From To: Airtel Logo Change: Does It Make Marketing Sense

Airtel logo change: does it make marketing sense.
All of us have been hit in the face by the new logo and brand identity assumed by Airtel
recently. There is no street, no traffic junction, and no major hording that's left untouched by
the striking red and white combination of its unique new design.
From to
Why is Airtel doing what it is doing? And how is it doing it? What does it hope to gain from
this? Does logo looks similar to other brands (I think there is a grammatical mistake – Does
this logo.. / Does its logo ..)? Let’s unravel the mystery!!!
India’s largest private telecom operator Airtel has launched a new logo (It has already
mentioned in the 1st line that Airtel has launched new logo, rephrase this as - India’s largest
private telecom operator Airtel will be using this logo in… ) which we will be used in 19
countries in Asia and Africa where the company operates now. It also said that it has crossed
200 million customers.
How much importance does a logo or its signature tune have for a brand? And that too for the
brand who have (has) established its supremacy over 15 glorifying years. The reason lies in
its recent acquisitions and global footprints. Recently Airtel had acquired African operations
of Kuwait’s Zain Group in 15 countries at an enterprise value of $10.7 billion. So, this Re-
branding activity is the first step in their plan to achieve a new International Identity. A
whooping 300 crs ( give the source for these figures – 300crs, 200 mn customers, 10.7 bn)
were “well spent” for this flamboyant venture.
Logo - Old v/s New:
Its old logo consisted of both red and white colour interchangeably. The prominent part was
that the word ‘Air’ was written in black with a white background while ‘Tel’ was written in
white on a red background. Sometimes they also included their slogan “Express Yourself”
with the logo.
New logo looks more like a curved ‘A’ with little bit of highlighting to depict what they call
Dynamism and warm and friendly appeal of Airtel. According to them ( Airetl ? ), this new
logo represents a dynamic force of energy which would bring the company and customers
closer.
Why on earth did they do this? (the reason has been already mentioned - The reason lies in its
recent acquisitions and global footprints) .When Vodafone came in India, despite the huge
market competition, they felt pretty comfortable in their skin!!
Isn’t this logo has a lot of similarities with existing brands? Some say it looks similar to that
of Videocon logo upside down with different colour. In another way, it also looks like a
mixture of Uninor, MTC( MTS or MTC ?? ) and Vodafone. Even the colour and the
background make it very similar to its arch rival Vodafone. If you want to still wonder why,
here is one fact: A London based company Brand Union has designed this new logo.
Interestingly, Brand Union is associated with Vodafone’s logo as well. Amusing know?
Ad, Tagline and Signature tune:
‘Dil jo chahe paas laye’ - This is the new tagline depicted in an Ad which features foreign
models in an foreign location. I know you want it to be a global brand but when you come to
my house, I would just like to get connected to someone who is like me !!
The previous signature tune of Airtel by Oscar winner A R Rahman is probably the most
downloaded ringtone of our country. It was very catchy and instantly connected with people.
In spite of receiving such respect from customers, they went ahead and changed it. The new
tune has some words which appear alien. Though it appears more peppy and international in
approach, it has killed the entire ‘Airtel Experience’ its previous tune had set up. ( The new
tune is only kind of a remake of the old signature tune. Its true tht is has a feel of world music
in it. But the basic tune is the same. )
Money Matters:
How much would this have cost the company? A better question would be - how much would
it have cost if the change were not made by the company? I think it was a Poor attempt by
Airtel to target the international audience. I wish instead they would have spent the 300 cr at
improving their customer services and infrastructure. Everyone will still go for Airtel because
they are still one of the best. But then today they majorly disappointed the country! It
looks like in an attempt to please the international audience, they have forgotten about their
home country itself!
All said and given ( All said and done ?? ) , it is up to us how we take this change. As they
say, “Timely change is priceless, Delayed change is worthless”.( I didn’t get the relevance of
this phrase here ) Now time will decide the future of this venture the Airtel has embarked.
Now who knows where this journey will lead them, do you? ( dude .. why r u askin a
question to the readers yaar .. they are supposed to be less informed than u regarding this !!
You r the author !)
A general comment – Write abt the current logo change of Starbucks, Mention any previous
such stories if any .
- Avinash Haryan
MMS (2010-12)
SIMSREE

From To: Airtel Logo Change: Does It Make Marketing Sense

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

From To: Airtel Logo Change: Does It Make Marketing Sense

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Airtel logo change: does it make marketing sense.

Logo - Old v/s New:

Ad, Tagline and Signature tune:

You might also like