Connex refreshes image

The latest market research shows that slogans designed to accompany brands are no longer in fashion. One of Romania’s largest companies, the mobile telephone operator Connex, has decided to drop the slogan associated with its name and will now no longer be associated with the “Tu faci viitorul” (“You shape the future”) slogan.

According to officials from MobiFon, the owner of the brand, the decision comes as a result of market research that demonstrated that the company logo was strong enough to sustain itself on the market.

After the change, all promotional materials and advertising will only contain the Connex logo.

Connex also has a new image, with the dominant colour now being a lighter shade of green combined with a “lime” yellow.

“After seven years on the market, we felt the need to freshen up our image. We want to emphasise a new spirit, characterised by several values, including freedom, mobility and determination,” vice-president Ken Campbell, in charge with the company’s marketing department, told Ziarul Financiar.

The market research and the brand repositioning were handled by Safron, while McCann Ericsson Romania was chosen for implementation of the concept.

Promotion of the new image is being accompanied by a campaign to support local communities. Through its “Connex pentru viitor” (“Connex for the future”) programme, the company will donate one cent for every 10 calls made within its network to support one of three different projects: “Romanian education”, “The restoration of Romanian monuments” and “A cleaner Romania”.

Customers will be able to choose one of the three beneficiaries.

“As of today and until the end of 2007, we estimate Connex will contribute a total of seven million dollars (5.2 million euros),” said Campbell.

Connex’s new brand image replaces mobile phones and technology in the company presentation by focusing more on people in their everyday lives. Company officials maintain the concept is not intended as a counter measure to Orange Romania, which has chosen a similar strategy to promote its brand.

By the end of last September, Connex had some 4.4 million customers and, according to company chairman Ted Lattimore, the number of users is now approaching five million.

The main shareholders in Connex are Telesystems International Wireless (TIW), a Canadian company, followed by Vodafone of Great Britain, the world’s top mobile telephony operator.

At the end of the third quarter of 2004, company revenues had reached 493 million dollars (380 million euros) and gross profits amounted to 230.9 million dollars (177 million euros).