Vi
Changing the conversation
Intense price competition over the past decade had driven consolidation of India’s mobile market from twelve operators to five. The merger of Vodafone and Idea in 2018 created India’s leading telecom operator. In 2019, as network and business integration progressed apace, we were invited to create a brand for the merged entity.
Designing a brand that helps you get ahead
Bigger doesn’t automatically mean better. The task for a post-merger brand was to turn scale into a customer benefit that could drive engagement and enable competition beyond price.
To find the centre of gravity for this post-merger brand, we used ethnographic research* to explore the motivations of Indians today - and identify unmet needs. From young to old, from villages to cities, from consumers to businesses.
(*Research commissioned by Vodafone Idea and conducted pan India by Sixth Factor)
We found that Indians are optimistic about the future, but often hazy on how to realise their ambitions. They need help. Beyond friends and family, and beyond connectivity and entertainment.
We named the new brand Vi™. While referencing the origins of the two brands, Vi™ (read as “we”) also reflects the collective nature of Indian society. It is not just about me, it’s especially about “we”. Vi™ exists to help you get ahead - through partnerships, and through a digital network built on many principles of 5G architecture.
To activate this idea, we developed a brand strategy, experience principles, messaging guidance, and employee engagement strategies, as well as a redesigned customer experience, simplified offer and dynamic visual identity. The new identity is bold, fresh, and hints at the legacy of the merger partners while signalling transformation. It continuously opens and closes to unpack amazing possibilities, always putting customers at the heart of everything. In line with the brand idea of helping you get ahead, we also created an interactive brand site to equip the Vi™ team and partners with all of the assets and guidance needed to easily implement Vi™ across the entirety of India.
Launching across India with confidence
The brand positioning sets Vi™ up to help hundreds of millions of Indians get ahead. From what customers see – a dynamic identity that visually signals how this new brand is helping people thrive. To what customers experience – a frictionless CX, radically simpler tariffs, straightforward communication, and propositions that go beyond connectivity and entertainment. To how the organisation behaves – a journey towards total customer centricity defined by clear actions. Vi™ is shaping a more connected and more empowered India.







