THE RISE AND FALL OF AN ICONIC BRANDby Marc Laurin

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CONTENTS

• Quick history• Y.a.h.o.o.• Development of brand awareness• Brand perception• Measurable outcomes• Extension of services• Purchases• Revenue model• S.W.O.T.• Brand perception• The future

David Filo and Jerry Yang create the Yahoo! Search engine in 1994 under the name “Jerry and David’s Guide to the World Wide Web”.

Yahoo! Stands for Yet another Hierarchical Officious Oracle

Site was different as it also includes a searchable index, making websites searchable by categories

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QUICK HISTORY

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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.

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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.

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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”

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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%.

MEASURABLE OUTCOMES

This was achieved by constant advertising and by sticking to the same brand image.

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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.

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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)

FURTHER EXTENSION OF SERVICES

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PURCHASES

GeoCities (ISP)

Broadcast.com (Streaming audio and video)

eGroup (Yahoo Mail)

Launch Media (Music website)

Overture (Advertising services)

Kelkoo (Online shopping)

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REVENUE MODEL

Marketing services: • Advertisers pay fees for impressions and clicks

Fees: • Internet broadband and dial-up services, • Premium e-mail, • Music, • Personal and services for small business, • Subscription data, • Domain names, • Additional bandwidth,• Financial research, • Auctions listing, • Personal ads

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STRENGTHS

• Recognised and trusted brand• Many services generating revenues• Good integration of services• Dominating position in many countries• Highly regarded management team

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WEAKNESSES

• Dissatisfaction from corporate marketers over the lack of support, high fees, decreasing click rate

• Search technology being surpassed by main competitor, Google

• Not all products in suite financially sustainable

• Independent alternatives more successful (YouTube, Facebook, eBay, DoubleClick)

• Inconsistance of offerings in different countries

• Massive overheads• Decrease in revenues

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OPPORTUNITIES

• Offload some of its products• Concentrate on the countries where it dominates• Review its search algorythms (API)• Aggregate its services• Less is more approach• Hire Richard Branson• Partner with another popular search engine

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THREATS

• Competition from other Internet companies (Google, Microsoft, Time Warner, Monster and CNET).

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

• Weak growth in international markets

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Edgy Irreverent

In trouble

Visionary

DethronedOut of touch

Faceless Try hard

BRAND PERCEPTION

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THE FUTURE

• Failed takeover from Microsoft - Now a partnership

• Personalisation of content• Site stickiness• Open Strategy (BOSS)• Cloud computing

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ANY QUESTIONS?