sqook wrote:..., I can't think of how this scenario would benefit a company such as ableton....
As a way 'in' to a crowded market it works great.
Hypothetical Situation : You have a peice of software you have written, a crowd of competitors, no real brand penetration. your turnover is €1 million your userbase is 250,000
WHat is the standard way?
A marketing campaign, worldwide and comprehensive, companies will hapilly spend 50% of your turnover if this gets you 5 million users. That would increase your turnover to €20 million. But would anyone shift to your product in a feild that is all about the speed of use which comes from familiarity, a field which is very 'brand loyal'? Will an advert pry them away from a trusted familiar platform?
probably not.
the best form of marketing is personal recomendation - "Hi dave, your best friend here - I'm using Product X .. it's great! "
but how to get that PR ?
hmm, how to get a copy into the hands of the massess so that they can begin to recommend? You would happilly take the cost of 5 million 'promo copies' out of your marketing budget if it brings 5 million new users. Especially as the cost of 5 million promos compared to press advertising is actually nothing .. its software, no distribution cost!
But - how to do it without triggering the "bargain bucket effect", IE where you lower prices and the product is seen as actually worth less?
hmm, now how would I do that ?
yep, fade is a cool
marketing trick rather than a copy protection. There is no such thing as protected, so why not make it work for you?