Is a Linus Tech Tips rebrand really necessary?

[drdrewnatic]

Just a thought after yesterdays WAN show. Linus has said on numerous occasions now that he want's to dis-associate himself with the brand LTT. While his logic makes sense on the surface it made me think about other tech journalism websites. Notably Tom's Hardware and AnandTech continue to live on as major tech news sites even after both Thomas and Anand left. With these sites still operating after the creator left, is it really necessary to change a brand that has been engraved in to peoples head for almost 14 years?

[manikyath]

from what i've understood it's not so much a 'necessity', as it is a way to focus more of the credit on the team that's doing the majority of the work.

 

if it was a necessity, they would be "doing it", but for now it's mostly an exercise in how they name their "new" ventures.

[BeanMKW]

hmm what would it be named then?

[Tams]

1 hour ago, drdrewnatic said:

Notably Tom's Hardware and AnandTech continue to live on as major tech news sites even after both Thomas and Anand left

Terrible examples.  Both sites have drastically declined since their namesakes left.  Largely because Thomas and Anand didn't do enough work to make them self-sustainable (that's not to say they did nothing, but there's a lot that needs to be done and they didn't meet that level).  Both got bought up, but the personality of the sites had largely gone.

 

Anandtech is pretty much on life support now.  And it's not just because Ian left; it was declining while he was still there.

[Neroon]

Haven't watched the WAN yet, but his movement away from the Linus name, is a good one. I do think they should just keep calling it LTT, but I would stop using the full name.

 

For merch it was a vital decision imo to remove his name, and make the branding way smaller. I wouldn't want his name on stuff.

[dkoudijs]

When you reach a certain size, you want it to be a company not a person.

As a company can bring in more people to handle the work load to grow.

A person only has so much productivity per week.

 

Also new people will know its LTT, and a team of people.

Old fans know its Linus and Crew. So dosn't really hurt older sales, and new sales are improved.

(If new members don't love linus, they have others on the channels they may like)

 

LTT is a business and not just a place to see Linus.

[Needfuldoer]

On 8/20/2022 at 2:23 PM, BeanMKW said:

hmm what would it be named then?

Luke Tech Tips. 
 

They won’t even have to change the logo!

 

Seriously though, I think a rebrand is necessary at this point. If Linus has to be their star host, their growth and diversification potential are inherently limited by his available time and energy.
 

The audience should see the main hosts as an ensemble cast, not “Linus and those folks who help him out when he’s busy”, and the main channel should be branded as such.

[OrdinaryPhil]

This strikes me as a strictly personal choice on the part of Linus.

He doesn't have to rebrand his company. He seems to want to. I don't know much about the tech-youtuber career path so I can't say for certain if it will be a good move in the long term or not, but I don't think that makes much difference.

I think there are some potential risks involved in taking the L out of the LTT strictly from a business perspective.

I'll use the analogy of hollywood films and the actors in them. There is a reason why recasting a role almost always hurts the project. Linus himself has a solid presence on screen, as do a small handful of his teammates. I personally think that Riley has a lot of presence as well and brings a lot to the channel. I watch a decent amount LTT content and I think that some of the hosts are better than others but none of them really have the draw that Linus does. It doesn't mean that they are bad people - just that they don't have that same relationship with the content they make and how it is received by the viewing audience.

Just like TV and film actors, there are some hosts that I enjoy watching more than others. Some just have a better delivery IMO and if those hosts eventually stepped back and were replaced by new ones I would very likely consume less of the channel's content. Imagine if you were watching Iron Man 3 and instead of Robert Downy Jr. the role was played by Nicholas Cage... let's just say it would have been a different movie. Does that make Nick Cage a bad guy? No... but he's not the guy for that role.

I can absolutely respect Linus' choice to take a step back and be less involved in the channel as his a also a husband and a father - but I'm certain he knows that not being on screen as much will absolutely correspond with a loss of interest from viewers. Certainly not a total loss, but some. And then it becomes the gamble of who gets more time on screen... some personalities will work great, others won't. Just facts of life.

All of this being said - I hope whatever he chooses works out for him. He seems like a decent guy from my end of the monitor and I wish him well.

[Neroon]

While true that Linus is vital for their success right now, I wouldn't underestimate the others. I think if Linus were to go full host again, and just ditch people like Riley, Anthony etc, he would lose a ton of viewers.

 

I think his goal needs to be that he is 1 of the presenters, and not the main one.

 

I just watched the video on the toaster, and what that video really shows, how many fantastic personalities they have, Sarah is great, Jonathan is really good (even if you don't care for macs, check a video or 2, he does a great job), I really like Davids presence as well etc.

 

Having no Linus would severely hurt the company, but seeing more of all of them, imo won't hurt them. They got an amazing team, and I think if Linus would do like 1-2 videos per week across their channels, excluding the WAN, this would absolutely work.

 

Ps I don't watch all the videos, but if I see like Riley, Sarah or David, it's pretty much an autowatch.

[wasab]

isnt naming your bussiness empire after your family's dynastic name the norm? Just ask Tim Apple. 

[Middcore]

Whatever the state sites like Tom's Hardware are in now, I don't think it's a good comparison because Tom was never literally the face of the company like Linus is with LTT. 

[Geneleco]

Idk, so many companies are just peoples names so i don't see it as a huge problem.

[Ultraforce]

On 8/22/2022 at 12:49 AM, OrdinaryPhil said:

This strikes me as a strictly personal choice on the part of Linus.

He doesn't have to rebrand his company. He seems to want to. I don't know much about the tech-youtuber career path so I can't say for certain if it will be a good move in the long term or not, but I don't think that makes much difference.

I think there are some potential risks involved in taking the L out of the LTT strictly from a business perspective.

I believe he's mentioned imposter syndrome and how in the early days of the company there seemed to be credit given to him which he felt uncomfortable about because of how instrumental Yvonne and some of the other people were and for some things he wasn't even directly involved with. For the corporation name he probably needs to keep it but I feel like changing it to be LTT branding rather then LinusTechTips makes sense for him.

[Ultraforce]

Oh I forgot to even think about it but I believe on the WAN show there's been discussions of doing merchandise that is less for people who are fans and consumers of the youtube video but simply like the products and having just LTT makes more sense then something like the brand name linus tech tips. IEEE I know tries to avoid indicating what the acronym stands for which is Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers because the stuff that IEEE does isn't exclusive to Electrical and Electronics engineers but also technicians, scientists and other professionals.
Here is their explanation

Quote

However, as the world's largest technical professional organization, IEEE's membership has long been composed of engineers, scientists, and allied professionals. These include computer scientists, software developers, information technology professionals, physicists, medical doctors, and many others in addition to IEEE's electrical and electronics engineering core. For this reason the organization no longer goes by the full name, except on legal business documents, and is referred to simply as IEEE.

 

[ToboRobot]

I don't think it is necessary, but it isn't a terrible idea to plan for the eventuality that the business will require diversity to grow.

Ultimately, it comes down to how much time there is for Linus to be on camera, and it's pretty obvious for a while that they are trying to build up new on screen talent for this reason.  

[Birblover12]

I think they'd have to get REALLY creative to change the brand name of "LinusTechTips" to something else. Everything is connected to it, everything from Merch, to Websites (such as this one you're on right now) to all the previous content he's made, and that's only scratching the surface. 

 

It all kinda makes sense though, Linus did post a few videos about retiring a ways back (even if he did go back on them and decide to throw the idea out the window). I think it would be a VERY rash decision if Linus were to just ditch the company and stop making videos, as the company really isn't setup atm to have the other employees of LTT suddenly take over. However, in due time, if he slowly got the audience used to seeing other hosts, I don't think it'd be totally bad idea. I just think trying to re-brand all of LTT with new names and such would destroy the company and the channels associated with it as a whole. 

 

Linus is smart though, so I'm sure he'll figure everything out 

[Neroon]

18 hours ago, wasab said:

isnt naming your bussiness empire after your family's dynastic name the norm? Just ask Tim Apple. 

And some people name their company after like their penis. Just ask Bill Gates.

[OrdinaryPhil]

On 8/22/2022 at 7:25 PM, Neroon said:

While true that Linus is vital for their success right now, I wouldn't underestimate the others. I think if Linus were to go full host again, and just ditch people like Riley, Anthony etc, he would lose a ton of viewers.

 

I think his goal needs to be that he is 1 of the presenters, and not the main one.

 

I just watched the video on the toaster, and what that video really shows, how many fantastic personalities they have, Sarah is great, Jonathan is really good (even if you don't care for macs, check a video or 2, he does a great job), I really like Davids presence as well etc.

 

Having no Linus would severely hurt the company, but seeing more of all of them, imo won't hurt them. They got an amazing team, and I think if Linus would do like 1-2 videos per week across their channels, excluding the WAN, this would absolutely work.

 

Ps I don't watch all the videos, but if I see like Riley, Sarah or David, it's pretty much an autowatch.

There are definitely some folks on the LTT team that I watch more than others - but that's only indirectly a result of those specific individuals. I watch a lot of the content Anthony is involved in for example, because his interests and expertise overlaps with my own. I watch basically none of their camera related videos because I have zero interest in photography, so whoever those hosts are just don't matter to me.

If the content is of interest to me (and the host does a good job presenting it) then I will likely watch it; regardless of who the host is.

The reverse is more complex. If the host does a poor job presenting, the content basically ceases to matter. I don't want to watch a video that simply isn't done well, no matter how much I may like or dislike the subject matter.

And the reality is that some of LTT's hosts produce more consistently watchable content than others. I agree that Riley is a great host for techllinked, but i watched like 5 minutes of a carpool critics episode and was like "Nope, not for me". lol. 

This leads into the heart of the issue. Linus is the "face" of LTT for lack of a better word. And he is a human being who will eventually get old and die... and long before it gets to that point he'll probably want to retire or step back and deal with other parts of life such as having a family and giving them time. Eventually he will need to either pass the mic, or drop it.

I would personally advise leaving on a high note and closing LTT completely while it is thought of fondly, and well liked. After all, the longer a show goes on the worse it gets... it a universal law

Keeping it alive and handing it off to other people just means that sooner or later it will fail, and that's not good news for the people who are working hard right now to make it what it is.

 

 

[Grimlakin]

Personal opinion here, but Linus is trading a lot on his name and good will built up over the years.  And it's pretty clear he's developed something of a deserved ego, yet it's in a few moments simple slipped into being too far.  If that is a calculated move on his part is up for debate.  Part of me is sure some of it is.   

 

I think they keep the LTT logo as it is a known thing.   Just drop the acronym and name the company LTT.  A leader that has worked VERY hard to get the company where it is, is a great thing.  But he's becoming a bit tone def if these moves are not calculated.   Just my humble opinion here.  

[Guest]

Clearly they're going to call it Riley's linked tech. 

Ask @RILEYISMYNAMEyourself. 

[-ism]

I don't really know much about the economics and business aspects of running and potentially purchasing a company like this, but I would imagine that a brand name that isn't so tightly linked to the founding member wouldn't be as easy to sell in the event that Linus wanted to completely sell off the business. Although I think it would be a funny joke/gag to refer to the CEO as "the current Linus" similarly to how there are multiple doctors in doctor who.

[IronMarauder]

On 8/21/2022 at 5:53 PM, Needfuldoer said:

Luke Tech Tips. 
 

They won’t even have to change the logo!

 

Seriously though, I think a rebrand is necessary at this point. If Linus has to be their star host, their growth and diversification potential are inherently limited by his available time and energy.
 

The audience should see the main hosts as an ensemble cast, not “Linus and those folks who help him out when he’s busy”, and the main channel should be branded as such.

LAnthony Tech Tips. Rolls off the tongue 

[Sarra]

Personally, I feel that part of the rebrand should include Linus stepping back a bit more, and maybe get some new on-screen talent.

 

Though... I'd totally watch Luke Tech Tips. Well, as long as he doesn't rant too much about long-overdue hammers and crap.

[itshurleytime]

KFC doesn't mean Kentucky Fried Chicken any more, LTT doesn't have to mean Linus Tech Tips either.

[Ravendarat]

13 minutes ago, itshurleytime said:

KFC doesn't mean Kentucky Fried Chicken any more, LTT doesn't have to mean Linus Tech Tips either.

This is a perfect example. You can just call the company LTT and refer to is as such. If anyone asks what it stands for you can simply answer "It used to be Linus Tech Tips but now its just LTT"