Yahoo Wants To Copyright Its New Slogan – But Why?

As the cornerstone of a new brand identity, can we all agree that Yahoo’s “It’s You” campaign hasn’t exactly turned the world upside down since it was launched last fall, despite the apparent expenditure of much of the $100 million budgeted for it?

Which raises another issue. Yahoo last week filed for a trademark on the “It’s You” expression. The question: Why bother?

It’s not as if this branding campaign has been lighting the world on fire. Yahoo’s continuing problem as a brand nowadays actually stems from its history as one of the original

brands spawned by the internet. During the 1990's, just being an internet brand was brand enough. There was America Online, Amazon, eBay, Yahoo (usually with the “!” back then) and a few grocery-delivery sites. Google hadn’t even really come on strong yet.Continue reading...