29 hopefuls and one new Yahoo!

When former Google Exec Marissa Mayer took the helm as CEO at Yahoo! last July, a skeptic Silicon Valley was put on high alert.

13 months of moderate alterations to both corporate and site services structure are now behind us.  On the highlight reel we have a cease-and-desist on telecommuting, an emboldened maternity program, and now, the first major brand refresh since (basically) the search engine’s founding nearly two decades ago (19 years already, can you believe it?!).

A logo reveal THIS BIG deserves a PARADE!

…Right!?
Wrong.

Still, Yahoo! insisted on building a (purple) mountain out of a mole hill, ‘floating’ 29 different looks by us.  One per day, the march of violet wore on so long that even I (the most logo-obsessed marketer you’ll ever know) grew tired of waiting.

Seriously, though – a month-long build up FOR THIS?

Some Parade! Macy’s Santa knows, if you’re the last one, you have to really SELL IT! Yahoo’s new logo may as well be one of the clowns that go by at the end collecting horse poo.

Ok, no need to get so dramatic, Dan.
It’s just if you’re going to build hype – you gotta be prepared to deliver the goods!

Look – the new logo isn’t bad as far as logo evolutions go. The former was starting to feel a bit campy.  It recalled the days just before the (first) internet bubble burst, when goofy nerds dreamt up things the rest of us didn’t even know we needed.  

This new mark respects the company’s heritage while following the widespread trend towards simple, clean, mobile-friendly lines.  And, to connect with my previous points on the former, it better aligns with the state of the web today:

From nerdy, social pariah to hipster-cool intellectual, the tech industry has transformed.

Today’s brand is mature, smart and sophisticated; bold and cutting edge (at least by comparison). And it possesses some well thought-out subtleties (i.e. no straight lines) and nuances (the varied sizing of the ‘o’s pay tribute to the brands signature ‘yodel’).

Changing of the royal (purple) guard.

Perhaps the biggest change is the new variety of violet. While it feels more grown up, I can’t shake the notion its better suited behind the makeup counter at Sephora or in the feminine hygiene aisle at Target. It’s just too dainty to represent a juggernaut internet company.

Evolution not a Revolution

I reiterate, new Yahoo! did NOT deserve a parade.

Seriously, if you take a look at the 29 teasers that came before it, we pretty much had it day one (OK, and maybe a little day 10).

Ah well.  Who really sees it anyways? What, with such a hectic page design?...

Can de-cluttering be next on the agenda, guys?

Banimation Domination!

All the ad revenue in the world isn’t worth the shame of subjecting viewers to distracting ads. Come on, Yahoo! -- you're better than this. (Banimation: banner ad + animation – thanks to Jeremy for the ever-so-perfect name!).

"Yippee" for 'Yahoo!?' Don't celebrate just yet.

You do remember, Yahoo! – right?

Turns out Yahoo! is still very much alive, and recently released a few changes aimed at making their brand more social media friendly.

First, new social sharing features within Yahoo! News that makes sharing/recommending articles easy. Devised through a partnership with Facebook, the new feature simplifies peer-to-peer recommendations and allows readers to automatically share the stories they’re reading with Facebook friends.

Next is something Yahoo! is calling the Social Sentiment Slider. Placed directly below news content, the widget poses readers with a question related to the article, allowing them to record their opinions by simply sliding their cursors across an interactive scale. Jaguar signed on as a launch sponsor with additional brands to be announced soon.  In beta, initial tests showed the feature to boost both purchase intent and brand likeability by approximately 12%. (And you gotta figure, the Facebook tie-in is bound to help increase brand visibility within Facebook user feeds as well.)

So there you have it. Two steps in becoming more social. Innovation is great (and in Yahoo!’s case, deeply needed). But is optimizing for social share the only way Yahoo! can evolve?

Well, when it comes to search, it would seem Yahoo! continues to lose ground:

Forget search and let Google run with it. (Find the entire comScore Report here) 

What about email?

Stats from September break down the big 3 email providers by active users:

1.       Hotmail 369M

2.       Yahoo! 275M

3.       Gmail 193M

Opportunity strikes! To earn its keep,

Yahoo! needs to provide advertisers with better targeting, increased ad interaction and, where applicable, the ability to include social share.

But even with the second largest user base, Yahoo! desperately needs to refocus on holding user attention.

Ever try to change primary email addresses? (Notifying family, friends, utilities and all your favorite retailers?) It’s no easy task.  A high exit barrier Yahoo! has relied on for far too long.

What does the Yahoo! user base look like?

I found this great inforgraphic that breaks it down here.(try not to get offended by the characteristics associated with your browser of choice)

So, Yahoo! users are less tech-savvy (when compared to Google). Their family is priority #1 and they are extroverts. How can Yahoo! improve their site experience, thereby keeping them in front of ads longer?

1.       Streamline the email user interface (UI)

·         Clean, simple lines. More intuitive navigation.

2.       Reduce SPAM (Google figured it out)

·         Mail/contact lists requests alike. (Anyone else getting these daily?)

3.       Tight(er) integration with Flickr (you know, that company you purchased back in ‘05?)

·         Make sharing photos with family and friends a breeze via Yahoo! mail – it will keep users logged in longer.

4.       (Further) personalize the homepage

·         The Trending Now box was genius. It transformed the static search engine into a living, breathing thing. Here rises another opportunity for integrating with social. By cross-referencing a user’s “likes” and “followers,” related trends can be given heavier weight and promotion within both Trending Now and the primary news vignette.

Yahoo! and Google can co-exist. Like Target and Wal-Mart, it’s just a matter of aligning innovation with the unique needs of one’s target market.

Keep it up, Yahoo!. We believe in you.