Ubuntu’s Golden Ring
I’m been catching up to TedTalks from last year (2009) and last week I got to Simon Sinek’s talk How Great Leaders Inspire Action, in the talk he describes what he calls “The golden ring” which is his representation of how to communicate ideas in order to inspire and influence buying decisions.
So I figured I’d mix up the ideas on my blog and see if they can improve the communication and advertising of Ubuntu and Free and Open Source in general. The results are below but first I’ll quickly go over the ideas for those who skipped the above link and haven’t seen the video yet.
What Simon illustrates is the method in which traditional marketing messages work and he does so with a single circular diagram. Traditionally the messages move from the outside of the circle to the inside, from the What (the product), to the how (awesome features) and then finally sometimes to the Why (why should I care?). This outside in method is described as being logical and rationale by firstly showing what your selling and then explaining why people should buy into it.
The alternative method is illustrated with Apple’s marketing, where they predominantly communicate the opposite way round. First explaining the Why then the How then finally the product it’s self the What. This allows Apple to grab people by their emotive feelings which most of the time will override their logical deliberation and you’ll find people buying Apple products and making up rationale in order to justify their emotive decision making.
So I figured it might be possible to apply the same ideas to Ubuntu right, the problem is the complexity and confusion of the kind of message we want to promote. Apparently Ubuntu and FOSS means lots of different things to different people. So what I’ve done is pick out three different marketing messages and how we should communicate them effectively:
What are your thoughts?
Tags: communication, linux, marketing, Ubuntu
I think this is more truthful
http://www.imagebanana.com/view/4srffuxv/ubuntumarketing.png
About the safe one i think is safer then the others because it`s less popular … i might be wrong and the last one i don`t understand
Seems to me like you’ve still got the features in the middle, rather than the emotions.
How about putting things like power, community, fun or even rebellion in the middle? Those are the emotions that attract people to Ubuntu IMHO.
Power: more commonly known as freedom, the feeling of being in control of the software that’s running on your computer.
Community: the feeling of togetherness that a group volunteer effort can bring
Fun: the feeling you get with plain hacking
Rebellion: the desire to be different from the majority and to be independent from disliked monopolies like Microsoft’s.
(Those were just my guesses, it would be interesting to see a survey done on this)
Maybe these targeted feelings should change. We’ve known for a long time that we need to diversify as a community. How about: awe, beauty and convenience?
technically, I think the third version is best, because that is the professional value of foss, the sober result of enthusiasm. i can’t tell if it’s short enough.
or, something like “a professional playground”?
or “go ask your professional questions!”
- ubuntu is not “meant for all” and you need some 1-2-3 skills, but maybe it can do just what you want for free. it is professional, but you have to learn 4 concepts. if you lower expectations openly that can mean you are well aware of problems – you are open and you have wit.
otherwise, i would be careful about “leadership”. i tend to question that, always. i don’t like it. it’s not a neutral term, for that is has been abused far too often.
so this was just a little rambling.
Freedom → FOSS → Ubuntu?
Looking at Ubuntu website:
“Why” corresponds to the motives behind “The Ubuntu promise” paragraph on Ubuntu homepage, and “How” is roughly the content of the same paragraph. “What” is the paragraph “What is Ubuntu?”
So:
Why: we want to give freedom to every computer user in the world.
How: freedom is brought by using FOSS and having an open relationship with the community. In order to bring it to everyone we provide any translation we can, we design accessible interfaces, we offer commercial support (“everyone” includes companies), we employ experts to improve quality making computers easy to use to the non-tech users.
What: “Ubuntu is an operating system built by a worldwide team of expert developers. It contains all the applications you need: a web browser, office suite, media apps, instant messaging and much more.”
Why:
Freedom! Freedom loving Community. When I gave up my proprietary software chains, it added 10 years to my life (hypertension….)! Computing is now a joy for me. I lost the restrictions, the spying, the nagging, the hassle.
How:
Phone a friend who uses ubuntu (Ubuntu Hour project?). Try a live Ubuntu CD. Get Ubuntu installed into a spare PC. Install Ubuntu into Windows (WUBI). Install as dual boot. Use Ubuntuforums.
What: A modern, free system which is compatible with most people’s use. Many thousands of Apps. Good security – those who write it also use it, they want it good! This is a best kept secret, the retail worlds do not want you to know of it!
It’s true. I’m glad normal people like me (sure, I’m a tiny bit of a geek, since I’m willing to learn a bit about my OS, but I mostly just use programs and want the best tool for the job) are the people pushing Linux in public today.
Its younger people with a tiny bit of insight, or in my case, the luck to have tried to get an OS other than XP on an older computer after hearing Linux can run on old computers. Once I saw how it performed on that and what it could do, switching on my larger, more powerful computer was just logical.
I think you should bring up FOSS principles, but I don’t think that’s the FIRST THING you should bring up, unless you’re talking to a liberal who’s really into that sort of thing. If you get ignored for being religious about it, they don’t get the chance to hear about the technical merits that can benefit them IMMEDIATELY.
So yes, as long as new users aren’t so arrogant that they say everything else sucks, but notice the differences, they can see who could really benefit from using it, or who would be at least willing to dual-boot it, and then learn how to get it done.
Just being aware of the needs of the user is the most important thing. With Windows, that’s all they have is their basic needs met. If you can meet their needs with Ubuntu, then you can show them how it meets all of their wants that were never satisfied, too.
Never give someone ONLY Ubuntu if it can’t accomplish what they need to do- the benefits will only make them that much more frustrated when they learn they HAVE to use Windows for something.
But yes, I’m personally expanding the use in my general community so that people feel more comfortable pushing for more awareness of Ubuntu. Not adoption, awareness- when people know there’s something out there, then become a bit curious, that’s when you hit them with it. XD
why: believe in freedom
how: the spirit of ubuntu
what: all the software you want for free
First, thanks for sharing it. Really an inspiring reading!
So, our problem is to find the Why first. And we’ve a problem not in finding it but in what choosing from the ton of values we have. I mean, it’s a synthesis problem rather than a communication problem.
Freedom is what most people would say, and also it’s one of my principle argumentation. But I’m asking myself, is freedom what people really looking for these days? It’s freedom the message that would break the walls and catch the attention? Looking at iPhone sells people look more for style than for freedom.
I’m not sure yet but what’s coming to my mind is something like ownership.
Do you own your computer or it’s your Computer/Phone/Pad/whatever owning you?
What would be the best term for describing ownership, control and possession in English? A term that if you own something it’s ok but if something own you it’s frightening. The circle then would be
control/ownership/possession -> free software -> ubuntu
Ciao!