Branding, my way
With the Middle East telecommunications market under increasing pressure from saturation, changing population demographics and an always-developing communications landscape, carving a niche in which to make new brands viable poses difficulties.
Jawwy, a new telecoms brand developed by global brand strategy consultancy Lippincott, in partnership with global design and strategy firm, frog, has been created to appeal to the Saudi Arabian youth market. Developed for the largest telecommunications company in the Middle East, Saudi Telecommunications Company (STC), the brand development process affirms the Jawwy brand as experiential.
Recognising the challenges launching a new brand in Saudi Arabia, Jawwy from STC charged Lippincott with creating a simple, fresh brand to contrast with the patriarchal and traditional designs on the mobile landscape. Working with frog, Jawwy has created an online platform which is informative, useful and intelligent in design.
The responsive design is especially relevant in a society in which mobile and tablet use far outweighs desktop computing, addressing the current needs surrounding young people in the Middle East region.
With its brand name meaning My way in Arabic, Jawwy for STC already had a brand proposition – Lippincott focus on bright oranges and yellows to reinforce its modern credentials, while ensuring its compatibility with mobile and digital platforms. This need is also noted in the logotype design, built around vertical Arabic letterforms – the shadda accent has been dropped to complement its visual and digital implementation.
The online support function offers personal advice and help in choosing the right mobile plan and integrates well into the site’s e-commerce functions. The digital experience is effective, allowing customers to engage with the brand at their leisure without having to go into a branch.
Personal touches, such as the use of co-created photography across the Jawwy brand architecture, has seen Lippincott create a personal brand in an increasingly informal market, where the visual identity associated with telecommunications tends towards a fairly uniform appearance.
Initial user responses have been positive in terms of trust in the brand and in the design and experience offered by Jawwy. The work by Lippincott and STC also won four gold awards and the coveted Grand Prix at the Transform Awards MENA, held in Dubai on 18 May.
