A Rebranding mistake?*

It is not everyday that I turn the pages of The Economic Times (from days ago) to grasp what the hell goes on in the “money” world. This is an excerpt of what went on in my thought swirls

Oh a rebranded airtel!? Lemme check it out.. www.airtel.in <enter>

*headspin* A Spiralling swooshy ‘a’?

A merger with ‘Videocon’?, for the new one’s an upside down, mirrored look-alike.

<—>   ???!!

Capit’a’l downgraded. *pun intended*

Let me dig deep.. |P ~YouTube~ That’s a rebranding ad & a ‘jingle’ if you call it that?? /-| Wokay! Sorry rahmaniacs, but I’m under the oath.

—->   ???!!!!? :/

I dug into  Rajnikanth’s childhood rough note (Wikipedia) :  “Rebranding is the creation of a new name, term, symbol, design or a combination of them for an established brand with the intention of developing a differentiated (new) position in the mind of stakeholders and competitors.” Really? Lets probe!

From what I’ve read, ‘Bharti plans to paint India, Africa, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Seychelles red with its new brand strategy, and this will be yet another brand-evolution for India’s largest telecom operator as the new brand is expected to be splashed all across those places. Earlier, the company merged all the segmental brands into Airtel once it appealed to the customers.Their reach to consumers will hold the key for Airtel which caters to more than 195 million customers across the world, including more than 143.3 million mobile customers in India.’ And that leads to the question, “Is this for the measly 51.7 million that $30 million is spent?” Wouldn’t the old one suffice? Oh,  the old logo was no logo I guess… & relatively the new one looks good and in a non-relative manner, bad at the same time.

Personally I think they made a mistake somewhere.
A new ‘a’. Nothing new there & I refuse to be fooled. I think if they had some sort of new philosophy being advertised along with the new image then it would have bothered me less. But as it was, it seemed visionless and therefore the ‘money hungry’ factor of the rebrand stands out too much.

The Graphic Design Blog had notions which were very relevant, which Imma quote here. (The sentences in braces are my musings)

When is Rebranding a mistake?

When you rebrand just for the sake of it, thinking you feel like rebranding just isn’t sufficient to overhaul the images of your brand. (Is this what has happened?)
When your customers are devoted to your previous brand identity and are more faithful to it, rebranding may lose brand loyal customers. (This is faintly possible.)
When rebranding does not reap proportional benefits and costs more than it pays. (A nobrainer – Majorly possible, but that’s just my opinion.)
When you rebrand because your competitor did so, you are making a mistake of rebranding without purpose. (Just cos Hutch – Vodafone happened few years ago? I think not.)
When you rebrand without adequate research, repositioning the image without studying consumer demographics and psychographics is dangerous. (I sincerely hope thats not the case)
When you think that rebranding only means a logo redesign, or altering the stationery and corporate colors. Rebranding entails a whole bundle of intangible items that are needed to be considered as well. (I hope Sunil Mittal has his feet on solid ground & I wish Bharti luck!)

Which is the right time for Rebranding?

• When your brand equity is deteriorating or stagnant, that indicates you need a thorough rebranding to overhaul the identity of your brand. (which I believe the market leader in Indian Telecom with a 33% share, was NOT)
• When your customers don’t seem to favor your brand identity anymore, it’s time that you reposition your brand in the minds of your consumers. (Another NOT from a loyal true red Airtel customer.)
• When your brand gets caught up in a controversy, a repositioning is required to improve the tarnished reputation. ( *The ‘wrong buzzer’ beeeep* NOT #3)
• When the rebranding has the muscle to offset the cost it incurs, meaning it has the potential to pay off in the long run. (We need a financial analyst to figure that out, which I soooo am NOT )
• When you realize that your current brand positioning isn’t valid for the target market anymore, or your target market changes. (NOT NOT & NOT #5)

So, is this a gratuitous wrong move? Eitherways, र300 crore bucks? Waste.Of.Money!Me and my cracked copy of Photoshop could do better! Insanely expensive for just

• The logo and stationary design
• Package and label design
• Website Design
• Designing the marketing campaign (Advertising, Billboards, Flyers, Girt Items)

Somebody (JWT?) has had a windfall!

But yeah, they were worth it, because they got more than just a logotype. I imagine the process involved a huge amount of consultancy, application of the revised brand marque across all marketing and media, preparation of guidelines and stylebook and other actions that would have examined the total brand identity, genetics and applications. The final and obvious visual expression of the logo is just the tip of the iceberg. And I’m not even employed in brand management or consultancy! Take that

The idea as Sunil Mittal puts it is, to create this new brand identity that’d give them the opportunity to present a single, powerful and unified face to our customers, stakeholders and partners around the world,  as they expand on the global stage is. It reinforces their promise to deliver innovative services and a superior brand experience to the 2000 crore customers across Asia and Africa.

Wow only if companies knew what REALLY matters to the consumers! (Nothing in between lines..errr, words, there.)

Airtel had better make a first/third impression(considering its their 3rd revamp in India). But seriously guys, I am proud to be a miniscule part of the FIRST Indian brand that’s going truly global. Kudos to you,AIRTEL !

Final dig :

Haha! Better change your lil favicon, there, Airtel!

Awesomely yours,

An enduser with endless complaints.

* – Initially, I titled this as ‘Honey , I rebranded the brand’ #ForTheDumbRecord

Do share your thoughts on the “re-branding” in the comments!

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