UAE telecommunications operator Etisalat has launched a new brand identity after completing what it says is the most comprehensive image overhaul in its 30-year history.
The move comes just three months after the UAE’s second telecom firm — Du — entered the market, breaking Etisalat’s monopoly.
The re-brand and supporting advertising work has been carried out by Fortune Promoseven in Dubai, which worked with the London-based design and branding firm, Rareform, to develop the new Etisalat logo.
Etisalat’s previous logo was unveiled less than five years ago to represent ‘a stylised human entity’.
Etisalat says that the new ‘customer-centric’ identity — with its accompanying tagline of ‘Reach’ — is part of a culture shift within the company.
The firm, which has been expanding rapidly into markets outside of the UAE, says it wants to be among the world’s top 20 operators by 2010.
The new identity is meant to reflect the company’s values of transparency, optimism, openness, simplicity and reliability. The green colour of the new logo signifies life and renewal. Green is also the national colour of the UAE.
Mohammed Al Qamzi, CEO of Etisalat, said: “Our intention is to be the best telecom operator not only locally, but also regionally and internationally. And our vision is to be truly global.
“We are entering new markets across the world and what you see is not just a change of logo, but a significant shift at the core of the corporation and a new direction for Etisalat as a whole.”
FP7 won the business after a four-way pitch against JWT, Impact BBDO and Team Y&R in April.
A teaser campaign in print, outdoor and online broke across the UAE on 17 May, with the reveal of the new identity following on 24 May.
A radio campaign is underway, with television ads to follow in June.
Media buying is being led by Promoseven’s media arm, Universal Media Seven.
The project is the first key one for FP7’s new creative director Marc Lineveldt, who joined the agency last month after leaving Team Y&R.
Lineveldt said the agency’s objective was to give Etisalat a definitive identity, encapsulated by the word ‘reach’.
He said: “Reach has so many layers — it is positive, ambitious, outward-looking, relative to all the product offerings, but most importantly it is a personal message. To reach out, to reach home, to reach beyond, to reach within is something we can all relate to, and it is so simple. It enables us to be very focused for all the future campaigns.”
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