The implications of corporate rebranding in the South African mobile cellular telecommunications service industry: Challenges and opportunities

Abstract

Corporate rebranding is a strategic decision undertaken for various reasons, and some of the corporates rebrand several times. In an attempt to keep abreast of customer demands, service providers rethink their marketing strategies that include inter alia rebranding a fraction or multiple facets of their corporate brands. Corporate rebranding is the latest development in the mobile cellular telecommunications service industry in South Africa. What is intriguing about the South African rebranding phenomenon is that corporates opted to rebrand by focusing on permutations such as colour, logo and slogans. This paper presents a conceptual analysis of corporate rebranding with a specific focus on the mobile cellular telecommunications service industry in S.A. Furthermore, the paper examines the implications, challenges and opportunities of corporate rebranding for the industry. In the end, the paper will present a case analysis of corporate rebranding efforts of two S.A mobile cellular companies.