M1 refreshes iconic orange logo, receives mixed reviews from netizens

M1 has unveiled a new brand logo and identity. Its spokesperson told MARKETING-INTERACTIVE that this marks the beginning of a new phase in M1’s journey "to grow into a truly digital and bespoke communication provider". "Representing the brand’s renewed focus, the new logo marks the start of a series of other exciting changes and announcements over the next few months," the spokesperson added.

Unlike the old logo which contains the colours orange, white and blue, the new logo is mainly white and tangerine in colour with the letter "M". Compared to the previous logo which spells out "M1", the "1" in this case is within the "M". M1 declined to comment further on MARKETING-INTERACTIVE's queries about the rebranding.

With the old M1 logo seared into the minds of consumers, it might take awhile for the public to get used to the rebranding. Several consumers on Facebook were unimpressed, with some calling it "a total failure", an "atrocity", and that the telco should have stuck to its former colour scheme. Some also took issue with the disconnected "M", saying it is "bad feng shui" and that if it is not broke, they should not fixed it. Some also teased M1 if the disconnected "M" was meant to represent its network disruption, adding that they should work to fix its network first before focusing on the rebranding. That said, one netizen said the new logo is nice aesthetically but releasing it a couple of weeks after it had an islandwide fibre outage is probably not the best move.

Shortly after M1 unveiled its new branding, the telco got hit with a second Internet disruption this month, with the first being 4 December. According to multiple news reports including Channel NewsAsia, this also marks its fourth disruption in 2020. Services were reportedly disrupted in different parts of Singapore, including Bukit Panjang, Tampines, Bishan, Sembawang, and Jurong. The issue has since been resolved.

In September, M1 and StarHub were fined by the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) for broadband service disruptions during the circuit breaker. IMDA said both telcos had contravened the Code of Practice for Telecommunication Service Resilience 2016, which sets out the service standards and a penalty framework for service disruptions which result in widespread service difficulties. M1 was slapped with a SG$400,000 fine while StarHub was faced with a SG$210,000 fine. 

In March this year, the telco laid off 50 employees as part of its digital transformation plan. The telco said previously that it is streamlining processes, implementing new ways of working and building new digital capabilities to further improve its productivity and efficiency. It is currently working with dentsu international and Havas Media for creative and media duties respectively.

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