Cell C sets up a new identity

CELL C, South Africa's third mobile provider, unveiled a new corporate identity yesterday, which would include a new logo and tag line: "The power in your hands."

Cell C's CEO, Lars P Reichelt, said the decision to change the brand was a call to action in line with the current changes in the company.

Reichelt announced progress on the group's technological transformation.

"Cell C will be the first South African operator to roll out HSPA+ across its entire network, and it will do so in the 900MHz and 2100MHz frequency bands."

Cell C hopes to cover 34% of the South African population by the end of this year with its 4Gs network and aims for a 67% population coverage by mid-2011, according to Reichelt.

"We will launch the network, city by city, to learn from one to the next. It is a journey. We don't want to just plonk everything down and say, we are ready."

He said that six cities were undergoing tests, with the first three to be announced within the next two weeks.

Though the company would still operate under the same name, the new logo would be tailored in black and white, with the 'C' in the latter part of Cell C placed within a solid black circle.

The new brand identity also consists of a six-colour bar, which represents the colours of the South African flag, as a symbol that the company "cares about South Africa".

"Cell C intends to gain the trust of customers by being open about the changes that are needed. Consumers are invited into dialogue and we want to engage them in the change that is happening. Cell C wants to understand where customers are unhappy to address those issues," Reichelt said.

To ensure that changes were in line with what customers want, he said Cell C had partnered with comedian Trevor Noah to be the company's "eyes and ears".

"We want customers to talk to us, but how do you talk to a corporation. People can talk to Trevor, we want to take people with us on this journey," Reichelt said.

Noah will serve as customer service officer, and will feature in an extensive marketing campaign that will provide customers with a platform to raise their views and post comment at www.telltrevor.co.za.

Last week, Reichelt admitted publicly that the network was failing its customers.

The chief executive apologised to customers in a full-page advert in Business Day, following criticism from Noah in a recorded comedy clip recently posted on social media sites Facebook and YouTube.