Qtel Group has changed its brand to Ooredoo
BARCELONA – Qtel Group has announced that it will change its brand to Ooredoo, and that each of its operating companies in emerging markets across the Middle East, North Africa and South-East Asia will adopt the new brand during the course of 2013 and 2014.
These companies, in which Ooredoo already has a controlling interest, include brands such as Qtel in Qatar, Indosat in Indonesia, Wataniya in Kuwait, Nawras in Oman, Tunisiana in Tunisia, and Nedjma in Algeria.
The announcement was made by Ooredoo Chairman His Excellency Sheikh Abdullah Bin Mohammed Bin Saud Al-Thani at a special launch event at Mobile World Congress 2013 in Barcelona, Spain.
During the event, Ooredoo announced football star Lionel “Leo” Messi as its global brand ambassador, and agreed to support the Leo Messi Foundation as part of the company’s continued commitment to making a difference in communities across the world.
“With Ooredoo we have chosen an Arabic word that means “I want”, to reflect the aspirations of our customers and our core belief that we can enrich people’s lives and stimulate human growth in the communities where we operate,” said H.E. Sheikh Abdullah Bin Mohammed Bin Saud Al-Thani, Chairman, Ooredoo.
“We believe that young people should be given the life chances that mobile technology can provide; that under-served communities should be able to access the Internet; that every woman should have an equal opportunity to use a mobile phone; and that entrepreneurs and small businesses should be able to receive business services tailored to their needs. Our new brand reflects these beliefs.”
Chief Executive Officer of Qtel Qatar, Sheikh Saud Bin Nasser Al Thani, said: "This is a proud moment for Qtel in Qatar. Our company is at the heart of a global communications company that serves nearly 90 million people in communities around the world. Qtel in Qatar will be the first company in the Group to align with this new brand, and we will continue to find new ways to surprise and delight our customers."
Ooredoo has experienced significant growth over the last six years, transforming from a single market operator in Qatar to an international communications company with a global customer base of more than 89.2 million people (as of 30 September 2012) and consolidated revenues of $6.8 billion for the first nine months of fiscal year 2012.
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What are your thoughts?
Seems that there is an expected struggle with the arabic version of the name already. A long article in the arabic Raya newspaper about cooperation between ooredoo and samsung, in which they wrote all Ooredoos in Latin characters and Samsung in arabic.
HALA will be changed to 00HLALALA
Sounds like a Maldivian island or a Japanese cartoon person!!
Damn.... That's a fine piece of clever branding....
Just remove double O from both the sides and you will find "RED" written in between...
I bet it is going to be known as "RED" in future....
Copyright infringement!
the logo s.ucks
:'(
People responsible should be punished.
OO-RED-OO
ROFL
I dont know what all the fuss is about...from what i gather we are still gonna be Qtel
"Ooredoo = Qtel in Qatar, Indosat in Indonesia, Wataniya in Kuwait, Nawras in Oman, Tunisiana in Tunisia, and Nedjma in Algeria."
They just didnt have a single brand name for their group of companies acquired/set up over the years. Given that it all started from Qtel in Qatar i suppose.
That being said ooredoo my cup of coffee now.
Red - just drop the oooooo's
Too long. They should have kept something short.
1977 marketing in 2013. Welcome to ooredoo.
Still waiting for my fiber optic connection btw. Hoping ill get it before grand kids.
Not Concerned at all, been a Vodafone user since the Day, I arrived in Qatar...
Orrendo" in Italian means "horrible"...I m not joking! I knew the abc of marketing was checking what a word means in other languages before launching it as a brand
Looks like old wine in a new bottle
I hope its not going to be another "Virgin Mobile" :)
about this oreedoo. When I called customer support this morning, it still felt like Qtel.
ooREDoo seems more like a Vodafone product to me.
Ladies well fond of this.
Oredo Hadi (I want this)
Oredo Hada (I want that) .. LOL
brite, LOL, that makes sense.
Ooredoo? What a funny name is that? Crocodile would have been a much attractive name.
It's the perfect name..
each time the customer service rep or engineer gets things wrong , he/she just says "OO. redo"
Name change just a media stunt to get global recognition, the quality of service is what Qtel will be judged for. Currently their have a monopoly and land line and internet services are priced much higher than the rest of the world.
Will see soon drsam. This is a name of a thing, not a verb, so the little o rule does not apply here. Example, Mogadishu, it have a full o at the end.
is it any more rediculous than "du" ?
The fact is that a consultant was probably paid a few million to come up with the name, the logo and the "reasoning behind the name"
The ordinary public does not care whetehr its called Fred or Bongo.
What it will do is slowly move the international opcos away from being immediately connected to QTEL and Qatar.
it is translator, but usualy in arabic there is no vowels. so above the "د" you put a little "و"
ROFL at new name ...
I think it will be أُريدو in order to keep the brand's pronunciation the same.
Have they gone with Areedoo, they would save themselves a ton of troubles
drsam: well it still sounds/looks ridiculous
أريد
that's the arabic version.
but, i don't like the new name.
it is good but let us see the Arabic version for this word.
old wine in new bottle except with wine, the older the better.
Unless Customer Service improves, any number of name changes will not benefit them.
With such changes, they should have been prepared but they have still not updated their website except a pop up message that again proves they are so far behind...
It looks/sounds just ridiculous!
I am eager to see how the Arabic version of this would look like. Ooredo in Arabic means "I want", but also the name Uredo is an ancient Sumerian city in Mesopotamia, if not their first.
The graphics of the new logo is below my expectations, it is too long, lacks innovation, and open to dispute by Beats brand for using a version their b
Easy solution would be for Qtel to acquire Beats along with its logo
Great strategic move. Whether it will pay off remains to be seen. At home , it will always be associated with QTEL and the "old" incumbant service provider.
However, in new markets, the new brand will be able to push a new image. The key, as with anything like this is customer service.
'' .. our core belief that we can enrich people’s lives..''
people took loan to pay their bills , rebranding won't help them either.
couldnt agree more tb
Changed my phone to Vodafone after Qtel's ridiculous customer service! Luckily I get my internet from Vodafone aswell.
Recently had a problem with the internet, 1 phone call and 15mins later problem solved! I couldn't believe how helpful they were!
There are going to be a lot of people "I want" ing better service.
I have recently changed my number to Vodafone and I have no regrets, because of Ooredoo's pants services.
I didn't know this before either. I only recognized the Qtel brand.
With this re-branding, it will take some time to adjust to, but as with anything new, initial negative comments or uncomfortableness will settle into normal after a while, so it should be fine, going forward.
A few years ago, there were some issues with the quality of service, which should have been all ironed out by now and IMHO, this re-branding is timely.
Any competitions for innovative ideas dress up the new brand, other than communicating its meaning?
I never knew this..
Sounds like Urdu to me :)