Vodafone rebrands new Indian unit with media blitz

0 Comments | AFP, September, 2007

NEW DELHI (AFP) — Leading global mobile operator Vodafone will begin using its own name in India this Friday following its 11.1-billion- dollar purchase of an Indian cellular firm, a company official said Wednesday.

The move to rename its new Indian cellular unit will involve one of the world's biggest-ever rebranding campaigns, the official said.

Vodafone Plc's purchase of a majority stake in Hutchison Essar India in March is seen by analysts as vital to the British company's earnings growth as it struggles with saturated cellular markets in the developed world.

"This transition is probably the largest brand change ever undertaken in this country and arguably as big as any in the world," Harit Nagpal, marketing director of the Indian unit, said.

"It...