The case attempts to provide an insight into the interesting process of rebranding by studying the drivers and methodology adopted by Airtel, India’s largest private wireless service provider in telecom space. The rebranding process was studied in three phases where in each phase the company has either changed its logo, slogan or both. Firstly, it just underwent a change in slogan as it decided to expand its operations to the entire country. The growth prospects due to telecom boom in the country, intense competition and increasing affordability drove the company to undergo rebranding second time by changing both its logo and slogan. Finally, the study majorly focuses on rebranding that was done in the year 2010 by adopting a change in logo strategy. It underwent rebranding to meet new needs of interconnected youth population and present a new picture of dynamism and innovation in the wake of company’s acquisition of African operations. The study found that skeptics believed that the new logo being similar to Vodafone failed to create brand differentiation among new generation consumers. Consumers’ perspective revealed that the old logo was still more popular than the new logo, which was found to be lagging behind the old logo in terms of familiarity and liking.

“We are at a significant stage of evolution at the moment. This brand is now going to be visible in two different continents. This will signal our readiness to change.” Mohit Beotra, head of brand and media at Bharti Airtel explained the launch of new logo of Bharti Airtel. He was talking about the need for the company to focus its shift from voice to data services catering to the needs of new generation of young customers. Also, as the company increased its footprint globally by acquiring telecom businesses in emerging economies of Asia and Africa, it had to project itself as a company which has an international appeal. These two developments caused the company to launch a new logo. But the question was, with an intention of going global has the company forgotten its local customer? The launch of a new logo was a risky proposition as a sudden replacement of a brand which had huge association, both tangible and intangible, with customers and non-customers alike could result in skepticism and resistance to change. After the launch of new logo, serious doubts were raised regarding its brand differentiation ability as the design of new logo was perceived to be very similar to that of Videocon and Vodafone. The company was not new to the rebranding process as it had undergone rebranding thrice from the time it started its operation in Delhi in 1995. This rebranding of the company involving change in logo was understood by studying the drivers and methodology used in the entire process by focusing especially on its latest rebranding exercise carried out by the company in the year 2010. This phase of rebranding involved launching of Airtel brand with same logo in different geographies. However, brands with similar logos pursued in different geographies with different cultures involve risk of brand confusion and blurring of brand identity (Abou et al., 2003). Thus, internationalization of Airtel brand brought new challenges for the company. Lastly, the consequences of change in logo were studied by comparing consumers’ reaction towards well-established old logo and newly created logo. Rebranding can be carried out by change in name, logo or slogan. But this case study, by emphasizing on 2010 rebranding exercise, has kept the scope to study the logo change.

Brand Management Journal, Rebranding, Bharti Airtel Ltd., National Telecom Policy (NTP), Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR), Public Call Office (PCO), Logo Change