afaqs!, the new avataar of agencyfaqs!

The world’s second largest advertising, media and marketing website, afaqs!, today unveiled the colours of its new logo. It also announced the winner of a contest where it had invited its readers to paint the colours of its new logo. Until last weekend, the site was known as agencyfaqs!

The winner of the contest was Priyal Sokhiya of Jaipur, whose choice of colours was closest to the final colours of the new logo. Another participant, Divya Gupta, came close to anticipating the colours as well. However, the Jaipur contestant received the prize of a digital drawing tablet because her entry came in first.

More than 2,500 entries were received in this first-of-its-kind attempt where readers had to guess the colours of the logo. Participants belonged to virtually every major ad agency and media company. (Click here to see all the entries.)

Explaining the new logo, a spokesperson said, "The name has been shortened to reflect the changing nature of marketing communications. Besides, we found that a lot of people used to call the site afaqs! anyway. So, in that sense, the change of name is a natural step. It is also shorter and snappier.”

Talking on the choice of colour, he said, that it reflects “the classic balance between the coolness and stability of deep blue and the positive energy of chrome yellow. The tilt signifies speed since news is a key aspect of afaqs!”

The logo has been created by Pranab Dutta, a well-known Delhi-based designer.

The decision to go with afaqs! has been driven by the big changes that have taken place in marketing communications since the website was launched. At that time, marketers relied primarily on print and TV to get their message across to consumers.

Over time, several other media have grown explosively – out of home, radio and online. The website has been responding to these changes by creating new sub-sites.

Another major shift during this while has been marketers’ increasing willingness to try out below-the-line options. Since afaqs! is in the marketing communications space, it will gradually expand its coverage into many of these areas.

The spokesperson emphasised that the new focus does not mean that agencyfaqs! will reduce its emphasis on traditional advertising or media. To underline this, he pointed to the new feature, Creative Showcase, which was unveiled on the site only recently.

The new changes, he said, are aimed at completing the marketers’ experience so that they can find all that they want and need from a single source, afaqs!