Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Brand Confusion 102

This is the follow-up to my previous class Branding 101.

Branding is a fairly simple exercise.  All you have to do is figure out what your company stands for, create a name/logo that represents it and stick with it.  The worst thing for any brand is to be inconsistent with its usage.  Could you imagine if Google's marketing team decided they should periodically go by the old company name -- BackRub?  Every porno seeker and pervert in the world would go to that site in search of nudies and...ok...they do that anyway.  But you get the point.  It's simple.  Create your name, keep using it and, ultimately, people will remember it.

Turns out the folks at WME2 haven't figured that out just yet.  It's been almost a year since William Morris Agency (WMA) and Endeavor "merged."  And though it takes time for new brands to catch on, it doesn't help matters when your company doesn't do its part to make this happen.

For example, Google searches for the term "WME Entertainment" as well as "WME" both deliver www.wma.com (the old William Morris Agency homepage) as the first result. 

Example 1: Bad search engine optimization
Example 2: Also bad search engine optimization

And you're probably saying,  "Give 'em a little bit of a break. The web isn't perfect."  To which I'd agree. But then I'd point out that www.wma.com still exists and doesn't simply re-route you to wmeentertainment.com.

Example 3: Bad marketing staff
Ari, if you need branding or marketing assistance (not assistants) I can help.  You know how to reach me.  Oh, and has any one ever told you your logo looks like something off the periodic table?

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