How could Microsoft unify their branding?

[AaHaa]

Let's be honest; Microsoft has little concept of unification and consistensy of names and brands. Apple and Google do it a lot better:

iPod, iPhone, iPad, iMac, MacBook, iOS, OSX...
Google Play, Google Nexus, Google Play Music, Google Glass, Google Chrome, Google Fiber...

And then there's Microsoft:

Microsoft Windows, Microsoft Surface, Bing, Microsoft Office, Nokia Lumia (soon to be rebranded, I know), XBOX, XBOX Live, XBOX Music.

So, can you guys come up with any way Microsoft could "unify" all their products into one, or maybe two names? I think they tried with "Windows" a while back, you know, with Windows Live Messenger, Windows Live Spaces, Windows Live Mail, Windows Mobile... but almost every one of those services got rebranded or died, so now we're stuck with a lot of seemingly random names for different products.

One approach that I can come up with is to keep it random. That way, the randomness becomes the consistensy.
Another way, I guess, is the XBOX brand:

Microsoft Windows X (Windows)
Microsoft XPHONE (Windows Phone)
Microsoft XTAB (Surface)
Microsoft XBOX
Microsoft XSEARCH (Bing)
Microsoft XBOX Music
Microsoft XBOX Video
et cetera.

The last one I can come up with is the "material" approach, like they did with "windows" and a "surface" and a "box". That way, only Bing should get a new name.

This isn't meant to seriously, Microsoft will never change all their product's names at once, but it's fun to think about!

 

[Speedygi]

You have a point there, but I don't think it's a real issue. No one I know has a problem identifying a Microsoft product.

Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk

 

[AaHaa]

You have a point there, but I don't think it's a real issue. No one I know has a problem identifying a Microsoft product.

Nah, I guess not... But still, what if? I'm just really curious if some genious can come up with a brilliant idea that would tie al Microsoft products together.

 

[neo158]

I think the current way is best:

Entertainment = Xbox
Operating Systems = Windows
Email/Calendar/Contacts = Outlook.com
Cloud Storage= SkyDrive
Tablet = Surface
Search and Maps = Bing

The branding and unification is according to the product or service provided!!

 

[Pivotgeeks]

Its intresting but if they put x beside every product then all tech websites and magazines will start saying OHH Microsoft is copying Apple and stuff like that..

 

[DBDev]

I like it how it is, but I still understand your thoughts :wink:

 

[AaHaa]

Wasn't the name "SkyDrive" gonna change because of some lawsuit by the way?

 

[anony_mouse]

Maybe they should go with X-Windows. Both the name and the technology.

 

[Laura Knotek]

Maybe they should go with X-Windows. Both the name and the technology.

There already is a graphics system with that name used in Linux. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X_Window_System

 

[Reflexx]

I wish they still used, and expanded, the LIVE branding. I think bought it was pretty great.

 

[Laura Knotek]

Wasn't the name "SkyDrive" gonna change because of some lawsuit by the way?

That was supposed to happen.





Sent from my Lumia 900 using Tapatalk

 

[maj71303]

My theory on this is that they need to extend the surface name to cover tablets and phones. Doing this may extend some of the goodness from windows phone to there surface tablets.

 

[TheJoester09]

Let's be honest; Microsoft has little concept of unification and consistensy of names and brands. Apple and Google do it a lot better:

iPod, iPhone, iPad, iMac, MacBook, iOS, OSX...
Google Play, Google Nexus, Google Play Music, Google Glass, Google Chrome, Google Fiber...

And then there's Microsoft:

Microsoft Windows, Microsoft Surface, Bing, Microsoft Office, Nokia Lumia (soon to be rebranded, I know), XBOX, XBOX Live, XBOX Music.

Take a look at what I've bolded...if you consider throwing "Google" in front of a particular product's name to be brand unification, then the obvious answer here is to throw Microsoft in front of everything. Windows, Surface, and Office already do this, so just go with "Microsoft Bing," "Microsoft Lumia (or whatever else they come up with as the brand)," Microsoft Xbox, etc. However, I personally don't think that brand unification is necessary.

 

[Cleavitt76]

Good point about Google's branding.

Also, if you look at the Apple branding it is similar to Microsoft's system where it kind of focuses on a few brands and applies them to related products. Mobile stuff gets an "i" in front of the name. Laptops/desktops have "Mac" somewhere in the name. Operating systems have "OS" in the name. It's similar to how Microsoft uses "Xbox", "Windows", "Outlook", and "Surface". Apple also has it's own exceptions like "Apple TV" instead of "iTV" or "MacTV".

Anyway, I wouldn't be surprised to see "Lumia phone" replaced with "Surface phone" in the future for the sake of brand consistency.

 

[anony_mouse]

Apple also has it's(sic) own exceptions like "Apple TV" instead of "iTV" or "MacTV".

iTV is a problem for Apple as the name is already trademarked and in use by a couple of organisations, including a major British broadcaster.

In general I don't think brand unification should be a priority for Microsoft. In fact, I think they should consider using 'Windows' less - I would drop it from Windows Phone for a start.

 

[stephen_az]

Let's be honest; Microsoft has little concept of unification and consistensy of names and brands. Apple and Google do it a lot better:

iPod, iPhone, iPad, iMac, MacBook, iOS, OSX...
Google Play, Google Nexus, Google Play Music, Google Glass, Google Chrome, Google Fiber...

And then there's Microsoft:

Microsoft Windows, Microsoft Surface, Bing, Microsoft Office, Nokia Lumia (soon to be rebranded, I know), XBOX, XBOX Live, XBOX Music.

So, can you guys come up with any way Microsoft could "unify" all their products into one, or maybe two names? I think they tried with "Windows" a while back, you know, with Windows Live Messenger, Windows Live Spaces, Windows Live Mail, Windows Mobile... but almost every one of those services got rebranded or died, so now we're stuck with a lot of seemingly random names for different products.

One approach that I can come up with is to keep it random. That way, the randomness becomes the consistensy.
Another way, I guess, is the XBOX brand:

Microsoft Windows X (Windows)
Microsoft XPHONE (Windows Phone)
Microsoft XTAB (Surface)
Microsoft XBOX
Microsoft XSEARCH (Bing)
Microsoft XBOX Music
Microsoft XBOX Video
et cetera.

The last one I can come up with is the "material" approach, like they did with "windows" and a "surface" and a "box". That way, only Bing should get a new name.

This isn't meant to seriously, Microsoft will never change all their product's names at once, but it's fun to think about!

No offense but it is simply your opinion that they have a problem on this front. Leaving Xbox and Zune out of the picture, their products have always been unified by Windows. I have never seen anyone confused by Microsoft explicit or implicit branding. As for Google, the fact they stick their name into everything they directly produce is hardly creative branding. In fact, it is boring and very dated. While Apple handling of ios products is very effective and consistent, their OSX products do not share that branding.

 

[hilga007]

Its intresting but if they put x beside every product then all tech websites and magazines will start saying OHH Microsoft is copying Apple and stuff like that..

Yeah - that is very true. It just seems like their current gadgets don't have a "ring" to them, which is rather sad. I mean, I'd rather upload my files to the xDrive than to the SkyDrive. I'd rather use xNote than OneNote and I'd rather use my Xumia.

Kidding. But really, it seems like they always have great ideas that just don't take off... XP Tablet OS as an example.

 

[Cleavitt76]

iTV is a problem for Apple as the name is already trademarked and in use by a couple of organisations, including a major British broadcaster.

Oddly enough that didn't stop them from using iPhone even though it was trademarked by Cisco at the time. Apple just released the iPhone, knowing that the name was trademarked, and dealt with the legal issues after the fact. I don't really have a point. I just think that was an interesting move on Apple's part.

 

[despertador]

I see most of Microsoft's products pretty well branded. Although they don't all have "Microsoft" in the name, that doesn't make it confusing. People are already all familiar with the names "Windows," "Xbox," and "Office." I don't think that putting an 'x' in front of all the brands will improve the situation. As said already, there doesn't seem to be a problem. How many people that are even moderately into computers confuse Bing and Google? Or, say Google Drive and SkyDrive?

 

[sumton]

i prefer the current way each product has unique name :smile: