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...