Orange ..pink and now red !!..Hutch is now Dead !!!

Orange,pink and now red
hutch to vodafone,set is the bed,
will the dog be now left dead?

Its an infeeling that I have when Vodaphone takes over Hutch, in a cruel tale of corporate takeover, merger or aquisition, whatever it is , a gonnabe case for the strategy sessions in business schools, the colour change is what bothers and amuses me. In fact regular readers of this blog would have got irritated by my scathing atttacks on the ever changing colours of Hutch and my admiration and fascination for its communication which I feel was one of the best that Indian advertising has been able to give us in the last ten years or so....







The history of makeovers in Hutch is quite interesting....From the initial MaxTouch over a decade ago, the brand was converted into Orange in 2001 (one may recall the ‘Hi!’ campaigns). Later, it was made Hutch elsewhere and Orange in Mumbai. Following this, in 2005, Hutch moved away from its orange-coloured logo and went all pink (simultaneously, Orange, too, was integrated into Hutch in Mumbai). well ! the brand identity changes vs the continuity of good services and network is what the questions is ,now......it seems people dont mind the color or the panting dog as long as the service is there.... but Hutch is now red is a bit unimaginable(Red is strongly synonymous with India’s other largest telecom provider Airtel)..even other wise this change is colours from an academic perspective is a bit odd, but so was orange to pink.....

Vodafone, it is learnt, will come in with innovative and discounted plans. So, if Reliance can do a 777 handset, Vodafone is slated to launch a 666 handset at the lower end. This will fit in perfectly with the company’s plans to try and capture the mass market.Whether it is going to confuse the already embattled Indian buyer or is it going to make things easy, is to be waited and watched while the pug runs around still, as the new bosses have promised to retain the now almost legendary brand symbol along with the cartoon charectors of the boy and girl, whenever a new service is announced.....

Now the oft praised and well applauded client agency relation, between Hutch and O&M may be reviewed and changes desired by the new team...The global advertising agency of Vodafone, Weiden and Kennedy, has also entered India last week, raising some speculation in the ad industry about a future shift in creative responsibilities from Ogilvy and Mather to Weiden.well that is bad news for O&M but one hopes that the brand and its communication continues with the same charm and be in touch with us for ever.... While the business and marketing part seems to be bright with the entry of this global giant, and with the deep pockets they seem to be having ostensibly as the media plan that they have made and touted as the first time in India, when the new change is going to there everywhere, from this night, in the entire star network and even others(a full-fledged launch across television, print, outdoors and the Internet is coming up ..) my worry is the dog, less due to the animal lover that I am, and more becuase of the ad guy that I am... Hutch ads was a revolution as well as a revelation..... the rest is history...

And the future, is simply unpredicatble...!!!