Two exciting new product launches took place last week, Google Wave and Microsoft's Bing. These two rival companies, competing head to head against each other in the same categories, have both introduced their new brands and even though it's a bit pre-mature to determine which brand will stand the test of time there are some very interesting things to be said about their distinct branding strategies.
I'll start with Google Wave.
Wave Follows Function
Watching the Google Wave Developer Preview it seems like there's a very strong correlation between the nature of this communication and collaboration platform and the name chosen to represent it. The developers did a great job using the word 'wave' not only to describe the essence of this new tool but also as the main noun that describes a single stream of communication. This is a great strategy because it helped to create and reinforce a common language for talking about the service and it also made it seem intuitive and familiar.
The Wave Eco-System
Another thing that makes Wave a great name is the related associations metaphors that help to establish Wave as a relevant solution in today's social media landscape. In this case, Waves are larger than conversations or exchanges of messages, they are streams of content that are constantly changing and evolving. It will be very interesting to see the how the eco-system of services and apps will 'ride the wave' and use names that expand on this theme.
The Wave Logo
The Wave logo is everything you would expect from Google: simple. A colorful wave is hovering in mid air subtly creating the letter 'W'. The logo is iconic without becoming a cliche and it works a stand alone symbol that actually makes a pretty cool T-shirt graphic. (and I hate logo t-shirts).
Now let's talk about Microsoft's Bing.
What's New Under the Sun?
Unfortunately, Microsoft did not release any video or other type of media to present or explains what is different or special about the new search engine. The name 'Bing' does very little to communicate any value. Microsoft PR states that Bing is "the sound of found" (isn't that bingo? - MM) but the common joke is that it stands recursively for "Bing Is Not Google" - so much for establishing a unique value proposition. By the way, the first thing that came to my mind when I heard the name Bing was Soprano's stripper joint, The Bada Bing...I'm sure I was not alone.
You Can Bing, But you Can't Hide
This brings me to question the reasoning behind the selected name. Unlike Google who chose to link the Wave as a sub-brand Microsoft chose not to link the Bing brand with the parent brand. Why is that? Microsoft is one of the strongest brand names in the world, it may not be a synonym for 'cool' but it is definitely a house-hold name that represents one of (if not) the most successful businesses in the history of software and personal computers. I can understand why Microsoft chose not to name their portable music player MS Zune or their gaming console MS XBOX as they target specific niche markets, but in the case of introducing a new search engin, in light of the obvious competition, one would think that Microsoft would try to make use of any existing creative asset - including their existing brand equity (think Microsoft Windows). Instead, they selected an abstract name with no affiliation to the parent company and this strategy will most likely require a great deal of marketing and advertising efforts to draw a significant enough amount of unique visitors.
The Bing Logo
Not surprisingly, where Microsoft really fall short is the design of the logo. In its current state, the Bing logo looks like just another logotype for a start-up web 2.0 service. You can read a good design review by Joshua Davis here. I can't help but feel that this is a huge mistake and a missed opportunity to do something different. And this ties back to the idea that the people behind Bing at Microsoft, with its amazing organizational culture and infinite resources have failed miserably.
Final Thought
The Google Wave brand is similar to what Microsoft Windows was (and still is) in form and essence. Both do a very good job linking name and product. However, I have huge doubts if the Bing brand will be able to reach the impact that the Google brand has. I mean, do you really see yourself 'Binging' stuff up? What do you think?
A lot can be said about brand consistency and customer loyalty. While I am excited about the release of Wave because I like all things Google, I am confused by Bing and its detached brand. If I wasn't told it was made by Microsoft, I wouldn't have even visited the website.
Posted by: Joshua Davis | June 02, 2009 at 09:23 AM
good analysis, but...
the most important aspect of a brand is the value of the product itself.
These products are different and shouldn't be compared or analyzed in the same breath.
Wave is a new concept, it requires user education and transformation of users habits while Bing is a new comer / competitor in a well defined (by Google) and very hostile competitive arena.
Hence the differences in direction and launch strategy.
Google does a great job in packaging a new concept and bringing it to life- which might allow easier adaptation (on the other hand- this advantage might be marginal since the mainstream crowd will not adopt this product early enough for it to matter and the early adopters will adopt google stuff anyway)...
While MS pretty much sucks in launching products... but made a wise choice in disconnecting from the MS brand.
Which brings me to the most important point-
If bing will work well - (dare I say better than google?!) and if MS will harness it's monopol-itical power and get it into enough apps and sites... I'll be binging - The future of this product doesn't lay within the typeface or name... it's in the functionality and actual value.
This is not a fashion product- it's a time saving machine or in other words - money making machine- if it makes more money (saves more time) than google does it will be successful even if the branding attempt was poor (and it's not- really).
On top of that the success is tied to the ability to sell contextual ads... MS has a long way to go until they get to the level of Google, but they are setup well to do so and integrate to all their existing products and install base... not the smallest in the world.
I would encourage you to throw into this comparison the wolfram.com answer engine - it touches both worlds- new product that changes behaviors but is a substitute to an existing (and excellent) product (Google search engine).
Posted by: Hanan Gelbendorf | June 03, 2009 at 11:44 PM
Hanan,
Even though I agree that the most important aspect of a brand is the value of the product, it is people's first impressions that will determine if they even give it the time of day. Like I said before, if I had seen Bing and didn't know Microsoft was behind it, I would have never tried it. That is a fail in any sense. If you can't get your customers to try your product, it might as well not exist. And even though Microsoft tried to distance themselves with the new Brand, it turns out the only reason people tried the new service was because of their affiliation with it. The branding attempt was beyond poor to the point that it seemed like they wanted it to be bad. If Bing works, I'll use it, but only because I know who made it, and they already have my trust.
Posted by: Joshua Davis | June 05, 2009 at 06:58 PM