Back in pajamas.

By alice | November 22, 2005

So the name is changing back. This is good. It’s a humorous non-pompous name and it means something about blogging. I’m wearing my own pyjamas at this very moment, as it happens, and does that mean this blog is anything less than the most serious, knowledgeable, professional thing you ever read? Of course not.

If they had just been reading good marketing blogs like this and this one, instead of having “men in suits” send them to “a ‘branding’ company”, they would have got it right in the first place, but instead:

being as yet somewhat immature—at least as businesspeople–we did as we were told.

How sweet. But is this really Total Honesty, or more like Public Relations? Have PJM’s problems really been all about the name, or is that just the kind of damage-limitation “story” some other person in a suit might recommend? Because also if they were reading good marketing blogs- which are very high on the internationally most popular blogs list, in fact, which you would think they would have been researching- the Pajamas People might be mentioning some other problems that have been raised. Maybe.

And a step back to where you were before (in one respect only) isn’t actually-

a change for the better,

-as they put it, even if you do apologise profusely(and send “warm, fuzzy slippers”. Hmmm).What did they learn? To diss their investors in public? I think this shows an awkward conflict of values. It’s the perennial problem of today’s modern renegade: you want enough corporate legitimacy to raise cash, but on the other hand you just want to do your own thing, and a lot of that thing involves locating and shooting at suits. In the case of the political blogosphere, that’s arguably its entire whole identity and point.

Criticism is easy. Building something new and good of your own is a lot more difficult. It may involve a whole worldview shift to accomplish.

Pajamas link via Steve Den Beste (20051121), who also mentions a couple of remaining unsolved issues.

addendum: Jeff Jarvis’ post here made me wonder if I was being a twisted old cynic, but some of the commenters changed my mind back again. And yes, I will get bored with this story sooner rather than later, no doubt.

3 Comments »

3 Responses to “Back in pajamas.”

Donna Nook Says:
November 22nd, 2005 at 12:50 pm

I would follow that first link, but it tells me I need to log in with my username and password.
Maybe this tells us something?

gcotharn Says:
November 22nd, 2005 at 2:08 pm

Alice-

Your blog pics = luscious.

OSM = cue the Darth Vader theme music.

“pyjamas” = more fun than “pajamas”

gcotharn Says:
November 22nd, 2005 at 4:15 pm

Since it is asserted that Pajamas Media’s possibly preferred abbreviation of “PJM” also violates copywrite law, I suggest a new name for the venture:

“Copywrite Screw-up Media”