Can the Leopard Change Its Spots?

No, this is not about Mac OS X. The leopard I refer to is an imaginary one. The leopard is Yahoo, and the spots are its branding.

Will the name change help re-make Yahoo into a force to be reckoned with again? I’m not sure, but if my results last week with a blind search model is any clue, I’d say yes. In my informal testing, Yahoo gave me the results I was most looking for, more than two-thirds of the time. Google ran second, with Microsoft Bing a distant third.

from Silicon Alley Insider

Yahoo’s new CMO Elisa Steele is working on a “major brand overhaul” for the company, reports BoomTown.

To help her out, Yahoo (YHOO) hired outside branding consultants Landor Associates and former Young & Rubicam exec Penny Baldwin.

Execs who sat through a meeting about the re-branding told BoomTown one motto under consideration is Yahoo, “your home on the Web.”

Just in case this means the end of Yahoo yodeling, go click the ! in Yahoo! on Yahoo.com before our favorite Easter egg goes away.

Those who fear the power of Google (I’m not among them) will want to try to bolster the new Yahoo, and those who simply want the best search results might try it out as well. I will be using Yahoo  much more, after the demonstration that was self-provided last week.

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