MTN Group plans to roll out new brand identity; displays new logo

Telecommunications giant, MTN, has announced rebranding plans as part of the group’s “Ambition 2025” strategy, aimed at creating “leading digital platforms for Africa’s progress”.

The change became public knowledge after the former logo was replaced on the signage at the head office in Johannesburg, South Africa. The familiar logo with the red, white and blue letters was replaced with all blue letters, surrounded by an oval. The world “Y’ello” is emphasised in white below the MTN logo in the new design.

Nompilo Morafo, chief sustainability and corporate affairs officer at MTN Group, confirmed the changes and said the new brand will be rolled out from February 27, which will coincide with a marketing campaign.

“Our commitment and focus to accelerate Africa’s progress see MTN revealing a refreshed brand identity and campaign from 27 February. The campaign is inspired by the insight that doing is a bridge between can and done because all progress comes from action,” Morafo said.

Further information shows that the telco giant is moving from just being a telecommunications company to a technology company “underpinned by one simple and consistent yet striking brand”.

Corporate Rebranding

A recent corporate rebranding that shook the world was the Facebook to Meta event. According to the founder, Mark Zuckerberg, The rebranding was to signal that the company was branching out and was linked to more than one product, and that Meta was a better representation of the company’s projects.

On average, organisations and brands change or update their brands about once every seven years. This often involves restyling logos, colour palettes, visual language, and the photographic style, in addition to strategic repositioning.

The digital transformation of society in par­ticular is making it necessary for certain sectors to reinvent themselves. For MTN, we have to wait and see what they plan to unveil in their campaign.