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# BSR1
## Community Sentiment Report | Branding
###### tags: `reports`

Since the launch of Symbol, it has become clear that our branding approach needs to be better defined. This community sentiment report has been commissioned to help in this cause.

In this report we will:

* Present community sentiment summaries, with links to the full reports, for all language-based communities
* Examine how the NEM & Symbol brands are seen by 3rd parties
* Present the rebrand case studies for NEO, Polygon, and Firo
* Present conclusions on community sentiment regarding branding
* Note some additional next steps to be taken

**TLDR:**

1. The NEM and Symbol brands lack clarity.
2. The community overwhelmingly supports placing brand focus on Symbol.

**Language Group Summaries**

The international community managers and moderators worked hard to get as much data on community sentiment as possible from all around the world. Their sources included but were not limited to:

• Community questionnaires – Google Form
• Twitter polls
• NEM Forum posts
• NEM Telegram polls
• Partner and exchange communications
• Personal experiences

In some cases, the sample size was very low (less than 50 people). Despite the best efforts of the moderators and community managers to collect opinions, very few people chose to contribute. The small sample sizes therefore should not be considered representative of each language group’s sentiments.

Please note that results for Hindi were too low to be considered worthwhile. The reports for the Indonesian and Portuguese communities will be submitted by 28 July.

**Bangla**

With over 265 million speakers globally, Bangla is the 7th most spoken language in the world. It is the native language of Bangladesh and the most spoken language in India after Hindi. Community moderator, Samiur, a native Bangla and Hindi speaker, compiled this report, taking feedback from 63 respondents.

The main points are:

• NEM is associated with Symbol
• NEM is equally related to XEM and XYM
• NEM should be rebranded
• Uncertainty over whether NIS1 should be rebranded
• Division over whether NEM or Symbol should be the flagship brand
• More focus should be on Symbol

*For the full report:* https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSerctG09PW2YdZk6OjazJmTBBf7W0T-H87LOdByLfij68ZhoA/viewanalytics

**Chinese**

With over a billion native speakers, Chinese (Mandarin and Cantonese) ranks as the 2nd most spoken language in the world. Community moderators, DTBYChris and Gandora, both worked hard to compile this report, taking feedback from 63 respondents.

The main points are:

• NEM should not be rebranded
• Division over whether NIS1 should be rebranded
• Symbol should not be rebranded
• Division over whether Symbol or NEM should be the flagship brand

*For the full report, click [[here](https://github.com/symbol/xymbassadors/blob/main/Community_Sentiment_Report_Chinese_Community.md)](https://):*

**English**

The dominant global language, English is spoken all over the world.

The main points are:

• NEM is most closely related to XEM (65%), followed by XEM and XYM equally (25%)
• NEM should not be rebranded (but there is division on this)
• NIS1 should be rebranded (57% in favour)
• Symbol should be the flagship brand (73% in favour)

*For the full report:*: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSc0CO23WY9kRPSFNOsAlmC2Lzr0GErj1ESmYLA9XgJ8yJlNjA/viewanalytics

**Italian**

Spoken in over 30 countries around the world, there are 85 million native speakers, making Italian the 20th most spoken language in the world. Community moderator, Alessio, along with great help from Marco, QuasarBlue, Angel, and Klim, compiled this report, taking feedback from 63 respondents.

The main points are:

• Symbol brand is clearly linked with XYM
• Symbol should not be rebranded
• Symbol should be the flagship brand
• NIS1 should be rebranded
• NEM is associated with XEM (56%) and XEM & XYM together (44%)

*For the full report:* https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfYeZAVixtdx3jja76c7AW2LcaCyWRMNXlWPwDyHFeh-JYt4A/viewanalytics

**Japanese**

With over 124 million speakers, Japanese is the 9th most spoken language in the world. Japanese speakers also represent the biggest community group in our ecosystem. Community moderators, Mikun and Radio, compiled this report.

The main points are:

• Symbol is closely associated with XYM
• 66.5% associate NEM with XEM; and 30.4% associate NEM with XEM and XYM together
• 55.5% think NEM should be rebranded, 44.5% think it should stay as it is.
• Similar division on whether the NIS1 brand should be rebuilt, slightly in favour.
• 60% think the Symbol brand should be rebuilt
• Symbol should be the flagship brand (85%)

*For the full report:* https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdOODuM879Ba-W_E-vz2eiIj3_yYsO_oaftWftQq7hwkolewA/viewanalytics

**Korean**

With over 75 million native speakers, Korean is the 13th most spoken language in the world. Community moderator, David Ham, compiled this report.

The main points are:

• NIS/NIS is unknown
• Most Korean people associate NEM with XEM
• Most Korean people do not know that Symbol was spawned from NEM.
• Korean people believe that NEM and XEM are old, and only relevant because of lots of exchange listings.
• They believe that XYM will take over NEM XEM.

*For the full report, click [[here](https://github.com/symbol/xymbassadors/blob/main/Community%20Sentiment%20Report%20Korea.docx)](https://):*

**Russian**

With over 228 million native speakers, Russian is the 7th most spoken language in the world. Community moderators, Klim and Angel, compiled this report.

The main points are:

• Symbol should not be rebranded
• NIS1 should be rebranded
• NEM should be rebranded
• Symbol is associated with XYM, not NEM

*For the full report:* https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfEfLNyRlEBAcs3kkM_1rx-ZN1tEm3IVKPgy6PhcIkCTkucVQ/viewanalytics

https://github.com/symbol/xymbassadors/blob/main/BrandSentiment/RegionalReports/CSR-Russian.md

**Spanish**

With over 540 million native speakers, Spanish is the 3rd most spoken language in the world. Community moderators, Alexis and Carlos, compiled this report.

The main points are:

• People see “Symbol” as standalone – not related to NEM
• Symbol should be the flagship brand
• They want more promotion of Symbol
• Symbol should not be rebranded
• NIS1 should be rebranded – this brand is relatively unknown.
• NEM is connected to XEM.

*For the full report:* https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeBwGfFk4mfvCpFydevIE3J9byl5643A4a8j27k9zJtGM-A2A/viewanalytics

**Turkish**

With over 75 million native speakers, Turkish is the 15th most spoken language in the world. Community moderators, Tolga and Hexagon, compiled this report.

The main points are:

• 46% of the people (39 out of 85) associate "NEM" with “Symbol”
• NEM is clearly linked and used interchangeably with XEM
• NIS1 should be rebranded
• Symbol should be rebranded

*For the full report, click [[here](https://github.com/symbol/xymbassadors/blob/main/Community_sentiment_Report_Turkish)](https://):*

**Indonesian**

Insufficient results were received to draw any meaningful conclusion.

**Hindi**

Insufficient results were received to draw any meaningful conclusion.

## NEM & Symbol Brand Expression by 3rd Parties
By documenting the manner in which our brands are presented by 3rd parties, we can better understand the existing brand messaging. The manner in which our brand is displayed by others shows how they interpret our branding, as well as how their customers are introduced to our brands.

**CoinMarketCap**

CoinMarketCap is the world's most popular "price checker" websites and has become the go-to source for initial research into any coin, whether it be the one with the most exciting technical prospects or the one that's the most undervalued. Understanding how Coinmarketcap presents the NEM and Symbol brands will help us understand our existing brand messaging.

**"Nobody knows about NIS or NIS1"**

This argument has been made at various times by community members. Research outside of the NEM community reveals this to be true.
This document will highlight a small few of the total existing examples.

Below is a screenshot from the NEM page on Coinmarketcap. This is how the most popular price check site in the world - and all their visitors - see us. As you can see there is no mention of NIS or NIS1 on the page. It is an unknown brand according to Coinmarketcap. The terms "NEM" and "XEM" appear to be used synonymously. It is clear that they see the name of the blockchain as "NEM" and its native token as "XEM".
This is the case with virtually all 3rd parties that mention NEM.


**CoinGecko:**

So let's examine the second most popular crypto comparison site in the world: CoinGecko. Just like CoinMarketCap, they see the name of the NIS1 blockchain as being called "NEM" and its native token called "XEM". No mention of NIS or NIS1 again here. They don't know what it is. That means that nobody reading about NEM for the first time at CoinGecko will know what NIS/NIS1 is either.


**Cointelegraph**

So what do other crypto people read when they are trying to get the latest news on what's going on? Cointelegraph is a very popular resource. Founded in 2013, it is the leading independent digital media resource covering a wide range of news on blockchain technology, crypto assets, and emerging fintech trends.

Yet again, as shown in the example here, there are numerous indications of "NEM" being synonymous with "XEM". That is how Cointelegraph and its readership see NEM and XEM. They don't know that NIS1 exists, it seems.


**Business Insider**

Business Insider is a fast-growing business site with deep financial, media, tech, and other industry verticals. Launched in 2007 by former top-ranked Wall Street analyst Henry Blodget and DoubleClick executives Dwight Merriman and Kevin Ryan, the site is now the largest business news site on the web. Both they and all of their readers do not know that NIS/NIS1 exists either. They use NEM to refer to the blockchain AND the token. XEM is not used at all here, yet there is no confusion about which token is being referred to.


**TradingView:**

Another big source of sentiment on NIS/NIS1 brand awareness. The TradingView social network of 30 million traders and investors using charts and analysis tools to spot opportunity in global markets. Trading view is commonly used by traders to follow favorite assets, find trading ideas, chat with others, spot trends, and place trades. Both they and all of their readers do not know that NIS/NIS1 exists either. They use NEM to refer to the blockchain and XEM to refer to the token.


**MSN:**

550 million monthly readers. 180 countries. 31 languages. And $1B in sustainable revenue returned to the news industry since 2014.
They use "NEM" to refer to the blockchain and XEM to refer to the token.


**Zaif:**

Zaif is a prominent Japanese cryptocurrency exchange, and one of those licensed and regulated by the Japanese Financial Services Agency (FSA).


**Coincheck:**

Coincheck is a cryptocurrency exchange and digital wallet company. It was founded in 2012 and is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan.


**Coinbase:**

Coinbase is arguably the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, with over 56 million users across 100+ countries worldwide.


**Securities . io**

Securities.io is the leading news website for security tokens and STOs.


**Coinjournal:**

Established in 2014, CoinJournal was set up to help educate and inform people about all of the amazing technological advances that cryptocurrency and the blockchain are providing.


**Coin360:**

COIN360 is a cryptocurrency and crypto exchange live data aggregator. Their goal is to deliver vital market data in a visually engaging manner.


Our own messaging for years implied that NEM = XEM: There are still many of these crumbs on official sources.


Ledger makes a clear distinction between NEM and Symbol, while still demonstrating the relation:


**Atomic Wallet:**


**NEM Flash:**

This is a blog run by a long time community member. I find this example particularly important, because in this post, he quotes a portion of the telegam pinned message from around the Symbol snapshot & launch. Even then, the message given was that NEM was a blockchain and synonymous with its token, XEM. We also demonstrated that a new blockchain was going to be released, it has a new name - Symbol (XYM)


All of the top search results on youtube are videos demonstrating NEM and XEM as synonymous:


**Yahoo:**


**Investopedia**

Investopedia is a financial website headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1999, Investopedia provides investment dictionaries, advice, reviews, ratings, and comparisons of financial products such as securities accounts. Investopedia has more than 32,000 articles and reaches 20 million unique monthly viewers.


**Gate dot io:**

Gate.io is one of the global top 10 cryptocurrency exchanges with authentic trading volume.


**Kucoin:**

Kucoin is one of the world's best known cryptocurrency exchanges.


**Bittrex:**

Bittrex is one of the world's best known cryptocurrency exchanges.


There are countless examples like this. Literally thousands of articles, blogs, and other pieces of information have been published indicating the sameness of NEM and XEM.

### Third Party Brand Expression | Conclusion

By reviewing the NEM & Symbol brand expression by 3rd parties, it is clear that the predominant view is of NEM being synonymous with XEM and Symbol synonymous with XYM.

If we can align our own brand messaging with what is already commonly understood, we can build upon all the literature that exists, avoid expensive and time consuming communications with 3rd parties, and overall create a clear branding environment in which both XEM and XYM can thrive.

---

## Protocol and Token Synonymity:

There have been standards set by other projects in the crypto space. One of them being the semantic relationship between protocols and their native tokens.

The standard is to maintain synonymity.

"Bitcoin" is synonymous with "BTC". "Ethereum" is synonymous with "ETH". If someone says "I can pay you with Cardano" - we know they intend to pay with ADA.  

We want the same clarity with our brands. If someone says "I hold NEM" - It should be obvious they have XEM. And if they ask "How can I stake Symbol" - It should be clear the question is regarding XYM Harvesting.

Likewise, when news about Symbol is released, it should be released as news about Symbol - Not as news "from NEM" or "by NEM" or under any umbrella term that would muddy the understand of which coin is being spoken of.  

The developers that built NEM also built Symbol. NEM is a part of the Symbol story, and always will be. The Symbol brand will build off that reputation - but we don't have to, and we can't, tell the entire story and history of something via branding.  

# Case studies

Problems with branding are nothing new in the crypto/blockchain world. Therefore it may be instructive to see how and why other other communities handled the challenge.

**Matic / Polygon**

Polygon, previously known as Matic, has undergone 2 rebrandings. The first rebrand was not a change of name, but an update to the logo, as the original logo was simple black and white text.  

The second rebrand included a change of name from "Matic" to "Polygon". This name change was to coincide with a shift in project focus.

In researching Matic / Polygon, we found some points unnecessarily confusing, for example, The token remains MATIC, but under the project name of Polygon.
However, despite some confusion on branding, Polygon has continued to grow in adoption and awareness.

**NEO**

NEO, previously known as Antshares, rebranded in part because they felt that the Ant-themed branding didn't give the professional appearance they wanted, nor did ants represent their product vision.  

Near the time of rebranding, Antshares was also in arrangements with Alibaba and Microsoft. This may be a contributing factor to rebrand to a more technical imagery and "enterprise" brand appearance.

**Firo**

Firo, previously known as Zcoin, underwent a rebranding. The decision for this rebrand was largely due to a brand confusion with the project ZCash and Zerocoin.  

Loss of brand recognition was a consideration, but was decided to be of minimal negative consequence given the existing social metrics and market capitalization.  

Rueben from Firo discusses the rebrand here: https://youtu.be/W433zQ61YEM

### Case Studies Conclusion

In each of the case studies, we found clear reasoning behind the rebrandings. These causes include: lack of brand recognition, confusion of brand identity, change of protocol focus, and to improve existing brand image.

Each case study did show some situational similarity with the NEM and Symbol brands. However,
1. XEM and XYM are not usually confused with other coins.
2. There is no "baggage" or poor reputation to escape.
3. NEM brand recognition is very high
4. Symbol has capitalized very well on NEM brand recognition

# Community Sentiment:

There is a strong commonality between the questionnaires.

Here we will review the results from the 5 language groups which received the most responses from the community.
This question group is regarding rebranding.


About 75% support putting brand focus on Symbol, and want to see more Symbol branded content, products, and use cases rather than have them NEM branded.

About 50% said they support rebranding "NEM", and 65% support rebranding "NIS1"  
These results show that there is confusion about NEM and NIS1 branding within the NEM & Symbol communities.

There is one outlier in the results, that being that Japanese respondents showed majority support for a rebrand of Symbol. This is in contrast with other language groups majority unsupportive of a Symbol rebrand.

# Conclusion:


Based on all the information collected, the branding recommendations are as follows:

1. NEM is a blockchain. XEM is its native coin.  
2. Symbol is a blockchain. XYM is its native coin.  
3. Put focus on Symbol brand building.  
4. "NEM" should continue as a brand, but considering it is to be a subchain of Symbol, it is not deserving of brand focus.  
5. "NIS1" is not to be a part of the branding. It is the name of the client, as catapult is the name of the Symbol client.  
6. "NEM" can be used synonymously with "XEM"  
7. "Symbol" can be used synonymously with "XYM"

It would be unadvisable to make major brand changes without first addressing the issues regarding clarity and vision. This is what the recommendations in this conclusion are intended to address.

Support for a rebrand of NEM and Symbol was divided at nearly 50/50.

The questionnaire gave no specification on what a rebrand would entail. We find it safe to assume that a certain percentage of these that opposed a rebrand, may have shown opposition to a complete rebrand, but would be unopposed to minor branding changes.

Perhaps after the initial steps to bring brand clarity, and make Symbol branding a priority, we will want to conduct another questionnaire and see how the sentiment has changed.

At that point, the community could also explore what a rebrand would look like. A rebrand may or may not include a name change. It could merely be an update to brand colors and imagery, or messaging and vision.

# Next Steps:

We will submit this report to the core team for consideration, encouraging these additional actions:

1. Update the websites with the proposed branding outline.
2. Update branding terminology throughout our documentation.
3. Update, create, or restructure the social media accounts to allow for better Symbol brand support.