Melo Villareal
PLDT, Smart Unveiled New Logos: Here’s A Glimpse
It is not every day that the Philippine Long Distance Telephone (PLDT) and its subsidiary, Smart Communications, Inc., reveals a surprise.
On June 13, the two companies lifted the veils off their new logos and change in name to signify their recent thrust to transform the business into data-driven services.
During the special unveiling event, PLDT Chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan announced that they have embarked on a digital pivot to serve the growing needs of consumers’ digital lifestyle and to satisfy the Philippine’s thriving digital economy.
The three-year digital venture of the country’s biggest phone carrier aims to make its networks have the best data-capable infrastructure. It seems that the firm is committed to provide innovative offerings to its consumers.
International Data Corporation’s market analyst, Alon Anthony Rejano, said via Rappler that it is a refreshing sign that a Telco like PLDT is getting ready to up its business toward being a so-called “3rd Platform player.”
Chairman Pangilinan explained during the event that the new logos demonstrate the convergence of PLDT and Smart in serving both individual and enterprise consumers through their fixed along with wireless technologies.
It is worth mentioning that the evolution of the PLDT logo started from the year 1940. Smart logo evolution, in the meantime, was from 1993.
The new logos sport a triangular shape with the three sides representing the business pillars: people, innovations as well as customers. Without these pillars, no business will be successful. On the side, a triangle stands for Delta, the 4th Greek letter that represents “change.”
There have been both positive and negative comments about the new logos. But according to market analyst Rejano, the rebranding of the companies has a very limited impact on subscribers. Company logos are effective tool to create branding association and are useful for marketing campaign; however, no customer will cut subscription or stop using the product just because they do not like the logo design. The main basis of customers’ choice is still the quality of the offerings, said the analyst.
