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by rexreed 1690 days ago
My point was that Google's rebrand DIDN'T work. Very few people know Google as Alphabet. They still know it as Google (the people on the street that is). So, will Facebook's rebrand have the effect of Bell Atlantic + GTE's rebrand as Verizon, or will it have the effect Google's rebrand as Alphabet?

I hope (and feel) like the ruse will not work.
3 comments
frankchn 1690 days ago
That's because all of Google's main consumer properties didn't get branding changes and are still all "Google Maps" or "Google Photos", etc...

WhatsApp and Instagram are much stronger brands, and are not already branded "Facebook WhatsApp" or "WhatsApp by Facebook".

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toast0 1690 days ago
> "WhatsApp by Facebook".

Well, the splash screen says "Whatsapp from Facebook", and the description on the Google Play store starts with "WhatsApp from Facebook is a FREE messaging and video calling app."

So, it's out there, even if people haven't changed the way they think.

Disclosure: I worked for WhatsApp until 2019

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y4mi 1690 days ago
They are called Google maps/Google photos because these are Google products.

Google is responsible for alphabets web services. Check out Wikipedia for actual examples like waymo (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alphabet_Inc.)

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aidaman 1690 days ago
Really not true. The same number of people will know Facebook as owning them as do now. Like now people are like, "you know Instagram is owned by Facebook right?"

That's not going to change.

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Barrin92 1690 days ago
Google didn't change its org structure for consumer-facing rebranding purposes. It was a move for the market/investors, to separate out more clearly the (lack of) profitability of individual sectors and acquisitions of the company that don't happen to be ads or search. Alphabet was about creating internal transparency.
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jacquesm 1690 days ago
That's the story. At the same time their former CEO made quite a few statements that did not sit well with the management of the daughter companies, Google's reputation is such that some distance really doesn't hurt in the PR department.
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holistio 1690 days ago
Including folks who work in the field - I've never heard "I just got a job at Alphabet".
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