Team, What do you do with a good idea?
The team receives a lot of ideas from a variety of sources. Which ones take root, which ones whither and die? I suggest that every effort of the team should be a project and every project has a plan. If the idea can't make it to this stage of the game, it will never make it to completion. Those ideas which grow into projects and have a plan should be submitted to the team for approval. Realizing we can't do it all, some projects may have to wait for resources to become available. Some projects will be large enough in scope or impact they will need approval from the community. It's very important to remember marketing is not open source and there are those who may take exception to our efforts and attempt to find a remedy through legal channels. Here is what I see happening. 1. Spread Ubuntu A lot of discussion but I am uncertain of what this is all about. Yes I have spent some time at the Firefox site and I realize it is very popular, but what does it mean to Ubuntu? Someone needs to champion this idea, make it a project, and write a plan. I need help understanding and with all due respect, as of this moment it is just a good idea. 2. Ubuntu Magazine I'm involved with this idea and I have been working Sara to finalize the draft project plan for discussion and approval. IMO moving forward with this is very big and needs full support from the team. This is not just Marketing, its Ubuntu. 3. Branding In my mind I see this effort as defining in very clear terms the products of Ubuntu. A new user should have no difficulty shopping for the product that best suits their needs. As an example, the current branding of Ubuntu products could change to "Ubuntu Linux, Gnome Desktop", "Ubuntu Linux, KDE Desktop", "Ubuntu Linux, Server Edition" and the others. When I read the first brand I know I am getting a version of Linux configured to run on a PC using Gnome Desktop. The 64bit version could be branded "Ubuntu Linux/64, Gnome Desktop". Again, this is just an example. I'm sure there are many more good ideas. With this work complete the artwork team can step in to assist in the creation of a logo or logos. Then we are ready to discuss baseball caps, stickers, and the like. Marketing is about communication and our communication must be clear. To drive this point home the team has a need for branding at this very moment. Assuming the Magazine project moves forward, one of the issues is what to call the publication. It's a first impression, it's very important, and its a branding issue. Like idea number 1, someone needs to make it a project and write a plan. There are other ideas floating around but I hope by now you get where I am going. IMO if we don't get our arms around this, all we will ever have is a lot of good ideas. Curious about the Magazine project? Tune into the IRC on 18 Jul, 20:00 UTC. Your comments and suggestions are always welcomed. John -- ubuntu-marketing mailing list [email protected] https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-marketing
