Discussing "The Twenty-Two Immutable Laws of Branding"

Yahoo! is at it again! In this blog post, the Ries’ point out that “[Yahoo’s] new logo lacks the weight and uniqueness of the old. Change for change sake isn’t smart marketing.” So why did CEO Marissa Mayer make the change? According to the Ries’ article, it sounds like ego. She’s bought seventeen companies, changed the company’s logo, and cleaned up the homepage.   Whoopie-dee-doo.

Here is what else she has done: Yahoo CEO Falls Asleep, Late To Meeting. With a single stroke, she has annihilated the reputation of the company, leaving advertising executives at the meeting astonished.  Robert Greene's fifth law of power reminds us that so much depends on reputation, and we should guard it with our lives.

As much as I might sound like a dissatisfied customer, I am not. My Yahoo! email account is still my primary personal email address, so I am thankful that the company has not gone under. However, I don’t use Yahoo! for anything else.  I don’t know anyone who does.

During her two-year tenure as CEO, here is an example of what has happened. For those who have never studied the difference between GAAP and Non-GAAP income from operations, don’t concern yourself: whether income from operations is down 84% or 33% (Q1, 2013 to Q1, 2014), that is not a good sign.

So what of the twenty-two immutable laws of branding? Numbers nineteen and twenty can be combined into one law for Marissa Mayer of Yahoo!: Brands are built over decades and should be only changed with careful consideration.