VodafoneCopied

Vodafone's speech mark dates from 1998; in 2005 it was rendered as a glossy, skeuomorphic 3D object, and in 2009 the company adopted the line Power to you. On 5 October 2017 it announced the first changes since then, to be rolled out across all 36 countries where the brand appears. The company called it the biggest change to the speech mark since its creation.

The rationale was optimism. Group chief commercial operations and strategy officer Serpil Timuray said there were very good reasons to be optimistic as science and technology began to change society, and the new positioning was meant to help customers adapt. The strapline became The future is exciting. Ready?, the first half in local languages, the Ready? always in English. Vodafone said the strategy came from research and testing with nearly 30,000 people in 17 countries.

Design-wise, the logo moved to a flat 2D drawing, the Vodafone font was changed, and the speech mark was promoted from sign-off to the central graphic device, overlaid on all marketing. Marketing Week noted it was the first time every Vodafone communication, consumer, business and recruitment, would share one strapline and look. Vodafone named WPP agencies MEC, Santo, Brand Union and Kantar as its partners on the positioning, with Brand Union responsible for the identity.

Rollout came with what Vodafone called the largest advertising campaign in its 33-year history, led by a 60-second film produced by Ridley Scott Associates about human connection staying constant as technology changes, followed by local campaigns tailored to each market. Timuray told Marketing Week the old line had worked well for almost ten years, but the industry was changing too fast to stand still.

Vodafone's own announcement set out the scale. The strapline would read in local languages with Ready? always in English, as in il futuro è straordinario, Ready?, across all 36 Vodafone markets. It was the biggest change to the speech mark since its creation in 1998, after a 1985 original, a Pegasus addition in 1993, a SIM card in 2001 and 3D rendering in 2005. Research and concept testing involved nearly 30,000 people in 17 countries, and the largest campaign in the company's 33-year history opened with a 60-second film from Ridley Scott Associates. Marketing Week noted it was the first time all of Vodafone's communications, including recruitment, would share one strapline and look.

Dropping the chrome was overdue; a 2005 gloss effect had no business on 2017 screens. The flat mark is clean and scales anywhere. The bigger move, making the quote mark a frame for everything, is smarter than the logo itself, though the strapline, half translated and half English, reads like a committee compromise.