Like the PSU banks, India Post went in for a re-branding exercise recently. The PR machinery was in full force prior to the launch talking about O&M developing the entire thingamajig (reputation is a good thing, eh?). My first reaction to the new logo and the announcer print ad was not ‘wow’. It is all fine for the Government to want to project India Post as modern and ‘with it’. But it takes more than just a logo change. I am sure both the client and the agency know that and going by the press release, this is the starting point.
The usual jargon goes with such launches: “the new logo depicts yellow flourish on a red rectangle, symbolizing an envelope. Yellow represents a rising sun, while red, signifies the dawn of a new era”. Look closely and you could even see the contours of a nice topi.
The theme is supposedly based on the idea that the ‘all-new India Post will give wings to the hopes, dreams and aspirations of a billion people’. The postman and the system is more than just delivering postcards. For many in India, the postal system is a bank, a courier, messenger and so on. The attempt seems to equate it with enabling your dreams. Sounds cliched, but let’s and wait and watch – the creatives may surprise us.
Apparently, they hired McKinsey to work on the turnaround strategy and the plan involves setting up Internet kiosks, selling insurance and data collection. Up until now the consultant and the agency have had their bit of fun. It remains to be seen if all this means a real change on the ground. I happened to interact with the Post Office in the recent past and the experience was did not give wings to any of my dreams. But hey, maybe I am not the target audience. I wonder how the ‘Giving wings to your dreams’ translates into 17 languages?
On a related note, came across this cute TV spot for Royal Mail, UK. It is pitched as a service that helps business grow. Speaking of business and growth, the most famous of case studies of a Government unit turning around has been that of Indian Railways. The unit was almost bankrup until a combination of product strategies turned it around. And they have not changed their logo.
