[TYPO3-UG US] First Touch

[Gabriel Anast]

Michelle Heizer wrote:

>Apple... could not anticipate the demand for their product.
>
And yet they _did_ anticipate it in their overall branding scheme and 
the power of the ipod brand is _harnessed_ by the Apple corporate brand, 
the ipod brand did not leave the Apple brand in the dust which it could 
have had they handled the brand differently.

The following is a question I posted to marketingprofs.com and is all 
quoted from here: 
http://www.marketingprofs.com/ea/qst_question.asp?qstID=10504

> From Europe To Us, Market Scale & Brand
> Posted By: ganast on 10/19/2005 4:15 PM (EST)     250 Points


> TYPO3.com, a large open source software project that targets web 
> developers has a large European following. I am part of a US 
> initiative to increase popularity on "this side of the pond."
>
> Because the official project language is English, there are many 
> language specific sites that promote the software and act as local 
> language help channels in the various European countries. These are 
> domains like typo3.fr (France) typo3.de (Germany) etc. Generally these 
> domains get a lot less traffic than the typo3.org domain which is the 
> main development / support channel.
>
> The questions are these: should we develop another subsite called 
> typo3.us, or should we develop part of typo3.com? What is the general 
> wisdom as concerns branding and domain names, and moving from a small 
> defining market into a large, potentially redefining market? We want 
> to come out more focused and capable, not divided and having to spend 
> a lot of time patching things together that were not carefully planned.
>
> Posted by: TruProphet     Member Response
> 10/19/2005 6:01 PM (EST)    
> I would say to go with typo3.com and ork it into that. Being that 
> Americans are more than likely going to type this in in the first place.
>
> Although - A direction you could go is to have the different places 
> that you support on your .com site and redirect them from there.
>
> Ie
>
> get to home page - click on national flag - takes you to - typo3.de, 
> or typo3.us, or typo3.ca..... this seems to be the way that many of 
> the larger multi national companies are going.
>
> Cheers,
>
> Paul
>
>  
> Posted by: mgoodman     Member Response
> 10/19/2005 6:11 PM (EST)    
> My gut reaction is that, if possible, you should use typo3.com or 
> typo3.org for the US.
>
> Most people look first for the .com, then .org. They rarely look for 
> -- or take seriously -- the .us extension.
>
> If you want people to not have to think too hard, use what they are 
> used to.
>
>  
> Posted by: jamie     Member Response
> 10/19/2005 8:47 PM (EST)    
> us may mean government to some. Agree the above.
>
> The general wisdom on brand names and domain names is to create a 
> seamless brand experience, which is a preachy way to say you have 
> continuity in the brand identity across all platforms.
>
> Not sure what you mean by moving from a small defining market to a 
> large redefining market.
>
> It is good you desire focus, but isn't open source software by 
> definition decentralized?
>
>  
> Posted by: ganast     Author Response
> 10/19/2005 9:35 PM (EST)    
> "It is good you desire focus, but isn't open source software by 
> definition decentralized?"
>
> Yes, but the marketing cannot be decentralized. The idea in Open 
> Source is to develop a strong core of programmers and a strong user 
> base that can support the programmers and give feed-back. Some of the 
> most successful OSS projects have highly directed marketing and 
> branding just like other corporate entities.
>
> "Not sure what you mean by moving from a small defining market to a 
> large redefining market."
>
> Half of all web users on Earth are in the US. More than half of the 
> websites made are specifically for US users. As this project directs 
> its focus to the US, it will get swamped with US users and developers 
> (I think...?) how best to direct those users & developers to 
> strengthen the project and not to divide it or create a US vs. EU 
> mentality.
>
> --gabe
>  
> Posted by: Doug Hudiburg     Member Response
> 10/20/2005 12:25 AM (EST)    
> I strongly suggest staying with the .comdomain. You can't segment a 
> market with a domain name, you have to localize your *message*. Don't 
> worry so much about the domain name and start to address the needs of 
> your target market.
>
> What do US web developers want? Find out what their top three needs 
> are and show them -- clearly -- what typo 3 does to address those needs.
>
> The way I see it, you have a PR 7 page, and a well known domain. Use 
> it as a unfying force to bring together all of the local Typo3 sites 
> (I love the flag idea, it is univerally accepted and easy for users to 
> understand).
>
> With a bit of optimization, you could bring typo3.com up to the top 10 
> of google, instead to the #20 position it currently holds.
>
> I also think you should narrow your targe market focus a bit. It seems 
> clear to me that Mambo/Joomla have th small business sector sewn up, 
> but that typo3 has a lot more appeal for the corporate web sites and 
> intranet sites. Especially the intranet sites! What a huge market. My 
> suggestion would be to get to know the corporate IT guys a little 
> better. You could likely sew up that market and have tremendous 
> possibliities for monetizing those relationships.


So, this last guy tends to agree with Ruv in the specific sense, however 
in the general sense he agrees with all the other posters that the .com 
needs to be the focus for the marketing push... and as a last hurrah I 
want to say that if we pull this off right, the US market will be VERY 
big. Bigger than everything we have seen so far.

Thanks all (especially Michelle!) for putting up with me and listening 
to all this!

--gabe

-- 
I was made for lovin' you... --R'n'R Worship Circus