Hutch is now Vodafone in India

Posted on | September 20, 2007 |

The operator logo on my mobile started showing Vodafone today.

World’s leading mobile operator, Vodafone, has started using its brand across India from today. Vodafone had acquired Hutch for nearly $11 billion in February this year.

Vodafone will spend around Rs 200 crore ($50 million) on the biggest brand change exercise in the country, covering nearly 35 million customers and 4,00,000 shops across India. The company has entered into an exclusive deal with Star India network, whereby it will use all of the commercial airtime from 9 pm on September 20 to 9 pm of September 21 to run TV commercials and promote the Vodafone brand.

Am not impressed with the ads so far. They look like a product made in haste - struggling to meet the September 20 deadline. Seeing Vodafone ads run continuously on Star TV in the past hour is beginning to get on my nerves.

Even the outdoor campaign is unimposing. The hoardings are advertising the new website vodafone.in but its not yet working. Does someone in an agency check all the response media mentioned in an ad like the phone number, sms shortcode and website address - before releasing the ad?

Though they are not paying me for this, but I am renaming the category “Hutch” to “Vodafone” on MobilePundit.

Also Read: Vodafone wants India to see red as it readies major brand launch

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