The Firefox web browser revolutionized the way in which free software applications were promoted
There is no doubt that the Firefox web browsing software application has revolutionized the methods of promotion of free software applications. Till date, very few software applications have attained the same level of popularity of other software applications. No other free software application has received the backing from any professional organization as far as the promotion of the software application is concerned. Since the software application in question happens to be a free software application, there absolutely no monetary incentives are available for any company to invest its time, effort and resources to create and implement the promotional campaign for any free software application.
In such a scenario, the onus of popularizing the free software application fell solely upon the community of users of that particular software application. Simply put, only those individuals who were in favor of using that particular free software application were the ones who had to promote the same. The end result is that a motley group of individuals who have nothing in common amongst them except for the fact that they all happen to use the same free software application take up the responsibility of spreading the word about that particular software application. It does not take a rocket scientist to come to the conclusion that the promotional campaign set up by such a group can hardly match a branded promotional campaign organized by an expert public relations agency employed by the companies owning the ‘paid for’ software applications.
As is obvious, the free software application always works at a disadvantage. That is the reason why a free software application, despite offering many advantages, remains away from the spotlight. That is the reason why a free software application, despite having the potential to spark off a revolution, barely manages to survive. That is the reason why free software applications, despite offering all that the end users need, remain ignored.The developers of the Firefox web browsers have adequately ensured that the Firefox web browser does not meet such a fate. The developers of the Firefox web browser have succeeded in doing so by ignoring the traditional methods of promotion of software applications.
Traditionally, ‘paid for’ software applications have always been promoted through the visual and print media. The visual and print mediums have always been the costliest forms of promotion and advertisement. A ten second slot during prime time costs thousands of dollars if not more. A full page advertisement in a prominent newspaper costs a king’s ransom. To expect a group of individuals with no formal training in creating and managing promotional campaigns is next to impossible. That is the reason why the Firefox web browser took the calculated risk of completely ignoring the traditional forms of promotion and advertisement. Mozilla Firefox resorted to plain old word of mouth advertising campaigns to spread the word about the web browser.
The Firefox web browser gained popularity by requesting each and every person who downloaded the Firefox web browser to suggest the same to other individuals if he or she liked it. Since most of the people who downloaded the Firefox web browser loved it at first sight, they went on recommending the web browser to more and more people. The immense power of this word of mouth advertising and promotion can be gauged from the fact that the version 2.0 release of the Firefox web browser was downloaded more than two million times in the first twenty four hours. That works out to thirty downloads per a single second. The free software applications decided to stop trying to beat the ‘paid for’ software applications on their own game. Instead of trying to beat the ‘paid for’ software application in their arena, they decided to focus on their own strengths to spread word about them.
Technorati Tags: Mozilla, Firefox, Firefox developers, Firefox web browser, ‘paid for’ software applications, free Firefox, Firefox 2.0, Firefox community, Firefox word of mouth advertising
Tags: Firefox Browser, Mozilla
