So, what’s new?
The kids are going back to school, the nights are drawing in, and some of the biggest names in the comms industry are updating their looks for autumn.
There’s nothing outrageous in that; we all like to reinvent ourselves once in a while, whether it’s a new suit or blonde highlights. But I can’t shake the feeling that certain U.S. companies are trying too hard to convince us that their expensive new paint job carries a deep message about their mission in vision, when just admitting that they fancied a change might have been closer to the truth.
But first to Ireland, where two major players went all out to change their identities.
Eircom will soon adopt a new name, it announced on Tuesday, but left us hanging as to what that name will be. Incidentally, the announcement came just days after rival UPC revealed it will soon start operating as Virgin Media.
But back to Eircom. The Irish incumbent confirmed that it will undertake an "imminent rebrand", and said it will share further details available in the coming weeks.
"The decision to launch a new brand underlines the extent to which the company has evolved, our commitment to Ireland and our ambition for the future," said company CEO Richard Moat, in a statement accompanying the telco’s full-year results announcement.
While that comment doesn’t give a lot away, Eircom can rightly claim to have turned its business around after a lengthy period of financial difficultie s. The telco posted year-on-year quarterly revenue growth in Q4 for the first time in seven years, and talked up its growing base of customers that now take bundled services.
The telecoms business has certainly changed since Eircom’s last rebrand; it took its current name following the IPO of Telecom Éireann in 1999. But if local press reports are anything to go by, the rebrand will not bring significant change: the telco has reportedly registered a number of new business names all with the ‘Eir’ prefix, such as Eirbroadband, EirTV and Eirmobile.
Eircom’s rebranding announcement coincided with the introduction of Google’s new logo.
The search giant this week unveiled its new look, which essentially means a change in font to sans serif from serif.
Google, which noted that it has updated its logo a number of times over the past 17 years, said its latest new look reflects changing user behaviour; while consumers once used Google search on a desktop PC only, now they interact with multiple Google products across various different devices.
"Today we’re introducing a new logo and identity family that reflects this reality," the firm said in a blog post.
The change attracted significant media coverage and online comment…something Google is doubtless not complaining about.
Meanwhile, Verizon’s logo change – which also falls firmly in the camp of evolution not revolution – drew comment from one particular interested party.
The U.S. telco toned down its red tick logo into a simpler, cleaner version.
And T-Mobile US chief executive John Legere wasted no time in turning the new image to his advantage, adding the checkmark to a list of derogatory statements about Verizon that he published on Twitter.
Others were less rude, but anecdotal feedback from around the Internet suggests that while many were moderately impressed with Google’s efforts, the new-look Verizon left consumers and industry-watchers co ld.
Like Eircom and Google before it, Verizon insisted that the new logo shows it is evolving along with its customers.
"The reveal of our new brand is more than just a new look. It’s a chance to further everyone’s understanding of who Verizon is and where we are going," the company said. " After 15 years, the new visual identity marks the beginning of the next chapter to distinguish Verizon in the minds of consumers and signals our revitalized purpose of delivering the promise of the digital world – simply, reliably and in a way that consumers want."
Meh. I’m not sure I get it. I don’t get a strong sense of what’s new or evolutionary about either Google or Verizon just from an updated logo.
It’s a bit like changing the living room curtains: the new ones look brighter and cleaner, but they frame the same view.
