BT's Piper has played its last tune
BT has today launched its new corporate identity, sounding the death knell for the 'Piper' logo which it has used for the past 12 years.
According to the company, the adoption of the 'connected world' logo -- hitherto BT Openworld's logo -- "more accurately reflects the wide range of activities that BT now encompasses".
Angus Porter, managing director of BT Retail's consumer division, said: "The piper has done an excellent job for BT for the last twelve years and has become one of the country's most recognisable marks. While it reflects many of BT's strengths as a company, it has become associated with some outdated perceptions of BT as simply a fixed-line telephone company. The new identity reflects a broader world of communications."
Ben Verwaayen, BT's chief executive, said: "BT's business and its culture is changing so it is important that we have a brand identity that represents the multi-faceted nature of our business. The new logo does the job. It represents BT as being in-tune with the multimedia age as well as communicating the company's international reach."
He added: "We are not changing image for the sake of change. It is more fundamental than that."
The new identity coincides with the launch of a new set of 'behavioural values' BT wants its staff to exhibit. The company is aiming to be seen as "trustworthy, helpful, straightforward, inspiring and acting with a real passion for what it does."
BT will manage implementation of the new identity over a three-year period in order to minimise costs, which are expected to be around £5m. There will be no advertising campaign to promote the new identity.
BT has also announced today that its international services and solutions business, BT Ignite, will now be called BT Global Services.
Andy Green, chief executive of BT Global Services, said: "The Ignite name has served us well, but our strategy has changed since it was first introduced. BT Global Services more clearly conveys the products and services we provide to the global multi-site corporate market."
The new 'connected world' logo was developed for BT by Wolff Ollins.
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