Open-source enables us to bring engineers and testers into the Firefox fold. SpreadFirefox enables us to bring everyone else. We created the site after noticing that much of our community wanted to pitch in but couldn't move the bits and bytes. This problem infects many open-source projects, and that's unfortunate: Nothing is more crucial to the success of a project than passionate users. If you have them, don't ignore them.
With SpreadFirefox, then, we seek to leverage the non-technical talents and connections that everybody has. If you're a teacher, let's brainstorm how to integrate Firefox into your lessons. If you're a lawyer, let's find ways to target your firm. We've found this to be a virtuous cycle: Because people are able to contribute through marketing, they (rightfully) feel part of the project. And because they feel part of the project, they're more inclined to spread it.
Background on Firefox Flicks:
Firefox Flicks is our latest wide-scale effort, and in this case we're calling on aspiring film professionals. It began as a contest with a simple pitch: Submit the best 30-second Firefox commercial, as judged by a panel of Hollywood and advertising bigwigs, and we'll give you $5,000 at a film superstore. The real prize, of course, was a shot at stardom and a chance to launch a career. Every solid advertisement, not just the top few, would be judged by influential producers and directors like Warren Zide (American Pie) and McG (O.C., Charlie's Angels). And the best films would be incorporated into worldwide campaigns that reach millions of people.
We were a bit anxious as we kicked off the contest. We'd never tried such a high profile project that demanded a skill as unique and specialized as film production, and we didn't want to waste our judges' time. But we decided early on that if we were going to go for it, we were going to go for it-- and that's the best advice I can offer. We didn't settle for lesser judges just in case the submissions turned out weak. We didn't offer cookie-cutter production tools (a la the Chevy Tahoe campaign) to guarantee thousands of carbon copy submissions. We wanted quality, not quantity, and we approached all aspects of the campaign on the faith that we would get it.
Our community came through again, and we were fortunate enough to win on both counts. After weeks of canvassing film schools and publications, we received nearly 300 submissions, many of such high quality they could have been aired on television. One of them, "Whee," instantly became a cult hit that drew nearly a million viewers (and a number of parodies) in under 72 hours without any formal promotion.
We continue to receive entries, and in fact this points to one of our most crucial oversights: Many potential entrants didn't hear about the contest until the best flicks started drawing buzz after it ended. This would have been difficult to remedy even if we'd foreseen it. Extending the contest would have been unfair to those who had rushed to get their entries in on time, and it's hard to imagine what would have encouraged participants to submit good entries early. Most were college students with day jobs and coursework, not to mention an innate knack for procrastination. Some lucky students managed to use their submission as a final project for a film course, a phenomenon we anticipated and tried to facilitate by packaging the contest as an assignment with a briefing sheet.
Because the contest was so successful, we decided to open it indefinitely. There are no more prizes or judges, but we continue to post new entries on the highly trafficked Flicks website (which no longer reflects all the contest information), and we keep an eye out for outstanding submissions to use in our larger campaigns and screen at more prominent venues.
Throughout the short-term buzz, we remind ourselves that the true success of the project will be measured in the years to come. Ultimately, it will be the more mainstream flicks -- and not inside jokes like "Whee" -- that convince new users to try Firefox. And that, after all, is the point.
-- Blake Ross, Firefox
-- David Heidenreich, EVP, strategy & marketing, Ripple Effects Interactive
This campaign really works for me. I really like the fact that there is a community behind the scenes, making actual video commercials for the organization. I also like the content, the videos. Many of them are really funny, while others are well-made in terms of production and message.
For me, word-of-mouth is one of the most important strategies in marketing communications. Everybody trusts his/her best friend, right? This campaign really takes advantage of this technique by letting the community do the talking. This campaign is convincing for the relevant age group. If the visitor can relate to the creators of the content, I think it's really convincing. I think the number of contributions is a proof of the efficiency of word-of-mouth.
But I think most of the visitors/creators of this campaign are in the target age group of 15 to 25. If you look at similar "services" on the internet (think YouTube and Google Video) you'll see that the age group is about same. If you want to target an older audience, the marketers should try to find another channel. As it is today, I find it difficult to see a 45-year-old man or woman spreading the URL of this site. This campaign could have been more effective by targeting more age groups.
-- David Eriksson, creative director, North Kingdom