[drupal-docs] [task] Creation of a new marketing leaflet / brochure / pamphlet

Fri Jun 10 18:07:02 UTC 2005

Issue status update for http://drupal.org/node/24384

 Project:      Documentation
 Version:      <none>
 Component:    Marketing
 Category:     tasks
 Priority:     normal
 Assigned to:  andremolnar
 Reported by:  andremolnar
 Updated by:   andremolnar
 Status:       active

Thanks for the feedback.

The text IS long.  Way too long.  In fact it is exactly 2x too long
(based on a single 1/3 landscape column at 11pt text).  I put it all
out there to get the ball rolling and initiate some discussion about
some of the messages we might want to include.  I don't think we can
include all of it - or at least not as it is written now.  (But, maybe
we can use some of this in a Drupal handbook page or other marketing
materials when we are all done ;-)

I also agree that defining and selling Drupal as 'just another CMS' is
the wrong idea.  

The idea was:
Communicate what a CMS is - and what some benefits of CMS are.
Communicate that Drupal offers all those benefits AND much much more
Communicate: Content Community! Management System

The reasoning for this approach was based on feedback Steven's friends
and family gave him when reviewing the old brochure.
"That's great, but what does it do?"

Regarding Layout:
I think you may be right about people opening the brochure up all the
way.  Ultimately I think it will be the responsibility of the graphics
team to decide what works best given the text we produce.  Once again I
was just putting an idea out there.

andre

andremolnar

Previous comments:
------------------------------------------------------------------------

June 5, 2005 - 23:47 : andremolnar

Attachment: http://drupal.org/files/issues/brochure idea.html (5.8 KB)

Background:
Dries approached the Press and Marketing group to come up with a new
leaflet to be used at the OSCON conference as well as other conferences
that key Drupal community members will be attending this summer.

The original request is found here:
http://lists.drupal.org/archives/drupal-docs/2005-06/msg00010.html

Scope:
The mailing-list thread noted above includes some preliminary
discussion about project.
The main goal of this particular project is to create a general
brochure that is not targeting at any specific industry or user type. 
The reason for this is the the deadline for completion will not allow
for multiple brochures.  It has also been determined that the audience
at OSCON is quite varied - from non-technical people (including press)
to hard-core techies and system admins.

The idea is not to sell Drupal to 'everyone', but the document should
speak to some of our key targets including personal site admins (e.g.
bloggers), corporate site developers, and community site developers.

The overall goal is to have multiple brochures created - each one
targeting a specific industry or user type, but that is beyond the
scope of this particular project.

Time line:
The text/copy for the brochure must be completed no later than June
15th, 2005.
The preliminary graphic design must be completed no later than June
22nd, 2005.
The FINAL deadline is June 28th, 2005.

Call for help:
A forum topic has been created to enlist contributors to this project. 
See: http://drupal.org/node/24174

Preliminary progress report:
Attached is a mochup / visualization tool/page I have created based on
some suggestions from Josh in the forum, and inspired by Steven's
response to Josh's post.  It is very rough and not meant to be pretty. 
It is hoped that the file will inspire some discussion.  Feel free to
edit and resubmit the file to this project with your additions.

andre

------------------------------------------------------------------------

June 9, 2005 - 08:06 : andremolnar

I've tried to come up with some text for the brochure and was hoping for
some feedback.  I was thinking that something like this could be
included in the first fold-out of the brochure.  It is a general
description of a CMS and goes through some benefits of CMS's and Drupal
in particular.  (Standard disclaimer, I am not a writer - I hope that if
people feel that this text is in the right direction, someone more
skilled than I could re-write or improve the text).

***

What is Drupal?

CMS is web development speak for "Content Management System".  And that
is just another way of saying, "a really simply way to create, update
and maintain your own web site without any prior programming or
web-design experience."

Drupal offers all the benefits of a typical CMS.  For example:

- never having to call someone to add, update, or delete content from
your site.  Doing it yourself is no more difficult than sending
web-based e-mail - and like web-based e-mail you can do it from
anywhere in the world provided you have an Internet connection.
- Allowing you to delegate the creation of content to others, but still
leaving final approval for publication with you or someone you trust.
- Allowing you to decide who can or cannot view content on your site.

Drupal keeps your site visitors in mind:

-  Implementing content categorization and search tools means that
finding information on your site couldn't be easier for your visitors.
-  Interactive features keep visitors of your site engaged and provide
simple means for your target audience to communicate directly to you
and each other.
-  Drupal has been designed to be 100% accessible.  Accessible design
means never closing your door to visitors with special needs and
maximizing your potential audience.

- and because Drupal is both modular and scalable, as the number of
visitors to your site grows and their needs change, your Drupal powered
site can accommodate those changes quickly and seamlessly.

Because Drupal has striven to maximize your site visitor's experience
while minimizing the effort required to provide that experience, Drupal
is often referred to as a "Community Management System" or "Community
Building System."

Why Choose Drupal over another Content Management System?

Besides the fact that Drupal is much more than a 'CMS' consider the
following.

Drupal is Stable:

If Drupal powered sites like Spread Firefox can handle 50,000,000
visitors (and counting), you can count on Drupal to keep your site
running well after your 100,000,000th visitor.

Drupal is Supported:
The community of developers from around the world investing their own
time to improve Drupal is growing as is the community of people that
volunteer their expertise to support new users.

Drupal is Here to Stay!

In short, you can count on Drupal.  Any investment you make (in time or
resources) to implement Drupal is secure and is sure to be returned many
times over.

And if that wasn't enough - Drupal is Free Software released under the
GNU Public License.  Free refers to much more than just price.  You are
free to modify the software, free to improve the software, and even free
to sell the software if you wish.

****

andre

------------------------------------------------------------------------

June 10, 2005 - 15:20 : cel4145

Some ideas and suggestions. Realize that these are based on how I would
do it personally:

* Anyone who does not know generally what a content management systems
is--either an IT administrator, corporate type, developer,
etc.--probably is not ready for Drupal. Even journalists covering OSCON
should know the term (and if they don't, I don't think we want them
writing and publishing a review). 
* Given (1), rather than beginning by defining Drupal as a content
management system in which you define CMS, begin with defining what
Drupal is (I know, I'm biased against the sole term of CMS applied to
Drupal :) Or if you do define it as a content management system,
immediately go for a more robust definition. So here are two different
openings (taken from elsewhere). One tries not to pigeon hole Drupal as
a CMS.

*  A dynamic web site platform which allows an individual or community
of users
to publish, manage and organize a variety of content, Drupal integrates
many
popular features of content management systems, weblogs, collaborative
tools
and discussion-based community software into one easy-to-use package. 
* Drupal is an open source Content Management System (CMS) which allows
an individual or community of users to publish, manage and organize a
variety of web content. Drupal integrates many popular features of
content management systems, weblogs, collaborative tools and
discussion-based community software into one easy-to-use package.

* Overall, the text seems too long. I don't believe people will read
that much. I'm not even sure it can fit in a readable font size.
*  I'm not sure the ordering of the pages/text flow is correct for how
people read (looking at the brochere example). I think that most
people, after looking at the front page, open a brochure all the way
up. If you take this approach, realize that the interior three pages
don't have to be three columns but can be formatted as one large
landscape oriented page. Also, if it's not columnated this way, it will
encourage people to open it up. That would leave the page with "
inside: (Continues discussion from oposite facing page)" on the back. 