How U.S.-based FOSS CompaniesEffectively Market to Europeans

Sandro GroganzFounder, Principal

InitMarketing

Agenda

Why Europe?

“Europe and most of the restof the world is ahead of the

US in Open Source adoption.”

Larry Augustin

Firefox Market Share

Data: OneStat.com

Sourceforge Users

Credit: OSTG, Inc.

Open Source Adoption

Credit: Forrester

EU vs. USA

GDP of EU and USA

Data: International Monetary FundGross domestic product, current prices, U.S. Dollar, billions

Debian Users

Credit: ohloh

Typo3 vs. Drupal Users

Credit: ohloh

Primary Reason for Adoption

Europe USA

Avoid vendor lock-in. Cost.

Credit: Heise

Assumption:

Verdict: Assumption perhaps not true for EU

Counter-example (Germany):

Understanding the EU

GDP of European Countries

Credit: Wikimedia

Open Source Adoption in EU

Languages in EU

• 23 languages• Mother tongue

– 18% German– 13% English– 13% Italian– 12% French

• Knowledge of English: 51%

Knowledge of English in EU

Credit: Wikimedia

Knowledge of German in EU

Credit: Wikimedia

Knowledge of French in EU

Credit: Wikimedia

ICT Output in EU per Languages

Dealing with the EU’s Languages

• Entry points: Germany, France, UK or Ireland

• English for innovators, early adopters, partners

• Local mother tongue for early/late majority, laggards, PR

ExecutingMarketing and Communications in

the EU

Product

• Ready for the EU market?• Complies with legal regulations?• Multilingual GUI (especially if SaaS)?• Translated user manuals?• Region-specific functionality?

Services and Support

• Local work hours• Speak language of customers

Target Audience

Credit: Heise

Type of Engagements

System Integrators

• Region- and industry-specific technological expertise

• Customer contacts and sales and marketing know-how

• Good for SMEs while large enterprises demand to talk to vendor

Communications and Cultures

Credit: J.N. Hughes-Wilson

Public Relations in EU

• Massive differences in PR tactics across countries

• Must use local language• Press contact available during local work hours• Facts first (EU) vs. positioning first (USA)• Pick up market trends• Focused campaign for 1 or 2 countries

Branding

• Build a global brand• Check the brand name

Website

• Internationalized content• Pricing in €

DE Web site DE store € prices

MySQL ☐ ☐

JasperSoft ☐ ☐

Zend

Alfresco ☐ ☐

SugarCRM ☐ ☐

Community Building

• Adoption first, monetization second• Word-of-mouth marketing• Region-specific software enhancements

Marketing Strategy for the EU

Preflight Check

• Type of product and target audience?• Company situation?• Market and Competition?

Marketing and Sales Tactics

Marketing and Sales Model

• Early Partner(s), especially system integrator(s)

• Ice-breaker: sales, marketing and/or community person

• Set up subsidiary with essential team

Bottom Line

• Approach each EU country uniquely• Build a unique business

Further Reading

• http://delicious.com/ordnas/marketing_eu

Thank you!

Email:

sandro (dot) groganz (at) initmarketing (dot) comTwitter: @ordnas

www.initmarketing.com