Daniel Carrera wrote:
Alex Fisher wrote:
When you say "OpenOffice.org" to someone, their reaction is... Well, many of you have mentioned the confusion some seem to manifest, but have you not noticed that *using* the ".org" *causes people to ask questions*.
Asking questions is not inherently a good thing:
Daniel: Hey, check out this really cool program called GIMP.
Friend: GIMP? That's stupid.
Daniel: No no, it's really cool. It's the GNU Image Manipulation Program.
Friend: What's GNU?
Daniel: GNU's Not Unix
Friend: What the hell's Unix? !
Daniel: It doesn't matter! Download this program, it's great.
Friend: Where do I get it?
Daniel: www.gimp.org
Friend: Whatever...
Daniel: Hey! Where are you going?!
You really should choose your friends better
Yes it is, at all points on the selling list. You engage the customer. Because people talk about it you're ready with response.
Using an akward name that's hard for many people to even say out loud is very bad for marketing. And the fact that it causes people to ask questions is not inherently good.
No it doesn't. There are many examples. Volkswagen and Veedub, Chevrolet and Chevvy or Chevbut when talking to people who as yet know nothing about it, then keep the ".org"
Promouncing "OpenOffice.org" is very cumbersome for me. It might not be for your friend, but for many people it is. Furthermore, it hurts branding to use a name that encourages people to call the product by a different name.
Mac Donalds and Macs or Maccas or Mac Dees.
In most cases like those above, the brand stays the same but the the abbreviation becomes common usage.
No big deal
Another note on the questions thing. When you put up an advertisement you don't have much opportunity to ask questions. Not *all* our marketing is by word of mouth, and even when it is, we don't always have a big lump of time to explain why we picked such an akward name. And the time I *do* have I'd rather spend explaining why it's good and why the listener may be interested in trying it. And it is counter productive to expect every single listener to be primarily motivated by the org part.Here's a good line: "We use it to show that we are more than just a piece of software, we are an organisation, a community.
It's what set's us apart from the rest. OpenOffice.org is "us", the opposition office suite is referred to as "it"! Now let me show you why WE is so much better than IT."
Geez I brainstormed three ad campaigns around that Ugly cumbersome name in the time it took to write this mail that would have nowhere near the same impact without the Org. :D
Cheers Yo
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