Customization could be the key to keeping Firefox alive even after the initial installation. At the end of September 2008, Mozilla debuted a new initiative designed to solve the critical retention problem of its open source browser. Impact Mozilla was designed to catalyze third-party contributions to the marketing strategy associated with Firefox, in order to convince first-time users of the browser to continue running it even after the initial deployment.

A community-centered project, Impact Mozilla came to an end before Christmas, with the winning marketing proposal focused on leveraging the open source and personalization aspects of Firefox, so as to get users enamored with the browser at first sight.

“Mozilla is proud to announce 'Fox For All' as the grand prize winner of Impact Mozilla. 'Fox For All' was authored by Phani Kumar Vadrevu and Uttam Byragoni of India. In total, more than 5,000 people cast a vote for their favorite plan. While 'Fox For All' received the most votes, there were several finalists who finished as close runners-up: 'How Do You Firefox?' finished in 2nd place (Chicago Booth student team), 'Surf On Your Own Turf' finished in 3rd (Haas business school student team), and 'My Firefox' by Bruno Fleurquin of France came in 4th,” Mozilla's Ken Kovash revealed.

The winning proposal ignores the characteristics related to Firefox's speed and security, and goes straight to personalization. Phani Kumar Vadrevu and Uttam Byragoni indicated that add-ons, as the core of Firefox’s customization, should come into focus in order to help differentiate the open source browser from rival software products. At the start of the Impact Mozilla initiative, the company revealed that no less than 75% of all Firefox installations went dead. Essentially, only a quarter of all Firefox installations continue to be active following the download stage, with the rest of users having just a taste and then moving to a rival browser.

“With respect to our winner, we’ll soon start engaging with Phani and Uttam to discuss possibilities for the implementation of their plan. For our other finalists, we’ll be sending out swag as a token of our appreciation. Impact Mozilla has been a wild success, and it couldn’t have happened without the enthusiasm of the community and strong efforts by all participants,” Kovash added.

Firefox 3.0.5 and Firefox 2.0.0.20 for Windows are available for download here.

Firefox 3.0.5 and Firefox 2.0.0.20 for Mac are available for download here.

Firefox 3.0.5 for Linux is available for download here.

Firefox 2.0.0.20 for Linux is available for download here.