LV= Is The New Name. Where Is The Website?

Liverpool Victoria has announced their £2m investment in rebranding. The result? LV=

I read about this in The Telegraph this morning with interest because of my interests in branding; as a paying investor and as a search marketer with interests in personal finance.

LV= (LV equals) is one of those rebrands that I suspect will give rise to some discussion and possibly some derision. It’s a bit like MoreTh>n who also chose to include a mathematical operator (or meta character) in their brand name and I’m not convinced it works. To me, LV= and MoreTh>n for that matter creates confusion and uncertainty – how am I supposed to pronounce these names? Furthermore, online, how am I supposed to search for a brand such as LV=?

Apparently, Liverpool Victoria only had 2% spontaneous brand awareness. I’d like to hear what improvement they record in the months ahead. I like the new logo and I hope it works for them. The V looks a bit like a heart to me and I surmise that the company thinks so too by looking at some of the graphics on the company website. According to the company, this is what LV= means

The letters L and V have evolved from our heritage as Liverpool Victoria. The equals sign is a contemporary expression of our mutuality. As a “Society of Equals” we are wholly owned by our members and we have a “one member one vote” approach, unlike plcs with their institutional shareholders.Changing our brand name to something shorter and more memorable, that incorporates in a modern way our values of mutuality, we believe maintains the best aspects of our heritage but sharpens up our delivery.

Of course, I can search for LV= (current results). But does it bring back a relevant result for LV= or Liverpool Victoria? Well no, not at the moment. LV= have at least had the forethought to include a paid search ad to capture unsatisfied searchers. Andrew Girdwood, who I understand works in corporate search marketing, has recently discussed similar issues relating to Lynx For Men.

I know that LV= offer an affiliates programme and brand name bidding is not permitted so that should stop any unwelcome brand related, affiliate traffic. I imagine that domain name flippers will be looking to add to their portfolios though (an area that I have no knowledge of).

I wonder what the URL of the official site will become – or will it just remain as is?

Search Marketing Liverpool Victoria Branding