There is no greater example of the power of blogging and open source marketing than the rise of the Firefox Web browser.
Firefox isn’t just a browser. It’s a religion. The Mozilla Foundation has seemingly done everything right in getting Firefox users to market the product for it. First, they developed a truly awesome product (if you’re not using Firefox, stop reading here and go download it). Second, they reached out to its evangelists and asked them to put buttons on their blogs – as I did. Finally, they mobilized their fervent fans to fund an ad in the New York Times.
Through it all the Firefox team consistently used blogging to reveal their human side. Now that the product has reached “The Tipping Point,” the press has fallen in madly in love with them. Blake Ross – who’s on the cover of Wired mag this month – and his merry band of volunteer revolutionaries are changing not only the technology industry, but taking customer evangelist marketing to new heights as well.
Be sure to stay close to Blake by reading his brand new blog. Open Source Marketing 101 is in session and there will be lots more to learn.
Steve Rubel is a PR strategist with nearly 16 years of public relations, marketing, journalism and communications experience. He currently serves as a Senior Vice President with Edelman, the largest independent global PR firm.
He authors the Micro Persuasion weblog, which tracks how blogs and participatory journalism are changing the public relations practice.
