Re: [libreoffice-marketing] Re: Website online - question on main structure for art / branding / marketing

Greetings All,
Excuse the speed of this reply, I'm still typing lefthand only so having to 
prioritise my online time


On Monday 08 Nov 2010 02:54:28 Christoph Noack wrote:
> Hi all!
>
> A very interesting discussion - I wished this one would have started
> about one year within the OpenOffice.org project. So my personal
> thoughts ...
>
> For reasons of efficiency, I'll refer to the Wikipedia article
> considering branding [1], although some things are different if a
> product is shaped by a community. But however, the main thoughts are
> identical.
>
> Am Sonntag, den 07.11.2010, 12:23 +0100 schrieb Bernhard Dippold:
> > In the most extreme definition branding is the umbrella for marketing,
> > art, user experience and user interface...
>
> Yes.

Agreed, however I would disagree with the "extreme".  

Branding is a new science and has only been with us since the mid eighties or 
thereabouts.  Let's not get wound up in definitions, it is simply enough that 
everyone in the project is on the same page when considering the organisations 
Visual, Emotional, Functional and Communication identity.  Out of that comes a 
Brand.

[....]

 
> ..... the visual design exactly matches and emphasizes this positive 
experience.
> So the logo and the visuals express the already perceived feelings and
> emotions. 

Exactly, but additionally the above is reflected in textual communications as 
well.  It should be consistent across all channels of communication: 
Marketing, PR, UI, packaging, website, Press releases.  At any point where the 
project interacts with the world, both internally and externally, the Brand 
must consistently guide and shape that interaction

  
> But ...
>
> The world isn't that optimal - so the branding does (at least in parts)
> communicate what the creator(s) of the product had in mind - whether
> they achieved the goal or not. So creators want to communicate a certain
> "feeling" or "emotion" whether the product will create it or not
> (usually producers of sweet beverages communicate the social aspect
> within their promotion activities).
>
> However, an example that is more valid for us: A very extreme and
> progressive branding (new, innovative, cutting edge) will fail for most
> people - because we (finally) cannot prove that this is correct (no
> trust after a certain time). At the moment, we can provide something
> like: versatility, productivity, quality.

Any extreme element in a brand has to have good science behind it but also 
there has to be an intuitive leap.  The most recognisable brands combine the 
two. I would point to the OOo homepage as an example of that.  The concept of 
"Action Statements" was extreme but on the other foot was backed by good 
science even though no-one else had done it before. However it was still 
guided by the Brand. 

> Another aspect is, that we are a group of individuals and companies who
> create a software - together. So we also think about our own motivation
> - and usually want to express that. A famous example is the Ubuntu logo
> - three people in a circle, warm colors. (By the way, Ubuntu has some
> very good reading at [2].)

Yep, Ubuntu done good, of course their market penetration or User base is 
miniscule compared to OOo so conceivably, and I don't believe I'm saying this, 
Bluebirds are more effective than a warm fuzzy embracing brand.  ;)

and Please!! don't bother rebutting this, it's not going to advance OUR 
discussion, tongue planted firmly in cheek.  :)

> Finally, a good branding considers all of these aspects. It shapes how
> we want to be perceived, but also what we currently stand for. It
> considers our users and our community. If things are too different, then
> we have to work on separate brandings for both software and community.
> This is far more important than a simple logo. But this has to be done
> without rush ...

Agreed


> At the moment, we make up the "initial branding" without exact knowledge
> what all the people here think, without a long-term product roadmap
> which might have influence. So - to come back to the initial question -
> we currently work on the "Visual brand identity" [3] and are assuming
> some of the issues mentioned before.
>
> To make sure that this is correct, we have these discussions on the
> "object" (logo, presentations, colors) - although we should discuss
> about values and visual language. When I initially made up the branding
> page, I tried to quickly summarize my assumptions [4] based on our
> discussions / previous experiences within OOo (to be continued).
>
> This is now. I'm really looking forward to work with more experienced
> designers, more knowledge about our project and the software we want to
> shape to make up the "community branding" for LibreOffice. In the
> meantime, thanks for your patience, support and the discussions to - at
> least - create something that will work for the next release!

I would like to suggest another brand,  LibreO , domains are parked and we 
could brand this one differently.  Go for a funky branding and style and 
pitch.  This still under the TDF banner of course.  Not sure of the 
practicality but perhaps would give us a version with which we could 
experiment with bleeding edge functions such as out there GUI elements while 
still maintaining an enterprise ready version.

Comments?

> @ Bernhard: Still thinking about the structuring proposal :-)
>
> Cheers,
> Christoph
>
> [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brand
>
> [2] http://design.canonical.com/the-toolkit/ubuntu-brand-guidelines/
>
> [3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brand#Visual_brand_identity
>
> [4] http://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Marketing/Branding#Branding

-- 
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

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