Mozilla Website SOPA/PIPA Efforts

This morning my alarm went off at 4:30am so I could hop online to help launch Mozilla's anti-SOPA efforts. 

Although the scenarios are of different degrees of significance, I couldn't help but think of a story I once heard about how Steven Garrity, a long-time contributor, launched the original Firefox download page live for the first time early one morning from bed over 8 years ago. 

Once I finally made it into work it was a delight to see our main SOPA landing page on the cover of the New York Times amongst our peers at Wikipedia, Reddit, and more. 

There are many other bits and pieces to our SOPA campaign, but here is a overview of what we did on our main web facing properties. 

Site Blackout

We blacked out our main download landing pages by having them redirect to the SOPA landing page below (www.mozilla.org/sopa). 

That means that everyone wanting to download Firefox today or anyone who came to our main website through the normal front doors saw this page instead. Those numbers are well into the multi-million. We make the "deep" content available since we want people to be able to get support, and upgrade their browser for security reasons.

A few details:

- We launched using redirects that would not harm our SEO efforts by following guidelines from posts like this people put together exactly for this reason. 

-We also chose to keep a way for visitors to download Firefox - you can see it at the bottom of the screenshot above. This was a bit tricky since we didn't want to come across as "commercial" or trying to take advantage of this event to get more downloads but as Alex Fowler so aptly stated we give visitors the download option in order to: "...continue to support our mission, ensure users have access to support, as well as the ability to find and update to safer and securer versions of Firefox." 

Start Page Blackout

Even more significantly we dramatically changed the look and feel of our default "Start" page, meaning, the page you see when you type "about:home" into your browser. 

We made it black. We added relevant info.  We put a censorship slash through the fox. Everyone on the English build of the browser should see this page today if this is their default homepage. Those numbers are in the tens of millions. 

This launch with very Mozilla-esque  - willing participants huddling together in chaos trying to throw something together to make a difference for the future of the web. 

For example: here's the main etherpad we used to draft out our actions.  Nothing short of mayhem!

We'll see what results from these efforts as the day unfolds. 

In the mean-time it's been a very exciting day.

Different By Design

Firefox is a different type of browser. Mozilla is a different type of company. You can see that from our founding story, the way we work, our priorities, our non-profit status and more.

When it comes to marketing at Mozilla - which, hey remember how we're different? -  we call "Engagement" not "Marketing," we think long and hard about how to communicate this difference. 

After all, living and breathing an authentic story is the best way to spread the word about a product and our story is nothing but authentic.

These factors led to the launch of our recent brand campaign. Checkout this smattering of creative and notice its boldness, authenticity, and ability to set us apart from the crowd:

The Web Launch

When it comes to our main user-facing channel -- our website (one of the most viewed sites in the world) here's the creative we launched to get this message across:

And some localized versions... (finals are not this neon of a orange)

The "before" shot (Notice how we hint at, but don't really show our difference):

 
Here's What Happened

With the help of a simple survey we were able to measure the affect this new creative had on overall brand awareness. The shift was significant -- now the majority of all new Firefox users know Firefox is made by a non-profit. 

Before we launched this campaign the opposite was true. We crossed well over the 50% threshold and increased awareness over 20% all without hurting download conversion rate.

Next Steps & Bottom Line

We will continue to do more of this and will roll-out this campaign worldwide. And for now, we know we're on the right track and that aligning our outer 'presentation-layer' with our inner values helps us communicate what matters most to us in a way that resonates with our users.

Blogging 'bout Mozilla - A Kickoff Post

Wow. Okay. Here I go faithful "Forrest through the trees" readers. Hold onto your heads - I'm finally going to start blogging about my experiences here as part of Team Mozilla!

After contributing to the Mozilla engagement team on a contractor basis I was recently hired as a member of the Engagement Team (that's what we call "Marketing").

I get to focus on how to make the Mozilla.com website even better by leading and contributing to projects that involve website optimization, brand awareness, SEO, onsite marketing, and a whooooole lot more. In general I aim to help Mozilla.com live up the the clear potential it has as one of the top destinations on the internet.

To say that I'm ecstatic about the opportunity and possibilities is an understatement.

Our team recently went through a whirlwind of a time helping launch Firefox 4 for desktop and mobile. Now that I'm back on my feet (unlike this guy) after those two incredible product releases it’s high time I share a little more about what’s ahead.

This quarter we're focusing on projects that will help us communicate the Mozilla story in a clear and consistent way. When it comes to Mozilla.com that means letting visitors know we're a non-profit, making sure the website is as cutting edge as our browser, and tracking how effectively we're sharing our story with the world.


I'll be updating you, dear reader, along the way so that you too can learn from our progress, stumbles, and (hopefully mostly) slam dunks.

Talk to you soon!
Laura
lforrest at mozilla.com

Love This Kitchen

I dig this kitchen; especially since the sitting area is so cozy and melds into a sort of dining room-ish sitting area that can be used equally well for a dinner party, breakfast nook, or loungey reading area.

Headline of the Year (so far)

As found on the Gizmodo blog today:

A Good Thing—Craig'sList Tool I’m In Love With

Yes, I’m into the genre of blogs and books on optimizing productivity aka: “Productivity Porn”. I recently came across a cool tip I’d like to share with you. I think I’ve either been hiding under a rock, or I’m one of the millions of people who haven’t noticed the tiny little “RSS” link now at the bottom of every search done on Craig’s List. I finally noticed, and started using it the other day, and WOW, it’s a powerful little tool!

It’s a simple site enhancement to the wonderfully basic Craig’s List, until you start thinking about how to use it. What I’ve done is tied multiple searches to my Bloglines feed to be monitored daily.

Example: I’m looking to buy a cheap computer chair. I don’t want to get in my car, drive to Target, and buy a new chair for $50 + tax + gas + assembly, hell no. A basic black computer chair is one of those commodity items people moving out end up wanting to unload quickly for twenty bucks. So I set up a search on “computer chair” under Furniture for Sale in SF. Now I can sit back, wait for the results to come in, and monitor the prospects from a place I hang out anyways--my bloglines feed. This is a perfect example of the information I want from the web coming to me instead of me seeking it out again and again manually.

My computer chair is a simple example, but let’s think about more significant uses. Say you’re looking to move to a certain appealing block in San Francisco, say, “The Great Highway”. You can simple set a search under apartments for ALL mentions of that block and be amongst the first to hop on a vacancy. Want to eventually buy a house in a certain neighborhood, say, Noe Valley? Simply add that search to your RSS feed and monitor that market and wait for a under market offering like the stealth cheetah you are. Looking to buy a rarely re-sold high-end piece of furniture? Go ahead, store a search for that “Eames Lounge Chair” for under $500 you’ve been lusting over, sit back, wait for that Pac Heights housewife to list hers at a price break, and let the results come to you.

Feeds I've Set:

DS Light (by Nintendo so I can play that Brain Age game)

Liberty Hill (neighborhood I'd like to eventually live in)

Computer Chair

Sapien Bookcase (a DWR bookcase I'm lusting over)

Ikea Besta (a bookshelf I want--second-hand ikea is a good 1/2 off)

Its Harvest Time--Let's Go 'a Grape Stompin'!

What can be better than stomping Syrah grapes with your bare feet on a Saturday afternoon? Riddle me that! I can’t think of anything to do during the weekend; that’s why I rounded up Stef and Dan (above) to help me stomp them grappers. I volunteer at my favorite East Bay winery “A Donkey and Goat” run by my former Gallery co-worker and moonlighter extraordinaire, Jared and his wife, Tracy. It’s a blast.

Besides the quality of their wine and the pure fun involved I’ve gotta say this is a brilliant way to tap into quality free labor. Besides dealing with our ton of ignorant “All-I-really-drink-is-Crane-Lake” wine questions with ease and grace, they manage to rally the troupes and endure the harvest even after the precious novelty wears off their volunteers (that happens around hour #3).

I highly suggest you try to the volunteer list and consume as much of their awesome wine as possible!

Stomp it:

http://www.adonkeyandgoat.com/contact.htm (write to Tracey)

Drink it:
http://www.adonkeyandgoat.com/index.htm

Look for my hand sorted Sryah hitting the markets sometime in 2009.