Focusing on the Bright Spots - The New MySpace

Note: Image of MySpace's new logo from Mashable article The New MySpace: Screenshots and Videos

Finally, a rebrand that makes sense. This week MySpace relaunched its brand, which will still be a few months until it is completely rolled out.

I'm always hesitant to fully comment on whether I think a rebranding effort was a stroke of genius or not because brands take time to position and to earn the perceptions they are aiming for. This is because through actions they have to deliver on their promise and then they have to do that consistently.

From what I've seen so far, of the new MySpace, I like the direction they are taking it.

MySpace used to position itself as a social networking site, a "Place for Friends", and hit its peak in 2007  with 100 million users. But then Facebook took the lead and offered more relevant features for social networking and its users.  Leaving MySpace alone, irrelevant and frankly not as social.

What did survive on MySpace was entertainment - it became a great place for artists to be discovered and enjoyed.

What I like about this rebrand is that MySpace too a good look at how the market was positioning them, which, inevitably is what they are best at delivering on, and came up with its more focused purpose and brand promise - to be the leading entertainment destination that is socially powered by the passions of fans and curators.

This isn't just a site redesign, nor is this a complete brand overhaul. Rather, they are actively positioning themselves and purposefully delivering on something they have become known for over the years - encouraging users to share and suggest music, film and TV programs, while providing the tools to make this possible.

Note: Image of MySpace's new homepage from Mashable article The New MySpace: Screenshots and Videos

In my opinion, there is a difference between crowd-sourced rebranding initiatives and rebranding based on observing how the brand is used.  Often, consumer have a hard time articulating what they want, which, through a crowd-sourced initiative, would produce a limited repositioning. But, by listening to and observing the elements of the brand consumers find most relevant, a meaningful positioning and brand promise can emerge.

I was once at a marketing conference listening to Chip Heath, the author of Made to Stick and Switch, talk about embracing change, where he noted that to embrace change, we need to focus on the bright spots. These are the areas where the organization performs well in and can be easily maximized and owned.

I think MySpace has done a good job at focusing on the bright spots, which I feel aids a brand repositioning.

However, it seems as though MySpace is positioning itself to compete more directly with YouTube, which is another online social entertainment hub. So I'm interested to see what MySpace will offer that will be significantly different and meaningful to draw in consumers.

So far, the new MySpace brand promise seems to be focused on the curation and discovery of new entertainment content versus YouTube's dedication to user generated content (UGC).  But it will be interesting to see in YouTube will feel threatened and make a move to capture the market MySpace has positioned itself to win.

Lastly, with regards to the logo, I couldn't help but notice it took a similar approach to the Aol. logo, created by Wolff Olins, where the logo is flexible to the content around it, which makes sense considering they are both content providers.  

However, I feel there are subtle differences between the logos. Where the Aol. logo blends into the content forcing the viewer to focus on the content, the MySpace logo emphasizes the content is in your space and is personalized to you - at least that's the vibe I'm getting from it.

Check it out for yourself:

I like the new flexible logos as they seem to reflect the current environment where brands need to be more responsive to the continually changing environment around them, and these logos lend themselves nicely to this.

I look forward to seeing how the new MySpace positioning unfolds and how users respond to it.

What do you think of the relaunch of MySpace? Do you think it's enough to make them relevant once again?

Please Mind the Gap

 Note: Image from the Guardian article 'Gap scraps logo redesign after protests on Facebook and Twitter'

I hear that phrase so often, now that I'm living in London. But after the Gap's logo change and then non-change event, I can't help but think of the organization when I hear it on the tube, almost as though it's saying "please don't mind the Gap they're figuring things out".  I may seem a bit late commenting on this, but I feel there's so much to say.

First, I'm a firm believer that if you're going to change your logo, there needs to be a strong rationale behind the change and usually some brand innovations (i.e. new products, services, etc.) to provide the reasoning behind the change in identity. In fact, a few months ago, I mentioned this in a post regarding the rebranding work on Reebok and Comcast.

I understand Gap's need to evolve to become more competitive and relevant in the market - something they've been struggling with for some time now. However, spending time and money on a new identity may not have been the most wise investment.

For all intents and purposes, the Gap logo didn't have any negative associations. Rather, the brand may have appeared stale, which in turn the logo would naturally adopt this perception. However, actions have a greater opportunity to revitalize the Gap than a new logo.

I mean how can the Gap compete when they are struggling to define their positioning as consumers' fashion consumption habits have evolved from conformity through khakis , in the 90's, to the desire to be a unique individual, today - something Zara and H&M are delivering through their fast turn around times.  Not to say a retailer focused on the basics can't be successful - hello J.Crew. You just need to own a position in the market.

So maybe looking at these core brand elements, and focusing on positioning through innovation, would make Gap fresh and relevant again, rather than trying to seem new with a new identity.

The second part of this whole logo fiasco was how much impact the consumer community had. And, frankly, I was impressed that the Gap was so quick to respond.  In my opinion, a week to scrap a logo, which usually takes a lot of time and resources, is fast. Yes, there is speculation that this may have been a PR stunt due to the seeming lack of effort put into the redesign. But, it's still great to see a brand respond to the voices of the consumer, especially when they are clearly right!

With over 2000 Facebook comments, in conjunction with negative twitter sentiment, it is clear that Marty Neumeier is so right - the brand is not what the organization says it is, rather it's what the consumers say it is.

Mind you, I was intrigued when Marka Hansen, president of Gap Brand North America said, "[we] missed the opportunity to engage with the online community" and "if and when that time comes, we'll handle it in a different way". Does this mean they will crowdsource their next new identity? 

Two things come to mind when I think of this:

First, I personally don't think consulting the community every time a brand wants to evolve is ideal. People instinctually don't like change, so if you're regularly consulting them on all major changes, this process will inevitably slow down impacting the brand's need to evolve and change with the times - something consumers don't always see.

Don't confuse this with the positive crowdsourced changes/ideas that come from initiatives like MyStarbucksIdea.com or Dell's Idea Storm. Lets call these micro-innovations, which are a great way to tweak the brand experience and involve consumers.

However, some brands need to make larger changes to evolve, but it should be to adjust the sails to stay its course in reaching its overarching brand purpose, while maintaining relevancy in a way that doesn't confuse the brand in its market space.

Second, I'm fairly certain this consumer reaction would not have happened if the change was relevant to consumers and reflected some kind of positive change.

I'm very curious what the Gap will do next. I sincerely hope they focus more on innovation & getting back to their roots to begin to reclaim a dominant position within the market, while enhancing their brand value. After all, it has been clear that people are still very passionate about the brand.

In London and Transitioning Between Brands

Note: Image from Doug88888 on Flickr

It's official - I live in London, and as of Sunday all my boxes are unpacked!  Now all I need to do is build my bike, which is my new mode of transportation - exciting!

Thank you for your patience while I've moved across the pond and replanted my feet. I hope you enjoyed the posts by Sean, Ben & Steve as much as I did. Thank you guys for contributing some great content to More Than A Logo.

Moving to another country, in another continent, has been really exciting and rather eye-opening from a branding point-of-view.

In our daily lives, we count on organizations/brands for a lot. From managing our money with banks, protecting our goods (and even ourselves) with insurance, communicating thanks to telcos, buying food from grocers, to even washing our hair with a particular shampoo.

Some of these brands become so fixed into our daily lives that we forget we even had a choice in selecting them.  But because of this move, for the first time in my adult life, I had to select all new brands to align with - it's been quite the task.

Selecting all new brands means a mass exit of my previous brands, which also created an interesting dynamic.

Overall, the customer relationship in this situation, where the customer's life is moving in a new direction, can be seen like a figure eight, which builds off my original brand experience cycle, which emphasizes the need to nurture existing customers to maintain their long-term value to the brand and to grow the overall customer base through recommendations.

But in this instance, multiple brand experience cycles come together, beginning to form a figure eight as the customer begins to leave one brand experience and enters another, with a new brand:

This whole move, and changing of brands, made me realize that often brands forget that there is always the possible opportunity that consumers may re-enter the brand experience cycle down the road. But even more importantly, previous customers are still key in growing (or reducing) the customer base through recommendations.

So the section where the customer leaves a brand is essential to maintaining that positive relationship, for whatever the future may hold.

What I found when leaving my essential brands, like telcos & banks, was how ill-prepared they were in the customer exit process. And, worse yet, how the employees felt they no longer needed to provide good service - clearly never having seen my figure eight analogy before - haha.

It was this bad service & inability to consistently deliver on their brand promise that has resulted in losing my business for the future. In addition, they won't receive any positive recommendations when friends & family ask me about their service.

On the flip side, there were other brands, like my insurance company and dentist, who were so kind, courteous and helpful with my transition, that if I move back to Canada, I will remain a loyal customer, and in the mean time I will gladly recommend them, perpetuating the figure eight.

So after liquidating my life, I've been faced with the daunting task of creating all new brand relationships. With minimal points of reference, I had no idea where to start. So, go figure, I started by asking around, reading reviews, etc. to get my bearings.

This made me realize that the days where we collected information from brochures and other corporate collateral to make our buying decisions are long gone.  If anything, that information only reconfirms the decision the consumer already made.

So, going back to the experience cycle, nurturing existing customers and consistently delivering on the brand promise is essential to growing the customer base. This acts as the foundation of today's advertising, which is primarily becoming WOM from friends, family, tweets, Facebook comments, ratings & reviews, 3rd party videos, etc.

Once you get a customer through the door, I found, the first impression is key. This involves how the customer feels they were treated, and how they feel all the other customers within their vicinity were treated.  This gives them an indication of what the future of the relationship will look like in the future, and if it's good and remains consistently good, you'll have a customer for life!  If it's bad and/or inconsistent, not only have you lost a customer, but they usually take a few more customers with them through negative word of mouth.

So the key is delivering on your brand promise & never assume when a customer leaves they will never come back. Stay true to the brand and always nurture your customers...even when they are leaving you.

I look forward to blogging more from London. I love this city...where else can you go to a museum and lie in a pile of 100-million hand painted porcelain sunflower seeds?! Too much fun!