Five dots and a small 't': Singtel unveils new brand identity

In its first rebrand in 16 years Singtel has dropped the capital ‘T’ and unveiled a new logo with five dots above the name, which the company said signify "progression". Singtel group CEO Chua Sock Koong said the changing telecom sector prompted the change. “We needed to evolve the brand and it is something we took very seriously,” she said.

As part of the rebrand, the telco has made considerable changes and service enhancements. Top of the agenda is to change the customer service experience. In line with that, customers can now book a preferred appointment time with Singtel shops. Customers can also request call-backs from hotline officers and preferred times. And from April, users with service appointments can expect technicial staff to arrive within 30 minutes of their appointment time.

“Our brand promise is an ongoing journey," said Singtel Consumer Singapore CEO Yuen Kuan Moon. "We are committed to listen closely to our customers and introduce service enhancements that matter most to them."

Online, the unveiling elicited mixed reactions. On Twitter (see below), Daniel Lim called it “a big opportunity gone to waste” and Ahmad Zuhairi felt it had no relevance or depth: “It could have been a lot better.” Far Han was surprised to see no SG50 linkage to the change, and Timothy Chua called out the company for trying too hard. Others made sport of the five dots in ways unflattering to the brand.

Singtel’s also throwing a cause into the mix and donating 10 per cent of its sales proceeds from Singtel shops over two days to support children with special needs.

The rebrand has been in the works for almost a year. Singtel execs confessed that creative agency Ogilvy & Mather is behind the overhaul. Koong declined to comment on the cost.

 

Lol Singtel is trying too hard.. New logo only trying change image. Pls lah.

— ✨ｔｉｍｔａｓｔｉｃ✨ (@timothychua) January 21, 2015

Singtel’s new logo. Such a big opportunity gone to waste.

— Daniel Lim (@daniellim) January 21, 2015

Nooooo why did SingTel change their logo now it's so mehhhh pic.twitter.com/i38XysDG68

— Shintaro Tay | 新 (@ShintaroTay) January 21, 2015

The 5 dots on the new #Singtel logo will change with the level of signal reception. I have 3-dot reception now. pic.twitter.com/wngBlhSOLL

— gurmit singh (@gurms) January 21, 2015

Each circle representing the blood that I cough up dealing with #Singtel pic.twitter.com/Yc6h2fXaB6

— FunkShin (@funkshin) January 21, 2015