Friday, December 3, 2010

Another Logo Bites The Dust!

Brands, which really belong to customers, would be better served if they improved the service along with a makeover..

Change of face: Airtel gets a new logo as 3G services arrive. Sunil B. Mittal at a press conference in New Delhi to launch the new logo and signature tune. - KAMAL NARANG

On November 18, 2010 I was near Hampi and opened a newspaper only to find the newspaper carrying a jacket (on its front page) unveiling the new logo of Airtel, my mobile service provider ever since I can remember. Interestingly the new logo was malleable enough to be part of that newspaper's logo in the ad announcing the logo change, where the new stylised shape replaced the ‘o'. Of course, you could forgive my ignorance for thinking that it should really be cueing an ‘a', not that anyone really bothers about what I say or write. India's leading mobile service operator was going to town with new creatives announcing the new logo not only in the paper that I talked about but in several others and supplemented the burst with TV spots for the launch of 3G services with commercials shot internationally. Media reports suggest Airtel is spending a miserly (!) amount of Rs 300 crore on the campaign. Changing a brand's identity clearly means a big investment for the marketer and big business for the advertising agency and the brand identity firm that creates the logo. In the same breath I need to mention that in my view brands are taking the step all too frequently these days irrespective of whether such a change is necessary and for the better.



Is change the order of the day?

Suddenly brands in India seem to be diffident about their identities and are in a hurry to shed them for newer, sexier and (naturally) more expensive ones. Over the last couple of years I can certainly recall brands such as Shoppers Stop, Godrej, Ceat and Canara Bank changing their logos (may the ones I have not mentioned kindly forgive me) as they probably felt their logos did not represent their current standing adequately.

Why do brands change their identities?

“Our logo is dated and India is full of young customers. We wish to create a new identity that will be attractive to young customers.” (And what about poor old customers like us who patronised you, old logo et al?)

“We have changed our business focus and the new identity represents that.” (At least this time we hope you know what you want to do!)

“We are offering a whole new range of services.” (Are you now!)

And so the story goes on. In my view, marketers tend to be more worried about their identity than the image consumers carry of them. To clarify, identity is easily manageable, starting with a logo, a Web page, brochures, advertising – in other words all communication that the company wishes to convey. This in short is the company's view, the way it sees itself. The image of the brand, however, is something entirely different. It is how the consumer perceives the brand and that view could be substantially different. So in my view, merely changing a company's identity (and the logo is its most visible part), may not do much to change the overall image of the company if not accompanied by significant measures to improve its service or delivery.

The “new” and “improved” Airtel logo

I am sure many of us are familiar with the slogans “new” and “improved” that FMCG brands have been using. It is a strategy (?) as old as the hills and often consumers would be hard-pressed to figure out what was new or improved about some of these brands that they have been using since childhood. Of course, logo changes are far more noticeable, particularly when they are backed by huge media spends as in the case of Airtel. Now let's come to the key question: Is Airtel's new logo really an improvement assuming that change was necessary? Of course, discussions on design usually tend to be unresolved as design is such a subjective topic and everyone knows how volatile creative people can be when their work is subject to scrutiny.

The earlier Airtel logo had a boxed-in look to it, while the new logo has a free, unencumbered feel. As one of the analysts who commented on the design said, “It is without boundaries.” In a sense that is perhaps what the brand is attempting to do as it moves across geographies and straddles continents with its new offerings, not being satisfied with merely being the market leader in India. The earlier logo was red, which, one suspects, is a brand property and it is hardly surprising that the new logo continues to be in red. Yet the bone of contention is that the design element cues another brand, Videocon, which also is claiming to be international and which, incidentally, also has ambitions in the mobile services space. But the greater concern is that the new identity seems closer to Vodafone, a major competitor of Airtel and a global brand of repute in the mobile services space.

In this context, it is perhaps relevant to look at historic competitors in another category, soft drinks, where Coke and Pepsi have battled it out for market share and brownie points, ever since I can remember. Of course, Coke and Pepsi have strong brand properties; Coke owns the colour red while Pepsi appropriates blue. It has been said half jocularly that the easiest way to make a Coke salesman see red is to whisper the word ‘blue' in his ear! Similarly a Pepsi salesman would go blue in the face if you just mentioned the word ‘red' to him! But seriously, competing brands build properties that in no way cue their competition and on this count I feel that it is perhaps not the ideal strategy to change yourself to look closer to your largest competitor.

Have mobile, will change!

Let's keep aside the global markets for a second and focus on the Indian market where I can speak with confidence, not so much as an analyst, but certainly as a consumer. I believe I have been a loyal customer of Airtel for years now. I have been wooed assiduously by the competitors and have even flirted with some of them for some time and continue to hold a second line. I remember the citizens of Bangalore cribbing incessantly about the name change to ‘Bengaluru'. “We are the constituents, did you ask us before you changed the name?” they ranted. Of course, politicians have their own agenda, which is largely independent of public opinion. But shouldn't marketers be different? Was I or anyone else asked whether we were tired of the logo? Marketers should somehow remember that brands ultimately belong to consumers and not so much to marketers. If Airtel had asked its consumers, they would have complained bitterly about the clogging of the networks and the frequent call drops. If we had a choice, we would have said stay with the logo, mate; just use the money you plan to spend on the change on the service!

Portability is finally here!

Why don't consumers change their mobile service providers and their banks? It is lethargy, really, as it is too much of a hassle to change, or at least has been, so far. And heavy users like me have another problem. We never really know how good the competing service provider is likely to be. And if after going through the heartburn and hassle of changing your service provider and your number and telling the whole world you end up in a mess, you are unlikely to be a very happy man. It is precisely this fear which has held back people. But now I am not so sure. I think I will experiment and so will a million others, one hopes. I hope service providers stop focusing their entire attention on prepaid and remind themselves that customers like me too matter!

Yes, these are interesting times, not only for marketers such as Airtel but consumers such as you and me. Companies and brands would do well to focus on things that will really make a difference to the consumer's life that are perhaps more difficult to manage, like the coverage and the customer experience, rather than the more easily manageable but relatively unimportant aspects like identity!

Do you agree?

Ramanujam Sridhar, CEO, brand – comm.
Read my blog @ http://www.brand-comm.com/blog.html
Facebook: facebook.com/RamanujamSridhar
Twitter: twitter.com/RamanujamSri

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sridhar,

You are right. In place of changing the logo, stationary etc, airtel should focus on service standards. That way, they will be able to retain the existing customers and may get new customers.

Rakesh Goyal

Ram said...

These logo changes are more like a kid looking for a new toy because he is bored with the earlier one. And the consumers are more like the parents who are not even aware of which toy the kid is playing with. It is just the intellectual mastrubation of these companies and their marketing/advertising consulatants to come out with these cosmetic changes and as you have correctly said worry less about the actual product or service.
As far as the new airtel logo is concerned it looks sick and i cant explain why, because you just say a girl is ugly but cant explain why always. And i think it looks a bit like the Reliance logo without looking half as good, if that is possible !

Unknown said...

So true.. frankly I have absolutely no idea what the old logo was, though I have also been a customer of the company for more than 10 years.The service is what matters & to say the least, its pathetic. It took me more than 10 calls to customer service personnel to check whether I could transfer my incoming calls to my BSNL landline which would then enable my Secretary to take my calls when I am busy/out..In fact most of them said I could divert & blamed my cell phone settings. Ultimately I sent my cell phone to the company & after 2-3 hrs of research the customer service person declared that I could transfer calls only to an AIRTEL landline number !!!!Their own employees did not know this fact !!! They did not even know whether I could avail of this service for a fee...finally fed up of my questions, a senior executive came on the line & said everything will be possible once 3G arrived !!!!I am also waiting for number portability to arrive, lets hope it does...

Vinoth Ur friend said...

hi sir,
This is vinoth Gandhi from
Gnanam School of business. As a marketing student your blog helped me to understand a lot especially on rebranding. As you told merely changing a company's identity , may not do much to change the overall image of the company especially Brand loyalty and customer satisfaction.

Ryan Fernando said...

Its like saying your sending your wife for a NEW BOOB JOB!!

1. Did you not like the earlier one
2. Will the new one really change your wifes Behaviour.

I would send her to a reform or finishing school first.

AIRTEL from 28 Nov to 4 Dec discconented my mobile no. this after two submissions of address proof and blantant lies that their team visited my residence to verify my existance ( The Security at the gate has no such mention, the latest was the pharmacy home delivery boy.)

A brand does not instil new life with new make-up...its AD guys making JACKASSES of marketing heads!

marketing is getting your customer in awe!!

CITIBANK credit cards....the phone is answered in under a min...ICICI bank Cards...5 minutes and the erstwhile AMEX 9 minutes the last time I tried.

PERMISSION marketing to your customer does not exist....manage your customers needs wants expectations......Money should flow in those channels....

WOULD YOU RENAME YOURSELF...no...would you go in for a makeover...maybe yes.....but the fact of the matter is unless I know my faults, weak points and invest in that makeover.....the change is only cursory and temporary.....

Ramanujam Sridhar said...

I agree that most brands do not pay enough attention to their service. I guess we are all waiting for number portability, though I do hope that it is not from frying pan to fire, for we do not know how bad the next guy is going to be!

Ramanujam Sridhar said...

Yes Rakesh, you are absolutely right, brands are just not bothered about the customer or serving her.

Ramanujam Sridhar said...

Absolutely Ryan, the trouble with most marketers is that they seem to be more concerned with themselves than their customers who are actually the very reason for their being in business.
I think credit card companies and mobile service companies are particularly sad in service.

Ramanujam Sridhar said...

I agree that most brands do not pay enough attention to their service. I guess we are all waiting for number portability, though I do hope that it is not from frying pan to fire, for we do not know how bad the next guy is going to be!

Unknown said...

Dear Ramanujam
I agree that service and quality makes the brand longer lasting than activities like logo change however it is necessary to see from the company perspective why this change was necessary, in most of the cases as such in Bharathi company is trying to become global and probably the thought must have come as much as we remember vodafone red logo they wanted to create something similar and with an international appeal.