[Mageia-discuss] Mageia logo proposals and selection

Graham Lauder yorick_ at openoffice.org
Thu Oct 14 04:37:29 CEST 2010


On Thursday 14 Oct 2010 14:18:02 Tux99 wrote:
> I'm with wobo and Margot here, I fear this 'targeting' will simply result
> in restricting our potential user-base (i.e. rather than attracting more
> users it will turn off many users).

It is a well known fact, that you cannot be all things to all people, to try 
to do that would end up being everything to noone.  I would prefer to be the 
best we can be to those who grow to love the brand.  

All linux distributions at the moment have a less than 1.5% of the total 
market, however in the area where they have targeted a particular user set, 
Webservers, the market penetration is somewhere around the 65% mark.

That's the difference.  In these days of online build services there is 
arguably no reason that we could not create different package sets on 
different media for different markets and completely different branding for 
each set.

How many users does Mandriva have worldwide, compare that to the number of 
computer users and you will see that the "one size fits all" does not equal 
significant market share.   

OpenOffice.org user base is estimated to be around 100 million, the vast 
majority (around 90%) on an MS platform even though linux distros get it by 
default.  OOo is targeted at office productivity people for obvious reasons, 
it's branding, colour design (Blue engenders a feeling of  reliability and 
efficiency) is aimed at that market group.  The Logo design  is aimed at a 30 
to 45 age group, who are the decision makers in this group and to whom "Gulls" 
= Freedom.    

As far as we can tell, OOo out performs MSO 2003, 2007 and 2010 combined 
outside of educational institutions, but still is nowhere near the combined 
user base of the MSO 97/2000/XP group.  This penetration is down to marketing 
on a shoestring, the OOo marketing project is the most active, marketing group 
in the FOSS world other than RedHat, Ubuntu and Mozilla, most of whom are paid 
and have a budget.

We do not work on voodoo, we work on science with measurable results.  I don't 
dismiss your code as crap because I am not a hacker.  Don't dismiss what I say 
as nonsense without logical and reasoned argument to back it up.   Your 
"feelings" don't count as a logical counter argument. 

I don't "fear", I _know_ from experience and research that a "One Size Fits 
All" Product and marketing campaign will go nowhere.  

As an addendum to that I would ask the question, The Zero to dead, male and 
female market group, and I presume all nationalities and all religions and all 
social groupings and all job types and all locations and localities, young, 
old teenaged and middleaged, technologically educated and illiterate.  How 
would you present Mageia to all these vastly different groups of people?    

Wouldn't it be more sensible to say:  "This group of people could materially 
benefit from using Mageia as their preferred Technology platform, let's 
communicate with them in a way that they can relate to."

That is the argument for the Affirmative Mr Interlocutor.  :)

Cheers
GL    

-- 
Graham Lauder,
OpenOffice.org MarCon (Marketing Contact) NZ
http://marketing.openoffice.org/contacts.html

OpenOffice.org Migration and training Consultant.

INGOTs Moderator New Zealand
www.theingots.org.nz



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