The Rise and Fall of an Iconic Brand

1. THE RISE AND FALL OF AN ICONIC BRAND by Marc Laurin

3. Y.a.h.o.o.

4. Development of brand awareness

5. Brand perception

6. Measurable outcomes

7. Extension of services

8. Purchases

9. Revenue model

10. S.W.O.T.

11. Brand perception

13. 4 YET ANOTHER HIERARCHICAL OFFICIOUS ORACLE The unusual and catchy name worked in setting the company apart from traditional companies. It was easy to remember, funny and people developed an emotional attachment to it. Yahoo sought to convey an irreverent and fun attitude.

14. 5 DEVELOPMENT OF BRAND AWARENESS In 1996 Yahoo launched a $10 million awareness building campaign which included the slogan “do you Yahoo” and the Yahoo yodel audio cue. Campaign included television, radio and print. It focused on consumers intending to use the Internet for the first time within a year, “near surfers” as they would more likely become loyal to the brand.

15. 6 BRAND DEVELOPMENT Yahoo managed to portray itself differently to 3 distinct target audiences. To customers: “We are fun, wacky and easy to use” To press and financial analysts: “We’re professional and well run” To media buyers: “We’re the market leader and experts in online advertising”

16. 7 MEASURABLE OUTCOMES Yahoo worked on building a consumer brand rather than technological company. In 1996, the brand was recognised by 64% of Internet users and 8% of prospective users In 1997, the brand was recognised by 82% of Internet users and 23% of prospective users By 2000, the awareness reached 90%. This was achieved by constant advertising and by sticking to the same brand image.

17. 8 EXTENSION OF SERVICES In 1998, it launched a Yahoo! Branded Visa card. If follows with an online shopping mall called Yahoo! Shopping. The aim was to make the brand stand for commerce as well. The Yahoo store allowed merchants to lists their products on Yahoo Shopping Directory. Merchants were also able to set up payments and credit card processing to third party providers. It appealed to small businesses who didn’t have the knowledge or the knowledge to sustain an independent website.

18. 9 FURTHER EXTENSION OF SERVICES Yahoo City Guides (restaurant guides, entertainment calendars, pizza delivery numbers) Yahoo Small Business (packages such as package tracking service, editorial content for publications) Yahoo Messenger (messaging, email and news alerts) Yahoo Everywhere (content on non PC devices “to extend the brand and services beyond the desktop”). Yahoo Auctions (online auctions) Yahoo Club (social network) Flickr (photo sharing)

19. 10 PURCHASES GeoCities (ISP) Broadcast.com (Streaming audio and video) eGroup (Yahoo Mail) Launch Media (Music website) Overture (Advertising services) Kelkoo (Online shopping)

21. Premium e-mail,

22. Music,

23. Personal and services for small business,

24. Subscription data,

25. Domain names,

26. Additional bandwidth,

27. Financial research,

28. Auctions listing,

30. Many services generating revenues

31. Good integration of services

32. Dominating position in many countries

34. Search technology being surpassed by main competitor, Google

35. Not all products in suite financially sustainable

36. Independent alternatives more successful (YouTube, Facebook, eBay, DoubleClick)

37. Inconsistance of offerings in different countries

38. Massive overheads

40. Concentrate on the countries where it dominates

41. Review its search algorythms (API)

42. Aggregate its services

43. Less is more approach

44. Hire Richard Branson

46. Exposure over unethical online advertising practices indirectly affecting its reputation (spam, click fraud, spyware, adware)

49. Personalisation of content

50. Site stickiness

51. Open Strategy (BOSS)