Thoughts on Rebranding of Leofinance
After LeoThreads was launched and the new Leofinance interface was released, there was enough talk about rebranding Leofinance.
The arguments I've read or heard are that:
- Threads isn't well branded. As long as you have to explain someone that in order to go to Threads they need to go to leofinance.io, it's not great for attracting new users
- Leofinance is no longer representative as a brand since the focus is now more toward general topics
- Long form content isn't easy to find on the website
- I think this is a good point. While "Threads" can be a powerful brand, a lot of work has been done to create a future all-in-one app, and for such an app, the "Threads" brand may not be the best, especially when that is associated with the short form content, one part of the whole.
There is also the Leo brand which I believe many (including Khal) would like to keep. That's a powerful brand too and it has been built for quite a while.
Also, when a rebranding strategy is considered, we need to consider the availability of a suitable domain name and that the SEO built around the previous brand includes the former domain name. Links can be redirected, so do old URLs affect SEO negatively? No, if a 301 code is used (moved permanently).
- This wasn't very clear until the recent updates to the long form part of the website were made. Before that, one could consider Threads is general topic and long form kept its mainly finance-oriented direction.
Once the updates to "Articles" started, we could see the direction. On that page, one can see both Leofinance-specific articles, but also non-Leofinance articles (when HIVE is selected from the dropdown):
Then, a few days ago, the team added communities, which again opens up content all over Hive:
Leofinance is transforming from a tribe-specific interface into a general-purpose interface. And as such, the "Leofinance" name maybe lost its sense.
I heard Khal talking about making Leofinance a community on the general interface. Much like every other community. In fact, it is already a community.
But I think he meant ONLY a community, and rebrand the website.
Then I read - I think on Threads - what would we think if Leofinance would be renamed as "Leo". Personally, I'd be ok with that, if they can get the domain name without some strange extension.
- While I disagree with the idea that long form is difficult to find on the new interface, I think long form content still needs a lot more work, plus settings to go directly to short or long-form by default.
I believe, if Leofinance were to be rebranded, now is the time. Not in 3, not in 6 months. And personally, I think, given the radical changes on the website, a rebranding is necessary. I believe it is coming...
Posted Using LeoFinance Alpha
I know that nobody likes to separate things into smaller parts, but IMO, LeoFinance should split into at least two separate websites... It's hard to please short-term and long-term users as they are pulling in different directions... And also the thing that you said about accepting "general articles" is just another pointer in the direction of separating things...
LeoThreads (short content) and LeoJungle (classic tribe) should be different websites...
Just my 2c
Other than the domain names, which makes some sense to have them more targeted, many things can be resolved through settings and customization of the interface toward one of the preferences. Khal mentioned he intends to make that possible in Settings.
Yeah, it could be done by customization, but still... It's hard to "brand" many different things... As you said, "Keep them targeted"... 😉
Well... YT has both "shorts" and long videos. Twitter is looking at adding long-form content (if they haven't already) and has spaces that are live broadcasting. I think the trend is everything (or as much as possible) under one roof.
It's true TikTok is only shorts (I think), but give it time...
"LEO" is another token already. I guess that would be confusing.
You mean if the main brand would be Threads? If the brand would be "Leo" (instead of Leofinance), maybe it would make more sense...
It might have been confusing if they introduced another token for Threads. Turns out it was a good decision they didn't.
I have to agree with Zoltan, LF should make their short form content website and have their leofinance long form website. At the moment chasing 2 opposing goals is pulling LF in different directions and wont achieve either.
One other reason for having both together is for users and traffic. Not as many people are interested in LF these days and having both together would potentially bring more users to the platform for either one of them.
And the argument that LF and SF would pull the website in one direction or another doesn't make sense if the customization is well done (could make a user simply see almost only what interests him or her from the website). If they were separate websites, each of them would require attention and development and each group would want more features and bugs fixed, which is pretty much the same thing.
Probably it would have been worth to look into why this is.
I think it's a trend in social media in general. Impatience, lack of focus, distractions, a "higher-speed" society, etc.
I think it is other reasons, a lack of focus on promoting good content.
Maybe. People can get used to one or the other. But given different options, most people will prefer what takes less effort.
Yes, thats why having a good curation policy is important. You can see evidence of the high quality posts in some of Hive's communities where it is done well.
Good curation might add a certain threshold for content on one platform/ecosystem. But there are alternatives on other platforms where "easier" options can be found.
Let me put it another way, why do you not go to LF for your latest crypto news/stories?
If you do not incentivise good content, then you will not get it, regardless of where easier options can be found.
I may be one of the few who checks LF for news before crypto twitter (or threads). :) But I understand what you mean. I'm just saying that lots of people don't have the patience to read/listen to LF anymore, regardless of how good it is. Maybe I am wrong. I am one of the fewer who prefer LF, so I don't speak for myself.
Agree that it needs to rebrand before further dilution or loss of initial identity.
Yes. Great points in so few words. ;)
The teams know what they are doing. there will be many who will like what you are doing and there will be many who will not like what you are doing.
The team always appreciates feedback, which is fantastic. They are on a great path lately, I agree.
Well, I just feel that there is indeed more to be done
I think they are in the process of doing it.
I think rebranding is becoming more neccesary as the development continues. 'LEO' seems fine but the issue seems to be on 'Threads', whether to keep it separate or merge it together with the rest.
The interesting part is that Twitter wants to (or maybe already did) add LF content to their site and we are thinking to carve away LF content from Threads.
Right. An all in platform/ecosystem will be a better option. The everything app carries great potential in terms of user adoption.
Yes. While I initially saw the addition of Threads as the main focus on Leofinance as a move detrimental to LF content on the platform, in the end I believe the team can make them work together well on the same platform and the two types of content will attract more users.
I would also like to say here that things should not be done this way, people get upset and then go too hard on the prices of things because of this.
Upset why? Anyway, the team is great at taking feedback, and they will listen to everybody but will do what they think is best.
I still believe a lot of adjustment will be done by the team soon on this
Yeah, that is my impression too.
https://twitter.com/LovingGirlHive/status/1672867135897628672
Thanks for sharing.
I think long-form needs a lot more work and I also think that breaking threads out of LeoFinance or separating it out is a good idea. Most of the focus has kind of been on threads. What is your take on threads and their replies? Should they be included in both interfaces or separated out?
I think they should be kept on the same interface. The only "problem" is branding. Otherwise, everyone consolidates. Why should Leo break into tiny things? They already tried it with Cubfinance and PolyCub... While the bridges are useful, they reversed course and focused on Leofinance.
Yea. The branding is hard to really figure out. Defi or CUB has been kind of neglected too.
https://twitter.com/lee19389/status/1672935864203350016
#hive #posh
I agree with you, Adrian.
I believe that LEO needs to stay in any new brand.
I also agree that if a rebranding were to occur, NOW is the time to get it done before you get in thousands of new users.
The sooner the better.
Yup! The more they dance around the subject, the more confusing it will be. But I think they are getting ready to make the move (whichever that will be), from all the hints.