In one of the tackiest attempts at a viral employee morale/marketing campaign since the infamous Nixon-Peabody song, Yahoo is launching a brand awareness campaign they are calling "Start Wearing Purple" designed to promote the brand as well as remind employees what that whole "bleeding purple" phrase was supposed to have meant.
In a post on Yodel Anecdotal, the Yahoo corporate blog, Yahoo's Senior Director, Brand Advertising Nick Chavez spins the new campaign in a way that only Prince could love, including the history of purple at Yahoo, a brief intro to the campaign, and a theme song only Yahoo could love, linked below.
Is this the last, desperate gasp of a company whose image and employee morale has been devastated by the months-long aborted Microsoft acquisition discussions? AdFreak writes what most people are probably thinking about the cringe-worthy campaign: "I wish Microsoft would buy Yahoo! just to get this stuff off the Web."
More news, commentary, and predictions from The Industry Standard:
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- Prediction: Jerry Yang ousted as CEO of Yahoo!
- Analysis: Yahoo's desperate strategy blitz
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Comments
I am happy to see that Yahoo!-Inc. is finally cut down to size. I worked with the geniuses (lol) at Yahoo! Shopping and did a study (they did not pay us and we agreed to do it just to help merchants) to tell them what our clients thought about their crippled Yahoo! Store RTML antique platform -- to be fair they have acolytes that will stick with Yahoo! no matter how stupid their platform is. Yahoo!'s attitude was "We're Yahoo! and you're not!"
So I hate to sound bitter but I told them so and they laughed. They ain't pretty no more! lol
Ouch! Actually, the folks I know at Yahoo! are pretty smart and I think Y! is doing okay in many, many arenas. Much better than the #3 guys and the rest. Y!Shopping isn't Y! Store -- shopping.yahoo.com is the shopping engine which used to be fed only by Yahoo! Stores (and big merchants paying for database inclusion) but now anyone who wants to be included can sign up.
And Yahoo! Store (or Merchant Solutions) is the store building platform. This year over 45,000 small business merchant stores will do over $4,000,000,000.00 this year using "their crippled Yahoo! Store RTML antique platform." I kind of like RTML, too! But what do I know? I'm a bit biased as a fat & happy Yahoo! Store focused consultant and author and retailer since 1997.
Name a better online store builder and I'll buy one! --r
I agree with Rob 110%. I built my first Yahoo Store back when Yahoo Store was Viaweb. I still own a Yahoo Store over ten years later. It is absolutely the best ecommerce platform in existance. I have tried numerous ecommerce platforms and nothing compares.
Cyndy --
There's been a big push for the Yahoo! Wear Purple campaign this month (October), which is called "mes morado" (purple month) here in Peru. I don't think it's a coincidence.
Religious devotees in Peru wear purple all during the month of October to honor El Senor de los Milagros (The Lord of the Miracles), an image of a black Christ painted on an adobe wall in Lima 350 years ago. The image survived numerous earthquakes and is said to grant miracles.
I've written about Mes Morado and El Senor de los Milagros on my blog An American in Lima. I get lots of search-engine traffic (from readers in the US and Peru) from people typing in "purple month" and "mes morado."
Maybe Yahoo's October Wear Purple blitz is a last-ditch attempt to rescue the company's image by riding on that traffic. A Peruvian might say the company's looking for a miracle from El Senor de los Milagros, who grants the wishes of devotees who wear purple all month (seriously!).
I link to your story today in "Is Yahoo! Hoping for a Peruvian-style Miracle with Its Wear Purple Campaign?" (An American in Lima).
see: http://americaninlima.com/2008/10/24/yahoo-purple-miraclduring-mes-morad...
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