Re-Branding Early in the Game...

[BirdyIsMe]

Long post! Cliffs Notes: Changing company name. Developing new brand. Scroll to the end of this post to tell me what you think of the new company name, logo, etc.

Hi, everyone. I posted (on a different username) some business card designs for critique (Mike Lemovitz Photography). Anyway, I've decided to go an entirely different direction, based on some serious review of my website statistics, and the response I'm getting from the local community.

I have found that my listing is often overlooked in the organic and paid search listings that I've reviewed. For the sake of testing, I wrote two paid ad listings with identical text, and ran them in the same position over the course of several weeks. One of them said (Mike Lemovitz Photography), and another one said a random cutesy, gender-neutral name. I found that the cutesy company name (with the exact same description) received 214% more clicks (for the same amount of pageviews) than my name's listing.

After that, I ran the same advertisement, but with a female's name as the website name. I received 138% more clicks (for the same amount of pageviews) than my name's listing.

Damn.

So, I have decided to find a cute name, a cute logo, and re-brand my business. It's very new as it is, so I'm expecting there to be very few negative effects. I wanted, above all else, something fun, memorable, and young. Ideally, I was looking for a name that could also be used for some baby/kid novelties/gifts/apparel in the future, too.

Here's the new logo, business cards, and (on the bottom) watermark. I'm going to specialize in babies and children, and higher end product packages (wraps, canvas, etc.) as opposed to regular prints. Thoughts would be appreciated.

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[Big Mike]

Re branding might be a good idea, especially since you have proved that better searchability is just that easy.

As for the new name & logo, I like it. But I think you should add 'Photography' or something to the 'title'. I know that you have 'photographer' after you name, but I think it should be more apparent, at first glance, what is it you do. You might even want to put something about babies/children on the card.

 

[Derrel]

Mike,
I stopped by your recent web site and read through the About section. I thought the most significant thing was that your copy talked about the family photography business,and emphasized that that is what MLP was about. So many photo web sites have a three-fold emphasis, like Weddings Portraits Product,and to me, that particular three-part approach shows a lack of focus or emphasis. I honestly do not think of a wedding photographer as being capable of being a quality product illustrator, and so your Mike Lemovitz Photography website made sense. I would however, drop the parts about your age, and the eyeglasses thing.

If the new name and new logo work better on SEO, so much the better. I would agree with Big Mike, that including the name Photography, or "Studios" into the name would be a good idea.

 

[BirdyIsMe]

As for the new name & logo, I like it. But I think you should add 'Photography' or something to the 'title'.

Here's wifey's card with "photography" added. Cool?

Mike,
I stopped by your recent web site and read through the About section. I thought the most significant thing was that your copy talked about the family photography business,and emphasized that that is what MLP was about. So many photo web sites have a three-fold emphasis, like Weddings Portraits Product,and to me, that particular three-part approach shows a lack of focus or emphasis. I honestly do not think of a wedding photographer as being capable of being a quality product illustrator, and so your Mike Lemovitz Photography website made sense. I would however, drop the parts about your age, and the eyeglasses thing.

If the new name and new logo work better on SEO, so much the better. I would agree with Big Mike, that including the name Photography, or "Studios" into the name would be a good idea.

I tend to agree, and the appearance of specialization is a big factor in this change. Using a new name allows me to shoot whatever I want under my own name, which will probably prove beneficial down the line.

As for the eyeglasses, that was my attempt to add a bit of quirky to my "persona" as a photographer. It never really sat well with me, but I couldn't think of anything else to use. Again, another reason for the change.

 

[BirdyIsMe]

Just thought I'd update. I've been talking to a few select past/current clients, and they love the new name and logo. It looks like it's going to work out to be a good change all around.