Should We Start a SyFy Death Watch?
Will the Network Bow to Public Pointing and Laughing at New Name?
"According to research done exclusively for BNET Media by TNS Cymfony, syphilis jokes account for about four percent of all commentary about Syfy." Ouch. That's gonna leave a mark. Or an unsightly rash leading to eventual brain damage. BNET's got a fairly comprehensive round-up of the negative reaction to Sci-Fi Channel's decision to rebrand itself as SyFy. Not surprisingly, there are a lot of syphilis jokes flying around the interweb machines.
Indeed, the kindest thing you're likely to find is the question, "Was Arnell involved in this somehow?" What's amazing about this is that in talking to The New York Times, Sci-Fi President David Howe specifically referred to the Tropicana debacle. As BNET puts it, "A day later, you have to wonder who the hell Howe tested the idea with." I want to believe that all the kids are spelling it SyFy to text each other. But I don't.
Normally, I don't put much stock in Web 2.0 outcry and the screams of the Twitterati. As much as I've become a Twitter convert, I know that it's little more than an echo chamber. (If an alien were to base his impression of Earth on Twitter chatter, he'd walk away thinking SXSW was the pinnacle of human achievement rather than Woodstock for geeks.)
But here's the thing about Sci-Fi Channel: I'd bet that a fairly substantial portion of its audience overlaps with the Web 2.0 crowd. This isn't a case of "Motrin Moms" calling for the heads of J&J execs while 99.9% of Motrin users go about their lives blissfully unaware that this supposed scandal ever happened. Sci-Fi fans are likely a little geeky. And while the network wants to broaden its base, it should probably remember to dance with what brung you. As it is, you've got sci-fi blogs such as io9 running with the headline "Sci-Fi Channel Changes Its Name To A Typo" and asking, "Will this tweak really expand the possibilities of a channel that already runs a schedule full of whatever they loosely call science fiction?"
The channel should have been spending the week celebrating the series finale of "Battlestar Galactica," one of the best shows to hit TV in the last 20 years. Instead, it's spending the week being mocked. The good news is that this rebranding was simply an announcement made at an upfront presentation and nothing consumer-facing is set to roll out until July.
So my question to you is: Will the network pull the plug? And if so, when?
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As for a "death watch" on the renamed SyFy, let the mocking begin in earnest and there will be the death of the channel. They'll end up renaming it to the "We'll show ANYTHING to get viewers" channel, as they've already done by adding the scripted wrestling to their lineup. Chalk up the ghostbuster wannabes in the Ghost Hunter show and the farce of a Candid Camera ripoff, Scare Tactics and you've got the recipe for a dearth of viewers other than those with a mentality lower than their shoe size.
As a journalist, I find the SyFy rename as ridiculous (what were they thinking?)But, it will not stop me from watching my favorite shows at the Sci-fi channel.
I hope that the management will change their mind and not change the name. Because other than the obvious that the 'phonetic name' is preposterous, it also adds to the MISSPELLING epidemic we already have due to text messaging. Do we really need more of those though it is in the name of branding?
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Not that BSG was a ratings darling (critical acclaim? absolutely) but it was the channel's most successful series and garnered attention from media outlets who otherwise may not have given SciFi ink. Losing this show - and the droves of dedicated fans who religiously tuned in and drove traffic to their website to chat on discussion boards/view additional content - is a very large void to fill. Particularly for advertisers.
Should "Syfy" pull the plug, I'm not sure it'll be as much the rebrand as losing its anchor and breakthrough series.
- Kate Moore | Caprica City
Sigh Figh? What the hay. Likely better than the odd Sy Fy.
Jim Rowbotham
NY NY (nigh nigh)
While Tropicana turned their amazing rhetoric figure into a generic grocery store home brand joke, Sci-Fi is turning into a syphilis joke..... ironic don't you think? I believe some of those decision maker should think about reading Marty Neumeier's when he says "Everything should be done asking first; will it help the brand..."
Nevertheless, one thing for sure, they are under the spotlight. After all, any publicity is good publicity right?
Cheers!
I did notice that the company BNET is using to research reactions to the name is called Cymfony. Is that really any better?
It's a well-established term and everybody knows what it means.
You should thank heaven that you own the generally accepted descriptor of your genre – giving up such a property is just foolish.
Were they trying to be creative?
A truly creative person knows when it's time to not be creative at all.
If, however, I have to pronounce the name "SyFy" it will always be "Sci-Fi" ... just with a silly spelling. They are not selling me anything more than the silly spelling.
With so many branding models out there which could have given them framework for future expansion, they chose the one solution which has the potential to alienate a percentage of their Sci-Fi fans while not communicating much about who they are with a name so ambiguous they will need extensive marketing to sell it in.
I suppose that if you go to Landor and charge them with clever renaming, and pose phonetic restrictions, they will give you the best possible solution within those boundaries. If, however, you explain your situation and ask them for a branding solution, you will get more than a naming solution. You will get a foundational branding model which appreciates your core demographic and gives you the ability to reach out to adjacent demos ... and grow. At least this is what I want to believe because I know what Landor is capable of ... and the Sci-Fi Channel didn't get that.
Sci-Fi, go back to Landor and ask for a new "brand model" (consider sub-branding, perhaps?). Renaming your core brand, your strength and obvious point of recognition was a mistake. I think you have failed to see that you have traded a name that was recognized and established for one you will now have to market heavily and which disassociates from your core. This leaves you with a new name (SyFy) which you will have to sell as a brand which encompasses Science Fiction AND Fantasy instead of the established name (Sci-Fi) which you would have to sell as a brand which ALSO encompasses Fantasy (half the sell) But wait, since you've been featuring fantasy for over 7 years, don't you think we know that your brand is about fantasy already? If a name that makes sense matters so little to you (SyFy is still going to say "Sci-Fi" to us), why not just keep Sci-Fi? We already know what it's about. Then you can use your marketing dollars to sell the (very) few who don't!
Sci-Fi ... The Emperor is NAKED!!!
~ Lizanne Webb [AdTactix] - Los Angeles | New York | San Francisco
While Sci-Fi went through a lot of effort to buy the SyFy.com domain did anyone notice they could probably buy SciFan.com just as easily and it incorporates a NICE double entendre?
*sigh* Is the Emperor still naked?
~ Lizanne Webb [AdTactix] - Los Angeles | New York | San Francisco
Found this article earlier this evening:
http://dennytu.wordpress.com/2009/03/25/landor-distancing-self-from-syfy-naming-credit/
why not just call it the Fantasy Channel then? (or, as one commentor already pointed out, SciFan?)