Mobile service to rebrand in 14 African countries

The CELTEL brand is reportedly set to change to ZAIN. According to the East African :
“The move is likely to heighten the competition in the East African region, where Celtel is facing off against Safaricom, MTN and Vodacom. This will be the second re-branding for Celtel, which operates in Burkina Faso, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Kenya, Malawi, Madagascar, Niger, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia, while operations in Ghana are to take off soon.”

Mr Arafeh, Zain’s Chief Operating Officer, conceded that it is not an easy task to change brands that people have become attached to, but was confident that Celtel subscribers will stick to the network given the added advantage of global connectivity. “It is still the same quality of service; if your promise to the local market remains the same, people will continue believing in your brand,” he said.

Rebrand successes include Marathon's change to Snickers and Health & Racquet Club's change to Virgin Active. Famous rebrand failures include the UK Post Office's attempt to rebrand itself as Consignia and PwC’s attempt to rebrand its consultancy arm as Monday.