Rebranding lessons from the Carson Daly show

.As a student, I'm usually awake at random hours of the night writing papers and what not. As a result I watch alot of late-night talk shows, my favorite being Conan of course! Generally, I would always switch channels whenever Last Call with Carson Daly came on. Not because I dislike Carson or anything, I actually grew up enjoying Carson on MTV. But honestly, Last Call just sucked. From Carson's lame attempts at stand-up comedy type jokes to the awkward half-way scripted interviews to the generic Men in Black suit, it was painful for me and I'm sure for him :-)

But a few weeks ago, Last Call debuted a brand new format of the show...and surprise, surprise it's actually quite decent. It features Carson on the road at concerts, back-stage at shows and interviewing his guests in a much cozier and personal setting. The editing makes the show seem edgy and Carson looks comfortable in jeans and tees most times. I actually find myself enjoying the show now.

Folks in the Twittosphere seem to agree with me too:

"Last Call with Carson Daly is now a respectable show. He ditched the typical late-night format. The show's new focus plays to his strengths"

"love the new carson daly format. worth a tivo. lots of debut performances and sit down chats. way less douchey"

"Carson Daly's new format is so much better for him. He was terrible as a formal talk show host."

"I don't watch Last Call w Carson Daly due to its douchiness but must admit the newformat aces."

All in all I probably came across one person that disagreed with this sentiment. It would be interesting to see if his ratings improve with the new format. But I think that this is a great example of how rebranding should work. I still don't know if this format is permanent but it really does play to his strengths as an interviewer and is how I think all organizations should approach a brand overhaul. A new look and feel does nothing if it doesn't play up the brand's strengths. In addition, why do companies try to be something they're not? They try to force their square brand into a round peg just to be edgy. I'm not saying companies shouldn't try new things in marketing their brands but sometimes a complete 180-turnaround fails miserably. So what works for Skittles may not work for a computer company. And by the same token, the image that worked for singer Beyonce may not have worked for singer Rihanna. So yes, I think Carson's new and improved looks is a good little lesson for companies that try to force their change down consumers' throats.
That's my little rant for today.