subject: Telecom: Bharti Airtel rechristened itself as Airtel. Airtel gets a new logo [print this page] Telecom: Bharti Airtel rechristened itself as Airtel. Airtel gets a new logo
The world's fifth largest telecom operator Bharti Airtel, the world's fifth largest telecom operator, has christened itself as airtel' , launching a global campaign that would re-brand its operations across the world.
Last week i.e. on November 18th, company's CMD Sunil Bharti Mittal lifted the veil off the new logo an artistically written small A' above Airtel' with the letters in lower case all in red against a white background. Subsequently, the brand name Zain Telecom in Africa and Warid Telecom in Bangladesh would be changed to airtel' .
Created by UK-based Brand Union, the new logo would form the face of the operator which has crossed the 200 million subscribers mark. Over the coming months, Bharati Airtel would invest heavily in outdoor , radio and digital advertising, as part of its marketing and advertising budget expected to be close to Rs 300 crore.
Terming the re-branding as a strategic shift in positioning since the company was catering to customers in more than 19 countries, Sunil Bharati said that the brand needs to speak to different countries and has to connect with the youth in the geographies that Airtel is in.
Music maestro AR Rahman has created the new tone for the brand that will be available for consumers for download. Airtel's previous tone has been downloaded more than 150 million times, used by consumers as caller tones.
The new brand identity has been created to appeal to the youth in Africa, India and Bangladesh, in sync with the launch of 3G services.
The modern, vibrant and friendly' positioning of the new brand will be splashed across India this month, and ad campaigns and logo showcases will begin immediately, the company said.
Bharti Airtel would launch its third-generation (3G) services before the end of the year, Mr Mittal added. He said the company was in the process of setting up 220 experience' centers across Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Bangalore where consumers could have the first hand feel of new brand and 3G services.
Bharti won licences this year to provide 3G in 13 of India's 22 telecoms zones in an auction. Telecom operators including Bharti Airtel spent more than $23 billion in acquiring the pan India licence.
