[Marketing] Marketing plan part 3

[Frank Warmerdam]

Michael P. Gerlek wrote:
> I'm sorry I haven't been to any of the ex-VisCom mtgs lately, nor was I
> around for the Victoria discussions, but I'll just offer two points, in
> case no one else has already, based on my previous VisCom experience:
> 
> First, we are looking to spend a sizable chunk of the Foundation's
> (limited) money on this; what are the opportunity costs, and will we
> have enough money to do follow-on activities afterwards?  I'm concerned
> that if we spend this money up front, we may not have sufficient funds
> to later attend shows and what-not.
> 
> Second, or more fundamentally, is this really a worthwhile expense?  My
> view on OSGeo marketing has evolved a lot over the past two years, and
> I'm more generally of the opinion that monies should be spent on things
> of direct value to the members.  That is, keeping our infrastructure up,
> getting better one-click installs, giving money to projects with
> worthwhile efforts that need additional funding, etc.  More succinctly,
> what is it that the Marketing team is now intending to "market" to the
> world, with exactly what expected results, and how important is that
> activity?

Folks,

The Marketing Committee has (or will so have) a reasonably concrete
budget for marketing efforts, and I don't think this committee needs to
worry about infrastructure, and project development, installers, etc.

My only concern is that marketing expenditures should connect up to
our objectives.  Snazzy and professional materials that aren't connected
to meaningful content will ultimately be a failure.

So, for instance, producing quality brochure/handouts we can provide
at conferences that clearly and professionally explain each of the
projects would (in my opinion) be a good expenditure.  But if we put
lots of effort into stylish/professional looks, but fail to follow
through with meaningful content then ... not so useful.

I don't begrudge the money that was spent a year or two ago on logos,
and related materials, but ultimately it wasn't that directly connected
to goals, and I wouldn't want that to be our pattern.

PS. This is strictly outsider thoughts from someone not knowledgable
about marketing, so don't take me too seriously.  I also haven't been
following the details of proposed work closely so this isn't an analysis
of planned work.

PPS. I love the GeoNetwork materials but they *aren't* the sort of things
folks could print locally on their color printer to hand out at a show.  They
need to be professionally manufactured and presumably are non-trivially
expensive "per run".  I would hate to design materials that end up being
difficult/expensive to get into peoples hands.

PPPS. Does anyone know why I really really want to spell marketing as
"marketting"?

Best regards,
-- 
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I set the clouds in motion - turn up   | Frank Warmerdam, warmerdam at pobox.com
light and sound - activate the windows | http://pobox.com/~warmerdam
and watch the world go round - Rush    | President OSGeo, http://osgeo.org