting a Tri-Fold Brochure on Ubuntu, to be used in a LiveCD display (Have the big 11x17 flyer/poster explaining what a live cd is and which one to pick, 3 CD holders one for each arch. of LiveCD, and a more in-depth brochure that you can take with the CD or just by itself to learn a little more) If I can get a draught up in the next few days, would it be possible for the art team to look at it and polish it up (official colors, pretty graphics, official logo, etc)?

[AllenGG]

Hello to Fredric, your ideas are 'right on',
and to "Openmind", you asked "why?", I agree.

Looking at this page : http://distrowatch.com/ , Ubuntu has been on top for many months, in fact that's where it came to my attention, 02/05.
Recently, I sent a 'suggestion' to several (6) of my computer-savy friends, that they try a "LIVE CD" from Ubuntu's download mirror sites. No reports yet.

Other than a "paid" marketing campaign, and who will pay for it ? Not Canonical surely, http://www.canonical.com/ ,
And finally. Ubuntu, or any Linux distro is not ready for the mass market.

And, yes I wish that it were, I use both "Breezy" and "Hoary" (5.04 and 5.10 rsptvy)
respectfully yours, Allen G.:cool:

[fredricsolstad]

Hello to Fredric, your ideas are 'right on',
and to "Openmind", you asked "why?", I agree.

Looking at this page : http://distrowatch.com/ , Ubuntu has been on top for many months, in fact that's where it came to my attention, 02/05.
Recently, I sent a 'suggestion' to several (6) of my computer-savy friends, that they try a "LIVE CD" from Ubuntu's download mirror sites. No reports yet.

Other than a "paid" marketing campaign, and who will pay for it ? Not Canonical surely, http://www.canonical.com/ ,
And finally. Ubuntu, or any Linux distro is not ready for the mass market.

And, yes I wish that it were, I use both "Breezy" and "Hoary" (5.04 and 5.10 rsptvy)
respectfully yours, Allen G.:cool:


First, thanks ;)

Second.. If we, the users, show enough intrest, and dedication then I do think that perhaps Canonical or Ubuntu foundation will help, after all, they do want to spread their product.

When I worked as a programmer my mentor said something that might fit here aswell

"To not try and use new programs are as to not try and use an electric screwdriver just because you are familliar with the old standard screwdriver..."

What I want to do (and apparently the rest of us that are thinking in the same lines as me) is to inform people that there is an alternative. Atleast here in Sweden wich is concidered to be a highly MS friendly country, everyone, even those that are not computer savvy, complain about viruses and MS Windows. I personaly do not think that I will be able to convert all of Sweden to Ubuntu, -BUT- if I can get a handful to try it out, then I will be a happy camper.
One major reason that people are unvilling to try a new OS is that they are afraid. Afraid that they won't be able to do what they did before, afraid of looking stupid.. and the list can go on for miles.
If we as users however can make them feel more secure in the switching of OS, not just give them a live CD and say "here you go, now you are on your own" then I am willing to bet SEK 8 (about USD 1 ;) ) that more are villing to try.
What you have to do is to sit next to the one that is intrested and let him/her/them try out Ubuntu on your ready system, let them see how fast, responsive and simple it is. And for those who think that Gnome looks hard / is har d to understand, login with a KDE (Kubuntu) session. Showing them an enviroment that is more simillar to windows will only help them more to switch OS.

I hope that you all excuse my bad spelling ;)

As for all the "Ubuntu sux" and such threads and so on.. as long as there is something that one can complain about, one will do that. It is human nature. How many Windows users do you know that doesn't complain about MS, Gates or Windows? To make things even more crystal clear: How many people isn't it that are complaining about the best movie you've seen all year on diffrent forums?
That's just the way it is.

Enough ranting from me for a while now

[AllenGG]

Good going Fredric !
......but, how about trying the "LIVE CD" method ? can't hurt. What I did was suggest that my friends "download and burn" a live CD. Probaly better to d/l and burn CD's yourself and give them out to trusted friends, problem being that everyone's needs , or wants, are different.

My interest is this: recently one of my computer-savy friends sent me a virus, and yes the mighty "ClamAV" caught it, barely. He needs his computer, and depends on it.and, perhaps he can't afford a 2nd or better system.

So, I have a "selfish" interest in helping people migrate to Ubuntu (not just Linux). Allen G

[PsyberOneZero]

And finally. Ubuntu, or any Linux distro is not ready for the mass market.

Yes and No. No it's not ready for *everyone*, but there is a large segment that is ready and perfectly able to switch over with minimal effort.

There are 2 things that really need to be in place before people will start switching in large numbers:

First, telephone tech support, the average computer user feels much more comfortable if there's an easy 800 number to call if anything happens. Canonical is starting to make that available but it's not a cohesive unit right now.

Secondly, they want to see their favorite software products available, most people are very brand loyal, and get used to one interface to do something. Now the linux community as a whole has done an amazing job getting there, but they really need that push of big name's making linux software/drivers.

Now I believe that Ubuntu will be quite ready to make a major move in to the desktop market place with Dapper+1 (just my prediction), and anything we can do to get people aware now, the better it will be when we go "primetime"

[openmind]

OK, I'll play "The Devil's Advocate" role here.

Let's compare Ubuntu with any popular product (name one) that people are just not aware of. It beats the existing product hands down, is easier to use, works better, etc, etc, and as soon as Joe Public becomes aware of it he rushes out to get it and says "Where have you been all my life", It sells millions.

Ubuntu is not like that.

We here on this board are a diverse group, but I'll bet that we loosely (to some extent or another) hold some things in common. We've all "tweaked" our boxes to some extent, many of us probably installed our own video cards. Hell, we even Know what a video card is! We're not "afraid" of our computers. There are "Geek tests" going around here and many are getting really high scores!!! Many (If not most) have run a Linux Distro in the past.

I have some cold, hard truths for many of you;

The Rest of The World Is Not Like That

If you brought Ubuntu to the attention of most people I work with they would look at you like you were mad, say something to the effect of "My AOL's working just fine thanks", and walk off. There's a couple of guys who I know from talking to them that might be interested, but I've already told them. (One said he would give it a go).

So, the way I see it our "target" to make aware of Ubuntu is slightly geeky people who may read ZDNet or Slashdot, not afraid of installing something different on their hallowed PC's and who may be already running Linux............................................. .................................................. ..............

They already know.

[PsyberOneZero]

"My AOL's working just fine thanks"
That goes along with the second part of my last rant. I know this is sacrelige to most of us here but *what if* AOL made an official linux client (dialup/broadband, browser, IM). That will do 2 things, give linux some credibility in the "non-geek" market, and ease the transition to lnux/Ubuntu. I know it's a long shot but think about it, there are some fo the more "geeky" names behind us already, IBM, HP and a few others.

Imagine if AOL, Yahoo, and other household computer names started working on linux projects.

[fredricsolstad]

Urmm.. yes.. see, you actually dont have to be that computer savvy..

That's just the old myth.. Not too long ago swedish computer magazines acctually warned ppl about linux, stating that it was only for the "guys that live in basements with large beards" eg wizzes.. Thats not the case anymore, is it? Ubuntu is easy to install, you don't have to download drivers for every key on the keyboard, you don't have to worry about viruses (no need to install and configure more software), you have a GUI.. err.. wait.. you can choose from atleast 2 GUIs, both of wich are EASY to configure so that you can tailor it for your own need. You don't have to register every single bit of software.. you don't have to check for updates on every single piece of software..

Ubuntu is one step closer then any other distro I have ever tried, to be a Linux for humans - fast - safe - easy.

Sure, you can pay a few bucks to for instance Mandriva and get support from them.. Or, you can pay a sh**t-load of bucks to MS and get support from them (atleast that is the case here in Sweden).. and since alot of ppl use pirated software, they can't call the 1-800-free-support number. You don't have that issue with Ubuntu, do you?

There is a large and I do meen _LARGE_ (as in big-ass with plenty customers, not as in takes a lot of space) computer dealer here in Sweden who actually sell ready computers with Linux pre-installed. I'm going to contact them tomorrow (monday) and see if they would be intrested in selling their stuff with Ubuntu. They are also the only ones in Sweden that import and sell Acer:s with Linux as OS.

Wish me luck :smile:

urmm.. oh.. and yeah.. about AOL.. we swedes that are savvy mock everyone that uses AOL ;)

[openmind]

Fredricsolstad, one of the problems here is that because you, me, all of our friends, and everybody reading this finds Ubuntu intuitive, easy to install and generally a damn pleasure to run, we make the mistake of thinking that everybody will feel the same.

No, my friend, a huge majority of people do not know what a GUI is, many are running with exactly the same software that was on their box when they bought it. (Last time I heard close to 90% of people were still using IE as their browser, that should tell you something).

They don't want to know, as long as they can email their friends, IM occasionaly, and look at Porn, that's it for the Huge majority out there, sad but true.

They don't care about GUI's, Apps, Browsers, File Managers, etc.

[AllenGG]

Oh please Fredric, !!!!! mock not those who use AOL !
Many older folks here in Canada, known as "Snowbirds", use it for ????
Would they ever use Ubuntu ? yeah, only if I set it up.
BTW, I have one system set up for friends, visitors (Romans and countrymen) with 5.04 Horny Hedgehog, or is that Hoary , and most NEVER EVEN notice.
How's that grab ya, eh ?!
But, big BUT here, if, more shops, or marketers sold systems pre-installed, a big change would happen.
Good luck with that computer outlet. BTW (to FS) which city ?
good thoughts, have another brew!
Allen G

[marketing_ubuntu]

psyberonezero: I like 'migration'. I think that is our target exactly. I also think that 'awareness' is key in achieving that target.

I agree that we are trying to get the name out there - but it is a product that is much more convincing when used. If we can get people to use it (and provide them support), it will 'sell itself'.

The live CD is an excellent tool. I have in mind a structure for our strategy that provides for focus on any particular aspect of the projects and a complementary stream to facilitate general national collaboration:

Marketing - Consisting of:

Stream 1: Global Projects
-------------------------

* Flash Presentation / 'Commercial'
> Postcard project
> Speaker Presentation Support ('commercial')
* Conferencing and Presentation
> Conference Documentation
> Conference Organisation
* Public Speaking
> Quality Of Service
* User Documentation
> First contact
* LiveCD
>
... etc.

(You will notice that every 'project' requires interface with no only each other, but with outside teams - eg. the arts team).

Stream 2: National Migration Teams
-----------------------------------

Eg. Country > State / County > City / Town

* Speakers
* Support
* System Builders
* Hardware Wholesalers (to system builders)
...etc.


The idea is that anybody can be involved as little or as much as they wish, but are able to focus on exactly what they want to to: generally brainstorm, brainstorm for a particular project, give feedback on success/failure of LiveCD's, facilitate communications between other group types, etc.

Commital to one area does not mean that you cannot commit to another. By default, you might be involved in two: for instance. Flash Presentations and discussion on the cultural aspects regarding speakers in your nation.

The plan is not to give everyone a 'label/s', but to give them clarity and structure of thought. We can quickly solve 1000 small problems instead of the big problem that is Bug #1.

fredricsolstad - "What you have to do is to sit next to the one that is intrested and let him/her/them try out Ubuntu.."

I think so. The idea of speakers without any further contact point or leaving a CD somewhere may have a minor impact, but not on the big picture. If we really want to provide choice, I think we need to provide the method with which to decide. No reasonably sized company switches OS overnight - they run the new and old system concurrently for 12 months. I think we should apply this business logic to new migrations - after all, it's a migration, not a 'swap'. Only after the user is happy will there be a complete commital to open source - simply because they no longer need proprietary software.

I propose a structure that allows advocates to rely on surrounding resources and follow up with the migration. This is what I would like to encourage and do everything I can to facilitate. We need communiity / Ubuntu Found. / Canonical support to do that.

Which is why we may have it. I have received contact from Canonical to tell me that they will provide an environment for us to structure our thoughts and enable us to direct this broken-up support. Everything is now being done to facilitate an organised structure to allow us to collaborate completely on our marketing strategy, with the proposed full support of themselves and the foundation. The wheels are turning and we will iron out the details - but the vibe is positive. Now we need to keep the momentum. Thanks for following up Canonical :)

We also have go-ahead to implement a new site (closely integrated with the community) above and beyond trademark issues. This will allow us, again to find all of the fractured passion, commitment, hard work and requirement for change that is not only here in the forum community, but in the user community at large.

I for one welcome that. poofyhairyguy will, I hope provide all of his info to bolster the excellent progress that is being made here, even in this thread. We are communicating - and we all have one thing in common.

I'd be delighted to see fredricsolstad's commitment to a small amount of time to help breed communication nationally in Sweeden, and locally in Arboga. I'd like to see that large presentation happen, and I look forward to collaborating with Canonical to provide the tools you need and a structure that is inline with the rest of the community.

AlenGG - your 'selfish' interest (lol - i like that term) could just be what is needed to help 'Ubuntu People' globally with regard to implementation of the LiveCD within local strategies. I would love to see you involved as deeply as you would like to be in this stream and follow the method of delivery you have faith in. psyberonezero might collaborate with you and interface with the arts team to allow for a complete understanding of the effect the presentation has on potential migrations.

openmind - "...many are running with exactly the same software that was on their box when they bought it..." , "They don't care about GUI's, Apps, Browsers, File Managers, etc." Exactly. So let's give them the full service - like I said, it's a waste of time throwing it out at them. The strategy will not be that weak - that I can promise you. Perhaps you would like to commit yourself, as a part of the Quality Control. You could play devil's advocate to me and the other advocates. Your thoughts are right on the button and we don't just need optomistic people, we need hard-hitters like you. I'd like you on my team - even if it's to give me a reality jolt every post, lol. :)

I hope that we can all see that when our new users are dual-booting or using the Live CD and Microsoft releases the next version of its OS, these users are going to say 'I don't really need to do that - this does what I need' and the migration will be made for the very reasons we fear that it won't - because the user doesn't care as long as it works.

It would be nice for the 'default' to be open source, and the choice is made to walk away to proprietary, rather than the other way around, without the choice.

Whatever you have with regard to time (1hr a year/month/week/day), is much appreciated. Yes, it's for free, no you don't get paid, but you get to change things. And let us not forget that there is most certainly a peripheral 'business' opportunity in every business migration (let us not forget businesses!) for the same work as network installers / MCP's / MCSE's do today. There will still need to be support, for MSME's (Micro and Small-to-Medium sized Enterprises) it will still be handled locally - except they might be much more interested in speaking to the guy/lady that gave them an OS for free, instead of the MS 'Certified' guy down the street (about hardware / tech support / web design / a job / work experience) who kept them in a continuous license-buying loop. I know I would. And on the larger scale - 100 PC's x $250pa ...before support - hmm give me Open Office. ;) 100 PC's x $0 before support - roger that. It doesn't matter - if it's one, it's too much.

Hey - have you guys read XP's EULA? A hoot. Let's just ask SME's to read that - they'll come running, lol.

Keep it going - praise the idea of a marketing strategy (it's happening anyway - just get in it to influence it), boil the marketing stream suggestions, slate my optimism, rate the thread as high or as low as you like or pick the point you dislike the most and hold on like a pitbull, but right here, right now - whether you like it or not - we're doing something. And that rocks.. :)

Who's up for doing something / more / refining their current activities? What can I do to help you? (apart from make smaller posts)


L.


Thanks again - to all.

Also, I'd like to know about all the other ideas for 'marketing' we've not thought of - like getting to hardware suppliers (supplying the small system builders) and getting them to send a distro out with each HDD they sell so builders can either install it or pass it on to the user? Anyone? Any more?

Chambers of Commerce - Universities - Consumer Groups - Small Business Federations...

How do you make a professional approach? How do you get a venue for free? What about a village hall? What about local enterprise boards - offering information evenings to local (small) businesses (they do already)? Is there any _other_ groups that are non-tech related we can meet and demo, talk about this in and help to migrate? Charities / schools with old hardware we can get back on desks? As mentioned before, let's not dump CD's in Internet Cafe's - let's talk to the owners _and_ get a stand in there for users to get a distro _and_ leave some contact details for support to help them install _and_ enable them to later advocate, building the amount of people pro-actively demonstrating / installing / configuring systems - leaving us all less work to do.

Note: Any business that can make money selling drinks or get more people to see what they have to offer etc. (like a hotel) are excellent targets to swing a free venue for a non-profit making exercise. Also, universities, schools, town / village halls, gyms, etc.. We just need to keep it professional, thus the new eagerly-awated speaker guide drafts. I hope you can all contribute shortly.

Regarding everything else: Bring it on.. ;)

[aysiu]

Mark Shuttleworth wants to weigh in on this. Here's a quotation from the Wiki page interview with him (https://wiki.ubuntu.com/MarkShuttleworth):

Why do I do Ubuntu?
To fix bug #1 (http://launchpad.net/malone/bugs/1) of course. I believe that free software brings us into a new era of technology, and holds the promise of universal access to the tools of the digital era. I drive Ubuntu because I would like to see that promised delivered as reality.

[PsyberOneZero]

I for one will be available as long as the community needs me. I've started planning out some promotional materials, here's a list of some of the things *I* think we could work on:

1. Create official Ubuntu flyer to be used in conjunction with LiveCD Display: (currently drafting on these)
a. Flyer:
Top 1/3 - Ubuntu Logo
Middle 1/3 - Explain what a LiveCD is and how to use it
This CD will not harm, overwrite, or do anyhing to your computer or data, This is a technology that runs completely from the CD, it does not install anything. Just poweroff your machine, put the disk in and go, when you reboot the machine and take the disk out your machine will be exactly the way it was
Bottom 1/3 - Identify the 3 different CD's
i386 - Most computers will fall in this group; Penitiums (I,II,III,4,M)
AMD64 - For 64bit processors, most likely you will know if you have one of these (Athlon 64, Intel IA64)
PPC - Mac users, almost any iMac, eMac, iBook, PowerBook, G3 or G4 desktop

b. CD Design: Should be fairly basic with the Ubuntu Logo, the version - not the code name -, and the architecture. Very basic and straight forward

c. Tri-Fold Brochure: This will be a little more detailed with a brief intro to Linux, Ubuntu, Canonical/Mark Shuttleworth. A *brief* list of what you can do with Ubuntu:
Web Browsing - Firefox(with screenshot), Opera, and Mozilla
E-Mail - Evolution(with screenshot) and Thunderbird
IM - Gaim and Jabber(with screenshots)
Gaming - Unreal Tournament(with screenshot, not fullscreen), built-in games.
Also have a list of websites the can visit to get more information about Ubuntu and it's Communities (http://ubuntulinux.org.http://www.ubuntuforums.org,https://wiki.ubuntu.com)

2. Powerpoint/Impress Slideshow:
Create possibly two presentations 20-30 minutes in length - one for home users and one for Ubuntu in the business environment - that explains
What Ubuntu is in more details.
The history of Ubuntu and it's founder
Why we are doing this
What are goals are for the future
Who we are working with
How people can help
And most importantly What we have to show from the past year plus of development.
Screenshots of Ubuntu in action and what new/unique tools we have and what they're good for.

3. Create an "Ubuntu Day" kit:
Make a package that is free to any group that wants to do a Linux Day/Ubuntu Day at their school, in their community, in small computer shows. It will have everything they need to check before setting up (local laws/regulations), what they need to bring (1 8ft table, 1-2 computers, possibly a vinyl banner, all the documentation to handout and of course CD both install and LiveCD). This way everything we show the public look uniform and professional.

I know right now that I would need the help from the Art Team to polish up any of the documents, I've got the layout started on the Tri-Fold, maybe have something in PDF or SVG by the end of the week.

??WHO SHOULD WE GO THROUGH AS A CLEARING HOUSE??
??WILL YOU BE INVITING MEMBERS INTO THE MARKETING TEAM??

[marketing_ubuntu]

Mark Shuttleworth wants to weigh in on this. Here's a quotation from the Wiki page interview with him (https://wiki.ubuntu.com/MarkShuttleworth):

Why do I do Ubuntu?
To fix bug #1 (http://launchpad.net/malone/bugs/1) of course. I believe that free software brings us into a new era of technology, and holds the promise of universal access to the tools of the digital era. I drive Ubuntu because I would like to see that promised delivered as reality.


You bet he does ;) He posed the question of how you create such a(n) (small) army to fix Bug #1


This is the beginning of my answer. I will have finished answering when it's fixed. Oh, and BTW -



who said anything about a small army?



But this is not about me - it's about us all. _WE_ will have finished that answer when Bug #1 is fixed. _Every_ member of the community will be invited to join the marketing team, and they will contribute at some level. I would just like to provide the structure for us all to collaborate.

I like all the ideas. I think all the ideas should available for everyone to weigh in on. I want to encourage every member to refine their ideas - (I'm going to read your post in more detail psyberonezero and I want you on the team, like everyone). I want people who want to take the reigns of sub-sections to tell me they want to. I want them to create their own sub-teams. So what you want and what I want and what we all want become one - where we learn from each other and compromise - but where we never compromise on delivering the fix for Bug #1. Collaboration is the key. Organisation is the method.

The community needs you. I need you. Mark needs you. We all need each other - that's the definition of community, right? Don't ask me if you can be in the marketing team - tell me you're in it and what you want to focus on. I'll try to hook you all up via our new structure and get you working together in small, specialist teams - without distraction from other teams, but with the ability to inter-operate with ease. Keyword: Focus ;)

Who should we go through as a clearing house? Well, first we need to get more members to read your ideas and let _them_ clear it. This will happen - just get your thoughts organised (as you already have). Give me a little time to make a slot in a central repository for you to anlayse them with others - *your* sub-team/s. Get anyone else that ever posted anything like what you want to work on and embrace their help. Sometimes you might have to go lone soldiers on a project, but to make it effective, do it within the 'boundaries' of our overall game plan - I can see you already are. Why work for 10 days when 10 of us can collaborate on day 1 and be finished on day 2?

When we've all cleared it, I'll take it for clearance via Canonical (legal etc.) / Ubuntu Foundation, CC etc. and when that's done, we'll roll. Just remember - if the focus is _BIG_, it's gotta be cost-effective, preferably free. You'd be surprised what we can do with nothing (just time). As to further support, leave it with me and I'll see what's on offer.

The OpenOffice.org / Impress Presentation is free. It just takes time. This one is a goer. We will need to change it as the ideas progress. Remember we need to collaborate as a community on this. But I do love it - and I need it - and it's gotta rock. See https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Presentations

Perhaps make smaller, shorter, specific shows that we can link together, depending on the audience. Eg. one for "Can I get email / internet / office docs on Ubuntu.." and one about Ubuntu etc... Don't go to tooo much trouble until we all decide on the script and images required- but by all means make a start. We all need to not get upset easily if somethiing we work on gets chopped and changed to suit us all - for instance the very structure will depend on what I (with a speaker hat on) feel will pschycologically motivate listers, in the correct order. EG. _do_not_ start with open source as a whole - it's too much for a listener to handle at first. We might dip in at the end. Thus, modules we can link is better than a 16 hour presentation ;) lol JK

I take we have our first new member? You gonna head the first Presentation Project for me? ;) Welcome - and thank you. We'll do all the assigning titles rubbish later, ok? :) I'll put you on the list, right?

We'll get help from the Art team (as soon as we are established and our ideas are polished to our own standards).

I _love_the day kit...we need to explore that more, definitely. I also see promise in your other ideas, but we need to explore them more. We can do _everything_ eventually - it's just that we need to prioritse what's most effective, first.

*some kind of site is coming soon (it will tie in with all of here, too - don't worry)....just for marketing* We _do_, however need more than we've got to give to listeners (re. printed media). We need a game plan that will ease the migration. Check out: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UbuntuAtConferences

Man, I just _love_ that Day Kit idea. *chuckle*


Lloyd

PS: Thanks again - you too aysiu. Rockin'. And Mark, we thank you for your continued support in enabling us to share your vision.

[SSTwinrova]

https://wiki.ubuntu.com/MigratingToUbuntu

BoF I found on the Wiki that might also be helpful in your efforts (although this focuses more on the developer side than the actual promotion) -- Stage 3 has some good ideas (such as the "Escape" campaign) that you all could run with though.

[aysiu]

Don't forget Poofyhairyguy's "How to: Convert Windows Users to Ubuntu" (http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=58862)

[marketing_ubuntu]

SSTwinrova - thanks for this resource. If you find anything else useful, let us know. :) And if you have any opinions, please share them.

asyiu - Excellent resource. I know when he said he had some stuff....that's cool. I'll be on to him if all his stuff's like this. I'll address these points later. *getting coffee to read more*. You can come back anytime ;)

Thanks, both of you,

LH.

[PsyberOneZero]

*some kind of site is coming soon (it will tie in with all of here, too - don't worry)....just for marketing* We _do_, however need more than we've got to give to listeners (re. printed media). We need a game plan that will ease the migration. Check out: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UbuntuAtConferences


I just looked over the brochure and flyer there, they are very nice, and I would like something similar in style, but they are a little too technical for who we want to target. It will be nice to see that we will be able to cover multiple markets with a unified look.

[marketing_ubuntu]

PsyberOneZero: Yes, I think you're right - the idea of:

* being able to open 'all' office documents
* surf the net
* check email
* increased security
* more mature design
* caring community
* available support
* have legal software
* nothing to pay - ever
* get literally 1000's of free applications
* greatly increased stability
* play free games (Americas Army etc..)
* commercial games (UT etc..)
* _have_complete_compatibility_ with all the files they use now - and explain the alternatives to each application found on MS.
* (lol and never see a BSoD again) < Don't put that in :)

Then, perhaps - why it's free (like the small print, in a box - except it's all good - about opensource, mention Mark etc.) Mark's stability behind the project can also be in this 'small print' - I hate to say this, but:

I think people need a figure to associate with initially, (like you know who). From the public's perspective, they will not immediatelty see the nature of opensource means they are not 'impressed upon' by one body, but a whole community. I think they need to know 'it's gonna be around for ever'.

Otherwise, they're afraid of having to migrate back. I know, and you know why this is a silly thoguht - but we perhaps need to easily quash these fears without getting tech about the architecture of Linux. :)

Finally, perhaps a lead onto more technical data, if they aren't getting what they want from the 'simpler' brochure - you know? Link all (just by having the name of the other brochure on it / website address) brochures so that someone can say -- 'oooh, this is too tech - ah, I've got the wrong brochure for me', or 'hmm - this seems simplistic, I need more..ah, there's a more indepth brochure'.

We need to walk with them down this path of discovery. We need to be there for them. We need them to know we will be here and we need to make sure that we don't write them a bad cheque.

So, we've got: 'different levels of brochure / or tiered single brochure' - can we define those? 'different modules for presentations' - can we define those?

Do you not thnik that even if we have a great, simpler brochure, that the public will roll eyes once they see the tech bit? Do you think we should just not get tech at all? Plus - in _all_ brouchres / media I would like to see an invitation to all to participate in this migration by spreading the word in their own community.

Thanks again - wow, the ideas in this forum are really jumpin'...;)

LH.

***Looking for marketing recruits of all skills levels / time commitments - no limited places - come one, come all. For: design ideas, speakers, admin, professional negotiators, system builders, web developers, wholesalers, community groups, hell - even police officers and emergency services, lol. Do you have some contacts? Does your brother own a hotel somewhere? Is your cousin a professional public speaker who might like to help us? Anything - get in on the game. Get your name down on this forum and let's get working together ***

[PsyberOneZero]

These should be Tri-Fold Brochures, they are very convenient and just from personal experience at conventions I will still pick up a brochure even if I have zero interest in the company (at that time). We should definitely collaborate with the Art Team to keep a uniform, professional look to all printed material.


LiveCD Brochure – What can I do with this CD?

What is Ubuntu? - An introduction of what Linux is, what Ubuntu is, who Mark Shutleworth is, why it's free, why it will always be free.

Conversion Guide – The infamous (Windows Program/File Format = Linux Program/File Format)
very basic, like .doc -> OpenOffice, .pdf -> Acrobat Reader

Ubuntu at Home – Highlight the basics of day to day tasks; Web, e-mail, IM, banking, gaming

Mobile Ubuntu – Using Ubuntu on a laptop, what functions are supported, ease of install

Gaming in Ubuntu – The progress in Linux gaming with commercial support from companies like id, Epic Games, Atari, the late great Loki*, and more support coming down the line.

Any other ideas for simple brochures?

*Would it be possible, down the line, that Canonical could resurrect Loki Games, and start porting new games (Sims 2, Medal of Honor, WoW) natively to Linux. This would remove a major resistance to fixing Bug #1

[openmind]

Perhaps you would like to commit yourself, as a part of the Quality Control. You could play devil's advocate to me and the other advocates. Your thoughts are right on the button and we don't just need optomistic people, we need hard-hitters like you. I'd like you on my team - even if it's to give me a reality jolt every post, lol. :)

I've been looking for a way to 'give back' to the community. Without any real programming/coding skills to speak of, I'll be glad to help out any way I can.

Make as much use as you can from The Skeptic, remember 'Doubting Thomas' was an Apostle!

A couple of early points, 'Marketing' is too harsh and corporate a word for the target group. Something softer like 'Sharing Ubuntu' might be a little better. Remember were Giving it away.

We should set goals. I am of the very firm belief that we have a limited target group right now. That might change with future releases, but taking over the world is WAAAY too optimistic.

We might want to 'borrow' some ideas from The Firefox Team, one of the most astoundingly successful 'campaigns'. They had/have a much wider target group yet set 10% by the end of this year. They got articles in the mainstream press which generated massive amounts of interest initially. Even if we get that exposure we're NOT looking at 10% in a year.

Reality.

Take it or leave it.

[PsyberOneZero]

A couple of early points, 'Marketing' is too harsh and corporate a word for the target group. Something softer like 'Sharing Ubuntu' might be a little better. Remember were Giving it away.
I agree with you completely, the one thing I finally realized about ubuntu is that it just felt different, more warm and inviting. Windows is so cold and sterile, or looks like a circus display *please no flames or trolls*, Ubuntu just felt like working in a cup of hot chocolate.

How about "Ubuntu Awareness", or we could use http://www.shareubuntu.org . You are absolutely right this needs to feel more like a community effort than a marketing firms idea.

[marketing_ubuntu]

openmind - You got it. Thank you. Welcome to the team! ;) I'm sure PsyberOneZero would like to welcome you too. Right on.

'Marketing' is just an generic (internal) naming convention and not intended as part of the marketing nomenclature itself. I would like to cover 'sperading Ubnutu', interfacing with the Arts team, conferencing (part of spreading Ubuntu ..) etc. as part of the global field that is marketing. You are, however quite right. We do not want anyone to feel 'marketed' to. We are extending an invitaion, not selling them a used car.

In order to focus on the fact that this is about people, UbuntuPeople.com has already been cleared by Canonical and is underway. It's not a final thing - it just encapsulates both the ideology of using, supporting and spreading Ubuntu. For example, the largest 'marketing' effort may, quite rightly focus around www.spreadubuntu.org . But we need to be clear about the difference between simply structuring a team and the public face of the project. They are 2 complementary, but separate instances.

As I mentioned, I like 'migration' etc. - perhaps we should even draw up some suggested regarding proposed naming conventions at a later date and vote with the larger community on these. For now, however I think we simply want to structure our environment to allow us to think openly and clearly.

Goal-setting (or milestones, using MS-typical architecture convention, lol) is paramount, yes. I like that. I think we should not only have goals for external achievements, but also for internal achievments in enabling us to reach those goals.

Again, I am an optomist and I think we have a very wide target group - as long as we support them through the initial stages. Regardless of your opinion (extremely respectfully meant) big or small - we have one. Part of what we need to do is grow that.

FireFox. Oh yeah - now you're rollin' What an excellent example. What an excellent product. What an excellent 'campaign'. I think we should possibly study them get a more in-depth view of how they have achieved what they have and where they are taking it to. openmind - do you think you could dig around for info about what happened in the early stages of the FireFox rollout campaign, who they connected with, what they did that worked (that didn't cost anything, lol) and what they didn't do?

We can easily get press coverage (I can help you there - I like journalists :) - with a story like this. Yes, it will be paramount. We need to refine that, and we need to time it right. We need real stories. (I don't want everyone too distracted with everything too much, but we can plant seeds in our structure for our new members to come along and cultivate with us - focus one what we think is most important first - and that in which we think, as individuals we are most effective).

Reality: I'll take it. The future: It's reality too, so why not help make it? :) I will always take your reality openmind. The more it comes with solutions like this brilliant post, the better..cool. Thanks.

PsyberOneZero: I like all those, perhaps we need to decide on the media when he have refined the message? A good option though, the tri-fold. Whatever we do, it all needs to tie-in together, as not to appear fractured (I don't just mean in design, but in content). Now, the gaming point - you're right on there. Hit me on the nose. It was not but a few hours ago I made an enquiry or two regarding our status there. I'll post when I get more info - but give me chance to get a reply. :)

people.ubuntu.com is also inthe pipeline if possible - again, we can decide on the exact conventions shortly, but we have to make sure we get people outside this community to use as a sandbox - do a few tests, test a few invitations / migrations - let the people in the real world tell us what they want to hear. Some 'market research', lol.

"this needs to feel more like a community effort than a marketing firms idea". I agree completely - It needs to feel like a community effort in 2 ways A+B), and like a marketing firm in 1 (C).

(A) In the way new users enter / migrate to our community (the way we interface) - it must feel like a community.

(B) In the way we contribute, share, evlove and open our minds to each other, this must feel like a community idea - it is.

(C) In the way that this is professional and organised, it must be no less effective as any marketing firm's campaign by our counterparts. Otherwise we are wasting our time. I also do not like the cold side of the 'commercail marketing edge', but we're not commercial - and I'm not going to let some cold people take a whole science away from us by blackening the name, lol - it's simply english. But, I do agree - we should _get_used_to_ 'migration', 'spreading', 'people', of course. At the same time, the Art team isn't the 'Touchy-Feely art team', they're just the art team.

The face of what we do will need different naming conventions - but let that not change the science, :)

Operating Systems have got a bad name 'cos they rip you off with expensive licensing every year - but that's not stopping us talking about an Operating Systems, right? lol

We may also need to interface with some orgaisations that may not recognise a '.org' type representation - or understand it. Know that they are dealing with a marketing team might make them feel a little more at home. Hey, we can't pull people all the way over the fence in one step, can we? (We may be able to swap hats when it's convenient).

Anyway, we might just be: Ubuntu People ;) (I would like to focus on people from the speaking / presentation point, at least) Let's not loose sight of the main point - to get a structure to enable us to make these decisions. I think once we have, everything's up for the vote - we just need to install _some_ structure in order to modify it. That's all I'm trying to do at the mo..

Lloyd

PS. This is fun, isn't it? Being able to give something back.. I'll think more on the internal naming conventions... any suggestions for 'swaps' - shout out - like:

Conversion > Migration

Let's make a list - for the time being. Yeah, I see what you mean, let's get that warm, cosy feeling in the whole language we use. Roger that - I agree. :)

[aysiu]

FireFox. Oh yeah - now you're rollin' What an excellent example. What an excellent product. What an excellent 'campaign'. I think we should possibly study them get a more in-depth view of how they have achieved what they have and where they are taking it to. openmind - do you think you could dig around for info about what happened in the early stages of the FireFox rollout campaign, who they connected with, what they did that worked (that didn't cost anything, lol) and what they didn't do? It's too bad that some people involved in the creation of Firefox think that spreading FUD about Linux (http://weblogs.mozillazine.org/asa/archives/008499.html) is a good idea instead of creating a good marketing campaign. Let's face it--Firefox didn't become big because it's a wonderful browser; it became big because of marketing and good word-of-mouth and the right time.

Firefox is a wonderful browser, but so is Opera, and so are a bunch of other browsers. Firefox just got more and better press. In fact, Opera wasn't even in the press until recently, since it started giving away its browser ad-free.

[DJ_Max]

I've skimmed over the thread and I like the ideas. So I wanted to add some input.

A bit a ago, someone bought the domains spreadubuntu.(com|net|org|us|biz) and a few others. He than said he didn't have the time to create the site, so I got a design from someone on these forums, and he redirected it to my domain http://ubuntuinfo.org
Unfortunately I haven't got around to launching it. I've learned RubyonRails, so I'm creating the CMS in Ruby using RubyonRails. I'm was also looking for someone to modify the design with navigation.

There was also talk over the Ubuntu-doc mailing list about an Ubuntu Magazine (http://ubuntumagazine.com). It would be orginally in PDF format, with talk about printing from PrintPelican (http://www.printpelican.com/). I'm hosting the domain, but there has been no updates.

With all this said, if someone already hasn't suggested, someone should contact Jan about the domains, I'll contact Zarul about the Magazine.


A couple of early points, 'Marketing' is too harsh and corporate a word for the target group. Something softer like 'Sharing Ubuntu' might be a little better. Remember were Giving it away.
That's fine for getting users like we already have, but if you want to get business users in the real world, "Sharing Ubuntu" won't cut it.

[fredricsolstad]

Correct me if I am wrong, but didn't Firefox market itself by quite the big-**** ad in NY Times? And then there was the whole banner program.

I must say that I think that the ad in NY-Times would have brought them alot of new users, as well as "word of mouth". I do however not think that Ubuntu should put a ad in NY-Times.. Not yet atleast.

As for my plans for a public demo / info meeting about Ubuntu.. I could have the stuff ready in about 4 weeks (1 if it wasn't for school).

I brougth my laptop to school today, and me and my partner on the paper on nuclearpower used it. She is quite the computer illiterate (did I spell that correctly), but it took her no time what so ever to get the feel for Ubuntu. She took one of my 5.04 CDs from Shipit with her home, and later this week we are going to install it on her computer. My other classmates were impressed aswell.. I got alot of questions rangeing from "What version of Windows is that" to "Cool! What does that icon do?" and "Really?? It's really free.. forever?!?" .. So far so good :) I'm bringing my last 5 copies from Shipit tomorrow to hand out in class, so that those who want it can try it.
Oh, and I'm invited to talk about Ubuntu for a group of former Fighter-plane engineers (my grandfather is one of them) in about 2 weeks. They have a small techie-club, and gramps is mighty impressed with Ubuntu. They will be paying me in free coffe, I think that it is a fair trade :)

[PsyberOneZero]

I've skimmed over the thread and I like the ideas. So I wanted to add some input.

A bit a ago, someone bought the domains spreadubuntu.(com|net|org|us|biz) and a few others. He than said he didn't have the time to create the site, so I got a design from someone on these forums, and he redirected it to my domain http://ubuntuinfo.org
Unfortunately I haven't got around to launching it. I've learned RubyonRails, so I'm creating the CMS in Ruby using RubyonRails. I'm was also looking for someone to modify the design with navigation.

There was also talk over the Ubuntu-doc mailing list about an Ubuntu Magazine (http://ubuntumagazine.com). It would be orginally in PDF format, with talk about printing from PrintPelican (http://www.printpelican.com/). I'm hosting the domain, but there has been no updates.

With all this said, if someone already hasn't suggested, someone should contact Jan about the domains, I'll contact Zarul about the Magazine.


That's fine for getting users like we already have, but if you want to get business users in the real world, "Sharing Ubuntu" won't cut it.

I love those ideas, especially the magazine. Having those domains is nice to know, I took a look at the website and it looks good, I would like to use that as the base for the Public Marketing Site (whatever we will call it). If you want it you have a spot on the Marketing Team, Welcome Aboard DJ_Max

[PsyberOneZero]

I had another idea tonight. How many people here listen to 720AM WGN Radio out of Chicago. They have a couple that does the overnight shift Sun. 2am-5am, Mon-Thur. 11pm-5am. They are really cool and have really neat guests on all the time. Specifically on Wed. nights/Thur. Morning they do a show called WebSite Wednesday, how hard would it be to contact Mark Shuttleworth and see if he would go on and do an interview. It's a huge audience (38 states just off the AM feed, and they also stream it live through RealMedia http://wgnradio.com/listen/liveWGN.ram . If there's a way to contact Mark, I *might* be able to make arrangements, or Mark can make the arrangements himself, best of all it's FREE and it's a large audience of mixed computer skills, exactly who we're going for.

[PsyberOneZero]

FireFox. Oh yeah - now you're rollin' What an excellent example. What an excellent product. What an excellent 'campaign'. I think we should possibly study them get a more in-depth view of how they have achieved what they have and where they are taking it to. openmind - do you think you could dig around for info about what happened in the early stages of the FireFox rollout campaign, who they connected with, what they did that worked (that didn't cost anything, lol) and what they didn't do?

After thinking about it there is one *big* differnce in Firefox's ability to market themseves and us. They have a much smaller download that doesn't need to be burnt to a CD, and isn't a "lifestyle change". It's a great example of an open source project getting major recognition, and parts of how they did it can be adopted to our needs. We face some major hills they didn't have, not everyone has broadband, or a CD burner. We will most likely have to be a little more hands on, actually giving physical CD's both Live and Install, but seeing the response from the community it won't be a stubling point just a hiccup.


BTW - I have a skeleton of a WikiPage created (goals, organizational stuff, basic info) , I am just waiting to see what WikiPage we will be using.

[marketing_ubuntu]

Hi there all,

The Wiki is now updated at https://wiki.ubuntu.com/MarketingTeam

Please add yourselves as members and look for Project leads you think you are suited to. Let's see if we can get a long list of potential Projects and expand on them. (For example, PsyberOneZero - you might post yourself as Lead on _your_ (very cool) DayKit idea and expand into and MarketingTeamDayKit Wiki?) Then we can link the project titles.. perhaps you'd like to run with a new thread for each one you're looking at and encourage new members to collaborate?

Is anyone else a really good Flash Developer, to investigate the Flash movie idea?

Who's the biggest brainstormer? Let's get organised, eh?

I'd appreciate all your additions to the Wiki / expansion into individual detail / related new threads - linked from sub-team pages. (Sorry, P. - I didn't know you were on it - I just wanted something up to cause us discussion) - I also incorporated all the info that was already there.

I'll pitch in my view on posts after more coffee as we sail into the launching of the team. Great news. :)

BBS

LH.

[marketing_ubuntu]

..the big-**** ad in NY Times? And then there was the whole banner program.

I must say that I think that the ad in NY-Times would have brought them alot of new users, as well as "word of mouth". I do however not think that Ubuntu should put a ad in NY-Times.. Not yet atleast...

True, if you take a look at the Wiki: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/MarketingTeam

It's our job to " Understand the need to find zero- and cost-effective awareness strategies that allow for unlimited scalability", among other things.


As for my plans for a public demo / info meeting about Ubuntu.. I could have the stuff ready in about 4 weeks (1 if it wasn't for school).

Cool - please share as you plan and lets talk...

You're a real activist aren't you? lol.


"What version of Windows is that" to "Cool! What does that icon do?" and "Really?? It's really free.. forever?!?" ..

I like that...

And free coffee is always a fair trade..

openmind, you'll find your section to put your name / link to your wiki / your RealityCheck wiki at the end of the link, too. Hope you like your new home ;)

We can all bounce new ideas through you, if you don't mind? Perhaps you could get yourself a little thread for the purpose and link from your page? Then, we could update the findings to the Wiki, etc? What do you think? (Just slay ideas until you find a good one)...cool ;)

fredric - If you could take over on the SpeakerExperience wiki creation - and Sweden, of course - perhaps you might also chip into the SpeakerLiterature with me (I'll come into your team later ;) - promise.

So, when you're allready (everyone!)* I'd love to see you one the member list.

We'll post back here anyway if we need to negotiate anything in the meantime. I'm subscribed with email notification, so I'll hear ya - and who hasn't rated this thread? Come on - even you should give it a 5 openmind, lol. :)

LH.


* = Yes, if you just stubled across this thread and you want to join our community - our MarketingTeam, just come to https://wiki.ubuntu.com/MarketingTeam and sign up.

Your Ubuntu needs you!

Any worries or comments- post here and I'll come runnin'...

[marketing_ubuntu]

... spreadubuntu.(com|net|org|us|biz) and a few others. ... someone should contact Jan about the domains..


... That's fine for getting users like we already have, but if you want to get business users in the real world, "Sharing Ubuntu" won't cut it.

Sounds interesting - I can just pull tha off the web. We need to know what the story is with the domains, if poss - we can organise them all to optomise each project - Jan? Jane? Sorry, I'm not sure who to ask, lol. But thanks - if you could just give me a pointer..

Roger on the sharing - perhaps we'll get touchy-feely on later contact perhaps - not the first (?)...;) lol

Sticking to the basic principles of what the user wants is enough, perhaps - then support enabling them to accelerate as much as they want into a new migration.. something to thrash out - but we're in the right ball-park.

Thanks ;)

[marketing_ubuntu]

Firefox didn't become big because it's a wonderful browser; it became big because of marketing and good word-of-mouth and the right time..

You betcha ;)

[openmind]

I'm in, and yeah M-U I like my little corner ;-)

[thechitowncubs]

I had another idea tonight. How many people here listen to 720AM WGN Radio out of Chicago. They have a couple that does the overnight shift Sun. 2am-5am, Mon-Thur. 11pm-5am. They are really cool and have really neat guests on all the time. Specifically on Wed. nights/Thur. Morning they do a show called WebSite Wednesday, how hard would it be to contact Mark Shuttleworth and see if he would go on and do an interview. It's a huge audience (38 states just off the AM feed, and they also stream it live through RealMedia http://wgnradio.com/listen/liveWGN.ram . If there's a way to contact Mark, I *might* be able to make arrangements, or Mark can make the arrangements himself, best of all it's FREE and it's a large audience of mixed computer skills, exactly who we're going for.

WOW, great idea. I listen to the station occationally. I've never thought of these ideas before and I am having a great time thinking about them.

Linux needs to be risen out of the underground, as of now it is just seeping. Lets dig some holes guys!

I can help with the Ubuntu website and am interested. Any IRC chat established yet? Whoever is making the website, how is it going and I would be happy to help!

btw i just joined the marketing team on the wiki

to be more organized and prepped for the future a launchpad team was created: https://launchpad.net/people/marketingteam

[DJ_Max]

WOW, great idea. I listen to the station occationally. I've never thought of these ideas before and I am having a great time thinking about them.

Linux needs to be risen out of the underground, as of now it is just seeping. Lets dig some holes guys!

I can help with the Ubuntu website and am interested. Any IRC chat established yet? Whoever is making the website, how is it going and I would be happy to help!

btw i just joined the marketing team on the wiki

to be more organized and prepped for the future a launchpad team was created: https://launchpad.net/people/marketingteam
Currently no IRC that I've heard of. But it would only would be a matter of creating one on freenode. https://wiki.ubuntu.com/InternetRelayChat

*Joined launchpad team*

BTW, be sure to join the mailing list.

[marketing_ubuntu]

Lets dig some holes guys!

I got a big 'ol shovel...lol ;)

You betcha.....thanks for your support..

Follow this man - join our team!

Lloyd

:)

Thanks again - sounds cool.

[newbie2]

maybe off topic but here is some 'smartass' :p who has some 'weird' idea :p -->
http://www.milliondollarhomepage.com/faq.php#3
http://www.milliondollarhomepage.com/

[marketing_ubuntu]

Yup,

That's off-topic. Thanks. Moving on....

L.

*sheesh* ;)

[fredricsolstad]

well.. I'm happy to see that things are moving on :-)

I've joined the launchpad team aswell. A good idea for every member of the launchpad team would be to sign the Ubuntu CoC and thus become a ubuntite.

Keep up the great work everyone!

[Pablo_Escobar]

I do my own part of marketing Ubuntu, I'm spreading the good word about Ubuntu to everyone I know. I converted some of my friends to be Linux users. The FREE factor is decisive here, because of the price Micro$hite is setting for his OS. I help my friends to know Ubuntu and how Linux works so the don't get discouraged at the beggining like some users without support.
If we keep spreding the good word about Ubuntu and help the people we know in transition between OS I believe that Ubuntu has great future :)

Cheers all :)

[fredricsolstad]

I do my own part of marketing Ubuntu, I'm spreading the good word about Ubuntu to everyone I know. I converted some of my friends to be Linux users. The FREE factor is decisive here, because of the price Micro$hite is setting for his OS. I help my friends to know Ubuntu and how Linux works so the don't get discouraged at the beggining like some users without support.
If we keep spreding the good word about Ubuntu and help the people we know in transition between OS I believe that Ubuntu has great future :)

Cheers all :)

Great! keep it up! :)

[fredricsolstad]

Work in progress..

I talked to the owner of the local video-rental-store and got permission from him to set up Ubuntu flyers there once they are made. He was also intrested in getting some CD-s to hand out to ppl that want them, along with my contact information.

Starting locally to expand as more material and resources become avalible.

[marketing_ubuntu]

Where are the Games?????

Help me:

http://www.ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=74722

Please Google with me!

;)

And in this forum - Is there a vacuum in the Linux Games market and is this affecting market penetration?


(As ever nice one fredric ;) )

[aysiu]

And in this forum - Is there a vacuum in the Linux Games market and is this affecting market penetration? Three answers for this:

1. It goes both ways--once the desktop market has been "penetrated," gaming companies will make more games for Linux. We've got chicken and egg issues.

2. Many current Linux users (not me, but other people) will be very happy to not have to dual-boot to play certain games.

3. The majority of computer users do not play computer games (besides tetris, hearts, and solitaire). Most people who play games use consoles (PlayStation, Gamecube, XBox)--my wife, for example.

[marketing_ubuntu]

We've got chicken and egg issues.

Yes. lol. My 'business' problem. And it's holding us back - yeah? So can we _make_ a chicken??


The majority of computer users do not play computer games (besides tetris, hearts, and solitaire) ..

Erm - should that not be - the majority of Gamers don't use PC's? I think all the kids of PC owners, big kids *I admit having been in a clan once, lol*, students, visitors to LAN parties and gaming Internet cafes - (a new business op. sprouting up everywhere). These service providers cannot use our platform for BF2? That must mean that we are _blocking_ a _large_ market share from joining us and enabling us to apply the leverage for open source in the future?

Flight Sims (theirs prob helped market saturation) - _big_ in executive offices - The Sims, Medal of Honor - Allied Assault, _Golf_ sims, _Sports_ sims...

Maybe it's not the majority - but are we really talking about 5% off? I mean - re. _home_users - is it the majority in that instance?

Thanks -so much. This is what I need _now_ - a debate on games and the effect on market penetration! Bring it on!!!

;)

L.

[fredricsolstad]

umm.. I find that
http://www.happypenguin.org/
has all the games I need, including ports of Windows games..

oh.. and thanks ;)

[deception]

I've only just seen this thread, I apologise :)

I am in the Marketing business also, and would absolutely love to volunteer to help Ubuntu grow. Could someone PM me with the details on how to volunteer please?

Many thanks...

[deception]

Sorry to double post, here is a quick SWOT anaylsis from my perspective..

Strengths

Ubuntu's strengths include a loyal "customer" base, which is proven through the activity and people's loyalty to this forum. Also, there is a strong, well-built product to market, which if was shown in the most beneficial marketing way, would succeed. There are many people trying Ubuntu each day, which is shown through distrowatch.com statistics.

Weaknesses

Lack of general-population knowledge of Linux/Ubuntu specifically. "You mean it's like windows, but not windows? HUH?". No formal organisation for marketing, "customers" tend to initiate contact - Ubuntu's owners (IMO) are not sufficiently proactive.

Opportunities

There is a HUUUUGE opportunity to slip a foot in the door concerning peoples' desktops. The main opportunity here is to market the product sufficiently, so people know there is a free, less-problematic alternative to Windows.

Threats

These include other distros and Windows.



Hope it's helpful to someone....

[marketing_ubuntu]

Now we're rocking ;)

[fredricsolstad]

Yeah, this is the kind of input that we need. :)

Oh, and welcome to the gang deception. The more the merrier or how it goes.

[geofff]

I've just been looking at linux related web-sites to see what they have to say about Ubuntu. Distrowatch is good - always puts Ubuntu on top.

However its amazing how many have no reference to Ubuntu at all!

Even LinuxOnline in their list of distributions only lists Ubuntu, not Kubuntu or Edubuntu. Ubuntu is shown as an English only distro.

Geofff

[marketing_ubuntu]

I 2nd that - welcome and more members please... ;)

Geoff - let's get it up there... are you in? Hell you're a yorkshireman - I'm from Sheffield - I know you're made of steel. Join us...Join in with Press Relations...

"Let's ROLL" ;)

Any ideas on gaining new members from the community (in the future we will gain members from our external activities) - but we need more members - quality. Perhaps we could all scout through posts in _all_ of the forum? Anyone who has / wants to initiate marketing activity should be directed to our central team in order for us to build larger teams. In particular International Migration must be representative of the whole community we target - that's everyone, so we need to cover _all_ countries...we _need_ a Local Team Liason Officer. We need to talk to LUGS - any URL's please...

Collaboration is the key.

Individually, we are small - but as a community united we are giants.

[thechitowncubs]

Ya... if you want to help dive in!

Its fun!

[marketing_ubuntu]

Nice sig. - I like it. ;)

L.

[Singapore_Sling]

Hi,

While I think it's great that you all have so much energy and are channeling that into ubuntu, I personally don't have the expertise or desire to help you formulate and execute a marketing strategy.

What I do have is a couple of people who want to share their experiences with ubuntu and contribute to their local communities here in Singapore.

http://www.ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=30354

I know...your probably going to tell me that by doing this I am actually contributing to the ubuntu Marketing strategy, well I don't see it that way. I simply want to give something back to the community - I'm not looking to chip away at the M$ monopoly.

To be honest I think your missing the point. Lloyd you obviously have a lot of ideas but your lengthy - somewhat osetentatious posts are in my eyes...overkill. Ubuntu didn't get to where it is today with a marketing strategy. Re-direct your energy into supporting the existing community. As it is the community spirit that is attracting people - not flash movies and flyers.

Keep it real.

Singapore_Sling

P.S. Im also an Englishman. A Geordie - Howay The Lads.

[marketing_ubuntu]

Thanks. It's a shame you can't join in.

I think that we need to remember that while ever we remain 'insular' in our efforts, Bug #1 will never be fixed - the prime directive of the Marketing Team. Yes, we need to work within the established community, but open source is about freedom - all we're doing is setting it free itself. Providing the vehicle.

I do aplogise for my lengthy posts. I wish I could say everything more concisely. Looking back, you can say - 'hey, yeah I could have just said XYZ', but the point is that I was thinking whilst typing, my ideas were evolving - I was learning from and responding to others.

If I come across as pretentious, for that I apologise. If I come across as motivated, for that I do not.

Overkill = Thank you ;)

"Ubuntu didn't get to where it is today with a marketing strategy" - To a certian extent it did - I am here because Mark gave a talk, gave a presentation, I got a flyer and thought -cool, got a Live CD, took it out and put in the full install in my laptop the same day. Now if that's not marketing... I was _sold_. lol

I think we just need to take this forward with a plan for the home user.

"Re-direct your energy into supporting the existing community. As it is the community spirit that is attracting people - not flash movies and flyers." - Again, to a certain extent, I think I am. If you just have a look at our wiki - you'll see the community spirit is growing, just in that little corner. To be honest - I want to get away from Flash Movies and flyers, too. But they will certainly feature to some extent. As a priority I want to talk to peolple and spread the community - that is my commitment to the community. That's what I'm about, if you're focusing on me.

Well, I could have been more concise and just said:

Yes, no, yes, do you? Yeah, Well..Oh? Hmm.. Nah.

But that would just have been plain rude, lol. ;)

Come on Singapore_Sling - join my friend (KIng, lol) Charles in the RealityCheck on the wiki: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/MarketingTeam and bring us some reality. Hey, you would be doing an injustice if you didn't, right?

Then, you can do this all day (or one hour a year, if you want..) We need you..

Note: Are you sure you're not a Mackem?

Peace.

[openmind]

Hey Singapore Sling, I too had/have doubts about where this thing is going, so Lloyd offered me the job of "Devil's Advocate". I get to look at all the proposals as an "outsider" I guess. Trying to put the brakes on where needed, giving a kick in the A**e where needed too ;-)

I couldn't agree with you more that the spirit of community here will attract more users than stickers, flyers and slogans. Come on over to The Dark Side (https://wiki.ubuntu.com/MarketingTeam) and give me a hand keeping these folk under control.

I'm signed up under RealityCheck (https://wiki.ubuntu.com/RealityCheck), if, like me you want to give something back, while at the same time reigning the enthusiasm in a bit, give us a hand.

[marketing_ubuntu]

lol, The Dark Side

[PsyberOneZero]

Come on over to The Dark Side (https://wiki.ubuntu.com/MarketingTeam) and give me a hand keeping these folk under control.
So does that make you Darth Vader? and then am I Luke or Yoda?

[marketing_ubuntu]

Do you look like Yoda? ;)

[Singapore_Sling]

Note: Are you sure you're not a Mackem?



Insult my mother, sleep with my girlfriend....but pls do not call me a Mackem. :mad:

[marketing_ubuntu]

lol, sorry - I guess you're not from that area then? I apologise :(

I didn't know it was that bad...will you join us? Please?

[Mr_J_]

I haven't read everything in this thread, but I will soon.
I have read one major mistake in all the posts I have read, and I was half way down page 2.

Normal people do not know enough to install an Operating System.
Think about it! Why do we have computer stores? Not just to sell parts...
Do you think for a second normal people will try to install an Operating system no matter how easy it is?
You need to get the word to the tech world before or at the same time that you get it to end users.
Alright! Ubuntu is just too easy. The dam thing asks you half a doozen questions if that and it's done. That isn't the problem.

Consider this the worst case scenario.
It's good! It's easy! It's free! So? I already have something installed. Why should I change? What makes me want to change to that?

Just because the ideas for the comercials show me as being an animal, thusly stupid, ignorant and then becoming a human, thusly smart and knowledgable... The beautifull women show you know something about what your doing, tho.
End rambling.

Go to the ridicule. Make an install manual to pass around with the cds or dvds. I know it's a little stupid, but after some safety manual said "don't stop chainsaw with genitals" I expect everything.

I think you should be extra carefull about what you hint even in the slightest way. Make sure someone isn't going to be offended by your remarks. Trust me on this one! My family hobby is bad-mouthing everything and everyone so I'm a sort of pro on that. Reading hidden meanings is just another pass-time.
Comparing a person to an animal that then changes into a human is a bad idea. The shackles are tricky too. Sheep, although sorta funny are remarkably considered as dumb animals...

Keep it simple!

The plane with lush land. Go with green and light blue.
Green is peacefull and neutral, so is blue and people generally like it.
Maybe this really foggy image that sharpens into a meadon with a tree somewhere in the back.
All the fruits are the ubuntu symbol. Some colorfull thick and rounded stick figures go up to it and take a bite. Or pick one from the tree, or some other action considered basic. Eating, picking things up, smelling them, etc...

Or even simpler.

From fog sharpen into "Ubuntu - Linux for Human beings" (I think that's it! :D )
Some foggy colors in the background.

Remember! Ads are suposed to be really short and really catchy.
Annoying ads that are really catchy can have a negative effect.
Something that sticks in your mind is the BIGGEST and number 1 caracteristic.

I just thought of an add.

That background with the tree blurs out into the color of the plane and then sharpens into a wooden room floor.
zoom out and six feet are showing. (three people)
zoom out more and more and those people in the adds are; maybe dancing around in a circle, or just looking up.
They become the ubuntu symbol and then next to it appears the catch phrase.

Haven't got anything catchy tho...

[marketing_ubuntu]

1. "Do you think for a second normal people will try to install an Operating system no matter how easy it is?"

2. "You need to get the word to the tech world before or at the same time that you get it to end users."

3. "Alright! Ubuntu is just too easy. The dam thing asks you half a doozen questions if that and it's done. That isn't the problem."

Mr_J_

1. No.

2. Exactly.

3. Yes, if it's a tech - as you mentioned, you cannot ask Joe in the street to answer questions about partitioning.

We can't just give it to them - we need to localise and facilitate them - thus a bigger MarketingTeam (speakers, installers. support) and deep liaison with LocoTeams and InstallationTeams. Opening our community to the outside community. Tech + New user at the same time - you're spot on.

I for one like your ideas - please come along ;)

[rikai]

I've been reading though the discussion, and i must say, I'm rather impressed with how you're handling this 'mass-grassroots effort'. Thus far, you've mainly focused on how to deliver Ubuntu directly to the end user though, and while it can be an effective delivery system, and may even achieve moderate penetration, i believe there are other venues that need to be explored in parallel to this effort.

For example, in addition to approaching the end users, we need to approach local venues that sell computers. Obviously a smaller company, probably locally owned and operated, would be more open to have a display set up somewhere, especially if it costs them nothing, than a large vendor, such as Best Buy

I think a very appropriate distribution place would be Internet Cafes, assuming you could get them to install Ubuntu on a few of their systems. This would give exposure to Ubuntu, much like a Live CD, without the company hang to risk TOO much, and still giving their users a look at alternatives that exist. Even if these users don't go and install it themselves, it's definitely possible that they'd tell their friends about this "cool new thing" they saw down at the Internet cafe.

Also, i think that various game publishers/develop need to be contacted, to, at the very least, find out how willing they'd be to develop/sell their goods on a Linux based platform if they saw that there was a viable business opportunity (ie: a large user base).

I apologize if my post seems a bit rough around the edges, i suppose my ideas aren't very developed.

[marketing_ubuntu]

Hi there rikai,

I think what you're saying is spot on. This is something which we need to look into and investigate - effectively a retail connection - including system builders.

While it is part of our global plan, we need people with:

a) Great ideas and perspectives like this

b) a small amount of time to work with our team and mature these ideas - helping to make them a reality.

Even if you are not able to help us, we will definitely consider this course and develop this perspective internally - it would, however be most advantageous if you could devote some small time to helping us achieve that goal.

Thanks for taking the time to post here. Everything helps - and this is very good.

Thank you.

[rikai]

i'll try to do what i can, i'll be keeping an eye on he marketing effort to see if i can find a place of which i can be of help.

[newbie2]

by Terry Mickelson October 14, 2005

What could be worse than your viewers not seeing your site display properly?

What if they never get to your site to see it?

The lowest form of "browser" out there is the search engine. The search engine is about the equivalent of a version 2 browser. It can't read flash, DHTML, JavaScript, dynamic pages, - even having trouble at times with frames. Search engines may have difficulty crawling, indexing, and extracting the content of your site if you have broken HTML.

Search engines score a page by looking for relevant terms in key HTML components in specific places within a document. These key components are titles, descriptions, visible text, alt image tags etc. If they don't find them because of typos or other mistakes, the spiders may leave without reading the content of the page.

Poor document structure like a META tag placed in the BODY section of the page instead of the HEAD section - can cause the spider to ignore the tag and cost you a good ranking.

What if you were tired and under deadline to get a new page up, (Not at my job!) you might type TILTE instead of TITLE for your TITLE tag. TITLE tags are very important to search engines. If you made this one little error the search engine will ignore all of the content of the title tag.

If you create the page properly and have content that contains your keywords it "should" get read and picked up by the search engines. (off page factors like inbound links excluded) However if you have a simple error like an open tag



Internet Explorer is very forgiving of mistakes in code. By building only for IE you are creating for the most error forgiving browser ever. Thinking that a search engine will "browse" your site like Internet Explorer 6 is a dream. If the site won't display right in Netscape, Firefox, Opera or an old version of IE chances are good the search engines can't read it either.

So next time you get frustrated with having to design for Netscape, Firefox, Opera and IE, just bust out your favorite HTML editor and settle in for a long night of code checking.

Your marketing department will thank you! "
http://www.promotionworld.com/se/articles/article/051014SEOwebbrowser.html

[PsyberOneZero]

A thought occurred to me after reading the last few posts.

For the immediate future, the major goal should be Name, and Brand Awareness in everyday users, encourage them to try a LiveCD, don't mention anything about installing unless *they* ask first. Mr_J has a point, the average computer user can barely install day to day software, let alone successfully reinstall Windows, least yet can Install a whole new OS. This is not an insult to users, just the fact that because of how computers are presented to them. The real target we need to get to "convert" are the computer manufacturers. HP is leading the way, but only outside the US. Could you imagine if we got names like Alienware, IBM ThinkPad, EMachine to offer Ubuntu with Support.

Think of it this way right now we are giving the users a Key. In time the Lock will show up and they will know how to open it.

This part is just me getting an idea down somewhere, I understand that a commercial is years away but anyway...

Random Idea for Commercial:
[interior - dark room]
[fade from black]
the room is dimly lit, there is not much in the room, a small desk with parchment and Quill, there is a Window with bars, and a door. There is also a small table near the door.

The commercial starts by doing a 36o of the room, there is a man sitting at the desk looking out the barred window in to the night sky. He stand up and goes over to the door. He looks down at the table and it's empty, we see his face he seems to be looking for something.

[close up on the mans face]
there is a small warm light briefly on the mans face, he seems confused. We pan back down to the table and sitting there is a Key, as he looks at the Key we can see the handle is the Ubuntu Logo, he picks up the key and there's a note attached to the key reading "humanity to others". from there the key and note morph in to the Ubuntu Logo on a brown background.
[fade to black]

[Mr_J_]

Hi!
Again... Hope it's the first of many!:D

Try to not make indirect atacks on Microsoft. Imagine this works...
Just imagine we do get to the TV adds and it's one of those with shackles.
Putting it on windows is a little bit atention grabbing, but Microsoft has lawyers.
Remember the consequences. Microsoft will send their lawyers to drop lawsuits on us because we depict their OS in constrictive and restraining way. Bad publicity can come back and bite you! Be aware of this when you make comercials. To put in a Flash add it's great.

As a person who likes to think ahead and I am bored at the moment.
The TV add. It's a whole lot of money to put into just to get it off the ground.
Where is it going to be put?
1.Country
2.Channel
What language will be used?
1.American English?
2.Will it be multiple language?
3.Will any language be used?
How much time is this add going to be?
1.Does the amount of time influence the money we need?
2.Does the time of day influence it?
How much money can we get to make the add?
Will we need to pay actors?
Will it be made by professionals?
Do we have some of the required "goods" above mentioned in our comunity?
Are they willing to cooperate?
Are real monkeys or live animals required?:p
Will there be music involved?
1.How much money will be involved in using that music?

I'll think of other stuff later on.:KS

The dark side is sounding good!

[rikai]

Psyber:
Alienware ALONE would be a major strike, especially since it's geared toward gamers.
IBM's flirted with Linux on the desktop in the past, and they're still a major Linux advocate today. They seem to try and help fund Linux development where they can. Their desktop market is owned by Lenovo now though(based in china), though they've still got strong ties from what i hear.

If anyone was going to try and get more corporations to sign on, I'd say you should choose IBM/Lenovo as your first target.

EMachines would be a tough nut to crack i would think.

Mr J:

My personal answers to this... don't take them as answers that might even remotely indicate the final outcome:

Where is it going to be put?: Television, Radio, Magazines & Billboards? :D
1.Country: Personally, I think there should be a BIG push to advertise in the US, mainly because there is a severe lack of penetration in reference to Linux, due to several different factors. On the second tier, we've got the countries that have no ties to any particular platform that we'd like to win over, such as many of the EU/Asian countries, And lastly, but of the same importance as the previous tier, we have the countries outside of the us, but also with strong loyalties, that have more knowledge of Linux, but no desire to use it, such as, for example, Sweden and England.
2.Channel: I don't know much about television in the other countries, but in the U.S., I'd think you'd want to get it on one, or more than one, of the 'Big 5', NBC, CBS, ABC, FOX & WB. I think the prime targets out of those five would be WB, FOX and ABC. They've got a higher saturation of the '17 year old' market that was mentioned earlier, and their viewers just tend to seem to be more open-minded, at least to me.
What language will be used? I say it should vary from country to country. As long as you keep the commercial simple when it comes to speech or text, it should be relatively uncostly to localize...

For example, in that ad that Psyber proposed, the only thing that would need to be changed between markets is the note that reads "humanity to others".

1.American English? Obviously this should be the case in the us market. I also think English would do well in other markets, such as Japan, where English is used for emphasis, and to show importance.

2.Will it be multiple language? If we go with my previous statements, then yes.

3.Will any language be used? Some can be used, as long as its kept simple, and portable.

How much time is this add going to be? It's gotta be short and sweet, but long enough that it'll stick in people's minds.

1.Does the amount of time influence the money we need? Most likely. You can lower the costs by simplifying the commercial, but essentially, when it comes to making stuff for television, time = money, quite literally.

2.Does the time of day influence it? Obviously. In the USA the best time to air it, and also the most expensive, is prime time, though, if an 'unknown' company suddenly started airing mysterious ads at prime time, they might even get a bit of press coverage. ;)

How much money can we get to make the add? This, i do not know, I'll pass that question along to Mr. Marketing.

Will we need to pay actors? Probably, unless there's a suitable actor that is wiling to volunteer? Perhaps there's an actor or three out there somewhere that uses Ubuntu, and would be willing to work for free, or reduced payment?

Will it be made by professionals? Hopefully, we don't want to be airing an ad that looks shoddy and unprofessional, because that notion will carry over in the viewers minds to the product.

Do we have some of the required "goods" above mentioned in our community? Aside from the actors, the answer to this question seems to be a definite yes, at least in theory.
Are they willing to cooperate? Hopefully.
Are real monkeys or live animals required? We don't want to turn this into a 'media circus' now do we? *grin* A small 'no humans were hurt in the making of this ad.' disclaimer would be humorous though. :D
Will there be music involved? Music can be a powerful thing, but it HAS to be used in the correct way. I think if music IS to be used, it should have the SAME priority as the visual aspect of the ad.
1.How much money will be involved in using that music: Depends on if you're going to use a commercial artist or an Indy artist, or create your own music... Commercial artists are EXTREMELY expensive. Indy artists can be very reasonable when it comes to pricing, and yo can generally find better music with them anyway, in my opinion. Or, there's always the option of creating the music from scratch, which would be somewhere in between the other two options in terms of overall price.

As a note, i think the cheapest form of advertising we could do that could still have a large impact, would be a billboard. They seem to be extremely cheap, and people see them often, as it's kinda hard to avoid a large sign on the side of the road. They seem to be an effective medium, at least from what I've heard about the advertising returns of other companies.

A radio ad couldn't hurt either, and it's almost as cheap, even free, sometimes if you approach college stations.

[PsyberOneZero]

Mr_J and rikai. Why don't you guys come on board the marketing team, Internationalization is a major issue and we do need people to help in that respect, along with the creative. You've both got great ideas and even better questions, and those are things we need to address before we can get very far.

Quick clarification on the commercial Idea:
The window that is barred is not blatently done so, it's not even a focus just a little subliminal jab. Another thing this guy is not shackled up just in a dark room "in the dark" so to speak. I know this is years away but it's good to at least plant a seed. Oh, and as far as language, the commercial would just have music, so the only part that would have to be translated if the tagline at the end, easy deployment to multiple countries

[rikai]

alrighty, 'm alraedy signed up over at launchpad anyway.
I'll join up later when i've got a bit of free time.

[geofff]

I'm dipping in again not because I have any expertise or time, nor indeed have I managed to get a trouble free version of Ubuntu working in the 12 months I've had it! but because I do believe it could have a big future and I do believe in open source in all its guises - not just computors. End of mini-rant.

Query: I'm a bit bemused by this section. Has Mark Shuttleworth handed over Branding/Marketing to this group? or is this tokenism on his part? If he is keeping the real power I don't blame him but if he really has "handed over power" a, he's a brave man (no offence to the keen team) and b perhaps he really does have a belief in the power of ordinary people (not that I ever doubted him :rolleyes: )

Following from that what is the purpose of this group? I say that because Marketing is not the same as branding. The Ubuntu brand seems to be controlled at the top ie the logo, the look of the web-site etc. - but maybe I'm wrong. Nevertheless the overall brand image has been set by the name, its meaning, the Ubuntu philosophy etc.

Nowadays branding, ie selling the brand, is the way big corporations go. The product is almost irrelevant, certainly from the advertising perspective.

In countries where there is already near saturation regarding computor ownership, "making a brand" and selling it is likely to lead to greater penetration by the brand than marketing (I know the big words but I'm not really sure I know what they mean ;-) However I would recommend NO LOGO the anti-branding book my Naomi Klein as a illuminating starter to anyone who's interested) . Whereas in countries that have low computor ownership, marketing the product's advantages could achieve some success even against the overwhelming brand image of Microsoft.

In high ownership countries selling the product to those who are specifically interested also can have limited results but marketed Ubuntu vs branded Microsoft isn't going to lead to quick penetration.

Branding is subtle. This group (again no offence) does not feel that! Not that it can't develop but there seems to be a need for cards on the table and some clear thinking.

I don't know if this is constructive. I hope so.

[marketing_ubuntu]

Hi geoff,

I hope Mark does have belief in ordinary people, also ;) I'm sure he does. Perhaps sabdfl might pop in to re-affirm it to us all , lol.

There has, however been no 'handing over'. This is a community effort. Canonical are, I'm sure very well qualified to continue the 'marketing' they have effected to this date that has brought the development so far and into the future.

This kind of began when I noticed that everything been done was so 'insular'. You know, talking to user groups, developers etc. istead of 'Joe'.

The problem seems to be that 'Joe' in the street really controls the market. Perhaps marketers like to think they do, but if you look at how many 'marketing campaigns' fail to meet their full potential, it seems entirely possible that the ones that hit are the ones that arrive at the right time, and the ones that educate 'Joe' as to why he wants to adopt something new.

It was my feeling that the only way to compete with "the worlds #2 brand" was to expand the community, to include 'Joe'. Otherwise, you have to go back to the expensive campaigns and waste money until you hit the button..

In a plan that includes shipping free CD's, and not getting any real ROI until Joe fully adopts it, thus larger organisations, a large-scale hit-and-miss campaign doesn't seem like a good idea.

It's not to bad if you can get €250 for each of those CD's, that can help fund your moves, convince the bank manager etc..but if we're really going to adopt open source in the high street, if we're going to revolutionise 'Joe's' world, perhaps first we need to change our own perspective.

The time is right - the product is right - the price is right.

Joe wants it - he just doesn't know it exists yet. It was my opinion that we tell him - in his language, that it's here, most importantly - what it is and how he can easily access it and feel safe in its uptime.

After that, it's really up to Joe.

Imagine if Joe could walk into 2 shops - one has an office suite for $250 and the other has one for free. Similar products. We know what would happen, right? A small number of crazy 'elitists' would buy the $250 one, perhaps from some insecurity. Joe buys the free one and trys it first.

Joe doesn't know OpenOffice is there, or Linux or any of the other thousands of great open-source software.

A small business owner said to me today - you know what I do when my computers get slow - I buy new ones. At €599 a PC, he doesn't have the time.

(Successful) businesses are motivated by money, individuals are motivated by money + emotions..

I find it harder to convince developers that if they want #1 in the high street, they have to facilitate (or meet halfway with) Joe than I do convincing Joe that he should change his comfy (albeit expensive) world.

Well, that's my 2c (they are rather expensive euro cents, lol)...;)

Joe: "Does it work and who's going to fix it if it goes wrong?". The thing he'll never say but is dying to ask is "What does it look like and will I be able to use it?". Joe's not stupid and he doesn't want to jump out of the frying pan into the fire. The established community are the fire rescue - there's already enough of us to help Joe out - the question is, "Do we really want to fix Bug #1?" If so, it's time to do something instead of talking about it.

Perhaps I'm wrong - but that's why I'm here, lol - for you to tell me I am and educate me ;)

[fredricsolstad]

Something interresting is happening in the country of Sweden...

There are rumors of a completly new type of motherboard comming.. and that it will be shipped with Ubuntu as well as it's native OS..

I'll keep you informed as things progress..

[marketing_ubuntu]

*intrigued* ;)

"History will be kind to me for I intend to write it." < cigar guy again

[fredricsolstad]

I can tell you this much..

It's based around... nah.. I can't tell.. not yet ;)

[Master Shake]

Dunno if this has been mentioned, but I can see one thing that could be done to help "Spread the Gospel of Ubuntu"

Regional Liasons, or to put it in a different term, Regional Marketer. Someone who claims a region, orders up (or personally presses) dozen, even hundreds of copies of Ubuntu and distributes tham in bookstores, coffeshops, computer stores, or any old place where computer users would gather. This could be helped along by designing atractive counter displays. In some cities, there are newspaper racks that have free computer newspapers (We have a good one here in Chicago). Leaving a stack of CD's in those could help.


However one big flaw, is the lack of what I felt was good install instructions in the ShipIt CDs. This should be rectified, as well as putting a list of helpful websites and publications, should the user need support.

THat's my opinion, and I'm sticking to it. :)

[rikai]

I can tell you this much..

It's based around... nah.. I can't tell.. not yet ;)

I'm betting my chips that you're hinting toward the BTX form factor... ;)

[fredricsolstad]

I'm betting my chips that you're hinting toward the BTX form factor... ;)

Actually no.. The formfactor has been changed to FlexATX... :smile:

[rikai]

Actually no.. The formfactor has been changed to FlexATX... :smile:

Socket processors only...
9"x7.5"...
tiny size....
low poewer...
extremly low cost...

overall, i like it. <.<;


although, i'm trying to tell if you're serious, or just trying to egg me on :P

[Segovia]

How long will we wait until a global strategy is organised to really push this to the general public?
Honestly, some gnu/linux users don't really care if anyone else uses it. Sure there are some benefits to having a larger user/developer base, but I don't really feel the sense of urgency that pervades this thread. Why must we "push this to the general public"? I see very little benefit in that to the end user.

Part of the reason I don't feel any urgency is because when things get big, they attract greedy people and control freaks. Anyone remember the web before EVERY company/government on the planet got their greedy hands in it? Now the RIAA is checking all your packets, and suing your children; and the U.S. government wants to censor/sterilize everything into oblivion for fear that a child might discover how their species reproduces.

I'm not a fan of big business, fascist governments, or marketing/sales type people who constantly "push" us to believe that we need an endless stream of material possesions to be happy in our lives. I'm not a young man. I've seen a lot of things in my time, and I tell you this - when big business and government gets involved in something, you can be sure it'll be complete rubbish before they're done.

Really then, what is the urgency to get everyone on the planet using Ubuntu? To satisfy your desire to take down the big software monopolies?

[fredricsolstad]

Socket processors only...
9"x7.5"...
tiny size....
low poewer...
extremly low cost...

overall, i like it. <.<;


although, i'm trying to tell if you're serious, or just trying to egg me on :P

Hmm.. well.. it's not your standard motherboard.. It will come ready-fitted with CPU and all... and will be running Linux (In Sweden it will be shipped with Ubuntu thnx to me ;) ) and a native OS. more than that I am not at liberty to say at the moment.

[marketing_ubuntu]

Honestly, some gnu/linux users don't really care if anyone else uses it.

Yes, this is true - in fact, the problem.


Why must we "push this to the general public"? I see very little benefit in that to the end user.

Perhaps I used the wrong terminology - I did not mean 'push it on', simply 'push it to' - make them aware.


Anyone remember the web before EVERY company/government on the planet got their greedy hands in it?

Yes, it was not a reflection of the real world.


when big business and government gets involved in something, you can be sure it'll be complete rubbish before they're done.

I hope not - many already use Linux. I'm afraid that it is too late to stop them being involved. You are right, once big business becomes involved, many aspects become messy. At the same time, it becomes sustainable. This is a decision we have to make - sustainability or elitism?


Really then, what is the urgency to get everyone on the planet using Ubuntu? To satisfy your desire to take down the big software monopolies?

To fix Bug #1

Thanks for posting Segovia - anyone of the same opinion? I'm sure there are - let us know. ;)

[fredricsolstad]

S*it happens sometimes..

In February last year I had to go on sickleave because of stress (for some strange reason doing 4 jobs at the same time isn't healthy). After a year of sickleave (yeah, a year) I had to quit my job if I ever was going to get well (in the head) so I did. Now, more then a year later I thought that all was well so I decided to start studying to be able to get another job. At the same time I became aware of Ubuntu, and later on the marketing project.
Thing is.. I apparently wasn't really "well" yet. So I had to spend last night at the emergency psychiatric ward of the (state) hospital. Seems that my previous doc (in another "state") had given me permission to get back into the real life too soon. As you might have figured already, it backfired.

So, I'm going on sickleave again. And unfortunently, I have to take a step back from the marketing campaign aswell.. atleast until I can handle life, and don't have to take psychofarmacological drugs just to be able to handle getting out of bed.
Hopefully I will be back on my feet so to say, when the new motherboard is ready for shipping, and will be able to spread Ubuntu with it.
But for now.. I'm backing off..

This is a hard desicion to make, but I have to focus on myself.

I wish you all the best of luck with the project, and I will be around here.. just not out there spreading it.

[marketing_ubuntu]

Hey Fredric,

I'll PM you.

;) Take it easy.


(In Sweden it will be shipped with Ubuntu thnx to me ;) )

Wow - cool.

[gray-squirrel]

I'm always late to the good threads, and it takes time to go through because I don't want to repeat what's already been said.

Anyways. . . has anyone thought about the local computer store? Not your Best Buys and CompuUSAs, but that smaller local store? A few months ago, when I was cruising around looking for replacement components to build my current computer, I was at a local store pricing systems. . . and they had a basic system being sold for about $100 less than a comparable one with Windows XP - but it had no operating system installed. I thought it did, but the sales rep told me that they could put in SuSE Linux for an additional $39.

Now, if they can sell one distro, surely they can put together a system with Ubuntu (or Kubuntu, give them the choice) bundled with OpenOffice, Firefox, Thunderbird, etc. Since it costs nothing to obtain and install Ubuntu, they could, for example, make the price for this the same as the basic system with SuSE Linux - meaning they could keep the $39.

These stores, in my experience, are more likely to offer Linux-friendly peripherals, which is another good thing. Although the store chain Micro Center carries such things also - I bought an external "old school" modem (I forgot the right term for that, sorry) and a Sound Blaster card there.

This could be another component in the marketing strategy - but there will be of course a somewhat different set of benefits to present to them which would give them an incentive to pre-load computers with Ubuntu.

I will consider joining you all, but my long commutes to and from work will keep me from doing as much as I would like.

[Master Shake]

I just joined the marketing team for the (far) southern Chicago region.

[marketing_ubuntu]

I will consider joining you all, but my long commutes to and from work will keep me from doing as much as I would like.

Hey you - thanks for the post ;) If you've got '1hr a year' - come along and get these great views seen by the rest of us. I think you're spot on. This is where most of the public learn about what's available - in the system builders/ come retailers. I think we might need you.

I did try to explain this to Canonical (as it really needs to be intiiated by them and supported by the community on a large scale : eg. via wholesalers > to builders/retailers when they order hdd's, easing distribution costs) - but they didn't get it. *ermmm...worried* Without this kind of retailer interface, at the same time as 'grassroots' speaking etc, I do not think we will be as effective - *_wake_up_canonical_*, lol.


I just joined the marketing team for the (far) southern Chicago region.

Cool - any particular Project you want to roll with? Looks like you've got friends over there, lol. (Has Chicago gone Ubunu crazy?, lol)

Welcome - and welcome to all newcomers. If anyone wants to take some of my leads...I'm happy to deal, lol. (Post if you have a specific angle that interests you). You know you can add yourself directly to projects on the wiki, too? And then connecting with the lead will get you up-to-speed.

This is great - whatever time you can give to furthering the spread of Ubuntu locally and via global projects is very much appreciated - I'm sure, by all.

Everyone who wants to help is extremely welcome. ;)

[Master Shake]

Cool - any particular Project you want to roll with? Looks like you've got friends over there, lol. (Has Chicago gone Ubunu crazy?, lol)


Nothing really in particular. I'm up for anything about getting recognition for Ubuntu down here in the Kankakee area.

[rikai]

S*it happens sometimes..

In February last year I had to go on sickleave because of stress (for some strange reason doing 4 jobs at the same time isn't healthy). After a year of sickleave (yeah, a year) I had to quit my job if I ever was going to get well (in the head) so I did. Now, more then a year later I thought that all was well so I decided to start studying to be able to get another job. At the same time I became aware of Ubuntu, and later on the marketing project.
Thing is.. I apparently wasn't really "well" yet. So I had to spend last night at the emergency psychiatric ward of the (state) hospital. Seems that my previous doc (in another "state") had given me permission to get back into the real life too soon. As you might have figured already, it backfired.

So, I'm going on sickleave again. And unfortunently, I have to take a step back from the marketing campaign aswell.. atleast until I can handle life, and don't have to take psychofarmacological drugs just to be able to handle getting out of bed.
Hopefully I will be back on my feet so to say, when the new motherboard is ready for shipping, and will be able to spread Ubuntu with it.
But for now.. I'm backing off..

This is a hard desicion to make, but I have to focus on myself.

I wish you all the best of luck with the project, and I will be around here.. just not out there spreading it.

Take all the time you need man.
I hope everything works out for you.
The people come LONG before Ubuntu.

[marketing_ubuntu]

For anbody new - just an update.

The Marketing Team forums have begun to roll:

http://www.ubuntupeople.com/file/forums/

If you want to come along, that'd be just dandy - but please sign up on our team, so we know what you want to do (just hang around, BrainStorm, get into and existing project, make a new one - it's all cool):

https://wiki.ubuntu.com/MarketingTeam

And let's get moving. The time is now - and we're are gaining members like crazy... ;) Are you our next? It's an open team - so anyone can join.

See you there.

[fredricsolstad]

Thanks everyone for your support.

[rikai]

Always happy to support a good cause.

[sophtpaw]

what happened to the first questionaire?
Has this thread been changed?

--
sophtpaw

[marketing_ubuntu]

Thanks everyone for your support.

Hey - you know where we are. Any time (_any_ time). Hope to see you dipping in the Marketing Team forums, too ;) It's about community - and you're in it, whenever you want to be - you've got friends here. Any time - keep me informed, eh? ;)


what happened to the first questionaire?
Has this thread been changed?

--
sophtpaw

Erm, it what way -the poll? Oh, well that was added after the thread started. I think it's an important aspect: understanding what new users want, isn't it? (_Tell_me_ if I'm wrong) Would you like to expand on the poll? Hey man - feel free - it's your thread as much as anyone's. Is that what you meant?


Always happy to support a good cause.

You rock too, ;)

Freedom in the high street! lol.

[abs]

I was thinking, would not be great if some inflectional figures, like pop dudes and so on promote ubuntu, maybe by wearing a t-shirt with that logo, with ubuntu, or something similar.

making ubuntu more of a bigger movement than it is at the mo, perhaps providing small addictive games to do with these people. FREE,

Not too say I like POP groups, maybe a cool band of some sort embracing ubuntu indirectly, like appearing on TV with logos of ubuntu showing, subtle marketing,

If you all remember back to the Sony playstation days, when Sony paid some pop dudes to ware t-shirts in jet-black saying playstation. I know the market they were targeting is defferent but you get what i mean,

I think having little hints here and there would help the awareness of ubuntu.

do note this is just a wild idea, i think it would be something that could work,

[earobinson]

meh, Ubuntu is doing very well as it is. It would be cool if anyone promoted ubuntu, but the last thing we want is to get some pop dudes to promote it then people find out that they go back to there house and use windows.

[Stormy Eyes]

I was thinking, would not be great if some inflectional figures, like pop dudes and so on promote ubuntu, maybe by wearing a t-shirt with that logo, with ubuntu, or something similar.

I personally do not want to see Bono wearing an Ubuntu teeshirt unless he actually uses Ubuntu. Why bother with an endorsement from somebody who doesn't know jack about what he's endorsing?


If you all remember back to the Sony playstation days, when Sony paid some pop dudes to ware t-shirts in jet-black saying playstation. I know the market they were targeting is defferent but you get what i mean,

I remember that. I also remember my reason for buying a PS; it came down to three words and had nothing whatsofuggingever to do with pop stars on TV: Final Fantasy VII.

[TravisNewman]

The last thing I want to see is Fitty Cent wearing an Ubuntu t-shirt if he doesn't actually have an opinion. That's one of my least favorite thigns about marketing.

[Brunellus]

The last thing I want to see is Fitty Cent wearing an Ubuntu t-shirt if he doesn't actually have an opinion. That's one of my least favorite thigns about marketing.
"get *NIX or die trying"

[`GooZ´]

The last thing I want to see is Fitty Cent wearing an Ubuntu t-shirt if he doesn't actually have an opinion. That's one of my least favorite thigns about marketing.
lol, he indeed seems to have no opinion at all ;)

[Kvark]

What would the slogan be "Ubuntu - So easy even Britney Spears can use it!"?

Why not add a celebrity gossip feature with a tray notifier that blinks every time something happens in Holywood. Put an MTV wallpaper and a glittery theme as default. Or several themes, one for each of Anastasia, Metallica, Backstreet boys and a few others. And a default screen saver that displays an idol picture gallery. And rename it to Celebrity Linux.

...man that would be so stupid. :lol:

[Wolveen]

I dont think Celeberties should promote anything they dont use.
I know some of them (Curt Schilling for one) wears his EQ2 hat and he does play EverQuest 2.
Now look at all the washouts saying, wearing anything for a buck. Or the one that supports something then later publicly denounces it as if they never heard of it before (politicians come to mind).

Nah, what we need is something like a commercial spot. Kinda like what Windows does, it doesnt attack anything just lets everyone know about it.

Vision a cold winter day in the Artics, bland boring, devoid of any features, totally boring...yet you hear this cute voice chuckling and wooting, the camera pans in on a igloo with flickering light pouring out of its door. Then we see inside the igloo, we see a pc box connected to a large flat panel LCD TV. We then see 2 penguins sitting on the couch with gamepads playing some online game.
Then maybe some Logo like: Linux: Get More Done

Ok not the greatest idea, but thats what Linux needs, marketing. Not distro related and not bashing Windows or Mac.

[abs]

:D :D :D :D :D ,


I got stitches reading the replies, funny stuff, 50c, git nix or die trying i see that one coming along, LOL.....

I was bored at work, so thought I'd stick a post in, am glad i got a response, :)
keep the jokes coming am liking this,


"Ubuntu - So easy even Britney Spears can use it!"?

HAHAAHH... If only she was that easy, I would of fancied my chances with here....
:) Ooooooh, Yeaaaaa....

[etc]

If the person really wants to switch, they'll find us.
Almost every site I've been to recommends Ubuntu for new users.

[Roobert]

If the person really wants to switch, they'll find us.
Almost every site I've been to recommends Ubuntu for new users.

That's how I found out about it, just reading someone's comments about using Ubuntu for GIS in another forum....so I just decided to try it out on a whim, and now I'm hooked. :-)

[abs]

true,

I keep watching google news and have allerts for ubuntu, and visit ubuntu just as much as google everyday :D , get all excited when reading about ubuntu, love it, :)

and recommend it to everyone i come across, i even got my mates into it :D

I do wish that adobe ported there stuff over cos i use it alot at work. golive and so on....

[raublekick]

Hello hello!
I use a distro called Ubuntu!

[Sirin]

The last thing I want to see is Fitty Cent wearing an Ubuntu t-shirt if he doesn't actually have an opinion. That's one of my least favorite thigns about marketing.

Too late. :razz:

http://img447.imageshack.us/img447/3442/50centuibuntu5pf.jpg

[Collin]

I believe Ubuntu should be marketed through the school system, like I plan on doing, well that is if canonical support my project.

I basicly want all the student at my college to receive a ubuntu cd set, I know 3/4 will simply throw them away (which I hope they will simply give it back) So I'm talking about roughly 5000 cds.

[etc]

I believe Ubuntu should be marketed through the school system, like I plan on doing, well that is if canonical support my project.

I basicly want all the student at my college to receive a ubuntu cd set, I know 3/4 will simply throw them away (which I hope they will simply give it back) So I'm talking about roughly 5000 cds.
You don't want them associating Ubuntu with AOL cds they get in the mail. You should just ask the tech department if they can have a box of Ubuntu cds there, and whenever someone has a problem, they should recommend Ubuntu as an alternative.

[TravisNewman]

You don't want them associating Ubuntu with AOL cds they get in the mail. You should just ask the tech department if they can have a box of Ubuntu cds there, and whenever someone has a problem, they should recommend Ubuntu as an alternative.
agreed. Make them available, but don't just have everyone get one. Offer an installation class, maybe 4 or 5 sessions over the span of a week so that as many people as possible can attend.

[Roobert]

[QUOTE=Sirin]Too late. :razz:

Wh-a-a-a?? Did you hack his shirt?

[raublekick]

You don't want them associating Ubuntu with AOL cds they get in the mail. You should just ask the tech department if they can have a box of Ubuntu cds there, and whenever someone has a problem, they should recommend Ubuntu as an alternative.

free condoms seems to work for the health department, this is kinda the same thing, right?
:confused:

[phen]

I agree with you, Collin. We use Linux WS for our programming and numerical maths classes. We use, for example, the free Intel fortran Compiler. At home, where you have to do your homework, you have the choice between a shareware compiler or "buying" one of these awful bloated visual applications.

For some other courses, a FREE Matlab would come in very handy. I think that many students would try a live cd if they could use these applications without all that "buying" or cracking of extremely expensive software. Placing CDs in the computer labs would be imo a good idea!

[Sirin]

Too late. :razz:

http://img447.imageshack.us/img447/3442/50centuibuntu5pf.jpg
Wh-a-a-a?? Did you hack his shirt?

I'm a professional. :cool:

[Collin]

By giving the cd away to all the student I want also the teachers to be part of it all, if I get their support it would be great. But anyway college is not the population I want to target, eventually I'd like for linux to be distributed in high school and maybe elementary school.

Get them young that's the trick

[poptones]

Actually, this insidious plot has been going on for years now. The subliminal messages were broadcast long before most of us had heard of "ubuntu..."

http://poptones.f2o.org/images/Tatu-AllTheThingsSheSaid.png

http://poptones.f2o.org/images/Moby-Southside.png

[etc]

http://img492.imageshack.us/img492/4067/thering7zx.png (http://imageshack.us)
WHEN WILL YOU STOP KILLING UBUNTU?!

[Sirin]

Even competiton has it's limits. ;)

http://img366.imageshack.us/img366/618/billgatesubuntu4fp.th.jpg (http://img366.imageshack.us/my.php?image=billgatesubuntu4fp.jpg)

[Kapre]

Even competiton has it's limits. ;)

http://img366.imageshack.us/img366/618/billgatesubuntu4fp.th.jpg (http://img366.imageshack.us/my.php?image=billgatesubuntu4fp.jpg)

I love this. When can we have a pic of this guy hugging Tux and Torvalds? LOL


K :p

[ameerirshad]

But we need to look at the big picture. A commercial is a good idea. Flyers are great too. The most important point about marketing is that it is much less effective if it is not timed correctly. For example, you send a flyer to a house and the call around the day after to tell them how great your double glazing is - and they say "I've heard of you"..you get me?

If there's anything here that's a problem to you - tell. I'll explain what I mean and if _we_ decide I'm wrong, (eventually, lol), then I am. Democratically.



I agree, I've just started to use GNU/Linux by Ubuntu (5.04 then 5.10 now 6.04) and I converted some Windows adepts as well. I like choice, and I would like to promote choice. I don't see corporate leaders nor government officials in the Netherlands switching soon to F/LOSS, so bringing Ubuntu in their limelight is a hard option. As such I now focus on embeded aps and public places. With some partners we develop some concepts on how to bring Linux in sight of people, some of our ideas include:

1) Internet Lounges (the cafés are pasé), lounges, especially in hotel lobbies, there the corporate people will see Linux work

2) Terminals, like the FreeToaster, but then as internet terminal at stations, public houses etc... for all the poor souls with a need for a quick Google search and no laptop with wifi at hand (like I'm at times when I forget adresses and need access to my email to make appointments in 20 minutes without a clue where I am and where I need to be!)

3) offering off the shell desktops and laptops with a strong brandname (see services mentioned above) with Ubuntu pre-installed warantees etc... the whole crap Dell does for Windows!

4) offering IT services to companies and governments, after they have seen Linux work, they see the brand-name, they will come! Marketing = branding!

So here I gave some ideas away for free! Me and my partners always look for sharing the market, teaming up with others in making a strong combination!

Disclaimer: this is not an appeal for support, nor for marketing the organisation I create, as I never mentioned names etc.... BUT.... if you have any ideas and enthausiasm to step in: be welcome! ;)

[Jenda]

Marketing_Ubuntu: Your avatar gave you away, Lloyd :).
Rikai suggested (on IRC) that having a subforum here instead of a whole ubuntupeople.org would give us more attention from random passers-by. I think that's true. What do you think?

[darf681]

Spreading Ubuntu

I think the best way would be..for people to order 500 CDs apiece, go to your local Office Depot, Best Buy, Office Max, etc.. and set up a Free Operating System box either out front, or if the Manager of the store can see the advantage of being able to lure in customers with free software, set up a place inside, and give away the cds to spread Ubuntu!!

I posted this as a reply to another post in the Absolute Beginners Area, but thought it was a good enough idea to get in here too :D

[dada1958]

"FREE OPERATING SYSTEM???!!! Will that work with Windows???" :eek:

[raublekick]

The title of this thread makes Ubuntu sound like an STD...

[wrtpeeps]

haha.

But this would just end up like the free internet cds. people put them in, no idea what to do, and throw them away. Not to mention the wee scrotes grabbing 6 or 7 cds to misuse :P

[Master Shake]

I had an idea for creating a set of labels that say "Works with Ubuntu Linux -- go to www.ubuntuforums.org for more info" and discreetly slapping the labels on Ubuntu compatible hardware at your local retail outlet.

[mohapi]

Bring along a laptop with it running, so people can see what it looks like. And get a working wireless connection so they can surf the internet with it. That would convince people to take it home. The CD, I mean.

[purpleposeidon]

Like the AMD adds on slashdot:

"You could have bought [$TOTAL_MONEY_SPENT_ON_MICROSOFT/$AVERAGE_COMPUTER_COST] computers with the amount of money spent on non-Ubuntu systems."

[bruce89]

Yikes, this one's back from the dead.

[conanm4]

I have an idea, if we really want linux and ubuntu to become mainstream we gotta spread the word. My idea is for all of us to get 2 people to switch to ubuntu, dual boot with ubuntu or atleast try ubuntu. My hopes are that if Ubuntu gains that much buzz then hardware manufacturers will see this and open source drivers and try and make them more compatible. Think back in the days of the first Knoppix cd and how much it has progressed since then. The speed of progression since the first live cd of linux has in itself has sped up. Sorry about this long post, tell me if my idea is good or bad. One last note is that if these sentences run on to long, I am very tired.

[rattlerviper]

I have an idea, if we really want linux and ubuntu to become mainstream we gotta spread the word. My idea is for all of us to get 2 people to switch to ubuntu, dual boot with ubuntu or atleast try ubuntu. My hopes are that if Ubuntu gains that much buzz then hardware manufacturers will see this and open source drivers and try and make them more compatible. Think back in the days of the first Knoppix cd and how much it has progressed since then. The speed of progression since the first live cd of linux has in itself has sped up. Sorry about this long post, tell me if my idea is good or bad. One last note is that if these sentences run on to long, I am very tired.

conanm4, first you probably should have posted this in the Ubuntu testomonial area or the backyard because it may have recieved more responses. As for your idea, it is a good one IF you can actually get 2 people to switch. That tends to be the hard part. The general public tends to look upon "free" software as a scam. They feel that there has to be a catch somewhere(spyware, viruses, insecurity, whatever). Also most users don't want to have to deal with looking for drivers etc. Until you can walk into your local big box store or computer store and buy a computer with Linux on it I don't think we are going to see a mass exodus from Microsoft/Apple to Linux.

Don't get me wrong I love linux(Ubuntu in particular), and do believe the word needs to be spread. But sometimes there is no helping people that are unwilling to learn.

[richbarna]

Why not buy the website?
http://spreadubuntu.org/

Or visit the people who are already spreading ubuntu :-
https://launchpad.net/products/spreadubuntu

[Lord Illidan]

conanm4, first you probably should have posted this in the Ubuntu testomonial area or the backyard because it may have recieved more responses. As for your idea, it is a good one IF you can actually get 2 people to switch. That tends to be the hard part. The general public tends to look upon "free" software as a scam. They feel that there has to be a catch somewhere(spyware, viruses, insecurity, whatever). Also most users don't want to have to deal with looking for drivers etc. Until you can walk into your local big box store or computer store and buy a computer with Linux on it I don't think we are going to see a mass exodus from Microsoft/Apple to Linux.

Don't get me wrong I love linux(Ubuntu in particular), and do believe the word needs to be spread. But sometimes there is no helping people that are unwilling to learn.

Not to mention that if something goes wrong, the user instantly goes into a "Free software, I KNEW there was something wrong with it" mode, and will instantly recommend against even trying Linux to anyone who walks buy.
Only give Ubuntu Cds to people you know can appreciate it.

[aysiu]

It's come a long way since Knoppix? Knoppix can do a single-click mounting of a partition or drive. Do you know how many posts here have to do with mounting Windows or Linux partitions?

[newlinux]

Not to mention that if something goes wrong, the user instantly goes into a "Free software, I KNEW there was something wrong with it" mode, and will instantly recommend against even trying Linux to anyone who walks buy.
Only give Ubuntu Cds to people you know can appreciate it.

I think people who are really used to Windows need to go into Linux (and Ubuntu) with an open mind. Things are different in Linux. Without an open mind those difference will be percieved as hinderances or shortcomings. It helps to also provide support to who you give Ubuntu to.

[aysiu]

But even if you give them support, you can't force people to open their minds.

[rattlerviper]

Not to mention that if something goes wrong, the user instantly goes into a "Free software, I KNEW there was something wrong with it" mode, and will instantly recommend against even trying Linux to anyone who walks buy.
Only give Ubuntu Cds to people you know can appreciate it.

That's definantly the worry in the back of my mind! I let people see what I am using, answer thier questions and give them a cd when they ask for it(they will!), and then most importantly BABY THEM WITH SUPPORT as they make the changeO:) .

[conanm4]

It's come a long way since Knoppix? Knoppix can do a single-click mounting of a partition or drive. Do you know how many posts here have to do with mounting Windows or Linux partitions?

Oh i'm sorry I did not mean it that way, I meant since the first Knoppix live cd came out linux hit the mainstream more and was talked about more. I did not in any way mean Knoppix is watered down or anything of that nature. Also by mainstream I mean the average Windows user now will more often have heard of linux or tried it compared to pre-live cds.

[conanm4]

Not to mention that if something goes wrong, the user instantly goes into a "Free software, I KNEW there was something wrong with it" mode, and will instantly recommend against even trying Linux to anyone who walks buy.
Only give Ubuntu Cds to people you know can appreciate it.

I know which users would switch and would approach this carefully.

[conanm4]

One other point I have is, the stereotypical linux user has not changed much. If the average teen tries linux, chances are some of those will want to switch. In regards to people getting discouraged and getting a bad impression of linux, I don't think that will make a big difference. Everyone hates Windows, but uses it. Also look at the Mac, it is getting big because of commercials and the ipod. We have to get even the word of linux to be known by every computer user. If linux could get 10% of the overall market share, we wouldn't have many worries, if any at all.

[rattlerviper]

One other point I have is, the stereotypical linux user has not changed much. If the average teen tries linux, chances are some of those will want to switch. In regards to people getting discouraged and getting a bad impression of linux, I don't think that will make a big difference. Everyone hates Windows, but uses it. Also look at the Mac, it is getting big because of commercials and the ipod. We have to get even the word of linux to be known by every computer user. If linux could get 10% of the overall market share, we wouldn't have many worries, if any at all.

Stereo Typical Linux User? I'm 31, male, college educated, truck driver by choice...computers and ham radio just happen to be my hobbies, and windows gets boring real quick.

Who would the stereotypical Linux user be? I have met business profesionals who choose Linux because it saved them money on intitial software costs(only to find out later that managing the system costs less), my 55 year old parents who use Linux because their pc is too old too handle windows but still functioning well so why buy a new one(they are sold now and want to build a desktop to install Ubuntu), computer geeks who use linux because it can"do more", and hippies who like the philosophy behind open software. I really don't think there is a "typical" Linux user, if we start labeling people as such we block out a huge percentage of the population, and take away Linux being a choice.

Open Source=Free Choice

[3rdalbum]

That spreadubuntu.com website is very attractive, but it's a pity there isn't much Ubuntu information on it :-P

Rather than find just two people to spread Ubuntu to, why not find as many suitable candidates as possible?

[conanm4]

Stereo Typical Linux User? I'm 31, male, college educated, truck driver by choice...computers and ham radio just happen to be my hobbies, and windows gets boring real quick.

Who would the stereotypical Linux user be? I have met business profesionals who choose Linux because it saved them money on intitial software costs(only to find out later that managing the system costs less), my 55 year old parents who use Linux because their pc is too old too handle windows but still functioning well so why buy a new one(they are sold now and want to build a desktop to install Ubuntu), computer geeks who use linux because it can"do more", and hippies who like the philosophy behind open software. I really don't think there is a "typical" Linux user, if we start labeling people as such we block out a huge percentage of the population, and take away Linux being a choice.

Open Source=Free Choice

lol those are all the stereotypical users, the grandparents who has their son put it on their old pc. The hippies, the hobbyist and last the businessmen. To bad you left out maybe oh say 60% of the computer market share which is a teen who uses it for IM and gaming and those who use their pc or mac for media creation.

[conanm4]

I last want to say that if things continue as unorganized as they are, linux will never ever become big on the desktop. KDE and Gnome, there should be only 1, 5 million distros, there should be one. There should be more commercial software available and honestly most open source software does not in any way look professional.

[3rdalbum]

I last want to say that if things continue as unorganized as they are, linux will never ever become big on the desktop. KDE and Gnome, there should be only 1, 5 million distros, there should be one. There should be more commercial software available and honestly most open source software does not in any way look professional.

Most open-source software doesn't look professional, but the usable projects do.

The arguments for "one distro" are completely impractical... and definately nothing new. There are advantages to Debian-based distros, there are advantages to RPM based ones. You can't have "just one" distro which works brilliantly on the desktop as well as the server. You can't have "just one" distro which works on palmtop computers as well as desktops. You can't have "just one" distro which works equally well on old computers as it does on the latest desktops. You can't have "just one" distro which imitates Windows for new users, yet also has an original and non-frustrating interface.

You honestly could not pay me enough to use KDE; it's too Windowsy for me. KDE's fans could not be persuaded to use Gnome, because it's too inflexible for them. If you tried to get rid of one DE or the other, Linux would never have enough users to make it big on the desktop! And if you force XFCE, Fluxbox and Enlightenment fans to "upgrade" to Gnome or KDE, then you're forcing them to buy new computers; which is one of the things we critisise about Microsoft.

[rattlerviper]

I last want to say that if things continue as unorganized as they are, linux will never ever become big on the desktop. KDE and Gnome, there should be only 1, 5 million distros, there should be one. There should be more commercial software available and honestly most open source software does not in any way look professional.

Sounds like your trying to bait there? ](*,)

I've been a moderator in the past on another forum, and I'm not telling anyone how to do their job but if a moderator happens past this thread it would probably be more fit for the backyard. This thread could get out of hand really easy. I admit I almost contributed to it getting there faster, but I thought better of it. There are heavy feelings on both sides of this argument, and I just don't see how the original subject relates to where it was posted, and it certainly doesn't now.

OK, I feel better now.:D

[kabus]

To bad you left out maybe oh say 60% of the computer market share which is a teen who uses it for IM and gaming and those who use their pc or mac for media creation.

You != "60% of the market"

[rattlerviper]

You != "60% of the market"

LOL, Wanted to say it, but never did.
But let me get this straight, Me, my parents and the business people are like 40% of the market right? And you!=60% of the market right?
Well Ubuntu is doing real well then since you are using Ubuntu(you wanted to spread the gospel remember) and I, my parents, and the busnessman down the street are using it the mathmatical formula for it must go like this.

you(60%)using Ubuntu + Me(40%) using Ubuntu= Ubuntu market share 100%

By the way just wait, it's coming down the road! Edgy is going to be HOT! The fonts are the smothest prettiest fonts I have ever seen(yes even better than Microsoft!)! It's going to be a really impressive build when it is released! By the way no, I would NOT recommend using it unless you are prepared to deal with the breakage. Personnaly I am drooling waiting for the big breaks, it gives me something to play with. Otherwise I start downloading every Linux distro I can just to see how they work and what problems they cause and how I can fix them!:D I don't know it makes me happy.

Either Open Source is in your blood or it's not.

[conanm4]

LOL, Wanted to say it, but never did.
But let me get this straight, Me, my parents and the business people are like 40% of the market right? And you!=60% of the market right?
Well Ubuntu is doing real well then since you are using Ubuntu(you wanted to spread the gospel remember) and I, my parents, and the busnessman down the street are using it the mathmatical formula for it must go like this.

you(60%)using Ubuntu + Me(40%) using Ubuntu= Ubuntu market share 100%

By the way just wait, it's coming down the road! Edgy is going to be HOT! The fonts are the smothest prettiest fonts I have ever seen(yes even better than Microsoft!)! It's going to be a really impressive build when it is released! By the way no, I would NOT recommend using it unless you are prepared to deal with the breakage. Personnaly I am drooling waiting for the big breaks, it gives me something to play with. Otherwise I start downloading every Linux distro I can just to see how they work and what problems they cause and how I can fix them!:D I don't know it makes me happy.

Either Open Source is in your blood or it's not.

Actually I was using market share in a theoretical way. I don't fall into any one category because I feel comfortable in all 3 of the main OSes. All I was getting at is if you want to be Windows you have to have a little bit of everything. The standarized look of OS X, the vast amount of software of Windows and the Open Source freedom generally accepted by Linux. The reason why Windows is so big is because it has 2 of those 3. The amount of software and it does have open source software available. Mac and Linux users value 1 of those a lot more than the other 2. The problem is open source doesn't matter to most people, sad to say.

[rattlerviper]

Check out the Ubuntu philosophy. http://www.ubuntu.com/http://www.ubuntu.com/
It is important to note that the philosophy is different between Ubuntu and Windows/Mac! Until you accept the different philosophy you won't understand the driving force behind the software.

Ubuntu is pretty darn competative for being only 2 years old! Check it out!
ranking against other linux distros on the right of the page. http://distrowatch.com/http://distrowatch.com/
Whos #1?

Check out this award http://www.ubuntu.com/news/pcworld2006 If you look at the original article you will notice that microsoft did not win one for any of thier OS, nor did Apple.

We are already the best OS, it's just going to take sometime for the public and producers of commercial software to realize it and begin to use or offer products for it. This is where you can help by sending letters to the companies whose products you would like to use on Linux. Tell them you would happily buy thier software as you had in the past for windows, but they are not available. You get the idea. Activism...Just do it!

[rattlerviper]

oh yeah, when checking out distrowatch (http://distrowatch.com/) be sure to add up Ubuntu, Kubunu and Xubuntu to find out how much farther ahead we are!

[conanm4]

oh yeah, when checking out distrowatch (http://distrowatch.com/) be sure to add up Ubuntu, Kubunu and Xubuntu to find out how much farther ahead we are!

I see your point, it just feels so young. I just don't see Dapper being the version that breaks Linux into mainstream. I predict maybe version 8.X but that's just my thought. It could very well happen I mean look at OS 9 and OS 10, light years ahead.

[Darth Tux]

I have an idea, if we really want linux and ubuntu to become mainstream we gotta spread the word. My idea is for all of us to get 2 people to switch to ubuntu, dual boot with ubuntu or atleast try ubuntu. My hopes are that if Ubuntu gains that much buzz then hardware manufacturers will see this and open source drivers and try and make them more compatible. Think back in the days of the first Knoppix cd and how much it has progressed since then. The speed of progression since the first live cd of linux has in itself has sped up. Sorry about this long post, tell me if my idea is good or bad. One last note is that if these sentences run on to long, I am very tired.

Well, in high school, when i was first exposed to, and first started using, Linux; I showed "the way" to quite a few people. Recently I just converted by girlfriend to using Ubuntu. Whats funny is that I didn't even ask her, she used it every now and then and one day she told me she wanted me to put it on her laptop. Needless to say a big step in our relationship. :D

[sophtpaw]

2 questions:

1. There used to be an Ubuntu marketing thread which i don't see anymore. If anyone knows the link - thank you!

2. In the examples folder on the dapper default install, there is a nelson mandela video clip etc. There's also a Kubnutu 'leaflet' I'd love the Ubuntu version of it, if there is one, to print to put up with some of the cd's Canonical sent me, in my local library. Anyone know if that exists? Thats why i was initially looking for the marketing thread that used to be here,

Many thanks

--
sophtpaw

[tribaal]

I miss the leaflets as well.
I was wondering if I should be designing them and printing them myself or if such work had already been done... Looks like it's the case.

I'd love to know where to find such a leaflet / flyer...

Cheers

- trib'

[UbuWu]

https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Marketing
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/DIYMarketing

[online14230]

I may not be much, BUT I AM 1 person: Ive been getting discs posted to me from 5.04 and Ive just ordered more 6.06. I talk, scream, shout, bellydance and whoop-de-fu***ng-woo everywhere and everyone I can, just to get them to try it once. I found Ubuntu Live runs almost as fast as XP installed... so getting them to go the next step, just to "try" it, is quite easy :)
One thing Ive learned: B HONEST! Ive been straight with all my installs. Most of my converts have games they'd still like to play. Where there exists an Open Source 'version', I get it and install it. But I also carry wine and Cedega with me... Thing is, I dont really know much about Linux. All I know is that it just works TMand I like it. I ALSO support the ideology behind free software.
My point is, A LOT of the time, I need help. Fortunately, I have the PLEDGE (Pietermaritzburg Linux Enthusiasts Group) to bother and pester for help, but I also come here ...


Unfortunately, I live in South Africa. Here, web access is pretty expensive. Ergo, VERY few have it. Paying R15 for an hour in a cafe just isnt worth it, especially with the limited bandwidth they have. This is why so few people in SA have even heard of Ubuntu, let alone Linux (funny thing, this Ubuntu... more popular than Linux itself!!)... What we need here are more of these Freedom Toaster( www.freedomtoaster.com) things, where people can walk in, pop in a disc and burn the distro of their choice. Maybe a few posters, etc would help. I KNOW there anr VERY MANY converts out there; they just dont know it yet. We need to get the word out. Now, I am willing to install ANY version of Ubuntu/Kubuntu, Suze, Mandrake/Mandriva, Gentoo or knoppix on almost any PC for free (as in beer, although I wouldnt mind one!!) anywhere in Pietermaritzburg/Durban and surrounding areas. Thing is, who from these areas will EVER read this post? Any takers?

[ckempo]

Now it's out, help spread the word.
I've already started:

Neowin Software News (http://www.neowin.net/index.php?category=software)

Haven't seen it hit Slashdot yet though....

[TigerWolf]

Will definatelly be telling as many people as possible about this release. Ubuntu benifits from all the marketing it gets to make it an even better OS!

[ofir_k]

I think that none from the above is the most important. I think that the most important thing is that all the hardware will work and function.

[beast2k]

As long as a user can browse the web he/she can find help with anything else. As a bare minimum, connectivity or the ability to connect to the web is one of the ways people measure linux's worthyness to remain on their harddisk. If a distro didn't have web browsing out of the box most newbs I know would simply install a distro that does have it.

[presbp]

With so many Linux distributions out there it will be much harder for a PC manufacturer to choose a distribution to have prepackaged on OEM machines. The Linux community should try to centralize a bit and try to work on really improving and making a handful of distributions really excellent. I just started using Ubuntu about 2 weeks ago and I am very impressed.

I am kindof disappointed though because now I just want to get rid of Windows, but I play PC games so I can't completely rid myself of Windows. I like playing the most popular commercial games and I can't do that in Linux.. but I can do anything else that I need to do right in Linux. We should get out there and really try to push and advertise some of the most popular ones!

I don't want to topple Microsoft or destory them or anything of that nature but I would like to see a more level playing field in the computing world instead of Microsoft having a 90+ market share with Windows. I would really like to see a computing world where Microsoft Windows, Mac OS's and Linux distributions have mostly equal hardware and software support so that people could choose what they wanted to use.

No longer would anyone who liked games on a computer have to 'settle' for Windows. They could choose which operating system they like most.
You could say I am probably a bit overexcited and overanxious to try and promote Linux but after about 2 weeks with Ubuntu I would like other people to know about it.

[aysiu]

I've merged this with the marketing thread. Maybe we can pool some brainstorms and ideas in one place. For example, one thing that came out of brainstorming was a Ubuntu commercial (http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=41771). Don't know if that ever came to fruition or not.

By the way, I know this isn't exactly what you're talking about, but you may be interested in reading the Unified Linux thread (http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=328824&highlight=unified+linux), too.

[presbp]

yeah we somehow need to get a large group of people to try and make a Ubuntu commercial. That would bring some interest. I mean if everyone in the Linux community donated $1 to it that would be alot of money.

[presbp]

you know what would be really funny is if we had a commercial similar to the PC vs. Mac commercials. Have the PC guy the Mac guy then the Ubuntu guy. Have the Mac and PC guy arguing over who does things better and then will that is happening have the Ubuntu guy passing out free Ubuntu cds to everyone or something similar. That would be pretty funny.

Seriously though. There are a bunch of different distributions but we need to really try to make a handful of distributions the best they can possibly be and then advertise and try to show people they are out there. Only reason I came to know about Linux is because I hread some about it in a networking book. The only way I came to Ubuntu is I asked somebody in an off-topic discussion in the gamespot forums which version to try.

[iSE]

Hi,

I would like to put forward a proposal, however, I have no idea where to add this as I've only just registered to these forums (they normally provide me with everything I need so I never have to ask!).

Since the age of 12+, I have been aware of the open-source community and indeed the Linux operating system. However, I find it all too disconcerting at the number of people who are simply unaware that a PC alternative to Windows exists, at all. Microsoft is a multi-billion dollar corporation and as such has the power to pay companies to sell its product exclusively. This provoked a reaction in myself, after reading this from the technology news site, The Inquirer (http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=37628):

There’s Linux of course, but lacking the marketing dollars Microsoft has at its command that’s barely in with a squeak in the consumer marketplace.
IDEA: To initiate an awareness campaign of Ubuntu, Linux and the Open-Source "free" philosophy as well as education with regards to GNU, GPL etc. to the average public and in particular high-school children.

HOW: In the spirit of the "free" philosophy I think it would be unfair to say this should be funded, however donations would obviously help. So, I propose volunteers from all over the world to step forward and organise groups who can travel to local schools and libraries to hold a presentation to inform people, handing out free copies of Ubuntu, or other distributions who may wish to get on board.

Do you think that if as many people knew about a free PC alternative to Windows as knew about Windows, 90%+ would still be running said operating system? Would those who can barely afford to pay for a basic PC to connect to the Internet without resorting to piracy, would pay a few months wages extra on top of the hardware just to run it.

Blabbing aside, I hope the message is clear. Not enough people know about Linux, FreeBSD and in particular Ubuntu, because those with a lot of money can spend it to make more.

Please add your interest here, or alternative PM me.

iSE

[delfick]

i say we atleast do something similar to the getfirefox.com thing

except getlinux.com which explains everything related to linux

philosophies
interfaces
the terminal (explain how it's an extremely useful tool, nothing to be scared of)
package management
distros
etc

:D

[Baelfael]

Is there an official "Get Linux" button? Or a "I support the <distro> project" one?

[H.E. Pennypacker]

Is there an official "Get Linux" button? Or a "I support the <distro> project" one?

It's remarkable, that after about 15 years into Linux's existence, there is still no campaign to promote it!

I wish there were buttons and stuff...

[Baelfael]

This campaign needs to be put in place. The world would be better if more developers worked with Linux and could help improve the whole thing.

[Omnios]

The problem with Linux is that it is free so to market it we would have to identify ways to increase awareness for free other than making a linux foundation to take donations for awareness.

Now it more than just getting stuff done for free but also the the the size of the audience. For example one blog may have a few users which might require a lot of work where as another may have thousands. Now identifying this there might be a blog entry for Ubuntu or Linux that a blog owner may copy to his blog for free as in free post of information.

For a long time now I have been trying to get Ubuntu to get a Popular Science article which would have a huge audience of tecki minded people for example. I feel uncomfortable doing this as I do not feel comfortable representing Ubuntu.

Basicly anything free is good but it takes a skilled admin to locate and impliment this. It might be interesting to start a non profit org to represent this as it gives this type of work organization which is otherwise lacking.

From my marketing experience I know there are lots of ways to get the work out or get things done for free but it takes a lot of work to identify manners to reach a qualified target audience in an affective manner.

Can this be done? Yes but it will take a lot of work, organization, and someone to lead the effort.

[aysiu]

I've merged this with the other marketing discussions. It's probably best if all the marketing ideas are in one place.

[iSE]

[EDIT: aysiu - maybe there should be an Ubuntu Marketing forum instead of just a thread? It would certainly help if we are going to market ubuntu to get others onboard.]

Having worked as a Marketing Executive assigned to promote new technologies amoungst Record Labels (mainly Indie Labels though some larger) I have experience, however I feel this should be a group effort. I would be more than happy to play a leading role for administrative reasons however, anyone with more experience would be welcome. Even just to get a site up and running recruiting people to help, or to create "I use Ubuntu" buttons would be a start. This will be a long running effort, however since I have no OS development skills, I am unable to help with the production of this OS but I still want to help. I am sure I am not alone and this should be a way.

Personally I think this is an essential effort second only to the development of Ubuntu and the Open Source Software developed by the many many individuals who have not earned the billions Microsoft has.

I like the idea of the Get Linux, I may be able to get some webspace for free through a friend and I would be more than willing to pay for the domain name to start the site off. However, the space has limited bandwidth available so if this really kicks off (which I sincerely HOPE it will) then hopefully donations may help to get some more bandwidth.

I still can't believe there has not been a Linux Campaign yet. The thing is I know that if we do start giving presentations at schools (which should be easy enough as we are not a commerical organisation but more teaching about the philosophy of Open Source Software and the Linux OS), the news stations, may just start picking it up, and ANY coverage by the media would be coverage we would NOT have had otherwise.

[webmaster5]

I hate it when i have to use Windows to play games, we have to do something about this NOW!! I hate trying to run games through WINE. They don't even work anyway...
We should tell game developers to start developing for linux, they need to know that there is more than ONE operating system in the world...but no....they keep developing for Windows just to make a quick buck.:mad: :mad: :mad: :(

[dcole07]

Does Ubuntu have a group or something about spreading Linux (Ubuntu) to Computer Manufacturers? If not we should set one up.

Recently Dell said they received 100,000 suggestions saying to add Linux under the list of Operating Systems for home computers and are considering it. We should help push it.

And what about other manufacturers like HP, Gateway, Acer...

[aysiu]

I've merged you into the marketing thread.

You can also check out this page:
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UbuntuMarketing

[dylan623]

I haven't had any problems viewing my media, until I reinstalled firefox, trying to patch things up again though.

I don't think the codecs will be a big problem, I think the games will be a major problem (I personally don't play much games anymore, so I have no problems with that). But you might be able to attract enough users to make companies aware of the fact that Linux is growing, and people want products for Linux. You have to start somewhere.

I think it would be a good idea if someone could make information sheets send them out to highly populated areas with good and bad sides of Linux. I think a lot of people would try it out atleast, wich would lagren the Linux community.

By the way, why did Doom 3 come out to Linux? Is there some special relation between Doom and Linux or is it part of a new fade?

I think it's because Id is very Linux/hacker friendly. They're great for a company that makes proprietary games, since they make their games work on Linux and usually open-source them later.

[beast2k]

Do you mean new computer users or new linux users ? For new computer users it seems to lean toward the internet use and after a few months of use they get good enough at email they start to depend on email to communicate with work, friends etc. My wife for example thats all she does is email and internet use. New linux users it's internet use for sure because of all the reading and research they have to do on their new os.

[samuel.rajesh]

And Also how about a comparison sheet


Breezy Badger vs. Windows vs. Apple Mac OS X

Integrated Graphics Suite --> Yes No No
Integrated All in one MEssenger --> Yes No No?
Immune to virus --> Yes No Yes
Eye Candy Tools Out of the box --> Yes No Yes

And more....

yea the only sore point in the integrated messenger is VOIP ,even Gtalk does not work even thou it uses jabber ,that must be fixed

[Balmoriz]

What does basic install means anyway...

Well I guess that it means that is just "basic".. And is not filled with all the stuff you've mentioned before..

If you want something more complete, than just download a full version.. there are also a lot of releases (some or almost all of them not supported)

Please correct me if I'm wrong.. #-o

[cwej]

I recently gained a new and interesting perspective when my recent university graduate daughter's Windows HP laptop was high-jacked. She had been surfing the web, got up out of her chair for a few minutes, and returned to "log-in screen," which she unthinkingly assumed to result from her screen save, but which as it turned out was a pop-up that stole her password. Luckily she noticed that her Windows Defender was wiped out, and her firewall had been turned off, and she couldn't turn her firewall back on. This was, naturally, because she didn't have the password to the new "group account" that now owned her computer. To make a long story short, she called me, and when I tried to reload WIndows from her recovery disk, Windows recognized that Windows was already there and wouldn't complete the install short of a reformat, which it refused to do. My daughter wanted a new computer anyway, bought herself a new laptop, and bequeathed her old one to her younger sister who is a University sophomore.

Now the rest of the story...

Since, the disk needed reformat anyway, I suggested Ubuntu, since she is always using mine when she's home, and likes it. She agreed. Everything was fine until she went to You-tube and the flash plug-in would not work right. It always worked fine for my computers and installations, but on that specific laptop nothing I tried would get it to work right (and I tried quite a bit including complete bare-bones re-install several times). So, even though she was quite pleased with absolutely every other aspect of Ubuntu, she simply could not live with a machine that couldn't play back a YouTube post or a Fark video. Period. End of Ubuntu on that laptop.

Since the Ubuntu install reformatted the disk anyway, I was able to use the Windows reinstall disk, and ended up restoring Windows on her machine. So, even though the primary serious employment of the computer was intended to be school work, which Ubuntu and OO.org was more than well suited for, I found that a 19 year old young lady simply cannot live these days without a working flash plug-in that works with YouTube (etc., I suppose, but YouTube, as entry criteria). I hope this puts some things into perspective from a mass marketing point of view

[SonicSteve]

Someone has likely already mentioned this but...
This poll is getting inaccurate results.

It needed to have options for combinations of the 4. It also needed to have an age category. Older users will care less about games but to separate email from Web and office apps is almost a sin. Those three go hand in glove. If one is off the mark the OS is useless. Web would come first but only slightly.

[aysiu]

Someone has likely already mentioned this but...
This poll is getting inaccurate results.

It needed to have options for combinations of the 4. It also needed to have an age category. Older users will care less about games but to separate email from Web and office apps is almost a sin. Those three go hand in glove. If one is off the mark the OS is useless. Web would come first but only slightly.
The poll isn't getting inaccurate results--it's just asking a different question than you're asking.

The question is What do you think is most important to new users? The most important meaning more important than the others. It doesn't mean the others aren't important--it simply means the others are less important.

The gaming thing is going to be skewed either way (regardless of age group). Ubuntu users (and especially those that frequent forums) are far more likely to play computer games than non-Ubuntu users.

[SonicSteve]

I understand what you're saying but even with that, I would say that the question isn't terribly useful. I still say that you can't separate those 3 uses. It should have been categories,
1. General usage, including Web, documents, and email. Basic office stuff.
2. Multimedia creation, like editing movies, editing of sound files etc.
3. Gaming, enough said there, we all know about Linux and gaming
4. I'm sure others could come up more categories.

I don't know what purpose there would be in splitting docs, web, and email. They are all musts and deal breakers. Games not so much, though many would argue this point. I see games as being important, but the main function of a PC is not games. They are a nice bonus, but even the gamer needs to surf the web and send email. Not all those who send email, and surf the web want 3D games.

Having said that, I would love to see wine in a perfect form. I figure if it can support some games than with more effort -no slight intended to the developers- it could likely support most or all games. It will be a long time before we see a majority of games supporting linux natively.

PS aysiu, I'm not trying to butter you up but I really appreciate all your help around here, and your site. When I was first learning your site was a huge help to me.
Thanks.

[aysiu]

I'm glad my site helped you.

I agree with you, by the way, that the question isn't useful. My point was only that it is accurate in its results--not that the results mean anything practical.

[SonicSteve]

Sorry about this,
Perhaps someone has already mentioned this but here goes anyhow, this thread is just too long read front to back.

One way that Mac and Windows market themselves is on the side of nearly every piece of hardware.

System requirements.

I don't know what would be required but if companies who make hardware would specifically mention Ubuntu instead of "Linux Kernel 2.x.x.x" I'm sure it would help. I remember as a Windows user looking at the Kernel version and thinking what a confusing sounding requirement it was. I'm sure I wasn't alone. If those companies who take the time to test it with a Kernel version could be enticed to mention Ubuntu V.6 and up It would help.

[CCNA_student]

That pool needs more options. Those are not the only important things.

[Technogenius]

I think we should do what Firefox did and post an ad in the New York Times.

[Linuxratty]

Why not also do what Firefox did and have a contest..The folk at FF might even be willing to help.
And we need to get her:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDc9I3z7ab4

[IanShuttleworth]

A commercial that would probably appeal to people is a laptop open on a desk, with firefox in one workspace on youtube, the desktop cube flips to a movie playing fullscreen, or some photos being edited. then flips to a 10 page report being written. Then finally flips to a game of gnometris or a more complex game. All this would be set to indie music.

Then that laptop is closed and the music stops.
No talking needed :KS

This would market all four of those topics.

[DutchLoki]

It would be nice to have a place where people can let each other know about their efforts concerning Ubuntu (read on I'm not suggesting a newsgroup).

In this place you can let others know about an project your working on, an article you wrote, a deal with a company, a new driver, information you found and is worth knowing about, etc.

Adding the possibility to discuss and vote on this, would greatly benefit to the motivation of the community to continue their efforts to contribute to Ubuntu.

[DutchLoki]

I've posted it into the brainstorm section, please take a look at it.

http://brainstorm.ubuntu.com/idea/7216/


http://brainstorm.ubuntu.com/idea/7216/image/1/ (http://brainstorm.ubuntu.com/idea/7216/)




It would be nice to have a place where people can let each other know about their efforts concerning Ubuntu (read on I'm not suggesting a newsgroup).

In this place you can let others know about an project your working on, an article you wrote, a deal with a company, a new driver, information you found and is worth knowing about, etc.

Adding the possibility to discuss and vote on this, would greatly benefit to the motivation of the community to continue their efforts to contribute to Ubuntu.

I've posted it into the brainstorm section, but would like you "marketing" guys to have a look at it.

[lingnoi]

I love the idea of a commercial licensed under some CC license as it allows the Ubuntu groups to use it in their advertising campaigns.

If anything raising awareness among people with no idea there is a Microsoft alternative should be a high priority. To do this it requires not much showing of the product but building of the Ubuntu brand, possibly via viral videos over youtube as a start.

A general theme such as "The Freedom Revolution" or "Now there's a choice" would be a good way to go. It's important that the message carried is that whereas before the customer would only use windows there is this whole other OS that they didn't even know about and is much better then what they currently have. Make them feel like they're missing out on a great deal.

How one implements this exactly is up in the air but it shouldn't focus on the details of the operating system too much. The target doesn't care and will get bored.

I believe that any reference to "it's free" in the beer sense should be left out. Customers don't care, they got windows free with their PC too. Focus on the things which matter to this target which are completely different from what a programmer is interested in, freedom isn't important in this context. We're trying to bump up the Ubuntu brand not spread the FSF message.

The target needs to be impressed of course but I think the main points should be on highlighting what makes Ubuntu better then windows. Such points could be no viruses or maintenance required, runs faster, easy to install new software, updates handled for you, you can put in new hardware and it just works. Don't show them a web browser, office program, etc. They already have that and it's uninteresting.

The most important thing an advert could provide is reassurance. Linux and therefore Ubuntu has a big stigma attached to it that it doesn't work, or that you need to compile your own kernel. Prove these wrong, show normal people using the distro and getting their work done hassle free. Show them that your average day run of the mill can install and use this thing.

Don't clone a Mac ad. Ubuntu isn't trendy, hipster and cool. Ubuntu is reliable, simple to use and doesn't crash, we're aiming at a different bunch of people here who have no idea of alternatives but find windows not fulling their needs.

There should be at least two different commercials, if one is ever produced. A long and short version. It doesn't matter if the long version contains part of the short version but it's important as locals may want to air the video and a long version would be more expensive, a short version means that your target is also more likely to view most of it while they're exposed. I suggest no more then 20 seconds for a short version and about a minute for the longer version.

Anyway those are my ideas on fixing bug 1 (https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+bug/1).

[bruce89]

Things shouldn't be marketed. If people want to use something, let them; if not, fine.

[aysiu]

Things shouldn't be marketed. If people want to use something, let them; if not, fine.
Well, marketing can serve several purposes:

1. Make people aware of options they weren't previously aware of

2. Correct misconceptions popularly held by people about your product

3. Coerce people into buying a product they have no need for

We certainly shouldn't do #3, but I am not opposed to marketing for Ubuntu that seeks to do #1 or #2.

[lingnoi]

Things shouldn't be marketed. If people want to use something, let them; if not, fine.That's a very ignorant view point, you're not giving anyone the chance if they don't know it exists.

[Hilko]

Marketing is absolutely necessary, but also really really difficult. See here why: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1076238

[ronzzkee]

seems like a good idea. the one thing i have noticed about linux distros is they usaly dont do enough marketing. if it was promted in the way you said. e.g. telling people what the programs or features do instead of telling them what the program or feature was called im sure linux would do a lot better.


yeah this something unique..i seen this before;)






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[seppl82]

One easy slogan could be...


Discover the web => save

Ussage of Discover would be fine (Discover vs. Explore) ;)