The new corporate brand launched this week to negative reaction
A new corporate brand
Since the Cambridge Analytica scandal broke in March 2018, Facebook’s reputation has been on a downward spiral with concerns not only on privacy but also allegations of fake news, political propaganda and taking no responsibility for potentially dangerous content that is posted on the site.
So what’s the answer to this? Of course, it’s obvious – just simply rebrand yourself to a more shouty FACEBOOK and introduce multiple colours. It’s a brand that has been designed for clarity according to Chief Marketing Officer, Antonio Lucio. But the clarity seems to be missing its mark with many taking to Twitter and other platforms to express their confusion and downright negativity about the new brand.
To help clear things up, the app itself will keep its distinctive blue design. The new logo is for the corporate brand which will be used on all its owned platforms, e.g. Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger, to be clearer about which products and services are part of Facebook.
The obvious question to me is – why? Why associate these popular platforms with the failing Facebook brand and remind people who’s behind it all? Surely a better approach might have been to create a completely new corporate name and keep the brands individual and white labelled?
If Facebook is on its way out as many suspect, then this approach could take all the others with it. And what will they be shouting about then?