Cell C joins the dots with new logo and new approach

At a press conference in Johannesburg yesterday, Cell C which for the past nine years has been associated with a red logo and spotted “C”, revealed a refreshing new black and white logo with the “C” in the latter part of Cell C, placed within a solid circle.

The new corporate identity, according to Cell C CEO, Lars P Reichelt, reflects the company’s vision of understanding its customers’ way of life better than anybody else and tailoring solutions around them to enhance lifestyles and improve livelihoods.

The new brand identity also consists of a six-colour bar which represents the colours of the South African flag as a symbol that Cell C cares about South Africa, and South Africa only. Cell C intends to cater to all customers and not just those within specific LSMs.

Our new brand speaks to the changes we are making to improve the experience of our customers at every touch-point

“We are not just flying the flag on specific occasions - we make it part of our everyday life.  It is a reminder that this is the land of incredible possibilities and Cell C wants to be the ‘possibilities provider’ for all South Africans,” said Reichelt.

He said the decision to change the company’s well-known brand was a call to action, in line with the current changes within the company. 

“A brand must be relevant, appealing and inspiring to those inside as well as outside and I believe our new brand speaks to the changes we are making to improve the experience of our customers at every touch-point.

“Cell C intends to gain the trust of customers by being very open about the changes that are needed. Consumers are invited into dialogue and we want to engage them in the change that is happening.  Cell C wants to understand where customers are really unhappy in order to address those issues.” 

Reichelt said to ensure the changes are in line with what customers want, Cell C has partnered with comedian Trevor Noah to be “the company’s eyes and ears”. 

In his new watchdog role as Customer Experience Officer (C.E.O), Noah will see to it that Cell C delivers. Noah will also feature in an extensive marketing campaign that will provide customers with a platform to raise their views, concerns and frustrations by posting comments on www.telltrevor.co.za or by sending an SMS to 32353.

Cell C has also launched an easy-to-use website, where customers from all networks can indicate where their calls drop or where they have connectivity issues. Once these issues have been addressed, Cell C will provide customers with feedback.

Reichelt said the campaign was aimed at inviting customers to participate with Cell C on its journey to improve and transform the organisation and the category.  “We are saying to customers ‘the power is in your hands’.”

We expect Trevor to remain objective and critical throughout the transformation.  “Trevor will work with us, not for us.” 

Relating progress on technological transformation, Reichelt said while other mobile operators were deploying HSPA+ in pockets, Cell C will be the first South African operator to roll out HSPA+ across its entire network and it will do so in the 900 MHz and 2100 MHz frequency bands. 

He said this was very significant as it offered the following benefits to customers and Cell C: 

• A single HSPA+ 900 transmitter can cover 3-5 more area than a UMTS 2100 site
• Indoor coverage with HSPA+ 900 allows for 10-20 decibelsmore gain than UMTS 2100, i.e. much better coverage within buildings
• HSPA+ 900 allows for more than double the throughput at the cell edge than UMTS 2100
• HSPA+ 900 provides 1Mbps throughput at the same distance as GSM 900 voice and provides wider area coverage for voice than GSM 900
• While HSPA+ 900 delivers area coverage, HSPA+ 2100 delivers capacity where needed.  

These characteristics, coupled, with the fact that Cell C's new network is all IP and uses world-leading  software-defined radio technology warrant the label Cell C attaches to its new network: 4G^s! 4 Great Speed and 4 Great Service.

In summary Cell C's new advanced 4G^s based on HSPA+ 900:  

• Allows to cover areas that have not been economically viable before and speeds up roll-out of high-speed broadband to a larger numbers of consumers 
• Lowers CAPEX and OPEX allowing for more competitive offerings going forward
• Yields a better overall customer experience and provides more capacity in conjunction with HSPA+ 2100 

 Reichelt said the company was making good progress on its network rollout and more than 1300 base stations have already been converted to HSPA+ in the 900MHz frequency band. 

“We are currently running large scale user tests in six cities and the results are very promising.  We are also conducting end-to-end tests and are enhancing and optimizing our 2G network. 

He said Cell C will launch its new network, city by city, until nationwide 4G^s coverage was achieved.  “An announcement about the launch of our first 4G^s city will be made in the next couple of weeks.

Cell C expects to cover 34% of the South African population by the end of 2010 with its 4G^s network and aims for 67% population coverage by mid 2011. 

Reichelt added that Cell C wanted to be the operator of choice and in addition to its advanced network will continue to launch exciting and innovative products around the needs of customers. 

He said the recently introduced PhotoCode by Cell C that allowed South Africans to access information on their mobile phones by using QR codes has surpassed expectations. “The application had over 15 000 downloads within the first days since launch.

 Summary

• Cell C launches new brand in South African colours and announces ambitions to become the 'possibilities provider'.
• Customers become the centre of the new brand as Cell C joins the dots
• Cell C vows to put the 'power in your hands' by listening to customers’ needs
• New online website and presence launched.
• New 'dropped call' online service launched for customers to help improve quality of service
• Africa’s FIRST HSPA+900Mhz Network successfully being trialed.
• Over 1300 sites across 6 major cities in South Africa now ready to launch and undergoing 'friendly user' trials.
• Over 30% HSPA+ 900 population coverage target set for year-end 2010.
• Over 15 000 downloads completed in just a few days after Photocode launch in South Africa.
• Trevor Noah announced as Cell C's Customer Experience Officer (C.E.O) to act as Cell C’s Customer conscience.