[Mageia-dev] Identifying Target Markets

[Graham Lauder]

On Friday 01 Oct 2010 02:04:26 Marc Paré wrote:
> Le 2010-09-30 07:21, Graham Lauder a écrit :
> > A group of the marketing and communication peoples got together to get
> > our heads around Vision and  Mission Statement.  Everyone brainstormed
> > what they saw as the core values of Mageia to give a direction that the
> > Projects Vision and mission statement could head.
> > 
> > The reasoning behind this is it points a figurative arrow at our  primary
> > target market and thus gives us a guide toward where our branding should
> > be aimed.
> > 
> > A mistake that is often made is branding from an internal aesthetic when
> > in fact branding should be more aimed externally to attract a new
> > demographic. If the gods are in alignment then ideally it should point
> > toward our principle point of difference and again this influences our
> > branding choices in terms of Colour Pallet Logo and so forth.
> > 
> > The "feel" to me that came from the brainstorming was that Mageia could
> > be marketed as the "Family Distro".   This being a principle point of
> > difference when a user makes a decision as to what operating system to
> > run.
> > 
> > Our principle competitor, MS competes against the Linux universe as a
> > whole but other distros compete for the MS user base aimed at particular
> > Demographics. For instance:
> > OpenSUSE aims at the "Power User" Market
> > Ubuntu aims at the young individual end of the market
> > CentOS at Community enterprise and Not For Profits
> > Fedora at the Computing Professional
> > 
> > Mageia could therefore aim at the Young Married professional market,
> > being the Distro that could be installed on the home computer and geared
> > so that the whole family could use it.
> > 
> > So for instance as well as the standard software, educational programmes
> > would be installed by default, be NetSafe (Dans Guardian), have OOo4Kids
> > installed as well as a full office suite, Tuxtype, TuxPaint and so on.
> > 
> > Documentation added to show parents how to set up accounts for the kids
> > and how to make it Net safe.
> > 
> > I think that this is an untapped market right now and something that the
> > project could leverage into a marketing campaign and guide us in terms of
> > branding.
> > 
> > Comments?
> > 
> > Cheers
> > GL
> 
> I think that if you target the software packages that are compatible
> with Educational software advocated by educational organizations, we
> could make quite large inroads in the adaptability of Mageia.For
> example, when marketing the OS, emphasis on the distro that can carry
> your kids through their educational paths with such packages as
> OpenOffice (soon to be LibreOffice -- make sure the MSWorks plug-in is
> also included) compatible with MSOffice; GIMP similar to Photoshop and
> some plugins are compatible; Freemind mindmapping; etc. If Mageia
> concentrated on making these software packages work solidly then you
> could have a good run at competing with other linux distros in the
> educational field.

Indeed, that's why I suggest OOo4Kids.  The go-oo.org version is pretty much 
essential right now because of it's GoogleDocs/Zoho integration.  Schools are 
using the cloud as an educational tool more and more. 

> 
> BTW, in Canada, many school boards still use the Novel Netware setups
> and they are just now in the midst of planning out its replacement. My
> school board for example will have to replace close to 10,000 units if
> they were to move to a Linux setup. I sat in on a meeting about 5 years
> ago to hear out a RehHat re-seller's pitch. Most school boards are
> almost at the break point and will be actively looking for new
> networking/desktop solutions.

Common all over the world and if the school can see that the software used at 
school is as friendly on the home computer...

> 
> So, compatibility with educational software. The distro should also be
> an easy install for everyone and GUI run. If we are going to make it and
> contend with other distros, the majority of users want a GUI run install
> where everything works right away. There should be as little fiddling
> around as possible. Install (15-20 minutes), then, register user
> accounts, shares for accounts, re-name the computer to instill a sense
> of ownership to the user (rather than having your computer called
> "localhost" all the time, and then you are done! (Cups and 3d should be
> installed automatically during the install phase). Make the install as
> easy as possible.

When I started using Linux (Mandrake was my first distro and the reason I 
abandoned Windows) MCC to me, a nongeek, was the killer app.  OpenSuSE's Yast 
is/was the only real competition.  The ability to administer everything from a 
GUI is killer for the Ex-windows user.

> 
> The next is a distro with games and solid multi-player game setups that
> work. Get the distro to play nice with WOW and other popular games. This
> will kill the competition and grab kids attention. Have a Mageia games
> advocate(s) who periodically send out "snazzy" e-newsletters and a
> "Magei Games Korner" on the website to foster gamesmanship on the
> distro. Get the kids talking about the "rock-solid" install of WOW (for
> example) using Wine -- the distro should come "hard wired" to play! and
> rock!

The critical thing about aiming at a family market is that you are not aiming 
at Kids.  The target in this market is Mum, she is the power here, the rest of 
the family follow along meekly. 


> 
> Have a great advocacy group that will stand up to Mageia bashing and
> hand out comparative studies on the distro's performance and keep the
> name in the headlines with such sites as LinuxToday.com. Be proactive
> rather reactive to Linux possibilities of use where it can rationalized
> as a good replacement desktop distro.

What we have to do is replace the Linux=Ubuntu with Mageia instead of Windows.  
Linux has already been sold to those who fill the market that needs to know 
about that, let Ubuntu have that space.  What I would like to see is a 
decision making process that goes Windows or Mac or Mageia.

> 
> Sorry for the long note.

A long note is only long when it doesn't say anything, this ain't long, many 
thanks for your input Marc

> 
> Cheers
> 
> Marc
> 

Cheers
GL

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

OpenOffice.org Migration and training Consultant.

INGOTs Assessor Trainer
(International Grades in Open Technologies)
www.theingots.org