

Why isn't there a GitHub for Marketers, Advertisers, or Product Peeps? - allbombs
http://kennygrant.ca/2012/07/23/why-isnt-there-a-github-for-marketers-or-advertisers/

======
david_shaw
From the article:

 _> Couldn’t we apply the exact same principles of github, but to a markhub
(for lack of a name or creativity)?_

Sure you could; in fact, I'm sure it would work pretty well. If you look at
the StackExchange series of sites, you'll see everything from programming to
mathematics, parenting to gaming. There are a _lot_ of sites on that network,
all of which provide an excellent resource.

However, here's the key element that would keep 'marketers, advertisers, and
product peeps' out: competition.

GitHub works because people are _sharing_ their code. If you worked on a
marketing campaign, are you going to release your market research with what
works best to your competitors? If you create a product, are you going to
ignore patents and release that design/schematic for free?

In a perfect world, the answer would be yes, but a lot of people simply aren't
open to the same level of sharing that a lot of developers are. Why did open
source software take off, but not nearly as much "open source products?" I'm
not sure, but I think it has something to do with the culture of shared
knowledge, and the satisfaction of someone else using your work.

You can still make a profit on open source software -- $RHT is an example of
that -- but would you be able to do the same if your product _itself_ was open
source? I personally think so, but this is why GitHub clones haven't spun up
in every possible industry. In my opinion, anyway.

~~~
allbombs
> GitHub works because people are sharing their code. If you worked on a
> marketing campaign, are you going to release your market research with what
> works best to your competitors? If you create a product, are you going to
> ignore patents and release that design/schematic for free?

Why not share the campaign details after the campaign is over? What do you
have to lose? Should you really rinse and repeat for the next marketing
campaign? No. that's lazy.

Perhaps marketing campaigns are a bad example, but let's say a KPI Dashboard
or a set of tools that worked well to make better informed decisions

