5 years of Firefox: Solid basis, individual surface
The initial
situation
Firefox is Germanies most popular web browser: That wasn't always the case. A couple of years ago, the "Internet Explorer" dominated the World Wide Web and therefore decided what content users could access online and how they experienced the internet. With the development of Firefox as an open source software, Mozilla brought the browser market back to life. Today various competitors are back on the market and it's a vital one again - thanks to Mozilla and others.
However, if you want to differ from competitors nowadays, you need to have that certain something - and you need to communicate it. In case of Mozilla, integrity is what gives the browser a little "je ne sais quoi". Firefox as an open source browser, offered by a Non-Profit-Organization - this means browsing without a hidden agenda. 5 years ago, Mozilla brought back the Web this way and this success should be communicated perpetually.
The goals:
From a small network ...The first browser ever, designed by Tim
Berners-Lee, was called „WorldWideWeb" ...
2009, Mozilla wanted to remember people worldwide that Firefox is celebrating its 5th birthday. The goal was to combine all the positive technical features of the browser with the human values and moral conceptions of the developers. The message for all of them: The Web as it is today is - due to Firefox and others - an open and vital platform to connect, share and collaborate. An Open Web. Lots of things happened in the last 5 years and more positive things are about to happen in the next 5 years. That's why it was our goal to shape the image of Firefox again and again and make sure everyone gets the background information as well. That would lead to a higher consumer acceptance.
The pioneer communications approach:
For the 5th birthday, pioneer communications presented Mozilla and Firefox with all essential features: the browser is very popular, especially due to the possibility of personalization by add-ons for every taste. It was our task to display this and communicate it to the relevant media.
Additionally press materials were comnpiled, pioneer communications translated them and adapted them for the German media. After all, Firefox is available in more than 70 languages and Germany is one of the most important markets.
Mozilla created a website (http://www.spreadfirefox.com/5years) and a birthday video that was made to stretch the communication into the field of social networks and be virally spread there. To this strategy pioneer communications added a radio interview with a member of the Mozilla community that was free to share and use for radio stations and for quotes in radio features.
For the birthday (Nov. 9, 2009) itself, the pioneer communications Team created a cake with a firefox logo and a large white
... to a worldwide Web! Today,
Germany browses the web with Mozilla Firefox. A reason to celebrate! pioneer communications
joins in and bakes the cakes. 910
surface - so every journalist could use this surface and create his own personal decoration. We sent these cakes out with a package of food coloring and a cover letter to the key media and tech journalists/bloggers. The message: For the 5th birthday of Firefox we've prepared a cake that looks like Firefox itself: A tasty fundament and a shiny surface that can be personalized by everyone.
Shortly after we had sent the cakes out we did a larger media outreach via E-Mail, addressing other journalists, consumer-oriented media and IT bloggers. At the same time, Mozilla unlocked the birthday website worldwide, the Firefox movie was distributed by the community and by the agencies all over the world and everything was ready for the Firefox birthday party!
The result:
We've seen an overwhelming coverage: Journalists all over Germany reported on the 5th anniversary of a software - because it's not just any kind of software and because the communication strategy had been well-prepared. In the reports terms such as "internet revolution", "browser for the good" or just "open source" were used a lot, the history of Firefox was described and most journalists took a look at the backgrounds of Mozilla. The German "Tagesspiegel" titled "for smartfoxes", the TV news "Tagesschau" broadcasted a newscast with expert interviews about Firefox. Blogs celebrated the "victory of open source" and the news magazine SPIEGEL called Firefox "the community browser". Almost all national newspapers wrote about the birthday, news agencies and radio stations reported it and the pioneer pr interview was used by many journalists for quotes and newscasts.
The key messages „independent", „individual" and „open source" got stuck in the heads, many people got insights into the history of Mozilla for the first time. What a good fundament to work successfully in the next 5 years, too! And even in figures and statistics, the campaign made an impact: In the end of 2009, Firefox had clearly become market leader in Germany with a market share of almost 45 percent.
www.mozilla.com
Firefox is Germanies most popular web browser: That wasn't always the case. A couple of years ago, the "Internet Explorer" dominated the World Wide Web and therefore decided what content users could access online and how they experienced the internet. With the development of Firefox as an open source software, Mozilla brought the browser market back to life. Today various competitors are back on the market and it's a vital one again - thanks to Mozilla and others.
However, if you want to differ from competitors nowadays, you need to have that certain something - and you need to communicate it. In case of Mozilla, integrity is what gives the browser a little "je ne sais quoi". Firefox as an open source browser, offered by a Non-Profit-Organization - this means browsing without a hidden agenda. 5 years ago, Mozilla brought back the Web this way and this success should be communicated perpetually.
The goals:
From a small network ...The first browser ever, designed by Tim
Berners-Lee, was called „WorldWideWeb" ...2009, Mozilla wanted to remember people worldwide that Firefox is celebrating its 5th birthday. The goal was to combine all the positive technical features of the browser with the human values and moral conceptions of the developers. The message for all of them: The Web as it is today is - due to Firefox and others - an open and vital platform to connect, share and collaborate. An Open Web. Lots of things happened in the last 5 years and more positive things are about to happen in the next 5 years. That's why it was our goal to shape the image of Firefox again and again and make sure everyone gets the background information as well. That would lead to a higher consumer acceptance.
The pioneer communications approach:
For the 5th birthday, pioneer communications presented Mozilla and Firefox with all essential features: the browser is very popular, especially due to the possibility of personalization by add-ons for every taste. It was our task to display this and communicate it to the relevant media.
Additionally press materials were comnpiled, pioneer communications translated them and adapted them for the German media. After all, Firefox is available in more than 70 languages and Germany is one of the most important markets.
Mozilla created a website (http://www.spreadfirefox.com/5years) and a birthday video that was made to stretch the communication into the field of social networks and be virally spread there. To this strategy pioneer communications added a radio interview with a member of the Mozilla community that was free to share and use for radio stations and for quotes in radio features.
For the birthday (Nov. 9, 2009) itself, the pioneer communications Team created a cake with a firefox logo and a large white
... to a worldwide Web! Today,
Germany browses the web with Mozilla Firefox. A reason to celebrate! pioneer communications
joins in and bakes the cakes. 910surface - so every journalist could use this surface and create his own personal decoration. We sent these cakes out with a package of food coloring and a cover letter to the key media and tech journalists/bloggers. The message: For the 5th birthday of Firefox we've prepared a cake that looks like Firefox itself: A tasty fundament and a shiny surface that can be personalized by everyone.
Shortly after we had sent the cakes out we did a larger media outreach via E-Mail, addressing other journalists, consumer-oriented media and IT bloggers. At the same time, Mozilla unlocked the birthday website worldwide, the Firefox movie was distributed by the community and by the agencies all over the world and everything was ready for the Firefox birthday party!
The result:
We've seen an overwhelming coverage: Journalists all over Germany reported on the 5th anniversary of a software - because it's not just any kind of software and because the communication strategy had been well-prepared. In the reports terms such as "internet revolution", "browser for the good" or just "open source" were used a lot, the history of Firefox was described and most journalists took a look at the backgrounds of Mozilla. The German "Tagesspiegel" titled "for smartfoxes", the TV news "Tagesschau" broadcasted a newscast with expert interviews about Firefox. Blogs celebrated the "victory of open source" and the news magazine SPIEGEL called Firefox "the community browser". Almost all national newspapers wrote about the birthday, news agencies and radio stations reported it and the pioneer pr interview was used by many journalists for quotes and newscasts.
The key messages „independent", „individual" and „open source" got stuck in the heads, many people got insights into the history of Mozilla for the first time. What a good fundament to work successfully in the next 5 years, too! And even in figures and statistics, the campaign made an impact: In the end of 2009, Firefox had clearly become market leader in Germany with a market share of almost 45 percent.
www.mozilla.com