The annual #Wikipedia argument about #advertisement

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It is that time of year again, the #fundraiser is near and the subject of #advertisement rears its head again. As long as the Wikimedia Foundation is able to generate enough money to keep the servers running there will not be  adverts on Wikipedia. We may find our data on Facebook, we find it on many other websites that include advertisement but that is their business, we do not care really.

Advertisement and marketing however is not only about generating funds, it is  about selling a product. Wikipedia, Wiktionary, Commons, MediaWiki they are our products that can do with the touch of a master marketer.

What a marketer does is make a product look attractive. It gives a sense of quality and longing to a public that is halfway aware of its need for that product. Marketing starts with getting the message across. At the moment the message is universally bland with hardly any illustrations without a punch and in a language that does not convince.

Marketing starts with a strategy. We now have a strategy. We want to realise our aims with this strategy and we are at a stage where we have to enable the participants to do the work.

So let us talk about advertising and marketing our goals and strategies. Let us show the assets that we have to good advantage, let us generate enthusiasm. And do not forget; let's have fun doing it.
Thanks,
     GerardM