I got the same pr email many others did touting HBO creating skins for Firefox to promote Rome. I have absolutely no idea why this got such big pickup in blogs and even the press; things like this have been done since the birth of the browser. What’s the big deal?
14 responses to “So?”
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Because Firefox is popular with the 18-34 Technodouche crowd. I don’t think this marketing campaign will work, though. Why would anyone purposefully put advertising in their internet browser? Unless those skins are somehow cool enough to blow all other Firefox themes out of the water…
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“since the birth of the browser”
Really? I can’t recall any other time a browser had a promotional skin. What historical examples are you referring to?
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Because Firefox is popular with the 18-34 Technodouche crowd.
Jeez, who peed in your coffee, dude?
Firefox is a great browser, with or without “skins”. I could give a rats ass about that kind of fluff.
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“Really? I can’t recall any other time a browser had a promotional skin. What historical examples are you referring to?”
Indeed and therein lay the point. It is a big deal that the themes plugin for FF is being used like this. It shows the reach of the browser and its impact. I think it also shows that the move by the Mozilla Foundation to create a corporation is paying dividends.
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The reason is simpler: bloggers can easily be swayed by PR because they don’t actually get much thrown their way. Flatter a blogger and you can get coverage, Jeff. Remember: you’re a news guy and not a true blogger.
It’s all much to do about nothing.
Oh, and Leon — you did notice Firefox usage was actually down the last few months, didn’t you? It seems to have peaked.
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I think this is a lame campaign by HBO… HBO just re-hashed one of the lamest technologies to some of the most tech savvy users online. That doesn’t make sense to me.
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“Firefox usage was actually down the last few months, didn’t you? It seems to have peaked”
Was usage down? Or just new downloads?
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The point is…
That Firefox usage has spread via word-of-mouth (first in the open-source community, then the community at-large). Rome is a series that many anticipate will have the same kinds of suceess – BUZZ-driven success. What better platform than Firefox to allow audiences (8-9% of the online population) to embrace what could be their new favorite series?
Remember – this whole thing is OPTIONAL. Don’t want it? Don’t download it. The popularity of downloads before the series even begins speaks for itself though…
And as far as commercial browser-skinning being done for a long time goes, remember the company HotBar (they’re still around, believe it or not). That’s a third-party app. And it installs “other” software on your PC if you let it. Firefox is the most widely-used browser that can be themed as an inherent aspect of its development.
One last thing…the idea was borne independently of Mozilla. They were just awesome enough to embrace the concept.
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usage has slipped.
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“That Firefox usage has spread via word-of-mouth (first in the open-source community, then the community at-large).”
Buzz is easy when you’re giving away something for free.
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Why it picked up the coverage it did isn’t that big of a mystery. HBO has a lot of fans among the media. Look at the coverage for its other shows… Sex and the City, Sopranos, Six Feet Under, Deadwood… all incredibly out of proportion to their actual viewership. Yes, the shows were/are very good, especially considering the competition on network, but the fact is that the highest rated of these shows on their BEST nights, weren’t even in the same ball park as, say, Everybody Loves Raymond on its worst night. Still, judging by the press coverage, especially of Sex and the City, you’d have thought it was the only thing on TV.
But HBO does know how to market. Take one show, take a relatively insignificant browser and pair them and voila. I’m sure the thinking, aside from the PR, was the Firefox users were considered influencers and therefore their word of mouth might be stronger. I don’t necessarily think that’s true–there’s a difference between influencers and early adopting technogeeks. And early adopting technogeeks strike me as the sort of people who’d be most resistant to silly marketing gimmicks like skins. I mean does anyone other than teenagers actually clutter up their computers with skins? -
“Buzz is easy when you’re giving away something for free.”
Disagree. Good buzz is not easy – even when it’s free. The product’s got to be good – otherwise blogs like this’ll lambaste ya (ahem-Dell).
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Early-adopting technogeeks can’t possibly make up 8-9% of internet users. But regardless, it’s likely that those technogeeks are going to love ROME anyway.
The amazing thing is while one might think “early adopting technogeeks strike me as the sort of people who’d be most resistant to silly marketing gimmicks like skins”, they’re the ones that developed them in the first place. Go figure!
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“Good buzz is not easy – even when it’s free. The product’s got to be good – otherwise blogs like this’ll lambaste ya (ahem-Dell).”
And exactly how has this blog affected Dell’s bottom line? Are sales slipping? Did Dell have a bad quarter because of this blog?
Let’s be a little realistic about what the real world thinks about this blog and the small, small world of bloggers.
And yes, good buzz is easy when you give away something for free.
