Loop Mobile launches campaign with a new brand thought

Completing 15 years, GSM service provider Loop Mobile has launched a brand campaign, which introduces its new logo and brand thought.

From a multi-colour palette, Loop will now sport the colour purple with the brand thought, 'Going for Great'. Through extensive outdoor and print promotion, communication along the philosophy can be seen across Mumbai city.

With Pyro BKP Telecom Consultants, the survey was conducted across Mumbai, dividing the city into six zones, namely West, South, Central, East 1 and 2 and North. The survey covered four leading GSM operators in the city, including Loop, and tested calls across parameters such as call drop, successful handover, call quality, call setup and road coverage.

It is also learnt that the company has spent around Rs 450 crore on network infrastructure and upgrades in the current fiscal year.

"We are building our brand based on fact, solidarity, substance, transparency and fair play. Hence, the campaign is one that focuses on our network strength. We are talking to our own trusted customers and telling them that they are on the best GSM network in the city," says Arif Ali, head, brand and communications, Loop Mobile.

Regarding the new logo, Ali says that the colour purple was chosen to sharpen and chisel the brand further. "It is an identification of a colour we wanted to own and to signify our 'journey to great'. Purple stands for royalty and all things great," he explains.

"The move to purple was triggered by the fact that the brand, in the past, has had a multi-colour palette; and out of purple, red, yellow and green, it identified more solidly with one colour, which is purple. It is a premium colour in many categories and resonated well with the philosophy," adds Shiv Sethuraman, chief executive officer, TBWA India.

Sethuraman says, "One of the first things that struck us was the desire of Loop Mobile to set higher standards. Here is a company that is doing well, but is not merely satisfied with the status quo and is ambitious. That simple thinking led to the baseline. It captures the idea that the company wants to get better."

"We launched the philosophy with the survey findings, because something like this merely remains a slogan without hard evidence. The result and Loop's investments in the field demonstrate that the company is going for great," he adds.

The brand's communication in the past has been colourful and youth centric. Considering Loop Mobile is a pioneer in the mobile telephony sector and among the first to establish services in Mumbai in 1995 as BPL Mobile, the appeal obviously needs to move beyond the youth.

Sethuraman agrees, as he says that one of the tasks ahead would be to rebalance the brand and have a wider appeal.

"The brand has got associated with youth to an extent. It has a huge customer base in the city that is not necessarily young. We are looking at rebalancing the brand across prepaid and postpaid subscribers to appeal to a wider base," he says.

The media mix includes outdoor, print and radio, where the campaign has already kicked off. On the cards are promotions on buses and trains and local media; while digital activity is expected to begin within a fortnight.

The media mandate for the brand is handled by Maxus.

Loop has deliberately stayed away from television, as it has in the past as well, because it is a local player and it makes little sense to choose the medium.

"There are not many Mumbai centric TV channels for us to look at the medium. Moreover, Mumbai is a very 'outdoor' city. People are more often than not out and on the move. Hence, it makes more sense to communicate that way. We want to communicate and reach people in their own language," says Ali.

However, having acquired a pan-India licence in 2007, Loop is looking to move beyond Mumbai very soon and a gradual rollout can be expected.