[Marketing] Ideas / Plan

[Gerald A]

On Fri, Dec 30, 2011 at 9:12 AM, Dr. H. Nikolaus Schaller <hns at goldelico.com
> wrote:

>
> The other strategy is the one taken by Apple. They have a very low
> marketing budget compared to other companies. And the media are
> still happy to report every small move at no cost...
>

... which is because Apple is super secretive, so even "rumors" become big
news.

While this is a great strategy, it becomes difficult to achieve if you are
trying to have everything "open".

What I think is lost in all of this is the question: Who is the intended
customer?

I've seen some people talk about linux geeks, etc etc. However, at least
for the first rev of the GTA04,
it's _hardware_ geeks, and hardcore ones at that, which is the focus.

There are lots of unix-heads that would love a phone that is "free-er" then
Android or Apple let you be.
But having to buy a phone, then cannibalize it with another kit you buy?
It's definitely outside the
mainstream.

Now, it's not that I don't want this project to succeed. I think it's a
great cause -- I was one of the early
GTA01 (neo) buyers.

For me, I don't have time right now to assemble a Freerunner and a GTA04 to
get a working phone
"with possibilities". I want the completed package, then end result. The
neo was shipped with the slogan
"some assembly required", which gave you the right idea. I thought that it
just needed a good software
stack to make things great. (I still do).

What might work is having people invest, rather then "buy" something.
That's something I could wrap
my head around. "Make the open phone happen -- Invest now". Don't make it
complicated or expensive.
"$10 in one 'block'" kind of thing. Maybe 40 blocks would allow the
"investor" to see a completed phone,
if one was to ever be produced. Make the risks clear -- the "open phone"
might never come to market,
but if we get 5000 blocks sold, we then have the muscle to negotiate with
the big boys.

The issue here is what is in it for the "little guy", and I'd be a bit
fuzzy. 40 blocks gets a phone, but
what if I buy 2? Do I get the use of a phone for a week? :P I also don't
know the legal side of calling
it an "investment" (rather then a donation or a purchase). But this would
be simpler to "market", and
would have better funding potential then selling the kit.

As an aside -- if I have extra cash, I might be willing to buy a kit or two
-- but they would either end up
as donations to others, or as a dust collector. So it's not that I'm not
willing to put money into it. But
I also realize that one or two more kits won't make this happen in
isolation.

Thanks
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