A new butterfly for MSN, then what?

The new MSN brand identity. MSN ®

On November 5, Microsoft introduced the new brand identity for MSN. Intended to work along side Bing, Microsoft’s web search engine, the new identity and home page, MSN is designed to be the best home page on the Web. Microsoft also announced it had reduced the number of links by half and content is provided by partners MSNBC. FOX Sports, Mayo Clinic and others.

Well, that’s fine, but was it necessary to revisit their 9-year old MSN brand identity?

(A point of disclosure: the original MSN butterfly was created by friends and ex-colleagues.) The new brand identity cannot be viewed in isolation. First it has to work with the unfortunate Bing brand identity (See the July 2009 of New Identity Alert for more information). Viewed through that prism, at least the new light face logotype makes sense, it is closer to the Bing wordmark. In fact the MSN logotype font is better than the Bing’s. The logotype also moves MSN further away from Microsoft. Is that a good thing? One can debate the merits of both sides of that argument.

Blah Bing. Microsoft™

It is clear that Microsoft in the past couple of years has introduced a number of brand identities that are visually appealing. They have trended towards lighter logotypes, not only for the brand shown here, but also for their ubiquitous Windows brand and sub-brands.

One gets the impression though, fairly or not, that there is no overarching strategy or vision guiding all these brands. A brand manager responsible for a product or range of products engages a branding firm to create a brand identity or series of brand identities, without any regard to the other brands in the Microsoft portfolio. Hence, the difference in fonts for Bing and MSN, and to no discernible advantage or benefit.

One would think that Microsoft would/should be taking a step back and examining all their many varied brands, determining how they interact, establishing a cohesive brand architecture and potentially rebranding the whole thing. They are more than welcome to contact us for assistance.

And the new butterfly? It is simpler and more abstract but not as friendly or accessible as the original.

Three visually appealing Microsoft brand identities. Microsoft â„¢

It's time for Micorsft to rethink their corporate brand identity and their whole portfolio of brand identities. Microsoft ®