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| Building COAI’s new brand identity in the age of telecom convergence |
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| Nov 21, 2013 Published in content
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 Every once in a while, the context in which
an organization grows and thrives changes dramatically, compelling a complete
change in its leadership, administration and governance. This often triggers an
impulse to redefine one’s objectives, audiences and identity, thus getting the
brand ready to shed its old skin.
The recent launch of a new brand identity
and logo for the Cellular Operator Association of India, conceived and driven
by the leadership team and the association’s key industry stakeholders reveals
the compelling factors behind its rebranding exercise and just how heavily
invested they are in organisational change.
Talking to the media, Rajan S Mathews,
Director General, COAI said, “What started as an association of telecom service
providers in the country has today expanded to be a thought leader in the
industry, with members including mobile service providers, telecom
infrastructure players, telecom equipment manufacturers among others and is
still expanding to include other allied and critical stakeholders of the
sector. In tune with this growth, size and convergence of the industry, COAI
has undertaken a makeover of its brand image and identity to continue to play
the role of a thought leader for the industry.”
The new logo represents the transition from
a dominant voice to a dominant data environment and a converging mobility
business which calls for more inclusive approach to the entire sector. The
previous logo and brand guidelines served COAI for 18 years. During this
period, COAI expanded its working sphere and evolved into a telecom industry
body representing not only the cellular operators but increasingly also telecom
equipment manufacturers, mobile manufacturers, IT firms etc.
The official rebranding brief to Woodapple
read “Our Objective is to make COAI THE organisation which is pursuing the
integration of all these allied services under the unified ambit of MOBILE
TELECOM so as to ensure the holistic growth of the sector and aspire towards leadership
in technology at the global level. COAI is dedicated towards advancement of
mobile communications and synchronisation of allied interests in the sector.”
COAI’s vision until now was“To facilitate
the establishment of a world-class Cellular Infrastructure and deliver the
benefits of affordable mobile telephony services to the people of India.”
The Logo Challenges
“Old, New, Borrowed and Blue”
Human beings love a sense of continuity,
even as the excitement of something new urges us to move forward to discover
new spaces and new experiences. Organizations are really no different. So when
it came down creative brainstorming the new logo with Woodapple, the core team
enjoyed the slew of choices and new ideas until they took stock of how far a
new identity can take them without losing a sense of continuity.
The consensus grew around the thought that
if something could be retained from the old logo, the essence of the original
organization identity might not be lost altogether. A close look helped
retrieve the idea of the honeycomb symbolizing the network of cellular spaces and
the new logo incorporated this reshaping the pattern to give definition to the
element and impact to the design.
This impact was further emphasised by clear
bold modern typography for the organisation name. The use of a font with some
rounded edges softens the brand image and gives a modern progressive feel to
the logo. The idea of a speech bubble symbolising COAI’s key proposition as the
voice of the industry lent itself seamlessly to present the power of the brand
and the essence of its inclusive objective.
Reaction from the press
The media has
responded positively to the new brand identity (http://telecomtalk.info/cellular-operators-association-of-india-coai-unveils-new-brand-identity-represents-the-transition-from-a-dominant-voice-to-a-dominant-data-environment/109826/). Some papers referred to the new logo adding
dimension and motion to the previous logo, while others spoke about how ‘COAI
Unveils New Brand Identity, Positions Itself For The Next Big Revolution In The
Mobile Communications Sector’ (http://efytimes.com/e1/118640/COAI-Unveils-New-Brand-Identity-Positions-Itself-For-The-Next-Big-Revolution-In-The-Mobile-Communications-Sector).
COAI’s official press release states the
aims of the logo and how they reflect the new aims of the organisation,
“Together the cells represent the industry and its components, the voice of the
industry and the inclusion of all players big and small in the emerging
converging eco-system. The graphic as a ‘speech bubble’ represents leadership
through social & economic inclusion. As a ‘dream bubble’ it represents the
future of India as an information society and thought-leader. As a ‘cloud’ it
represents technological ubiquity and innovation, and virtual technology – the
future. Primary colours of the logo are Blue, representing a dependable,
articulate communicator and Black representing firmness, authority, power and
integrity, attributing COAI the leadership role.”
At the logo’s
unveiling, Chairman of COAI (who is also the CEO of Idea Cellular) Himanshu
Kapania said “The re-branding activity is a part of our effort to be abreast
with the changing trends in technology and customer demands. The industry and
the association have evolved over the years adapting to the global standards
and best practices,”
At present, COAI’s
core members include Bharti Airtel, Vodafone India, Idea Cellular, Aircel,
Unitech Wireless (now Telewings Communications), Videocon Communications (now
Videocon Telecom). Its associate members include Alcatel-Lucent India, Ascend
telecom Infrastructure Pvt Ltd, Cisco Systems India, Ericsson Communications,
GTL Infrastructure, Huawei Telecommunications (I), IBM India, Nokia Siemens
Networks, Qualcomm India, ZTE India.
Soon, internet service providers and
even social media companies like Google and Facebook will have a strong association to lobby for
them. The Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), which currently lobbies for GSM mobile operators, has decided
go for fresh membership acquisitions that would be open to all companies
operating in the cellular telephony, data services and related industries.
(http://www.business-standard.com/article/economy-policy/coai-to-open-memberships-to-social-media-cos-like-google-facebook-113101800685_1.html) |
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ok04:11:47 PMNov 18, 2018 |
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