May 2008

The Delta Perspective

“If this business were split up, I would give you the land and bricks and mortar, and I would take the brands and

trade marks, and I would fare better than you.”

— John Stuart, Chairman of Quaker

(c.a. 1900)

2

Brands came into existence as early as trade when herd owners

used hot irons to mark and identify their cattle. This mark later

developed with the industrial revolution where factories used

certain elements to distinguish their products from others. As

people moved into cities and were no longer exposed to the

manufacturing source of the products available, their purchasing

decision became influenced by the brands that they knew. Brands

have come a long way since, and have become representative of a

significant value of their parent companies.

3

of origin.” If the above is applicable in

a developed market like the UK, the

impact of a trusted brand would deliver

much higher value in high-growth

markets where corporations are less

customer oriented.

Already from the early start-up stage,

setting up a telecom operator is

becoming increasingly standardized; the

investors choose one of three or four

main companies to setup their network,

recruit the same regional telecom

experts from existing operators, and

most likely use the same company to

develop their SIM cards and packaging.

Then, as the market becomes mature,

the main differentiator to attract

customers becomes the brand (look &

feel, communication, and experience)

Operators in a monopolistic situation

typically focus on slowly adding incremental

functionality in order to make customers

spend more money, therefore increasing

revenue. Monopolies would regard neither

price nor brand as priorities because

customers have no other alternatives or

benchmark in the market

As the second player enters the market,

price will increasingly become a competitive

priority. Improved customer service and some

degree of customized products and services

will push the functionality axis slightly higher.

Branding in this case is usually regarded as a

mere visual differentiation between operators

As the more operators enter the market, pricing will not be a sustainable lever to play in the long term. In order to differentiate, operators will need to look to their brand’s emotional appeal. Since there are caps in the functional axis (limited to network capabilities) and financial axis (restricted by profitability and business sense), a brand’s emotional appeal is always limitless and only capped by the operator and its communication agency’s creativity

4

The process of building a global telecom brandThe process of building a global

brand can be divided into five key

stages, from deciding on the branding

approach to sustaining the brand in the

long run.

Deciding on the branding •

approach

Developing a governance model•

Defining the corporate identity•

Deploying the new brand•

Sustaining the brand •

The role of a project management office

(PMO) is crucial in a global or regional

(re)branding project to hold the different

elements together and ensure timeliness

and consistency of the different

steps across all the functions of the

operation. Single operator (re)branding

efforts can be managed through

individual functions, provided a specific

department is assigned to manage the

initiative across the organization.

“In the deregulated markets of today’s

telecom industry, having a distinguishing brand may be more important than

ever as telecom providers seek to define their places

in a complex web of supply options. Given the

myriad of choices, a brand must be substantial,

offering more than just a logo and a tag line. The brand must define and

deliver differentiators that represent a

value proposition to customers.”

- “The Value of Branding in Telecom Today” by Tyco

Telecom USA

Exhibit 2: the best of breed brand examples which show how to create a

sustainable difference

If we take a look at the main pillars of a telecom value proposition, we notice

that it is almost impossible to create sustainable differentiation in any of the

elements. This is because there exists an upper limit (or best of breed) for

distribution models, products and services, tariffs, handsets, customer service,

and coverage; whereas a brand is not limited by any such ceiling. Below are

some examples of brand activities that go beyond all foreseeable benchmarks:

Emirates Airlines signs the biggest club sponsorship deal in English •football history with Arsenal FC worth approximately GBP 100 million

and gained naming rights to Arsenal’s football arena “Emirates

Stadium”

52.9% of companies surveyed by the Economist engage in corporate •social responsibility activities to have a better brand / reputation

Nakeel, the Dubai based real estate developer has committed AED 500 •million to fund research and development activity, and promote active

engagement with international experts on the issues of sustainable

development, construction, management and governance of coastal

communities around the world.

– Nakheel has developed three palm islands in addition to a set of

islands representing the world map, off the coast of Dubai

AT&T killed off the Cingular brand (worth USD 6.6 billion) in order to •strengthen its own name and empower it with a mobile offering

5

Deciding on the branding approach

Monolithic brands are necessary for pan-regional operators to develop global brand equity from all communication activities in individual markets

Leveraging on a multinational

brand

An early assessment on the convenience

to move towards a monolithic or multi-

brand approach needs to be conducted

prior to commencing any new brand

identity development exercise. In order

to do this, several key questions need to

be thoroughly discussed and answered:

Can I have the same strategy •

across all operations, or are there

significant differences?

Can I leverage my footprint to •

have positive spillover in terms of

media, products and services, and

advertising ideas?

How big is my existing local brand •

equity in each market?

Do I have an experienced group •

branding function capable of

succeeding in the endeavor?

ExhibiT 3: Brand architecture components

brand architecture

bra

nd

hie

rarc

hy

mo

del

bu

sin

ess

div

isio

ns

app

roac

h

Pro

du

ct li

nes

Serv

ice

nam

ing

Classification

Monolithic ►Endorsed ►Multiple ►

Product/service divisions ►Customer usage-driven divisions ►

Payment method (prepaid, ►postpaid)Usage/user type (premium, ►youth)

Iconic ►Descriptive names ►Technology names ►Suggestive names ►

Color coding ►Icons and stylization ►Service images ►

brand hierarchy

model

business divisions approach

Product lines

Service naming

Classification

Strategic options

Source: Delta Partners analysis

6

Developing the brand architecture

Operators should define a clear

brand architecture for customers

and employees to understand the

way in which the brands within a

company’s portfolio are referred to

and differentiated from one another

in terms of both market offering

and management structure. Brand

architecture includes the brand hierarchy

model, business division approach,

product line definitions, service names,

and a classification method.

Different brand hierarchy models

Due to the vast wave of mergers and

acquisitions in the MENA region,

telecom operators have inherited a

multitude of brands (see Exhibit 4).

This has resulted in fragmented

identities for holding companies,

and the loss of global leverage in

local markets. Every time a company

purchases a new operator it is faced

with the daunting question: to rebrand

or not to rebrand. Below are some

pros and cons of rebranding.

Pros: Maintaining several brands can

be very expensive for telecom holding

companies. It denies them economies

of scale benefits, as they neither have

the advantage of developing one

regional brand campaign targeting

all OpCos, nor local campaigns

with spill over to other regional

operations which would result in

higher brand equity. Having multiple

sub-brands would also result in brand

fragmentation losing the focus that

can be achieved through strategic

investments in maintaining a

single identity.

ExhibiT 4: Example of multiple branding - Orascom Telecom brand hierarchy (May 2008)

7

In order to tackle the above situation,

the concept of a monolithic brand is

gaining popularity among telecom

operators in the MENA region. A

monolithic brand is a single brand used

in all markets and across all product

lines. This approach was followed by

MTC who has developed the new

Zain brand and is applying it across all

existing and new operations. In the

same spirit Vodafone decided to drop

the “live” and “3G” logos from all

their ads to avoid having sub-brands

that dilute the overall Vodafone

brand image.

Cons: Re-branding can be a daunting

task especially in cases where existing

brands have high equity. Brand equity

transfer is never comprehensive,

and changing a brand has deep

repercussions on company perception

across all stakeholders. Despite all

transition efforts a company will lose

some of its customer loyalty. The only

way to minimize the loss is through

extensive research and testing,

starting from customer satisfaction, to

expectations, perception, and adoption.

Another issue to be considered is

the re-branding history of certain

operators, because changing brands

frequently would result in a perception

of desperation and low credibility. In

many cases a single operator would

have had several different identities

within the period of a few years which

makes it very difficult for customers

to relate to the brand and virtually

impossible for the operator to build

brand equity. An example of such an

operator is currently known as MTN

Syria, having changed its identity six

times over a period of seven years (see

Exhibit 5).

ExhibiT 5: Evolution of MTN Syria’s brand identity (2000-2007)

2000 Q1 2001 Q2 2001 Q4 2004 Q3 2005 Q3 2007

8

In order to get the necessary attention,

the (re)branding project needs to be

sponsored by the CEO; not by being

involved in every decision, but through

acting as an endorser and reference

point to push the process forward in

deadlock situations and managing

high-level subjective differences. Their

endorsement should be conveyed

through company-wide events

highlighting the benefits to be gained

from (re)branding and its implications

on all areas of the organization. There

needs to be an internal structure in place

(usually set by the Chief Commercial

Officer or Marketing Director) to

manage the branding process.

Since branding directly or indirectly

impacts all areas across an organization,

it requires synchronized efforts from each

function within the company. A steering

committee comprised of empowered

decision makers from each function

should be set up to coordinate project

plans and ensure complete internal

alignment and progress on all matters.

This structure should be replicated at

each operating company / country

and coordinated by a global project

management office reporting to the

group CEO and CCO in the case of a

multinational operator.

According to a study by Harvard

Business Review(4), the responsibility for

global brand leadership can follow four

possible configurations:

business management •teams: Whereby each product

category is run by a global

category team who work in R&D,

manufacturing and marketing

within their respective regions.

This team defines the identity

and positioning of brands in their

categories throughout the world

(i.e. Proctor and Gamble)

brand champions:• Senior

executives with other

responsibilities, possibly CEOs

serve as the brand’s primary

advocates and nurturers

(i.e. Sony)

Global brand managers:•

Branding experts for the company

who lie just below the top

line management, but usually

don’t have sign-off authority on

marketing programs (i.e. IBM)

Global brand teams:• Teams

responsible for managing the

global brand consisting of brand

representatives from different

parts of the world, different

stages of brand development,

and different competitive

contexts (i.e. Lycra)

Developing a governance model Brands should be sponsored by the CEO (the ultimate brand champion) to ensure a consistent and powerful image across geographies

9

Defining the corporate identityBrand positioning should be specific and meaningful with achievable objectives reflecting the ideology of the operator as a whole

Brand positioning should come from within

Because a brand represents the image

and reputation of a telecom operator,

it should truly reflect its ideals. It

is therefore necessary to carry out

research and internal assessments

prior to brand development. Internal

and external research should be done

to define the conceptual target and

positioning, while incorporating local,

regional, and global company strategy

in addition to competitive landscape.

Other research should be done through

workshops to select the brand name

and derive the brand values. This

requires final Board approval, which is

best achieved by involving the Board

at early stages. It is also important to

check that the name defined does not

have negative connotations in any

language and not directly related to

another branded product (poignant

check-points include the availability

of an online domain name and ease

of pronunciation) Finally, qualitative

research should validate conceptual

target and brand values, and to

profile the segments. By doing the

above, the operator should establish

clear guidelines and foundations for

positioning the new brand, which

needs to be translated across all the

activities and be reflected in the culture

of the organization.

For example, Vodafone considers

mobility at the heart of its business

and reflects that through highlighting

the “now” indicating the power of

mobility and allowing customers to

aspire to it; whereas Orange, France

Telecom’s single brand for internet,

television and mobile services

highlights the power of being “open”

with no restrictions to wires.

In mature markets where customers

expect coverage, voice, roaming, and

customer service quality by default,

brands should have a positioning

that goes beyond those basic needs.

There have been mistakes by telecom

companies on both sides of the

spectrum either by being too narrow

focusing on connecting people

10

(which is the minimum requirement)

or too broad about enjoying life and

the future (which ends up being an

oversell or over promise). A particularly

effective promise has been developed

focusing on the key benefit of

mobility, the “now” whereby you

can get instant access to whatever

you like anytime, no matter where

you are or what you are doing. Their

effectiveness is a result of the promise

being aspirational yet achievable,

while related to the industry and

the offering.

ExhibiT 6: Telecom brand promises as portrayed through operator selling lines

Company positioning or promises can be mapped across two axes, specific vs. generic and functional vs.

emotional. The general criteria for a company promise is that it needs to be somewhat emotional for customers

to aspire to, yet somewhat specific in order to be relevant to the services provided and have an achievable

objective (as opposed to over promising). Being in the middle generally results in a bland brand that is neutral to

everything. Brands that are very functional usually commoditize their offering and their promise tends to reflect

what the service is as opposed to an inspiring call to action that stakeholders can buy into.

Emotional

du ► Add life to life

Mobinil ► Communicate from the heart

Vodafone ► Make the most of now

t-Mobile ► Stick together

Qtel ► Let’s connect

Etisalat ► Reach

Nokia ► Connecting people

MtN ► Everywhere you go

O2 ►See what you can do

Al Jawal ►With you

Mobily ►My world, My choice

Orange ► The future is bright

Gen

eric

Functional

Specific

Desirable positioning

Source: Delta Partners analysis

11

Developing the brand

A brand is more prominent in the feeling customers get after interacting with a company and is best catered to through managing overall communication and experience, as opposed to colors and visuals

Once the previous steps are developed

the creative part of logo development

should commence. This is done through

a Corporate Identity (CI) agency.

Corporate Identity agencies are usually

involved at very early stages of the

brand development process, in most

cases starting with the research,

creation of values, positioning, and

finally the visual identity.

Once a visual identity is developed, the

CI agency would proceed to developing

a comprehensive brand look and

feel guidelines booklet. This includes

advertising templates, instructions

on logo usage, placement, colors,

photography, tone of voice, literature,

stationary, giveaways, etc.

A typical gap found in the Middle East

and Africa is the lack of advertising

and communication guidelines. Such

guidelines are intended to further

elaborate on the positioning statement,

and the insights behind it in order

to ensure a consistency across the

different messages delivered through

advertising. Vodafone’s communication

agency has developed such guidelines

for the Vodafone brand explaining the

“make the most of now” positioning.

This document clarifies the commercial,

brand, consumer and communication

insights, while elaborating on how to

best communicate or advertise

the brand.

In some cases when the decision is

taken to develop these guidelines, a

tough debate may occur on whether

the CI agency, the ad agency, or both

should develop them. This is because

the CI agency is viewed to be more

focused on design and image as

opposed to advertising oriented - yet

they are the agency responsible for

the identity under which advertising

falls. It is recommended to have

the advertising agency develop the

advertising guidelines since they are

the party applying them. It is apparent

that when agencies have ownership

of a brand project they develop better

quality work.

The target audience of a brand must

always include all stakeholders in

The target audience of

a brand must always

include all stakeholders

in the company - namely

employees, shareholders,

and customers. A common

mistake by many companies

is not regarding employees

and shareholders as target

audience when developing

and communicating the

brand, presuming that they

are the responsibility of HR

and investor relations; such

behavior generally results

in a fragmented

(non-cohesive) brand

12

GOOGlE brANd buildiNGthe company - namely employees,

shareholders, and customers. A common

mistake by many companies is not

regarding employees and shareholders

as target audience when developing and

communicating the brand, presuming

that they are the responsibility of HR

and investor relations. Such behavior

generally results in a fragmented

(non-cohesive) brand.

In order to create a brand experience

that appeals and applies to all of these

audiences, some companies have been

resorting to sensory branding. Sensory

branding is an innovative branding

methodology that allows the brand

to appeal to each of the five senses.

In this pursuit Singapore Airlines have

created a proprietary perfume (Stefan

Floridian Waters) used by all its staff,

on its wet towels, and embedded in

its leather seats. According to Martin

Lindstrom’s book Brand Sense, research

showed that 80% of people recognize

Singapore airlines from its scent alone

without having to see the logo. In

other examples of sensory branding,

Nokia has developed a signature sonic

branding that is being adapted to the

cultures of all the markets it operates

in; Apple has developed the iPod touch

and the iPhone in addition to many

other products that appeal to the sense

of touch; Coca Cola reverted to the

authentic bottle design to preserve a

visual distinction. This approach has

generated very rewarding results across

a range of different industries but has

not been fully exploited by telecom

operators to date.

ExhibiT 7: Some examples of brands who use sensory branding

Coke bottle Singapore Airlines scent iPhone touch screen Nokia tune

Google has been ranked as the top

global brand of 2008 according

to the Brandz ranking by Millward

Brown Optimor. Google is a brand

that anyone who uses the internet

has interacted with and most

probably loved. When you take a

closer look however, you notice

that Google has not developed any

traditional advertising campaigns.

The Google brand was built on

customer experience, and through

their philosophy to “push the limits of

existing technology to provide a fast,

accurate and easy-to-use search service

that can be accessed from anywhere.”

Despite not having any traditional ads

and no monolithic brand Google has

managed to build the world’s best

brand by focusing on the customer

and exuding simplicity.

13

Most of the work for developing a

brand is done after the development of

the actual logo. A brand is built with

every piece of communication, which

includes the company logo. There are

many other parties involved in deploying

and communicating the brand.

After the identity is developed by

the CI agency, it is passed on (along

with the guidelines) to the operator’s

advertising agency, which is responsible

Deploying the new brand

Deploying brand strategy is a task that requires intricate understanding of the company strategy and therefore should be developed by the strategy department and later handed over to an operator’s MarCom team

for developing all of the brand

communication including:

A strapline (in a few cases this is •

developed by the CI agency)

A launch campaign and strategy•

Corporate stationery•

Products and services •

communication

Corporate profiles and annual •

reports

Any other advertising •

requirements

ExhibiT 8: Parties involved in the deployment and communication of the new brand

Advertising agency PR agency DM agencyMedia agency Web design agency Retail design

Strapline ►Launch ►campaignCorporate ►stationaryP&S campaigns ►Corporate ►profileAnnual reports ►

Media ►communicationsPress releases ►Events ►

Media bookings ►Media presence ►strategy

Corporate ►websiteMicro sites ►Flash animations ►Intranet ►

Direct mail ►CRM ►

Values and positioning ►Visual identity ►Identity application guidelines ►

Own shops ►Dealers ►Office ►environments

Ci agency

New brand

14

Even though the advertising agency

is generally regarded as the brand

guardian, there are many additional

partners and suppliers involved including

media booking, PR, web design, direct

marketing and retail / interior-design

agencies – all in addition to third party

suppliers usually responsible for printing

and execution.

Operators in the Middle East generally

follow an ad hoc communication

management process, which can be

summarized into the following:

MarComs manage each of the •

agencies individually without

leveraging on a single integrated

communication approach

involving all parties

Even though the MarCom •

department is in charge of

managing the brand internally

and with the communication

agencies, they are superseded by

the marketing department and

C-levels who also occasionally

contact the advertising agency

directly or provide direct

comments to them in meeting

Each agency is responsible for •

directly coordinating with the

advertising agency

The PR department is treated as •

a separate entity and coordinates

separately with all internal

departments, the PR agency,

and the advertising and media

agencies as needed

This approach usually results in

un-integrated campaigns because the

media booking, DM, web content, and

PR are done independently from the

advertising concept. The management

and coordination process becomes

entangled and hard to follow.

A best practice to streamline the process

would involve:

The MarCom department having •

more autonomy over the brand

The advertising agency being •

allowed to manage all forms of

advertising by having the authority

to manage all third parties

The PR department having a •

parallel coordination stream with

CxOs and the PR agency – yet

aligning with MarCom on

brand-related PR content.

Brand strategy governance

The brand is best initially overlooked

and managed by either the strategy

department or professional services

teams directly involved in the overall

operator strategy, and later handed

over to the operators’ MarCom

15

teams to manage across different

communication agencies and disciplines.

The strategy teams in the region are

more dominant in C-level and executive

management meetings and decisions

than communication agencies and

the MarCom teams, which gives them

a clear bird’s eye view of the overall

business as opposed to operating in

one discipline only. By managing the

branding process, the strategy team can

develop a brand strategy that:

Takes into consideration the •

operator’s requirements in the

short and long term

Adheres to financial forecasts, •

and global communication ROI

benchmarks

Incorporates forecasted service •

launch schedules

Is consistent with market •

ExhibiT 9: Simplified process structure to ensure alignment, effectiveness and efficiency

segmentation (developed by the

strategy team)

Is constantly updated to respond •

to detailed penetration figures

(which are closely managed by the

strategy team)

Ideally and to help the above process

work seamlessly a telecom operator

should try and assign a regional multi

discipline advertising group to manage

their brand. Large advertising agencies

are usually part of a holding company

that offers advertising, media booking,

PR, DM, and online services. Assigning

one of these companies could help

integrate all branding and

communications across geographies

under one roof allowing sister companies

to work together on all campaigns and

communication initiatives.

16

Sustaining the global brandSustaining a global brand requires strong alignment between messages and media channels to ensure optimal communication, distribution and continuous brand auditing with global consistency

Global brand management requires a

rigid control process involving a single

brand champion from the holding

company to manage the overall brand

and approve all applications across the

different markets for consistency, short

approval times in order not to disrupt

the work flow and increase time to

market, approval at concept level and

artwork stage to avoid rejecting the

concept after all the work has been

done, and clear guidelines on image and

positioning in addition to those of

logo application.

The approval process needs to be robust

and enforced to ensure compliance with

maximum effectiveness. This can be

done through:

Brand audits that take place •

regularly for each operation

Quarterly presentations from each •

operation to the Group Branding

function

Putting motivational processes •

in place, incentivizing brand

managers who deliver good results

An online brand management •

tool that would help different

operations have access to and

review all the work developed on

the brand across geographies.

To launch the Audi A3 in the USA, Audi allowed people to

participate in the communication campaign that went as follows:

A live theft of the first Audi A3 in the USA from the dealership

on Park Avenue in New York. Passers-by would see two people

break the window and steal the car, security guards running after

a suspect, the placement of police tape around the crime area, and

the handout of wanted flyers.

The following day at the New York International Auto Show the

car was replaced with signs indicating that the car was missing,

and the public would not know how the car was stolen.

The event was covered by bloggers around the world, and

supported by newspaper ads, billboards, and TV ads asking people

to help find the car and providing response channels.

The Audi USA website showed that the company contracted a firm

specialized in the retrieval of high end stolen art named Last Resort

Retrieval.

On the Last Resort Retrieval website, there were thousands of

leads including photos, faxes, phone calls, and emails

CASE Study: Audi “the Art of the heist”

Last Resort Retrieval was also advertised for months in the

classifieds section of high end magazine (to show that it’s a

legitimate company).

To target video gamers, Audi created a twist whereby a game

developer is trying to find the car, and gives live interviews at E3 the

largest video game expo in the world.

To make sure people were able to follow the story, you could visit

the blog of Todd who was intently following the action from day 1

and posting all the updates and viral films

A few weeks later people would have noticed that the mystery was

solved, and learn why the car was stolen

Campaign results include:

45 million PR impressions•

500,000 story participants•

Over 10,000 leads to dealers•

Over 2 million unique visits to the Audi USA website•

Source: Adforum

17

Common pitfalls observed in ME and AfricaIn order to reach an internal consensus on brand related matters, regional operators tend to adopt the safe brand option which results in killing creativity

In many cases telecom brands are

perceived and treated as personal

belongings of the chairman or CEO

who is often influenced by revenue

generating potential held in the

marketing department. Therefore

MarCom, as a pure cost center, have

little decision making power over

the brand. Due to this, MarCom

departments usually take a very safe,

risk averse position that does not

contribute to strongly differentiating

the brand.

The advertising approach in the region

has two extremes: brand and tactical.

Ads are either too tactical with strong

predominant calls to action along

the lines of “buy now” (to satisfy

the marketing teams); or brand ads

which are very vague and provide

over promising messages (these are

usually accompanied with expensive TV

productions intended to be a show off

statement as opposed to getting closer

to the customer).

Another regional issue that limits

targeted communication is the limited

availability of data about existing

customers and their behaviors. Not

having this data is a lost opportunity

for effective communications,

and generally results in inefficient

mass communication that in

many cases is irrelevant to many

customers and eventually weakens

the customer-brand bond. It is

strongly recommended that MarCom

departments engage in more research

activities for defining target audience

behavior and testing concepts prior to

going on air.

MEA telecom operators usually lack

a strong local flavor in their brand

identity. This is mainly due to the

lack of trust in regional corporate

identity agencies and resorting to

UK companies for developing local

identities for geographies they are

not very familiar with. Another lack

of flavor is generally a result of media

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brands are the only effective and sustainable differentiators for •

telecom operators in the long run

telecom branding is still in its infancy compared to other •

industries

the benefits of having a monolithic brand outweigh those of •

maintaining a multi-brand approach

it is essential to give autonomy to brand managers, and make •

them the final decision makers for all brand related matters

A CEO should be involved in branding at its early stages to ensure •

a smooth roll-out across the organization

brand promises should be customer centric, aspirational yet down •

to earth, and achievable

All brand related communication should be consistent and •

integrated across as many media as possible

there should be open channels between MarCom and customers •

as opposed to having all messages filtered through customer

service or marketing

the MarCom function needs to have authority over marketing to •

ensure that the brand transcends products, services, and technical

features

utilization, whereby all campaigns

are developed for mass media and

very little effort is placed on targeting

specific audiences that the service is

developed for.

Fragmentation remains a key

characteristic of telecom branding and

communications in the Middle East

and Africa. Fragmentation is observed

across different brand campaigns,

product launches, and in different

subsidiaries across geographies.

Regional players should put more

effort in communication consolidation

by developing a central branding

department, a clear consistent

strategy, and local brand guardians in

each country.

KEy tAKE-AwAyS

19

Similar to salad dressing, a strong

brand penetrates all the conventional

ingredients of a telecom operator and

gives it a distinct flavor differentiated

from other operators offering the same

products and services. The brand

dressing should have a strong prominent

flavor that becomes prevalent in all

aspects of an operator from the sign

at the door to the customer care

welcoming statement, HR strategy,

corporate culture, advertising, products

and services, and investor relations.

Only a bold distinct flavor can

make the brand promise “stick” in

FOOtNOtES

Conclusion

stakeholders minds and create a form

of addiction that gets reinforced at

every touch point.

A salad dressing is always developed by

the chef: (in this case MarCom) never

the restaurant manager or any other

staff working at the restaurant.

The salad dressing should fit with the

salad context, which is why you do not

find ranch dressing on a Chinese salad;

and hence brands and promises need to

be tailored to suit the local market and

the telecom context.

Source: MillwardBrown Optimor, the full document is available on http://www.brandz.com/BrandZ_2007_Ranking_1.

Report.pdf

According to Reuters, Preschoolers preferred the taste of burgers and fries when they came in McDonald’s wrappers 2.

over the same food in plain wrapping, U.S. researchers said, suggesting fast-food marketing reaches the very young.

“Overwhelmingly, kids chose the one that they perceived was from McDonald’s,” said obesity prevention expert Dr.

Thomas Robinson of the Stanford University School of Medicine, whose work appears in the Archives of Pediatrics &

Adolescent Medicine. Full article available on: http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSN06428781

The full research by conway.smith.rose is available at: http://www.ofcom.org.uk/static/archive/Oftel/publications/3.

research/2001/bran1101.pdf

From “The Lure of Global Branding” article in Harvard Business Review (November – December 1999) in which 4.

executives from 35 companies in the US, Europe and Japan that have successfully developed strong brands across

countries were interviewed

20