Yahoo: Is it just a logo change?

Yahoo recently announced the change in its logo from a y-a-h-o-o-! in capital letters, quirky font and a purple color to another y-a-h-o-o-! in capital letters but with a changed font and a slightly different purple with the exclamation mark tilted by an additional 9 degrees. The description does not seem to suggest that much has changed in the logo but one look at the logo shows that Yahoo will never be the same again - the logo as well as the company, or so, I am sure, Marissa Mayer hopes.

 

 

Before I delve deeper into the Yahoo logo change, it would probably help to look at some other logo changes in the past and their implications. Some logos that changed in the Indian context were Tata, Mahindra and Airtel.

I remember Tata changed its logo probably more than a decade ago when they changed from the straight T within a circle to a more "fluidic" T within an oval.

I remember that while this new logo change was seen as a start to more multinational initiatives from Tata, most importantly this was a signal from Ratan Tata about changes that he was doing in the company. The acceptance of this brand change by the company and its associates was seen as a "coming of age" for Ratan Tata. This logo change will be a "successful" part in his legacy.

Mahindra also changed their logo recently to signal the shift in the company from being just an Indian company manufacturing old Jeeps and tractors to a true multinational with products setting the benchmarks for other companies.

Airtel is one example where the logo change was again a very public exercise and the outcome was pretty ordinary, especially compared to the hype it generated. People did not like the logo but Airtel still thrives based on its work. Brand being successful is probably more important than the logo.

Looking at Yahoo with the background of the Tata change, I believe Marissa Mayer has done this with similar intent. She wants to give a message about the need for a change in the way the company is being run. This is the most visible way in which she can show that - like it or not. Personally, I like the older logo much better because it was so very distinct and quirky; seemed to have just the right colour ("mera wala purple!"). The new logo, to me, looks very casual - it is difficult for me to like it. It kinda looks like one of those fonts you get sometimes on the browser when the page does not load properly (just kidding and I know I am exaggerating it :)).

 

Now, while I don't like the logo now, one will probably learn to like it (do you have another choice?) - the fact that it is difficult to like initially may work for it in the long run - something like some of AR Rahman's songs which take time to grow on you but they eventually become classics! Even if it doesn't become that, as Airtel has showed, the brand and business being successful is more important than the logo.

 

Like the new logo or not, it is changed. Marissa Mayer is probably hoping that Yahoo employees will not only see this visible change but also understand that their company is changing, for good or for bad, and thus they should change accordingly. Here is hoping this change is for good. What do you think?

Can BBM become the LinkedIn of mobile messengers?

I read the latest news about Blackberry in today's Mint that there are probably going to spin off BBM as a separate service. Now, this is something that I had alluded to in one of my posts, almost a year ago! Anyway, so it seems that BBM will be available on iPhone and Android pretty soon (no mention of Windows in the news but I hope there is one for Windows too). This reminds me of the infamous Blackberry Boys advertisements that ran earlier, trying to introduce the exclusively executive Blackberry phones for the common man. There is a similar attempt now with the BBM as it used to be the exclusive messenger for the Blackberry guys. Only, this time they are more desperate.

Is BBM late for the party?
It is no secret that RIM really missed the boat on the smartphone explosion. Now that they are opening up BBM to other operating systems, they will find themselves in a crowded place. WhatsApp, Kakao Talk, Line, WeChat, Google Hangout, Apple's Facetime etc are already there with a pretty huge user base. And as we all know, the thing with these social networking apps is that once you have all your friends on one, you don't need / want to go to another app. Once I got on WhatsApp and found all my friends there, I didn't really have the need for any other messenger. So, with BBM coming in pretty late to this cross platform party, will people want it? It will be tough for BBM, to say the least, as people already have their networks established. An interesting fact is that mobile messengers popularity seems to be country based; Kakao Talk seems to be popular in South Korea while WeChat is popular in China; Line is popular in Japan; WhatsApp is popular in India while US market share is distributed across a number of messengers. Having said that, WhatsApp seems to be the most popular overall.


So, where does BBM fit in?
Now, as I said earlier, I am on WhatsApp and so are all of my friends. Given that all of us are here, I don't need to go to another messenger. UNLESS, it has something really different and is good enough to get me as well as a lot of other people who I would like to talk to. If I were to take a loose analogy and compare mobile messengers with the full blown social networking sites, it seems that WhatsApp has become the Facebook of mobile messengers where we all connect with friends. In that world of full blown social networking sites, there is no other social network that seems to match FB but there is another network that does matter - the professional network, LinkedIn. So, what if BBM, given its professional lineage, is positioned as a professional mobile messenger?

Everyone knows people mostly share jokes on WhatsApp and other generally informal information. I am not quite comfortable adding my boss or other professional colleagues to WhatsApp. This is where BBM could fill the gap. Given that people do a lot of reading/chatting on their mobile, people would love to catch up with their professional contacts through a slightly more professional medium. Its Blackberry lineage only helps it establish itself as a professional medium. But BBM will need to offer something more than just chatting to appropriate the value it creates. I understand that BBM is working on bringing video chat and even a desktop version. There is also news about BBM channels which will be something like Twitter to "allow brands and celebrities to more closely interact with customers and fans". Here are some ways that I believe one could use BBM if it does take the "professional mobile messenger" positioning.

1) Instead of personal information, emphasis would be on professional information like place of work, field of interests etc.
2) There could be general professional groups, similar to LinkedIn, for people with similar interests to share some snippets
3) Instead of jokes, you could share inspirational quotes or snippets about better work life etc.
4) You could share HBR articles and the like with your professional friends; it would probably need some sort of reader / browser app also but I am sure BBM can use some of Blackberry's other apps for this
5) BBM could go for a tie up with LinkedIn to get a "BBM me" icon on everyone's profile
6) You could send live updates from a conference to your professional group through one liners and get their inputs as well  - all on the go.
7) You could share news about your companies
8) There could be official Dilbert jokes every day delivered to the BBM (there is an existing app for Dilbert jokes to be delivered on your smartphone daily but I used this to show the kind of updates people could share here)
9) When people install BBM, it could also install plugins that would allow them to share the stories they read on the web through BBM

These are some thoughts on differentiating BBM as a professional messenger. BBM has always been one of the good things about Blackberry until recently; if Blackberry wants to revive some of that good old shine, they need to ensure it focusses on the right user base and creates a niche for itself.

In my opinion, BBM should try to become the LinkedIn of mobile messengers; if it doesn't capture this space, maybe LinkedIn could try for a mobile messenger for its enormous user base? Or better still, continuing with the last post's question about who should buy Blackberry, maybe LinkedIn could buy BB or at least BBM - what are the odds of that happening?