Bouygues TelecomCopied

Bouygues Telecom presented its new visual identity in February 2015 alongside annual results that ZDNet France described as difficult. The operator had swung to a net loss of 41 million euros in 2014 from a profit of 11 million the year before, and revenue fell 5 per cent to 4.4 billion euros. It was in the middle of a turnaround that included a social plan affecting 17 per cent of staff and a heavily simplified offer catalogue that now absorbed its low cost brand B&You.

The change itself is modest in layout and dramatic in meaning. Freenews, which spotted the logo in the press area of the group's corporate site and in its results presentation, reported a similar arrangement and colours to the old version, but with new typography and the disappearance of the famous little figure, replaced by a more abstract symbol. That figure had been part of the operator's logo since it entered the market in 1996, with only minor stylistic adjustments. ZDNet summed it up: the historic colours remain, but the logo is meant to be clearly simpler and cleaner, like the group's strategy.

The context matters. ZDNet reported that Bouygues Telecom was being courted by other operators while insisting on a stand alone strategy; Martin Bouygues said that no negotiations were under way and called Bouygues Telecom a natural acquirer of SFR, Orange or Numericable. In a market where contract free plans made up more than half of the base, the priority was keeping existing customers rather than bleeding them. Freenews read the change of a long standing symbol as a sign of the will to restructure at every level, and noted that at the time of the reveal the operator was still using the old version on most of its sites.

Dropping a mascot is always a gamble, because characters carry affection that abstract marks have to earn. The little figure was dated, though, and a company cutting jobs and offers needed to look leaner, not friendlier. The new mark does that, but its blandness is also the point: it signals a business tightening its belt rather than inviting customers in. As a statement of intent to stay independent, it is clear. As a piece of brand building, it gives up character for discipline.