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<ul><li>After Vodafone’s ZooZoo and 7UP’s Fido Dido, new-age brands have stayed away from launching and nurturing a brand mascot. </li><li>However, Dunzo’s endearing mascots Harri and Dunya testify that mascots still work and help you stand out in the clutter. </li><li>We reached out to brand experts to understand if technology has impacted <keyword id="9768835" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="mascot-marketing">mascot marketing</keyword>, what are some of the things that brands should consider before launching a mascot in today's time, and what should it talk about. </li></ul>Growing up, we have seen the supremely charismatic <keyword id="125015" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Amul-girl">Amul Girl</keyword> comment on issues that nobody dared to refer to on public-forums. From government scandals to celebrity gossip to gender equality, the Amul Girl has spoken about it all unabashedly and continues to be loved by different kinds of audiences for the same reason even today! However, after the iconic Nirma Girl, McDonald’s Ronald McDonald, Parle-G Girl, 7UP’s Fido, and Vodafone’s ZooZoo, <keyword id="9768839" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="brand-mascots">brand mascots</keyword> did not make an appearance for quite some time and made us wonder if mascots are a dying trend. Brands did not want to invest in a labour-intensive exercise that involved a lot of commitment, regularity, nurturing and of course, money to make it all happen. And then Dunzo, a new-age home-grown delivery brand, dropped not one but two mascots, Harri and Dunya. Like Amul, its mascots also comment on status-quo with its well-known pun, swag and humor. Many technological advancements have been introduced in our country since the Amul Girl was born and the marketing landscape continues to evolve with it. We reached out to experts to understand what benefits a brand can reap by launching a mascot in today’s highly-cluttered landscape, what are some of the factors they should take into consideration and what should today's mascot look like and talk about. Experts opined that technological changes will come and go, but mascots will always offer a relatability factor -- a barrage of emotions packed in one image that helps connect the brand immediately with the audiences. Karthik Srinivisan, Brand Consultant and Social Media Expert, said, “There's nothing technological about mascots, as I see it. Regardless of where a mascot is used, in what kind of media, the primary purpose is to enhance memorability and association. Whether the mascot is depicted in a billboard, or a print ad, or TVC or an Instagram post, the basic purpose transcends technology and medium.” He said mascots offer higher recall value. “A mascot's purpose has always been to extend a brand's marketing effort. If the mascot enhances the memorability of the brand, or makes it more relatable, that is a good consideration for the mascot's need. The most basic things that a brand should consider fall under common sense - that the chosen mascot doesn't lead to any negative association or perception,” added Srinivasan. All mascots from the recent past like Harri, Dunya, ZooZoo and Fido are 3D illustrations that don’t just have a conversation and engage with consumers, they twirl, dance and even drive around on fictional streets. Albeit, experts we spoke to said dimensions don’t matter, message does. Ambi Parameswaran, Founder, Brand-Building.com said, “I am not sure if you can do better advertising simply because you can create a 3D image. I still believe the simple 2D of Amul Girl is one of my favourites.” Giving us an example, he said, “In recent times, Nippon Paint has used the colourful blobs, called Blobbies as an integral element on their campaign. These are 3D images that paint your walls and is an extension of something the brand has done abroad. I think the intelligent use of the mascots has helped the brand standout in the celebrity clutter that we see in all brand advertising, and also in paint advertising. I would rate it as a breakthrough in recent years.” “The mascot today becomes a bot when injected with technology. Interfaces can change, but the core persona of the bot must not,” seconds Harish Bijoor, Brand Guru &amp; Founder, Harish Bijoor Consults Inc, whose favourite brand mascot is Asian Paints' Gattu! Bijoor explained, “A Brand Mascot is a relationship that is forever. It is all about a more long-lasting engagement with the consumer than in the case of celebrities roped in to promote a brand. Keeping this in mind, it is important for mascots to embody the brand with a certain degree of personal integrity. Mascots must therefore embody within themselves the DNA of the brand in question. Integrity and a complete emotive-ability with the consumer is a core must.” Ronita Mitra, Founder and Chief Strategist, Brand Eagle Consulting said that even if the consumers move to a dominant digital environment, consumers will continue to remain humans and will always look for that human and emotional connect. Highlighting how mascots can be used to break clutter, Mitra said, “A mascot has the power to be leveraged across multi-media platforms from advertising to social media conversations to technology interfaces to activation programs as demonstrated effectively and endearingly by the Vodafone ZooZoos. While usage on one static medium such as packaging aids strengthening of the visual identity of brands, mascots are not done full justice when used that way. Relationships will continue to have a special place in consumers' lives, only the formats of engaging will evolve. The recent COVID lockdown times have shown how people from across the world have continued to strengthen their bonds leveraging technology. Mascots such as the Amul girl have shown that consumers do not tire themselves of relevant and engaging day to day conversations over decades.” Amul Girl steals the show Mascots can help personify the brand, maintain a voice, stand out in the clutter of celebrity endorsers, and establish the brand in an endearing, memorable and meaningful manner. Today, audiences also expect brands to have an opinion on political and social issues, stand for a cause and sell eco-friendly products. So, in today’s advanced social and technological landscape, what should your brand’s new mascot look like and talk about? All experts had one response to this question. Refer to Amul Girl. “Amul Girl remains right on top. This is mainly because unlike Asian Paints' Gattu or the Parle Girl, Amul has made contemporary use of their mascot in many kinds of topical situations through their everyday ads. Merely creating a logo and using it only in brand marketing is one thing, but Amul has gone beyond using it in marketing, and in a way made us think of Amul when we see the mascot in any context. That's the true success of a mascot - to bring people back to the brand every time they stumble on it even without the brand's name mentioned next to it,” said Srinivisan. “Mascots such as the Amul girl have shown that consumers do not tire themselves of relevant and engaging day to day conversations over decades,” said Mitra. So to conclude, experts said that a brand mascot should bring alive the brand narrative and its point-of-view. It will still help create a long-term relationship with your consumer if connected on a daily basis. Your brand would not have to worry about technological advancements and changing media landscape, mascots can be omnipresent and immortal.

From Amul’s 2D girl to Dunzo’s 3D Harri and Dunya, here's how mascots have evolved over the years and what they stand for today

The pug that had become the face of <keyword id="15492" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Vodafone">Vodafone</keyword> would be back as the mascot in the telecom company’s new brand campaign before the Indian Premier League cricket tournament this year. The company is considering SuperNet it as its first 360 degree campaign, the objective of which is to highlight the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Vodafone-Launches-High-speed-3G-Wi-Fi-Dongle-At-Rs-2399/articleshow/41684104.cms">3G and 4G improvements</a> that have been put into place by the Britain-headquartered company. 
 
"We are bringing back our favourite icon Pug which symbolises Vodafone's network expanse and quality to reinforce the brand promise of staying always connected. This campaign is one of our 'gold campaigns' and will have a good 360 mix of communication across mediums," a Vodafone India spokesman said. 
 
The campaign has come at the time of company's yearly practice of launching a campaign, earmarking about a fifth of its advertising <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Vodafone-India-Revenues-Are-Up-By-13-5/articleshow/25650838.cms">budget </a>along with being the title sponsor for the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Sponsorship-slots-and-spot-rates-take-a-leap-for-the-upcoming-season-of-IPL/articleshow/50820713.cms">cricket tournament IPL</a>. 
 Talking of the canine mascot, it had originally featured in Vodafone advertisements as the follower of its young master everywhere he went. The pug was later replaced by balloon-bodied ZooZoos. A person aware of the developments also told ET that there are chances of the Zoozoos and the pug coming together for this <keyword id="6354312" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="IPL">IPL</keyword>. 
 
<a href="http://binscorner.com/mails/w/what-the-vodafone-pug-really-says-in-kan/part-008.jpeg">Image source</a>

Vodafone pug to be back before IPL

This weekend, Pug owners and enthusiasts from across Delhi NCR came together at <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=DLF+Place+Saket&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">DLF Place Saket</a> to celebrate the return of one of the most beloved mascots of <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Vodafone&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Vodafone</a> – the Pug. The cute dog is back to launch the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Vodafone+SuperNet+4G&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Vodafone SuperNet 4G</a> campaign. 
 
<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Vodafone&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Vodafone</a> in association with Petfed organized this parade, inviting all Pugs across Delhi to a treat. Activities included a host of exciting fun engagements like fashion show, merchandise like customised T-shirts, Leashes, Collars, Bandanas for pugs. There were photo booths, free pet grooming sessions, free Vet check-up, Games, etc. 
 
Speaking on the initiative, Apoorva Mehrotra, Business Head, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Vodafone&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Vodafone</a> Delhi Circle said, “We are very excited about the comeback of the <keyword id="1126623" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="Vodafone-pug">Vodafone Pug</keyword> to launch our <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Vodafone+SuperNet+4G&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">SuperNet 4G services</a>. Research has shown that the endearing <keyword id="15492" type="CITY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Vodafone">Vodafone</keyword> pug has had one of the most impactful and long standing connects with the Vodafone brand symbolic with our network.” 
 
In case you didn’t notice, the Vodafone Pug and the little boy are back on TV commercials on <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Vodafone+SuperNet+4G&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Vodafone SuperNet</a>. The pug, since its first appearance back in 2003, has been loved by all.

This parade is like no other. It’s Vodafone’s Pug Parade!

<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Vodafone+India&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Vodafone India</a> will continue its partnership with the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Indian+Premier+League&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Indian Premier League</a> (IPL) for the 9th consecutive year as the Official Partner and official sponsor (on-air) of <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Vivo+IPL+2016&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Vivo IPL 2016</a>. 
 
Believe it or not, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Vodafone+India&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Vodafone</a> is the only national brand to be associated with <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Indian+Premier+League&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">IPL</a> since its inception way back in 2008. 
 
Sandeep Kataria, Director - Commercial, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Vodafone+India&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Vodafone India</a> said, “Our partnership with <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Indian+Premier+League&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">IPL</a> has helped Vodafone connect with cross segments of Television viewers and cricket lovers in India. Infact, the unique format of this tournament led to the birth of one of our favourites and most loved iconic mascot – the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Zoozoo&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Zoozoo</a>s”. 
 
Rajiv Shukla, Chairman, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Indian+Premier+League&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">IPL</a>, said, “We are delighted with the long and enriching affiliation with Vodafone as co-presenting sponsor since inception in 2008. We look forward to another successful year of association.” 
 
The telecom company will soon announce its annual 360 degree marketing campaign for Vivo <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Indian+Premier+League&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">IPL</a> 2016, beginning with the inaugural match to be played on 9th April, 2016. 
 
<a href="http://i39.tinypic.com/59x5kl.jpg">Image Source</a>

Vodafone to sponsor IPL for the 9th
consecutive year

<ul><li>TwittembeddedTwitter is giving away 140 NFTs for free to its followers in a giveaway campaign launched on June 30.</li><li>According to Rarible, there are seven unique NFTs in editions of 20 up for grabs which include ‘The Reply Guy’, various renditions of the <keyword id="6354616" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Twitter">Twitter</keyword> logo, ‘Vitamin T’ and others.</li><li>Twitter’s Jack Dorsey and rapper Jay-Z are also reportedly planning to add NFTs and smart contracts to the music streaming platform Tidal, which they co-own.</li></ul>If you want to get your hands on a Twitter <keyword id="10848592" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="non-fungible-token">non-fungible token</keyword> (NFT), you can’t simply buy it off one of the many <a href="https://wazirx.com/signup?invite=2kpah6gr&amp;utm_source=business-insider&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=microsite">NFT</a> platforms — you’ll have to fight other followers to score one for free. The official account has even changed its bio description to “dropping NFTs all day.” <div type="image" title="Twitter" msid="84010668" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Official Twitter account bio&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> The Jack Dorsey-owned social media platform is giving away 140 non-fungible tokens (NFTs) in a free giveaway campaign, which includes various renditions of the Twitter logo like Furry Twitter, Rare Form and Twitter Jggl. <div type="twitter" handle="Twitter" handlename="Twitter" image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1354479643882004483/Btnfm47p_normal.jpg" favoritecount="31132" retweetcount="9153" status="140 free NFTs for 140 of you, besties https://t.co/0Pm0tNhIRg" createdat="1625059469000" id="1410227743636217856"></div> Rarible, the NFT platform that is hosting this giveaway, <a href="https://rarible.substack.com/p/twitter-nfts-are-on-rarible-you-cant?r=lzmjv&amp;utm_campaign=post&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_source=reddit">disclosed</a> that there are seven unique NFTs in editions of 20 up for grabs. The first one up for grabs was ‘Reply Guy — The man behind mansplaining’. <div type="twitter" handle="Twitter" handlename="Twitter" image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1354479643882004483/Btnfm47p_normal.jpg" favoritecount="4934" retweetcount="947" status="Reply GuyThe man behind the mansplaining. https://t.co/H5YdNxVUvl" createdat="1625059474000" id="1410227765295693826"></div> Twitter’s co-founder CEO is doubling down on NFTs Jack Dorsey, the man behind Twitter, has always been a strong supporter of Bitcoin. Last week, he said that he would <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/cryptocurrency/news/jack-dorsey-said-he-would-leave-square-and-twitter-to-work-on-bitcoin-if-it-needed-more-help-in-a-new-interview-here-are-his-9-best-quotes-/articleshow/83812972.cms">leave</a> his financial payments company Square and Twitter to work on <a href="https://wazirx.com/signup?invite=2kpah6gr&amp;utm_source=business-insider&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=microsite">Bitcoin</a> if it needed more help. <div type="ExtQuote" text="If I were not at Square or Twitter, I'd be working on bitcoin. If it (Bitcoin) needed more help than Square and Twitter, I'd leave them for Bitcoin." auname="Jack Dorsey, CEO of Twitter, in an interview at the Bitcoin 2021 conference"></div> In March, the American tech billionaire joined the NFT craze when he sold his first-ever tweet for <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/twitter-ceo-jack-dorseys-first-ever-tweet-sold-for-2-9-million-as-an-nft/articleshow/81639599.cms">$2.9 million</a> as an NFT on Valuables. The buyer, Hakan Estavi — chief executive at Bridge Oracle — said the tweet was as valuable as fine art, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/twitter-ceo-jack-dorseys-first-tweet-is-expected-to-sell-for-2-5-million-on-sunday-this-is-why-the-nft-is-so-valuable-/articleshow/81619369.cms">like the Mona Lisa</a>. Dorsey and rapper Jay-Z are also reportedly <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/cryptocurrency/news/jay-z-and-jack-dorsey-plan-on-adding-nfts-and-smart-contracts-to-their-tidal-music-streaming-app-to-improve-artists-pay/articleshow/83961901.cms">planning to add NFTs</a> and smart contracts to the music streaming platform Tidal, which they co-own. Here are the other NFTs that Twitter is putting up for grabs: <ol><li>Vitamin T <div type="twitter" handle="Twitter" handlename="Twitter" image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1354479643882004483/Btnfm47p_normal.jpg" favoritecount="5498" retweetcount="1034" status="Vitamin TTake daily for a good time. https://t.co/xbc2ByTDef" createdat="1625059480000" id="1410227788578279424"></div></li></ol>2.Furry Twitter <div type="twitter" handle="Twitter" handlename="Twitter" image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1354479643882004483/Btnfm47p_normal.jpg" favoritecount="10089" retweetcount="1685" status="Furry TwitterLike but don’t touch. https://t.co/oFTngwhJms" createdat="1625059482000" id="1410227800007757827"></div> 3.Twitter Jggl <div type="twitter" handle="Twitter" handlename="Twitter" image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1354479643882004483/Btnfm47p_normal.jpg" favoritecount="4196" retweetcount="765" status="twttr jgglYou are what you Tweet. https://t.co/gQwNikTXrN" createdat="1625059486000" id="1410227814796824586"></div> 4. Rare Form <div type="twitter" handle="Twitter" handlename="Twitter" image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1354479643882004483/Btnfm47p_normal.jpg" favoritecount="5666" retweetcount="1015" status="Rare FormThat’s it. That’s the logo. https://t.co/d6KQWzkczP" createdat="1625059491000" id="1410227837307604996"></div> 5. First Born <div type="twitter" handle="Twitter" handlename="Twitter" image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1354479643882004483/Btnfm47p_normal.jpg" favoritecount="6931" retweetcount="1327" status="First BornCheck in on your Tweets. https://t.co/qrKHOeVxtU" createdat="1625059501000" id="1410227877820436482"></div> 6. Building Characters <div type="twitter" handle="Twitter" handlename="Twitter" image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1354479643882004483/Btnfm47p_normal.jpg" favoritecount="4742" retweetcount="813" status="Building Characters The Great Glow Up https://t.co/2VQ7ZGcr5q" createdat="1625059496000" id="1410227855703908353"></div> What are NFTs? NFTs aren’t fungible, as the name implies. This means that each NFT is unique and one can’t be switched out for another, as in the case for Bitcoin or Ether. It’s like the deed to your house or the registration of your car. Yes, it has value, but one can’t be switched out for another — even if they have the same price. Like Twitter, Reddit is also launching NFTs of its famous alien mascot, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/cryptocurrency/news/reddit-is-auctioning-3-ethereum-nfts-featuring-its-alien-mascot-snoo/articleshow/83812260.cms">CryptoSnoo</a> — only they’re not free but being auctioned off on the NFT platform OpenSea. However, the debate over whether the NFT fad is just a bubble or a real solution is still ongoing. Coinbase co-founder, Fred Ehrsam, told Bloomberg TV that 90% NFTs would be <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/coinbases-cofounder-said-90-of-nfts-will-soon-be-worthless-and-people-shouldnt-dismiss-dogecoin-in-an-interview-here-are-the-8-best-quotes-/articleshow/83605439.cms">worthless within the next three to five years.</a> Meanwhile, more and more organisations are jumping on the NFT bandwagon from Formula 1’s $100 million <a href="https://news.bitcoin.com/formula-1-secures-multimillion-crypto-sponsorship-deal/">sponsorship deal</a> to crypto exchanges branching out into offering NFT marketplaces. <a href="https://forum.businessinsider.in/">For a more in-depth discussion, come on over to Business Insider Cryptosphere</a> — a forum where users can deep dive into all things crypto, engage in interesting discussions and stay ahead of the curve. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/mobile/news/ios-15-public-beta-rolling-out-how-to-install-on-iphone/articleshow/84010290.cms">First iOS 15 public beta with Focus mode, FaceTime improvements and more now rolling out – here’s how to install it on your iPhone</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/telecom/news/vodafone-idea-stocks-tank-after-march-quarter-results/articleshow/84010118.cms">Vodafone Idea shares in deep red as an uncertain future looms</a>

Twitter is giving away 140 free NFTs to followers — and they’re not available any other way

<ul><li><keyword id="9025059" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="abhik-choudhury">Abhik Choudhury</keyword>, Chief strategist &amp; founder, Salt and Paper Consulting writes how brands colors are now both category and audience agnostic. </li><li>He further shares a few reasons behind this paradigm shift. </li></ul> What do Volkswagen, Volvo, Tata, Ford and GM have in common? They all are reliable family cars with blue logos. How about KFC, McDonalds, Wendy’s, Pizza Hut and Burger King? They all are global fast food chains with either or both, red and yellow in their identities. And till about a decade ago, it was all fine and dandy till digital content clutter multiplied our brand exposure to a whopping 5000+ on an average day. And that meant the compelling need for acute differentiation over everything else. Let’s look at the topical industry of the year - EdTech. The whole industry came into being post digital burst. And in their identities, whilst catering to the same audiences their approach to <keyword id="9709248" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="brand-colors">brand colors</keyword> couldn’t have been more drastically contrasting. Byju, India’s second most valuable startup at $10Bn adorns a bright purple, something which experts used to put in the segment of richness and royalty. Udemy with its coral shade usually seen in lifestyle brands has intentionally moved away from its launch color of grass green. Coursera on the other end of the spectrum is safely engulfed in the reliable blue (think sweet spot between the old and new Facebook color). And finally look at Khan Academy, a blend of sea green and ocean blue. I would argue brands colors are now both category and audience agnostic. And there are four reasons for this major paradigm shift. The Differentiation Paradox: Of course the trained mind might argue the above example is just an anomaly so let’s go back to the automobile category we opened our discussion with to see this point through. In the last decade, the new electric car segment is slowly overpowering old heavyweights. What’s interesting though is as much as these shiny, new kids stand for the same brand promise of blending sleek style, sustainability and automation, their colors try to intentionally stay as apart as possible. Leading the pack Tesla shines in its signature passion red, Faraday Future graces the color of powerplay jet black, Fisker has famously named its brand colors California sunset (orange) and Pacific ocean (blue), the Chinese born Byton decks a more luxurious grey and the adventure friendly Rivian chose orangish yellow. Superdry’s orange boasts of its fun and bold collection, Zara’s black promotes the high street range inspired by luxury fashion weeks. And why not, as the concept of brand colors needed to be synonymous with the “brand experience”. Now though, the audience is aware enough to know that just because Grab taxis are green, they don’t only move with an oil free, electric fleet. Honestly, as long as the story behind your choice of brand color is believable you can paint the canvas with whatever you wish for. Breaking the traditional need for popping colors, Unilever’s new age Talenti Gelato comes in a pure transparent identity to just focus on the product and cut the clutter in the ice cream shelf simultaneously. Ola, India’s answer to Uber uses an exclusive pear color something eponymous with sporty, not exactly a massy cab service using Wagon R &amp; Swift Dzire cars. But does it work? Quite brilliantly actually, the point of differentiation is well made and well reaped. The Niche Maze Before the digital era, market penetration used to be mostly about what the masses demanded. And honestly rightfully so, for neither there was internet to measure the size of niche interests nor a way to get them delivered online to spurt segments scattered all over. And what it has resulted in is making colors more unisex, boldly unique and universally acceptable. Lyft’s Magenta and Dunzo’s Mint Green paves way for many more to come in the coming decade. Let’s try to understand the repercussions of not having niche colors. In the Indian media ecosystem look at the known brands Zee News, NDTV, ABP News, Republic, Aaj Tak, BBC Hindi, The Wire and Firspost ALL have red in their logos. Let’s forget for a second if all these brands have similar personalities, experience or values of the color red. Let’s rather say in 2021 you want to start a media corporation catering to millennials. Don’t you think a berry blue or sunshine yellow will give you a niche identity distinctively apart from all your industry peers and make the consumer immediately associate you with the color no matter on which medium it is used? Reliance Jio certainly would have considered it while starting to slowly move towards Persian blue from its bright red similar to core competitors Airtel and Vodafone. So would have AirBnB while choosing a coral shade over their old blue similar to Booking’s identity. <div type="image" title="Color Logos Case" msid="77389917" hostid="261"></div> Content Overload: One of the most profitable industries inarguably today is the smartphone hub with over 1.5Bn average annual unit sales and still a long way in penetrating the global population. No matter where you are from, you can’t deflect from its plethora of content across platforms. Oppo and Vivo with their selfie camera positioning had planned a budget of INR 2200 crores for the Indian market to dwarf Samsung at its own game. Xiaomi, who finally did overthrow Samsung poured INR 3500 crores last year aiming at an even more aggressive advertising strategy. All pointing towards an inevitable content war subtly numbing the audiences to all headlines and creatives. And hence you see Xiaomi goes with a blazing orange, Oppo graces forest green, One Plus Christmas red, Google Pixel a more humbling grey to Apple’s black while Vivo goes for sailor blue. We aren’t talking about one off anomalies that used to happen in every category like Ferrari’s legendary lemon yellow backdrop whilst Audi, Mercedes, Toyota, Honda, Hyundai, Nissan, Jaguar &amp; Lexus all go with the same kind of logo in metallic elements on their cars. These smartphone examples are of all category leaders and none come close to the other’s color no matter how close their audience, personality and brand experience might be. Now one of the major brand identity tests is to create a fictional character with a rich personality to match with your corporation’s values, vision and heart. The catch is, it only works if your audience feels that metaphor coming alive too. Otherwise as you will agree, every horse breeder can sell a Unicorn. And with all due respect the 2020s audiences have evolved from all color tones (and it’s kind of fair if not lovely). Now they are more interested and invested in what you actually do both with your offering and beyond it for the overall society. They know how to filter the frills from the flowers. Typography before color: The formula is minimal typography for maximum impact. Uber tweaked its logo element to a bolder no nonsense font of its name. Indian food delivery pioneers have removed their famous spoon and now just have Zomato written in a thicker and slightly curved style. The legendary Absolut Vodka which had a designer cursive line - ‘Country of Sweden’ in the logo itself has switched to just a navy blue Absolut enjoying the solitude. Visa has removed the card element last decade and even fired the fiery yellow edge to allow blue to engulf all of its typography on this one. Dominos have hit puberty late but by making the name come out of the inclined box they now demand complete attention. IHop, Dunkin... the list honestly keeps going on but the verdict is clear. Clarity of your name in the logo, something that can be read in a nanosecond during a digital post or banner is what works today. And when pure simplicity takes absolute precedent, intricate elements, three tone color schemes and parallel mascots take a backseat. Bold is the new black and clarity is the new color. Millennials demand this world to stop seeing colors, at least without any preconceived prejudices. And if anything the creative industry should be elated with this transformation, one less box to fit into. Let the old labels make way for legacy. If only the world would start having bold brands who can make shirts for men and call it pink. Oh wait, we already do - Pink Shirtmaker, London owned by the Louis Vuitton group. By Abhik Choudhury, Chief strategist &amp; founder, Salt and Paper Consulting. He is also a visiting faculty of Market Research and Campaign Planning at <keyword id="9497386" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="the-indian-institute-of-mass-communication">the Indian Institute of Mass Communication</keyword>, New Delhi. You can reach him at abhik@saltandpaper.co.

The relevance of brand colors are redundant, it’s all about differentiation

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image">REUTERS/Mary TurnerGavin Patterson, CEO of BT.</div></div></div><ul><li>Insiders at BT say the 13,000 layoffs announced yesterday are much more "savage" than expected.</li><li>The company is rife with the rumour that management is trying to dress the company up for some kind of transaction, possibly involving Deutsche Telekom.</li><li>BT is hobbled by years of technical debt. Its main internal database is decades old.</li><li>It is so fragile that a fire in a Rochdale datacentre crippled the company internally for 10 days in 2016.</li><li>Any acquiring company that can free itself of BT's £11 billion pension deficit obligation might inherit a nice little monopoly over Britain's internet.</li></ul> LONDON - In years past, when Gavin Patterson, the CEO of BT, has wanted to launch a major new initiative, he broadcast an all-hands video to BT's 106,000 employees.Internally, the events have been a big deal: When BT launched its new brand values effort in 2017, the video was presented by Clare Balding and Jake Humphrey, the BT Sport channel's most famous TV presenters. Large screens were erected in BT's major offices. Balloons and food were provided. The whole company stopped to watch together.<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image">(Photo by Alan Crowhurst/Getty Images)Clare Balding is a longtime sports presenter for BT.</div></div></div>Last week, however, "it was basically just Gavin sat at his desk looking into his webcam. It was a funereal atmosphere. There was no razzmatazz, no fun," a source who has worked at the phone, internet and cable TV provider for over a decade told Business Insider. "Everyone stopped work and watched Gavin for an hour."That's because Patterson was telling his staff that 13,000 of them were about to be laid off - 12% of the entire workforce of 106,000 people, based in 180 different countries. It is one of the biggest rounds of corporate layoffs a British company has ever seen."The job cuts are a lot more savage than people expected," our source says."People inside the company were expecting another round of 5,000 this time last year. But 13,000 is a lot." Inside BT right now, stress levels have gone through the roof. "Nobody has done any work today because everyone is just in meetings about the announcement, or is talking about it. For weeks, no decisions will get made about anything," the source says.<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image">(Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images)The BT Tower is a distinctive part of the London skyline.</div></div></div>The cuts are expected to fall most heavily on BT's "management" layer. That word is in quotes because almost anyone who is not an actual telecoms engineer - "a man in a van," so to speak - is regarded as a "manager" at BT. Many of these managers don't actually manage anyone underneath them. They are "singleton managers." Those are the jobs most at risk. They are also the people doing all the work, our source says.It's not just about layoffs and redundancies.<h2>What if the job cuts are preparation for the sale of BT?</h2>The gossip inside BT is that the entire future of the company is at stake, and what form it will survive in. Although BT is essentially Britain's monopoly internet provider - a description its management would doubtless aggressively dispute - it is also beset by decades of intractable "technical debt" and an actual financial debt to its pension fund of £11 billion.Insiders believe the cuts - along with the depressed stock price - are part of a plan to prepare the company to be sold, possibly in a transaction involving Deutsche Telekom. A spokesperson for BT told Business Insider that the company did not comment on rumours and gossip. The spokesperson did say that the company has reached a funding agreement with the pension trustees. Deutsche Telekom did not respond to a request for comment.To get an idea of just how extreme BT's problems are, consider this little-publicised episode from the company's history:In 2016, a fire broke out in a BT datacentre in Rochdale, England, and it paralysed large parts of the company internally for about 10 days, a source tells Business Insider. "A contractor put a battery in the wrong way round in a storage array, and it burned through some discs. No data was lost. People could still make phone calls. But the company couldn't operate on a normal basis, people couldn't use the internal services." The intranet was down for a week, says our source (who worked at the company for 19 years).BT said the fire was not that serious. "In 2016 a storage array at our Rochdale data centre overheated following routine maintenance work. This affected a proportion of BT's back-office systems. All business critical systems were restored within a day," a spokesperson said.Either way, it's an example of BT's "technical debt," the concept which describes the toll in time and expenses it takes companies to maintain legacy technology that should have been replaced years ago. Or, in BT's case, decades ago.The mere act of running BT as a company cost £16 billion in 2017, according to its financial statements, and that's one of the factors that drove Patterson's decision to lay off 13,000 people.<h2>"The exchanges are pretty filthy and badly looked after"</h2><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image">(Photo by Keystone/Getty Images)This was a BT publicity stunt in 1981: A man dressed as the company's giant mascot bird, Buzby, to launch BT's recorded phone service for gardeners, the Woolworth Gardenline, with a model identified only as Holly.</div></div></div>The technical debt at BT is extreme, our source says.For instance, many of BT's exchanges - the local sites that connect your house to BT's "trunk line" phone and internet services - are still dependent on VAX minicomputers, a technology that dates back to the 1970s. VAX machines have less computing power than your mobile phone.Most people don't notice BT's exchanges. They are small buildings, about the size of a church hall, probably built in 1940s, 50s, or 60s. There is one every three or four miles in urban areas. You can recognise them by the BT sign on the front and a load of BT vans parked outside. "That's the bit that connects the copper wire from your house to the phone network," our source says."The exchanges are pretty filthy and badly looked after," our source says. "This ancient stuff in the exchanges gets covered in dust and dirt because everything is so filthy and old. Dust gets into them and the vibrations [from traffic] pushes chips out of the memory boards, so you have to hoover it. It sounds ludicrous," our source says.This is why Asian countries like South Korea have fibre optic broadband, with internet speeds up to a gigabit per second, while Britain struggles along on copper wires that typically deliver only 76 megabits per second. Asia built an entirely new infrastructure from scratch. Britain is trying to use a copper-wire phone system initially installed in the 1920s to run the web.But that's how BT keeps the phones and internet working.VAX machines are "in half a dozen exchanges around the city, if one goes down loads of people lose their internet access. There is stuff like that all over the company. No one has really had the guts to tackle that. This is why BT is so slow to market. Every time they build a new product they have to integrate with all these old systems."The situation is so bad that "people would refuse to speak to me if I mentioned the words 'technical debt,'" our source says. "They'd say, 'we're not talking about that.'"A BT spokesperson said the company was investing £3.7 billion over the next two years into an "all-IP fibre network that enables seamless converged access across fixed, WiFi, and mobile."<h2>"Somebody new buying the company would just go, 'let's scrap this piece of shit'"</h2><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table click-to-enlarge"><div><div class="image on-image"><a title_source="REUTERS/Denis Balibouse" title_caption="Gavin Patterson at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, January 23, 2018." class="zoomin" href="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5af5ae5e428d041a008b47ad-960/gavin patterson 2.jpg"></a>REUTERS/Denis BalibouseGavin Patterson at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, January 23, 2018.</div></div></div>Among the oldest systems at BT is its "CSS" mainframe."The main company database is CSS, it runs on an ancient mainframe. It's literally ancient. That's the database that holds all the records of all BT customers and all of the phone calls anyone makes. That's the centre of the company's IT." The CSS data goes back years. Our source says the system is so old that he doesn't even know what the initials CSS originally stood for. "In 20 years [of working at the company] no one has ever said what it stands for!""It was old in 1998. You had to log in via a special terminal, via special text. No one has ever tackled it. Somebody new buying the company would just go, 'let's scrap this piece of shit.'"Inside BT right now, the gossip is that the layoff plan is about exactly that - preparing the company to be acquired by someone bold enough to actually say, "let's scrap this piece of shit."The gossip - which obviously cannot be confirmed because it is speculation - runs like this:Deutsche Telekom owns 12% of BT and has a seat on the board through BT's acquisition of EE, the wireless service provider that is a joint venture under Deutsche Telekom. BT, for all its troubles, controls a virtual monopoly on British phone and internet service provision. BT informally controls Openreach, the service infrastructure company that provides the wire from your home to BT's exchanges. Because of Openreach's dominant market position it has a legal duty to provide everyone in the UK with a phone line and to sell its services to other companies like Sky or Vodafone on equal terms to BT.Although Openreach is a different company to BT, everyone inside BT knows that BT basically controls it. "The Openreach split is very odd. It's not really a split in truth because everyone in the company [BT] works on stuff that Openreach are doing. The regulators must know. There is formal legal separation but there isn't real separation." Last year, BT and Ofcom (the UK government telecom regulator) agreed a framework to make sure that Openreach would treat all customers fairly. Sharon White, Ofcom's chief executive, said at the time: "Ofcom will keep a careful eye on whether Openreach is working for telecoms users, ensuring BT and Openreach live by the letter and spirit of their commitments."All that infrastructure - some of it consisting of actual tunnels between exchanges and BT - is valuable because to compete against BT, other companies would have to start building from scratch.So BT maintains a virtual monopoly on British phone and internet provision, despite the comically outdated technical infrastructure.<h2>If BT could ditch its pension obligations, its finances would be fundamentally different</h2>Monopolies are valuable if you can control their costs. BT's revenues may be in decline (down 1% to £24 billion) but it is profitable (£7.5 billion EBITDA). Those profits are spoiled by one of the biggest costs BT is wrestling with: the pension plan deficit. There is a £11 billion hole between the plan's funding and its future obligations to retired BT workers.That pension scheme is subject to a "crown guarantee." When the government privatised the former General Post Office in 1984, it promised it would back the pension fund even in the unlikely event that BT went bankrupt.Put all this together and you can see what an aggressive acquirer might do with BT:<ul><li>Wait until the share price is depressed (it's currently at a low of around £2.19, less than half what it was in 2015).</li><li>Cut out as much of the workforce as you can (making the earnings per share look a bit better).</li><li>Use a legal manoeuvre to technically end the company known as "BT."</li><li>Orphan the pension fund to the government.</li></ul>Hey presto - you'd be in charge of a monopoly internet provider with fewer legacy costs and a nicely dominant position in the UK market.Our source thinks Deutsche Telekom may have something like this in mind. <a href="http://www.capacitymedia.com/Article/3790075/Deutsche-Telekom-CEO-says-BT-attractive-a-year-before-embargo-on-bid-expires">Deutsche Telekom has wanted to acquire BT since 2016, according to sources who spoke to Capacity Media</a>. <h2>BT staff are riven with speculation about who will get the axe and who will stay.</h2>A BT spokesperson told Business Insider that was not the intention of the layoff plan. "The focus is on taking out layers of management in BT because there's too many of them, freeing up £1.5 billion of cost savings that can be reinvested ... in new networks such as ultra-fast broadband and 5G." BT wants to hire 6,000 more engineers as well, the spokesperson said.The spokesperson did confirm that the pension fund is subject to a crown guarantee, however.In the meantime, BT staff are speculating about who will get the axe and who will stay. Among the IT staff, the more highly qualified, ambitious workers will be tempted to take a voluntary redundancy package, which might typically consist of a week's pay for every year worked, up to a maximum of 48 weeks. BT has many longtime employees for whom the idea of nine months' pay in a lump sum would sound very attractive.The people who won't be offered redundancy packages are those who are already close to retirement, on sick leave, maternity leave, or on BT's "performance plans" (for underperforming staff), our source speculates, based on past redundancy offers. "So the remaining workforce ends up being really weird. Everyone is in their late 50s, on performance plans, is sick, and people who wish they'd gone because now they're left with everyone else's work."Our source says he won't miss trying to maintain BT's prehistoric architecture. "I don't miss the stress of something breaking and me going, 'I have no idea where we start with this.'"If you work at BT and have information that might be of interest to Business Insider please contact jedwards@businessinsider.com. <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/jeff-bezos-interview-axel-springer-ceo-amazon-trump-blue-origin-family-regulation-washington-post-2018-4">Jeff Bezos reveals what it's like to build an empire and become the richest man in the world - and why he's willing to spend $1 billion a year to fund the most important mission of his life</a></h3> <div> </div> </div>

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