Airtel - Positioning (And Repositioning)

REPOSITIONING AIRTEL – ONCE AGAIN!

Due to consistent marketing efforts, the Airtel and Touch Tomorrow campaign became very popular. Therefore, Bharti's decision to withdraw this campaign (Touch Tomorrow) in 2002 came as a surprise to many. The new campaign was accompanied by a change in the logo as well (Refer Figure II). The idea behind the new logo was to give Airtel a younger look. The logo (with new design and colour pattern) symbolized innovation, energy and friendliness.

FIGURE II
THE NEW AIRTEL LOGO

Source: www.rayandkeshav.com

As part of its restructuring and repositioning exercise, Bharti unveiled a new brand architecture that replaced the three-tier architecture. The proposed two-tier architecture was categorized under two heads – wired and wireless. All the wireless products were placed under the Airtel brand, which also included Tango, Freenet and Magic. According to company sources, the objective of this new architecture was to establish Bharti as a global telecom company.

The company reportedly allocated Rs 1 billion for media coverage and other brand building activities. Commenting on the new brand identity of Airtel, a Bharti spokesperson said, “Airtel's brand identity and campaign will now have a new younger and international look and feel that builds on the earlier positioning of ‘Touch Tomorrow,'injected with renewed energy and heightened optimism.”

	Continued....


2010, ICMR (IBS Center for Management Research).All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, used in a spreadsheet, or transmitted in any form or by any means - electronic or mechanical, without permission. To order copies, call +91- 8417- 236667 or write to ICMR, Survey No. 156/157, Dontanapalli Village, Shankerpalli Mandal, Ranga Reddy District, Hyderabad-501504. Andhra Pradesh, INDIA. Mob: +91- 9640901313, Ph: +91- 8417- 236667, Fax: +91- 8417- 236668 E-mail: info@icmrindia.org Website: www.icmrindia.org