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 If I were to market Nostr, I wouldn't mention any specific apps.

The protocol is the product. 
 Yes.  
 I also wouldn't want to give a separate company control of the campaign. I'd want to start a community of Nostriches that focuses on coming up with marketing ideas and materials, and preparing them, so that any Nostrich can use them. And I'd let the Nostriches vote on their favorites and give suggestions.

Nostr is a grassroots campaign by enthusiastic individuals, and that should be integral to the campaign. It is like Bitcoin and homeschooling and etc., that way. 
 I'm sure we can come up with lots of better stuff. This isn't my metier, but we have people on here who know what they're doing. 
 What resources do you think would be needed for this?  
 I'm interested on ROI without selling a "physical" product  
 Our village has a village-marketing coalition, financed and run by the businesses involved. It doesn't have to return a profit, itself, it's more like common infrastructure, similar to the NIPs repo.

I wouldn't want it run or financed by OpenSats, but maybe from app developers, including those with grants, and power users. 
 Id argue that the Note scheme is the product. Most of the rest is only transport layer and doesn’t really scale yet. 
 The note scheme is in the protocol. The protocol is a living document. 
 Indeed they did make a mistake there. The proper way is to modularize it further. 
 The protocol, the software, the "thing" is never the product. It's the experience the thing gives you  
 That's what marketing campaigns are for. They help you understand how the mechanical product gives rise to the higher emotional product.

Why do we Nostr?

Because it is better to ask for forgiveness, than permission. 
 Nostr gives us digital agency. It allows us to act and react at the time and place of our own choosing. 
 I think this is going to be a big deal and I'm keeping an eye on how marketeers are going about it because I want to see some creative peeps invested try to sell this idea. My current hypothesis: the easiest way for people to describe nostr's behavior is how client developers envision it, so therefor client apps are what get promoted because it's (presumable) the easiest way to describe it to normies. 

Get some hooked on an idea/promise, then they may be more attracted to trying different apps/clients and willing to tolerate the current growing pains. 

If legacy marketing continues, users will expect too much from poorly funded and underdeveloped applications, comparing them to legacy social media with billions invested. This cannot continue 
 Icing loaded with cancer-causing dye. 😅  
 I agree that the apps should be in charge of their own marketing.
But I think "Nostr-compatible" is only something they can effectively market with, if Nostr is a strong brand. 
 I was thinking more about npubs marketing to their friends on other social channels, by reposting a good meme. Not about running TV adds during the Superbowl.