In the 1930′s it was decided that “football”, or soccer as it is called in America, would be dropped from the summer Olympics that were going to be held in Los Angeles. The committee sited the sport’s lack of popularity in America as it’s reason for dropping the sport. After the decision was made Jules Rimet, the Federation Internationale de Football Association president, began organizing a football tournament of his own. Years later the tournament grew from one with 13 teams, to one which currently boast 32 competitive teams.
The sport has grown increasingly popular in nations around the country. And with another World Cup about to begin in South Africa, it is no wonder that the world has already started to prepare. While avid fans proudly display their team’s colors, and flags for each country are placed for passersby to see; one much more subtle preparation has occurred. When searching “World Cup” on Google people will find that the site has actually changed it’s display name at the bottom of the search page to read as “Goooooal”.
One journalist named Stan Schroeder commented that he can’t help but wonder, with the option to create custom Google pages, if Google is slowly losing it’s brand identity. Or is it possible that the name has become so synonymous with search engines that the changes won’t make a difference in Google’s brand recognition at all?
It brings up the question of how much freedom websites should provide their users, when it comes to customizing their personal pages. Does it hurt companies to allow users to tweet their image? Or does it help the company’s reputation in some way? Only time will tell. But one thing that I think most can agree on is that before customization occurs, companies need to establish a strong brand identity. And with the technology wave moving us into the future, websites are one of the best ways to establish that brand image.
