Change is not always good

new and shiny

So Cell C, started makin waves not too long ago with the open letter to Trevor Noah, in the Sunday Times, not long after that the ad campaign came out announcing all the changes, the Service provider was making, to their network with Trevor Noah, as their spokesperson, the ads also served to showcase the change of logo at Cell C.

Not a problem. Aside from the slight annoyance the overexposure these ads recieve. Well not so fast Cell C, the new logo, slight oversight there.

a bit smug

Third mobile operator Cell C's new logo has been provisionally rejected by the Registrar of Trademarks and legal experts are pointing to the prevalence of the copyright symbol in the new logo as a possible cause.

According to Cell C's trademark application form, on Cipro's Online IP services, the provisional refusal was made on 2 August. Despite this, the operator nonetheless rolled out its campaign on 4 August.

However, Cell C says that statements saying “the application for the registration of the new Cell C logo has been provisionally refused by the Registrar” are incorrect. “Our response is that this is highly unlikely as the application would not have been examined yet by the Registrar,” says the company.

ITWeb, however, is in possession of the online document clearly stating that the new logo has been provisionally refused on 2 August.

Most noticeable in the new logo is the replacement of the old red dotted “C” with a new black and white symbol depicting a “C” within a solid black circle – a replica of the legally required copyright symbol.

However, company CEO Lars Reichelt explains that the new logo reflects Cell C's vision of understanding its customers and tailoring solutions around them. The white space between the black “C” and solid circle is symbolic of the customer.

not goin out without a fight

“There is no significance in the Cell C Logo resembling the copyright symbol. Primarily, the “C” in the centre represents Cell C putting the customer at the centre of everything it does. The logo is not designed to look like the copyright symbol,” states Simon Camerer, marketing executive at Cell C.

Reichelt maintains that, on the advice of legal experts, the company has covered any potential legal issues in its 12-month corporate identity turnaround strategy. “In terms of the logo, we have considered all angles and have made applications to register our various new logos and payoff line as trademarks. This process can take up to two years to be finalised,” he states.

When questioned recently at a press conference as to how much the entire campaign cost, Reichelt erred on the side of caution saying that it was a lot, but not that much when compared to the R7 billion cost of its new network and IT infrastructure.

He did, however, state that Cell C was spending in excess of R160 million to re-brand its stores with the new corporate logo.

Now it's been revealed that the logo has been provisionally refused by the Registrar of Trademarks, jeopardising the company's ability to obtain a trademark for its new logo
The reason for the refusal has not been revealed, but legal experts say that the resemblance of the copyright symbol in Cell C's new logo maybe a contributing factor.

source: ITweb