Google renaming Blogger and Picasa

Google plans to rebrand the Blogger and Picasa brands as Google Blogs and Google Pics, according to a recent report by Mashable.

I don't think it's a very smart move on their part. Good branding doesn't necessarily equal putting a well known brand's name on every thing. Just read Ries' 22 Immutable Laws of Branding (http://www.amazon.com/22-Immutable-Laws-Branding/dp/0060007737).

I see the Picasa and Blogger logos, and their names are programmed into my brain. Google will have to reprogram everything in the consumer's mind now.

Of course, it's not that big of a deal and shouldn't hurt them too bad since the products are all very different, so it's not like Coke Zero stealing business from regular Coke.

But, still, Google Pics and Google Blogs aren't very memorable names. If they want to succeed, they'll have to bet on the success of the Google name. Luckily, they're already very popular, so they may not have to deal with any problems for a while, if at all.

Lessons in branding from Social Media success and failure

One of the keys to successful branding is finding a niche and being the first in to do something unique in that niche. We've seen this develop in different social media outlets.

MySpace allowed you to personalize your page, and it acted as a great center for musicians and artists to promote their work. Unfortunately,

this was never capitalized on, and with the high risk of being hacked, as well as with the rise of Facebook, MySpace has lost its appeal, much like one of the earlier blogging websites, Xanga, lost its appeal when Blogger and Wordpress came around.

Facebook was a cleaner version of MySpace and included more information options. It focused on relationships, and it was successful.

Twitter made its mark by only allowing 140 characters and by owning the word "tweet" in the consumer's mind. It also brought about new ways of getting information out with hashtags, @ abilities, and mobile options.

Now, Google+ is attempting to do something similar by focusing on the idea of "circles," "sparks," and other unique terms. Google Buzz didn't work because it was too simple, too out of the way, far less convenient than Facebook. It didn't have a point. Google+ seems to offer easier organization of friends, and it offers the extra plus of the ability to edit photos.

Will Google+ succeed? There's no telling right now, as it is in its beginning stages. It definitely seems to offer some things Facebook does not offer. We'll just have to wait and see if it's unique enough to stand out as a first, rather than a rehashing of Facebook and Twitter. It's already had enough of a demand to warrant shutting down invites for the time being.

What are some other firsts in social networking?