Not marketing, but counter-marketing
May 6th, 2006Sometimes you just do something because it feels right at the time; it takes someone else to point out that there is actually a logic behind it. This article by Shane Shick in business.ca praises our Get Legal – Get Openoffice.org campaign:
People used to say that open source suffered from a lack of good marketing. Maybe what it really lacked was some good counter-marketing.
I like this concept. If you someone twice your size is running up to attack you, it’s not a good idea just to stand there. Far better to make use of the opponent’s momentum – e.g. trip them up so they bang their heads against a wall.
Now OpenOffice.org is aiming towards this sweet spot – the more Microsoft try to scare people into buying MS-Office, the more they are encouraging them to look at the alternative – OpenOffice.org.
We should milk this one for all it’s worth. Other press sightings noted by my colleagues: