The principle job of marketing is to create "Brand Awareness", it could in fact be argued that it is it's only function and anything else that a marketing team does, goes back to that simple statement. Brand awareness is driven by several factors Visibility Attractiveness Ubiquitousness Not sure that the last is even a proper word but it conveys the idea! :) Visibility: A good brand has to catch the eye, rivet the attention create a desire to know more about it Attractiveness: Once you have attention the good Brand has to be pleasing to the viewer such that it makes them want be associated with it. Ubiquitousness: In other words the brand has to be seen on a regular basis especially where it has a good "fit". ie: there is going to be greater impact if it is seen on the front page of a technology publication than in "House & Garden's Bathroom edition" Right now we are suboptimal on all fronts. Our logo doesn't convey the right feelings and it's not particularly attractive either in style or in colour. The two open source brands that have the highest awareness are Ubuntu and Firefox. It is not for no reason that the colours they use are ones that convey Warmth, vibrancy and reliability while at the same time demanding attention, Oranges Reds, Browns and Yellows. The colours are sexy and make the viewer feel good and excited. Green, does none of these things, green is a calming colour but doesn't immediately attract attention. The things our branding needs to convey, especially at this point is excitement and passion but also reliability and friendliness and be attractive enough to seize the viewers attention and have them wanting to know more. That's our problem right now, we are at the "New Brand" stage. Coca Cola for instance doesn't have that issue, their marketing is just about reminding, the same for MacDonalds. Ubuntu and firefox created a buzz around their brand by being attractive and warm and inviting and we need to do the same. In my opinion we need to look at our branding elements from a fresh start. Ubuntu and Firefox branding were both started from scratch with a strong brand in mind, we seem to have drifted into ours without little branding consideration.Our brand is strong within the community, but it doesn't lend itself to creating a strong brand outside the community So a couple of considerations: 1) The name openSUSE is cumbersome and I believe a return to simply SUSE would be a good first step. Novell has SUSE Enterprise and in fact from a branding perspective I preferred Novell Linux with the big red N 2) The colour pallet does not grab attention and so that needs to be rethought 3) Geeko does not engage the viewer in any meaningful way except for being familiar to the present community, he either needs rethinking or we go to an entirely different Logo. 4) A branding competition, open to all comers, would be a newsworthy event that would get us column inches and get the brand out there. Remember that this not about what we as a community like, it's about how we get a better branding impression and thus increase brand awareness. Cheers GL -- Graham Lauder, OpenOffice.org MarCon (Marketing Contact) NZ http://marketing.openoffice.org/contacts.html OpenOffice.org Migration and training Consultant. Ambassador for OpenSUSE Linux on your Desktop INGOTs Assessor Trainer (International Grades in Office Technologies) www.theingots.org.nz -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse-marketing+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse-marketing+help@opensuse.org