After years of poor performances and publicity turmoil, the powers that be at Yahoo! are embarking on one of the company’s most import brand overhauls.
Yahoo! already has a homepage redesign looming, which is scheduled for launch in Fall this year. The redesign was delayed by Carol Bartz back January when she took over the reigns. Perhaps she knew then what we’re starting to see unfold.
Kara Swisher, author of the BoomTown blog on All Things Digital, quizzed Carol about the rebrand plans at the D: All Things Digital conference back in May, and this is what she had to say:
The best way to change the perception is to do a good job and then talk about it…We just have to get our story out there; we have to continue to appeal to the people that come to us, and frankly, at some point people get sick of having us as the underdog and say, ‘Thank God, Yahoo’s back.’
There has been endless pressure on Yahoo! over the past few years with significant market share lost to Google and public perception of the company at an all time low.
To make matters worse, last month saw the big unveil of Bing, Microsoft’s re-emergence into the space. And with a shiny new brand and some new tech under the hood, Microsoft has reclaimed some of its lost lustre.
So will Yahoo! be able to emulate the success of its foe with a relaunch of the Yahoo! brand.
It’s always difficult to predict the real impact of a rebrand, but I’m sceptical it’ll have the long term benefits they’ll be hoping for. With out real substance (innovation, improved performance etc) – the bells and whistles will only impress for so long.
That said, the marketer in me is keen to where they take the brand. Will the infamous yodel remain, or will they start a fresh? Who knows, but my money is on the Yodel being laid to rest!
Well until we see the results of this major rebrand, here’s one of the old Yahoo! adverts. If you want to see more – visit Kara’s Boom Town blog.
