Following disappointing 1st-quarter results, our shareholders felt that Stodge.org was in danger of loosing it’s brand-equity. From our peak of several thousand readers per day (in the late nineties), the Stodge blog was floundering – barely attracting a hundred readers per day. Something had to be done.
We commissioned a leading market research company to investigate our problem and the competitive context: Our researchers suggested a long-running international panel project – this would allow us to sample and track the opinion of blog-readers over time.
The news was dire. A cross-section of the blog-reading community described us as “out of touch”, “lacking credibility” and “irrelivant”. There was only one thing to do: Rebrand.
A grueling year of soul-searching followed. We employed the finest creative minds. We ran hundreds of brand-development workshops. All to answer a single question: How do we define a brand positioning for a leading “opinion-provider” targeting cash-rich, time-poor mid to senior executives? The solution, turned out to be as radical as you might expect from the stodge.org team – we had to re-define the very notion of a blog.
We commissioned a major advertising agency to develop a radical new brand proposition. In addition to suggesting our wildly popular mission statement: “Forget the Euro - attitude is the new currency!!!”, they suggested that we make a clean break from the tired old format by sacking the former editor Randi Mooney and his staff.
Finally, we commissioned a trendy London based design agency to revamp the appearance of our site; As you can see, the drab coffee-bubbles have been replaced with the swimming-pool image you see on our banner. Subsequent panel research found that this image was “Aspirational”, “Engaging” and reflected brand currency.
We are delighted with the results, and we hope that you will appreciate our hard work.
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