On Tue, 2010-08-17 at 23:19 +1200, Graham Lauder wrote: > The principle job of marketing is to create "Brand Awareness", it could in > fact be argued that it is it's only function and anything else that a > marketing team does, goes back to that simple statement. > > Brand awareness is driven by several factors > > Visibility > Attractiveness > Ubiquitousness > > Not sure that the last is even a proper word but it conveys the idea! :) > > Visibility: A good brand has to catch the eye, rivet the attention create a > desire to know more about it > > Attractiveness: Once you have attention the good Brand has to be pleasing to > the viewer such that it makes them want be associated with it. >
Before all else, a brand is a promise! Where do you fit it there? Considering we're talking about software, we enter soon on the Service Marketing, which once more reinforces the brand as a promise and as one of the most important tokens to accomplish the goals, specially with fidelization, which is the key parameter on the service marketing. > Ubiquitousness: In other words the brand has to be seen on a regular basis > especially where it has a good "fit". ie: there is going to be greater > impact > if it is seen on the front page of a technology publication than in "House & > Garden's Bathroom edition" > > Right now we are suboptimal on all fronts. > > Our logo doesn't convey the right feelings and it's not particularly > attractive either in style or in colour. Once more, can supply some backup information which can take this from the 'assumptions' field and place it in the 'facts' field ? > > The two open source brands that have the highest awareness are Ubuntu and > Firefox. It is not for no reason that the colours they use are ones that > convey Warmth, vibrancy and reliability while at the same time demanding > attention, Oranges Reds, Browns and Yellows. The colours are sexy and make > the > viewer feel good and excited. Green, does none of these things, green is a > calming colour but doesn't immediately attract attention. Once more, I would actually request backup data on this. Green out of all non-metal colours is probably the most friendly one and the most well accepted one. Once more, provide data to support such claim. > > > The things our branding needs to convey, especially at this point is > excitement and passion but also reliability and friendliness and be > attractive > enough to seize the viewers attention and have them wanting to know more. Do we have data supporting it doesn't do that? Even the output of a tiny focus group will do... but aren't we making too much assumptions here ? > > That's our problem right now, we are at the "New Brand" stage. Coca Cola for > instance doesn't have that issue, their marketing is just about reminding, > the > same for MacDonalds. Ubuntu and firefox created a buzz around their brand by > being attractive and warm and inviting and we need to do the same. Your judgements are wrong... Coca Cola is an Umbrella brand, we aren't, neither Ubuntu, neither firefox. So why comparing onions with potatoes? What can we take out of it? _NOTHING_. Same applies to BMW, Audi (the most recognized worldwide brand) and others. Firefox used their brand with a promise: we do it lighter... the light wave browser (or at least in the start), and then evolved. Their campaign wasn't based on a brand, but on diferentiation and positioning features towards other browsers. Ubuntu used also a promise: "Linux for human beings", not based on their logo, which in my opinion is very far from being a good logo. > > In my opinion we need to look at our branding elements from a fresh start. > Ubuntu and Firefox branding were both started from scratch with a strong > brand > in mind, we seem to have drifted into ours without little branding > consideration.Our brand is strong within the community, but it doesn't lend > itself to creating a strong brand outside the community That means breaking a bond with something that was approved by the community, back then, SuSE Linux. I'm still from the time of that process and I've followed it very close. Do we have a support study from our current community about brand notoriety so that we can actually support the claim that we need rebranding ? > > So a couple of considerations: > > 1) The name openSUSE is cumbersome and I believe a return to simply SUSE > would be a good first step. Novell has SUSE Enterprise and in fact from a > branding perspective I preferred Novell Linux with the big red N Novell's SuSE Enterprise > Commercial Linux; openSUSE > Community Linux; There is a big difference between them. 'open' is an identifier of a wider realm than just openSUSE. I like openSUSE... and in a way that 'open' can be considered a promise ;) > > 2) The colour pallet does not grab attention and so that needs to be > rethought Backup data to support such claim. Qualitative study could be fun in our community. Starting a rebranding process without such data is unthinkable. > > 3) Geeko does not engage the viewer in any meaningful way except for being > familiar to the present community, he either needs rethinking or we go to an > entirely different Logo. Geeko is nice... Geek-o. It was born from the very own community some years ago. It was praised by the community... It's a logo with a distinctive look and unique silhouette (unlike ubuntu)... it translates the state of mind of the community... it is attractive to our target audience (I don't know any Geeko haters). Once more, backup data on notoriety of Geeko. > > 4) A branding competition, open to all comers, would be a newsworthy event > that would get us column inches and get the brand out there. Though I'm in favor of community engagement on this kind of initiative, and Geeko itself is a proof that the community can come with nice things.. engaging a re-branding process now can be harmfull. Remember that not so long ago, openSUSE community decided to make KDE it's flagship Desktop Environment... We should be focusing on solidifying this first before moving into areas where we can find strong opposition. > > > Remember that this not about what we as a community like, it's about how we > get a better branding impression and thus increase brand awareness. Without current data to support those claims and future data to evaluate and correct anything, I don't believe that the risk/benefit equation is very attractive. But you can pretty much ignore my opinion as in a way I'm not a true n'blue opensuse member, instead just a lurker and a old school fan of SuSE. > > Cheers > GL > > -- > Graham Lauder, > OpenOffice.org MarCon (Marketing Contact) NZ > http://marketing.openoffice.org/contacts.html > > OpenOffice.org Migration and training Consultant. > > Ambassador for OpenSUSE Linux on your Desktop > > INGOTs Assessor Trainer > (International Grades in Office Technologies) > www.theingots.org.nz -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse-marketing+unsubscr...@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse-marketing+h...@opensuse.org
