Sunday, January 24, 2016

When Almost Similar Brand Names Collide For Reasons Beyond Ownership


Wazzup Pilipinas!

"With social media leading the way, there is a strong pressure among millennials like myself to have a highly curated personal brand or online persona. It’s a reflection of who someone is, or who they want to be."


Inaangkin ng isang blogger ang Wazzup na branding? Di ko raw pwede gamitin ang domain na closely similar to his. Another blogger said I was mimicking daw the blog eh magkaiba naman ang content? If we purchase or ask all our friends to buy domains nearly similar to Wazzup, then paano na ngayon yun? So here goes a lengthy rant because I just need to put this all out of my system. Please bear with me.

This blogger gave up Wazzup Philippines before, but only when Wazzup Pilipinas was under a bad light. He wanted to avoid being associated with us. However, he was continuously using it for a long time when WazzupPilipinas was working well with very little issues. When the wheel turned, he then decided to re-brand into a name that is also closely similar. Lol!

For everyone's enlightenment, that's the real reason why he changed his Wazzup Philippines domain to Wazzup.ph. Until now he still owns the old domain even though he knows it somehow affects our own domain too. Now he talks like he did me a favor, when he was the one who changed his WazUp Philippines into a WazzUp Philippines even before he made it into a WazzUp.PH.

Unless one can have full claim on the word Wazzup, then by all means, I will drop it. But until then, I have my reasons why there is a Wazzup.com.ph out there.

If it helps, I can always change the title of the blog to Wazzup.com.ph to satisfy their reasoning. Kaya nga hindi ginamit yun ay dahil to avoid further confusion with the existing brands. If only one of the bashers exerted the effort to ask what's the reason behind this issue, then tapos na sana.



He offered to drop the entire blog name before...but backed out. Now he complains when I want to further use the Wazzup branding? Alangan namang I use a totally different branding to expand or grow. That's like going back to zero.

Now, he refuses to discuss with me privately. He only wants to show off to his so called friends all yearning for the opportunity to bash and bully online.

I don't really know how the situation affects a blog... But I never even bothered asking the same when we had similar blog names before. I let him be, kahit papalit-palit siya ng blog domain. Di ako nagbago. Now that there's an error on my part, ako naman pinag-iinitan. If he only asked the demands earlier before posting a damaging thread for all his friends to bash me, baka napagbigyan ko pa siya. Online bullying is something I would not tolerate.

Have I asked him to change his domain? Ang request ko pa nga before ay mag-combine kami. He was sort of interested with the idea before but when the issues arise, he obviously did not push through. It only means I never saw him as a competition. I only used the new domain because I was experimenting on themes and plug-ins that I want to use in my old domain. Kaysa masira ko yung existing blog ko, I might as well just play with the one that I could no longer redeem. (which is another story that's private).

As I've said before, the creation of the wazzup.com.ph was a mistake... it was our first time to use GoDaddy and we fumbled on the creation steps. We could no longer undo it no matter how hard we argued to cancel it.

I do not know what are the negative effects of such similarities. Di naman ako expert sa mga technical stuff na yan. Kahit SEO di ko alam. I also should not stop anybody to create whatever domain they want. It's everyone's right to make their own blog with their own choice of name. I should not argue no matter how they name it. Unless they have an IP rights over it, no law can stop anybody in doing so.

I just write, post stories, help promote brands, attend events, and never even measure or compare my stats with anybody. Have you seen me boasts of my views or hits lately? As long as there are people interested in collaborating or asking for my help, I am open as long as I am available and free to spend time for them.

Again, nag-assume sila na intentional ang ginawa ko. I already explained what happened but he refused to accept it. So be it kung nagmamatigas siya.

Who's riding the popularity? Not me. My blog can stand by itself. I've proven that so many times, and it has been recognized so many times. If you want showbiz coverage, this blogger is the right man. I feature mostly different content. Bakit kailangang mag-away? The world is a big place and the so called confusion is very minuscule. If you believe your blog is good then you have nothing to fear from copycats or the likes. Most people are wise enough to eventually discern which is which.

Have they not even wondered why I never promoted wazzup.com.ph commercially? I keep on using Wazzup Pilipinas ...never promoted the other. For why it exists, I have given the reasons but he refused to accept it. Now, how can you easily drop a domain?..I think that lasts for a year. If you must know, we already made previous attempts to counter that creation, We even quarreled with the creator of that domain but they never acted and only ignored us after they got our payment. If only these bashers asked, then hindi na nila sana ako inaaway.

Basahin nga nila definition nung blog...It's a personal journal...a diary. ..and even under construction. It never aimed to compete commercially ..that is why I never promoted it to PRs and event organizers. It does not contain any brand or company promotion.

I cannot stop him from doing what he wants to do. It's his life. He should not let others influence him to trek a path he does not want to take. It's his decision alone.

Whatever would make him sleep peacefully at night. If that would suffice as a retribution for him, then he can create or use any domain. I am simply letting the new domain expire on its own lifetime...since I no longer have the power to redeem my payment for it.

July 2015 pa yung domain na yun pero di ko siya promoted commercially...What does it mean?. It means I have no intention in using it as a promotions blog. Sayang lang kasi ang bayad sa domain kung hindi ko gagamitin for at least personal use in testing themes and plug-ins.

I have my own identity that is already recognized...I don't need to ride anybody's popularity

Blogging was and is never my bread and butter. Do some research on my background and the jobs I previously hold. If I wanted to earn big, blogging is never the best way.

AGAIN, this is another case of assuming negative intentions without even bothering to ask privately. Bakit ba tayo ganyan at hindi natin magawang mag-usap privately? Pataasan ng ere na lang palagi. This is the reason why I changed my bloggers group name para di sila maapektuhan ng mga negativities that these people spread against their fellow bloggers like me.

The world is so big and full of people with enough intellect to appropriately discern their preferred brands. If ever they commit a mistake at first, they will eventually bounce back towards the right one. You can all have all the glory you want. In my case, I have never competed. Do you see my raving for Likes and similar exchanges in FB groups? This is why when Ted was still using Wazzup Philippines. I still invite him to my own events. Never even thought of competing against him.

Riding in the popularity? Eh showbiz lang naman talaga ang reason kung bakit popular sa masa ang mga ganyang klaseng blogs.

We all know showbiz-related blogs are a no-brainer to promote. The social media fans themselves are the ones who share the articles about their celebrity idols. That has been proven so many times.

But it takes dedication to be able to identify who those kapamilya, kapuso and kapatid talents are. So it takes a blogger, or a team, who has a lot of time and dedication to put it all together in a seemingly viral and trending path. I salute those who are able to put direction to an online entertainment publication.

If they want to monopolize all Wazzup-similar domains, then they can buy mine and all other similar domains instead rather than asking for it for free.

Many also said a lot of negative things about him and the other bloggers, especially within his network. But I still made friends with him. I never resort to believing until I personally witnessed it. But then again I am just too friendly to even bother holding a grudge.

I guess noone is free from ridicule. Even the pioneers have their own nightmarish tales against other bloggers, may they be newbies or seniors. But I keep asserting that our blog is our own world. Therefore our own rules will apply. No matter how unpopular that decision may be. It takes guts to be able to stand on your own without being influenced by others on how you should write, act or engage with others. After all, man-made ethics are purely subject to our own perception.

It is a sad state for bloggers who resort in making these issues a wretched display of aggression without trying to resolve with the involved first. Most of us are only brave when confronted online but could not even look at each other straight in the eye when met face to face.

His demands are crazy. I'm still fighting against the one who charged me for that domain mistake. So if he wants to help me quarrel with them you are welcome to assist. I will surely need additional help.

Regardless of the situation, I will still stick to my belief. Unless, someone can legally kick me from where I stand, I will initiate the first move. Otherwise, he has made this so minuscule issue into something too complicated to address humanely.

Creating the thread was damaging already. If he thinks his friends are with him on this, then he should think again because most of the people who sided with him on the thread were the same ones who previously bad-mouthed him and other bloggers as well. In fact, they are sending me a lot of PMs while his ridiculous thread has been ongoing. Tsk tsk tsk.

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