Bye-bye Cell One, hello Leo

By: STAFF REPORTER

CELL One is getting a name change. After being sold to Egyptian-based telecoms giant Orascom Telecom Holdings in January, the company yesterday announced that it will change its name to Leo (pronounced lay-o).

The name was taken from the Swahili word meaning “today”, while also representing the Spanish “lion”, Chief Commercial Officer Chris Keeping said yesterday.
“It’s very African, yet very modern at the same time. It should sit well internationally,” Keeping said at a media conference to announce the name change.
The launch of the new brand is set to take place next month.
The new brand will be rolled out in Namibia, Zimbabwe, Burundi and the Central African Republic, he said, with Namibia being the first.
“We have over the last few months invested a substantial amount of resources both financial and human into our network upgrade and continuous rollout.
“We will be creating a plethora of new products and services for our valued customers here in Namibia. The time has come for us to change our brand identity and to reflect who we are today.  We are a newly energised organisation. This will not only be reflected in our new brand, but in the way we will address all customer touch points,” he said.
He stressed that the branding does not mean any change in staff, management or ownership, although all signage, shop designs and products will undergo a facelift.
Current Cell One customers have been assured that their original SIM cards and vouchers will continue to work as the company slowly phases out its old identity.
Asked about the reason for the change, Keeping said the old Cell One branding had become too “old school” and did not resonate well with the public.
The cost of the new branding exercise is being shared between the international group and at local level, CEO Soban Pasha said.
While the design of the new logo, still under wraps, was done in France, Keeping said local advertising agency DV8 was appointed to handle the local advertising campaign.

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