A modest viral marketing program for Leopard upgraders

I think many Apple watchers are curious about how rapidly Apple's new Leopard OS will make its way onto user computers. We won't be seeing any official numbers for weeks or months, and even then, sales do not necessarily equal installs. And I think many Leopard users are interested in knowing who they can talk to about their Leopard experiences (good and bad), and who is likely to be bored out of their skull by Time Machine, Spaces, and reflective dock minutiae.

So here's a modest marketing suggestion to explore your network of Leopard and non-Leopard friends. We've all seen the famous signatures, "Sent from my Blackberry" and "Sent from my iPhone." But while those lines are so utilitarian, and Leopard is designed to make your life simpler. So why not add a tag line like the following to your email signature if you've upgraded:

Sent simply with the power of Leopard.

If I see an email or posting from someone with that tag line on it, I can feel free to regale them with my new undersea adventures in iChat (Leopard iChat users know what I'm talking about) or how some really hate the new reflective dock. On the other hand, if I don't see such a tag line, I might dial it back a bit and talk about whether the Red Sox are the new Yankees instead. After all, despite the allure of Apple software upgrades, not everyone cares. And if you are going to open up your inner Leopard geek, better to do with with other like-minded people.

The nice thing about signatures like this is that we can count them easily using various mail and text tools, so we should be able to get a pretty good running sense of how popular Leopard has become in just a few weeks. But it only will work if people are willing to identify their Leopard status. I hope people will give it a try; it's on my signature as of today.

Technorati Tags: Apple, Leopard, Upgrades, Viral marketing