Cell C unveils new logo

Cell C unveiled its brand refresh at a big bash held at its headquarters on Thursday.

Speaking about their approach to the rebranding, Cell C CEO chief marketing officer Melanie Forbes said that the company didn’t have an awareness problem.

In terms of recognisability and familiarity, South Africans are very aware of Cell C.

Forbes said the company’s problem is consideration. To tackle that, they focused on changing the narrative around their network and service quality.

However, for that to be successful it couldn’t just be talk — customers’ experience on the network actually had to improve.

Forbes gave a nod to Cell C’s network team and chief technology officer Schalk Visser.

Regarding the cost of a rebranding, Cell C CEO Jorge Mendes said even though they are be careful with their spending, marketing remains important.

“People not from a marketing background think this is wasted money. Marketing is the first budget that’s cut — and that’s a mistake.”

The rebranding comes amid a larger overhaul at the company following its second recapitalisation in September 2022.

Following the recapitalisation, Vodacom veteran Jorge Mendes took the reins at Cell C.

“One of my biggest ambitions from the start was to build and foster a great, inclusive culture and team spirit,” Mendes said.

“An amazing culture will help people navigate both good and bad days.”

Mendes said a critical focus was fixing the basics in Cell C’s core business.

This included addressing operations and structures, understanding the financial position, and identifying key business drivers.

“This has enabled us to drive high performance rigorously and focus on returning to profitable growth, which remains high on our agenda,” he said.

“It was also important to stabilise leadership and hire the best professionals in the field with the technical competencies to deliver.”

Mendes has appointed a whole new executive team since taking the reins.

He began with Rachael Ayo-Oladejo, who was announced as chief of staff for strategy and business transformation soon after Mendes took over.

That August, he hired chief marketing officer Melanie Forbes.

Both women had been at Vodacom for over ten years — just like Mendes.

Then, in 2024, Cell C appointed several new executives in February, March, and April, most of them originally from Vodacom.

Prior to bringing Mendes in as CEO, Cell C embarked on a massive network restructuring project that saw the company outsource the operation of its radio access network (RAN).

MTN builds and maintains a “virtual RAN” for Cell C’s prepaid and mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) clients, while Cell C’s postpaid customers roam on the Vodacom network.

MVNOs using Cell C’s services include Capitec Connect and FNB Connect.

This is also not Cell C’s first rebranding.

Cell C launched in 2001 with a logo consisting of black-and-white text on a red background and the tagline “C for yourself”.

The brand lasted until May 2010, when Cell C underwent its first major network refresh and switched to a logo featuring the letter C within a circle — much like a copyright sign.

The company took its corporate colours from the South African flag, and its tagline changed to “The power is in your hands.”

In 2018, Cell C dropped its black-and-white logo with multicoloured underline for one with a new font and orange background.

Cell C told MyBroadband at the time that orange is an “unowned and vibrant” colour that will help it stand out from the crowd and that the move was part of evolving its brand identity.

“It represents the newly-invigorated Cell C culture and shows the energy that we bring to our products and services,” the company said.

Cell C also changed the slogan again, this time to “Connect your way”.