Start of a New Era: Why Nokia has changed its logo for the first time in 60 years

Rebranding a company to indicate a change in focus has long been a well-liked corporate move. But can it truly aid businesses in overcoming their image problems or any other crisis? Nokia is currently experiencing a change in a similar manner. After taking over the top position at Finnish company Nokia in 2020, Chief Executive Pekka Lundmark laid out a three-phase plan – reset, accelerate and scale. With the first step over, Nokia is now accelerating, and thus, changing its logo for the first time in 60 years, indicating its strategy shift. Let’s take a closer look. Iconic Nokia logo redesigned According to Reuters, the new logo comprises five different shapes forming the word ‘Nokia’. The iconic blue colour of the old logo has been dropped for a range of colours depending on the use. Finnish manufacturer of 5G equipment, Nokia  redesigned its logo to avoid being associated with mobile phones, a sector it left almost ten years ago. CEO Lundmark said that Nokia is no longer just a smartphone company, but a “business technology company.” He was speaking ahead of a business update by the company on the eve of the annual Mobile World Congress (MWC) which opens in Barcelona on Monday and runs until 2 March. [caption id=“attachment_12211762” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] The new logo comprises five different shapes forming the word NOKIA. Reuters[/caption] Besides unveiling a new logo, the brand also outlined how it expects networks to evolve in the next seven years or so, and how it is planning to evolve in line with these changes. According to Livemint, the CEO said in an interview, “We want to launch a new brand that is focusing very much on the networks and industrial digitalisation, which is a completely different thing from the legacy mobile phones.” HMD Global Oy continues to sell mobile devices with the Nokia brand. Once Microsoft Corp., which acquired the company in 2014, stopped using the name, HMD obtained the rights. Change in strategy While Nokia still aims to grow its service provider business, selling equipment to telecom companies, its main focus is now to sell gear to other businesses. “We had very good 21 per cent growth last year in enterprise, which is currently about eight per cent of our sales, (or) 2 billion euros ($2.11 billion) roughly,” Lundmark said. “We want to take that to double digits as quickly as possible.” Major technology firms have been partnering with telecom gear makers such as Nokia to sell private 5G networks and gears for automated factories to customers, mostly in the manufacturing sector. Lundmark said that Nokia will focus on adding market share in the company’s business by serving wireless service providers with network equipment. Nokia now has “the ammunition and the tools,” according to him, to gain market share without compromising margins. This has been made possible by limits placed on Huawei Technologies Co., a Chinese rival, after some European governments forbade the business from supplying components for 5G networks, according to Livemint. Nokia also plans to review the growth path of its different businesses and consider alternatives, including divestment. [caption id=“attachment_12211802” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Nokia redesigned its logo to avoid being associated with mobile phones, a sector it left almost ten years ago. Reuters[/caption] According to Telecoms, CEO Lundmark said, “We see the potential of digital to transform business, industry and society with an opportunity for significant gains in productivity, sustainability, and accessibility. Our market-leading critical networking technology is increasingly needed by customers and partners in every industry. We see a future where networks go beyond connecting people and things. They’re adaptable, autonomous and consumable. They are networks that sense, think and act, and they maximise the opportunity of digitalisation.” “Today we share our updated company and technology strategy with a focus on unleashing the exponential potential of networks – pioneering a future where networks meet cloud. To signal this ambition, we are refreshing our brand to reflect who we are today – a B2B technology innovation leader. This is Nokia, but not as the world has seen us before,” the CEO added. “The signal is very clear. We only want to be in businesses where we can see global leadership,” he said. Market competition Nokia’s move toward factory automation and datacentres will also see them locking horns with big tech companies, such as  Microsoft  and Amazon, reported Reuters. “There will be multiple different types of cases, sometimes they will be our partners … sometimes they can be our customers… and I am sure that there will also be situations where they will be competitors.” The market to sell telecom gear is under pressure with the macro environment denting demand from high-margin markets such as North America, being replaced by growth in low-margin India, pushing rival Ericsson to lay off 8,500 employees. “India is our fastest growing market that has lower margins – this is a structural change,” Lundmark said, adding that Nokia expects North America to be stronger in the second half of the year. Additionally, Nokia decided against following in the footsteps of its rival Ericsson AB, whose $6.2 billion purchase of Vonage Holdings Inc. was motivated by a similar need to expand its business. The Finnish company just ended its more than ten-year struggle in junk status by regaining an investment-grade BBB- rating from S&P Global Ratings. Lundmark believes there is still more to be done, particularly with regard to the operating margins of the business, as per Livemint. “We are not happy yet with where we are," he said. Brands who changed their names to signal strategy shift Facebook – Meta In October 2021, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that the social media giant will change the name of its holding company to Meta, in a rebrand that came as the company faced several public relations crises. Zuckerberg outlined that the new name goes with the company’s virtual-reality vision for the future, according to The Guardian. Dunkin’ Donuts – Dunkin In an effort to reinvent itself, the business dropped the word “Donuts” in 2019. The corporation intended to pay homage to the chain’s beverage sales, which made up more than half of its revenue, even while customers would still recognise its colours and typography, as per Economic Times. With inputs from agencies Read all the  Latest News ,  Trending News ,  Cricket News ,  Bollywood News , India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook,  Twitter and  Instagram.