Re: [us-marketing] Re: Getting LibreOffice brand recognition

On Sun, May 6, 2012 at 5:47 PM, webmaster-Kracked_P_P
<webmaster@krackedpress.com> wrote:
> Middle- and High-School kids need to be targeted before they get too set on
> MSO for their default office suite.  I started word processing when Word was
> only just getting started, so I am more inclined to use whatever works for
> my needs.

I don't worry too much about kids. Kids are great at breaking
everything, which basically means that they are great at learning.
Older people aren't as good at breaking everything, which means that
they don't get as good at re-assembling things and learning how they
work and what features them have, and so they get stuck in a
repetitive loop -- I find myself falling into this trap more and more
often as the years pass! :-)

> Once you get to the later school grades and then college, you need to show
> the students what LO can do for them.  Free is great, but they will have
> specific needs for their office package.

We'll definitely need to have a multi-pronged approach to promoting
LO. There are number of different "primary draws" that we can promote:
- The cost (free)
- The license (FOSS)
- The language support
- The feature set
- The community
- (...more?)

> use local companies if you can, and you can say you support the local
> communities.  Use Organic cotton tees is even better.

Organic tees are nice, but can (obviously) be more expensive. Are
there any marketing rules about corporate sponsorship? (perhaps giving
swag sponsors a logo on the arm of the T-shirt or something?)

> We need regional professional people [volunteers] who can be the one who can
> come in for a local people and help with the promotion of LO on the college
> and university campuses.  That would help a lot.  There are many higher
> education campuses in the county where I am.  College, Business School, and
> Adult Education, facilities.  Then there are the community computer labs
> that are used to help teach people how to use a computer and support those
> who cannot afford their own computer.

I get weekly email notes about "IT Training" that nearly completely
focus on MS-Office, Photoshop, iMovie, and Outlook. Most people would
be fine using applications like LO in place of other office suites,
but the training infrastructure isn't there. Actually assembling
training infrastructure for LO and other FOSS applications (including
computer labs, teachers, course materials, etc...) might be beyond the
capabilities or mandate of this mailing list, but it should be an
important piece of the roadmap to LO adoption.

Once the North American marketing team has matured a bit (and is past
the "organizational phase"), LO might consider the creation of a
education/training mailing list for just such a purpose.

> Also, check out the "better" Mascot images.  They are better than the one
> listed in the top part of this thread.  The edges are less "pixelated".
>
> http://libreoffice-na.us/mascoteLibOLF--edited-1c.jpg
> http://libreoffice-na.us/mascoteLibOLF--edited-1c.png

In a quick and dirty survey of my friends, I got the following
responses about the LibreOffice logos:

http://wiki.documentfoundation.org/File:LibreOffice_external_logo_300px.png
- Too "corporate" and stuffy
- They'd like to wear a LO shirt, but this one felt like "a walking
advertisement"

http://libreoffice-na.us/mascoteLibOLF--edited-1c.jpg
- Can't tell what he is at first glance
- Hands are weirdly proportioned
- Sunglasses look like he's trying to be "too cool" and "hip for the
kids these days"

http://wiki.documentfoundation.org/File:See_tshirt1.png
- This one was okay
- Most people said they'd wear a shirt with it

http://wiki.documentfoundation.org/File:See_banner_wss1b.png
- Multiple people liked this design
- Everyone said they'd wear a shirt with it

http://wiki.documentfoundation.org/File:See_banner_as4.png
- This one was cluttered, but people liked the idea
- "put the text underneath"


--R

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