Rewind: MSN Messenger

MSN Messenger was once the favoured chat programme for teens everywhere. Yet, it fell into disuse when more comprehensive social networks were introduced. Could a shift in brand positioning have saved the brand from obsolescence?

Alex Flahive, digital manager, Greater Manchester Fire & Rescue Service

MSN Messenger was a great platform, however it failed to evolve into a social media platform. I don’t think it was as simple as branding, it was a fundamental failure to innovate. From my memory as a former user of the software, Myspace arrived followed by Facebook. These didn’t completely destroy MSN Messenger until both platforms introduced their own messaging services. Facebook obviously also launched a mobile app early on which confirmed its dominant position. You can look at Whatsapp now and compare it to MSN Messenger and they are similar in usability – but again this shows how MSN Messenger’s inability to go mobile was a failure.

Molly Rowan Hamilton, strategist, Pearlfisher

Many aspects of today’s social media and chat platforms have elements of MSN Messenger – think uploading a profile picture, customised emojis or ‘nudging’ your contacts. It therefore seems bizarre that the brand doesn’t own that space now.
It’s perhaps likely that its downfall was due to failing to provide an integrated experience that other chat platforms and social media sites have, as well as an undeniable lack of understanding of the cultural shifts in communication that would shape the Millennial disposition and the need for constant and immediate contact, self expression and interconnection. A repositioning might have confronted and then solved this problem. However some critics argue that it was MSN Messenger’s numerous rebranding and repositioning attempts just before its closure that led to consumers feeling fed up. Its repositioning as something akin to a social media platform failed to attract younger consumers. Instead it had a clumpy interface and poor brand association.

The value of repositioning MSN Messenger would be in moving it on from simply a messaging function and towards the creation of a bigger emotional purpose of connecting people. MSN should have sought to allow consumers to forge an online network and community and allowed them to build real and valuable connections with people digitally, rather than just messaging people that they already knew. In failing to do this, MSN Messenger allowed social networking sites to steal its audiences because they provided the key element as well as a propensity to simply chat.

Holly Gupta, communications and engagement graduate, Wellcome Trust

I am fairly new to the world of communications so I can’t bring years of experience to this. However, I used to love logging on to MSN Messenger as a 14 year-old. At a time before we had smartphones (or even mobiles) this was the best way to stay in touch with friends after school, and I used to spend whole evenings glued to the messaging service.

Soon, however, it was superseded by social networks, which didn’t only allow you to message your friends. MySpace, Bebo and, finally, Facebook offered much more – a web of connections and a whole range of ways to get in touch, with messaging as an extra that was taken for granted. Perhaps this is where MSN Messenger got left behind and why it would have taken much more than a rebrand to save it. Skype, another Microsoft product I use and like, has continued Messenger’s legacy to some extent. For me, however, it will never have the evocative association with friends and fun that MSN Messenger had and that Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp have for teenagers today.

Nik Govier, co-founder, Unity

MSN Messenger attempted domination of too many trends. In its twilight years it launched huge emoticons that covered the entire screen, a gaming service (with no parental controls) and a games channel. A brand strategy that focused on one key trend could have saved MSN Messenger’s skin. If it had built upon its instant video sharing service, it could have rivalled Facebook Messenger or WhatsApp. Alternatively, it could have owned group chat, something that WhatsApp has championed in the last few years. Instead, like many brands before it, it tried to be too many things at once and as a result its brand strategy became as confused as its customers. Microsoft bought Skype in 2011 – one of the world’s most popular instant messaging services – so it’s not all bad!