So, Liquid Web has officially wrung the neck of the LearnDash brand. And Kadence. And a bunch of others. Some people will tell you the brand isn’t dead — it’s still on the Liquid Web website somewhere. Technically true. So is my gym membership, and I haven’t been there in months.
But what even is a brand? It’s more than a name slapped on a logo. A brand is the feeling you get when you talk about it. The trust. Liquid Web is chucking everything into the same visual pot like it’s an all-you-can-eat WordPress buffet. One brand to rule them all. Very efficient. Very soulless.
LearnDash deserves its own identity, its own voice, its own social media channels. Shoving it under the Liquid Web umbrella is basically the same as stuffing WooCommerce under Automattic. It just… doesn’t work. The audiences are different, the trust is different, the whole vibe is different. Selling courses is a trade on it’s own.
Regarding LearnDash, this is a real loss for open source — because the closed-source competition in the LMS space is fierce.
The financial value of a brand.
A lot of plugin developers are in the race to sell when a great deal comes along. To sell -not only the value of the software and subscriptions- but also to sell the brand.
Good for them — can’t blame anyone for cashing out. But here’s the question: is Liquid Web actually building something valuable with all these sub-brands?
Spoiler: not really. The SEO value has collapsed. Anyone buying LearnDash now starts from almost zero. And as a savvy consumer, my thought is simple: “This is the end of the line.” If Liquid Web doesn’t run this the way users expect, that’s it. Game over.
On the bright side — maybe in a few years there’ll be some bargains to be had? 🛒 Or maybe someone could have a quiet word with WooCommerce about picking up Sensei and giving it a proper relaunch? Just throwing it out there. No reason. 😇
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