Lucent

Technologies
Creating a Corporate
Identity By Group 2 | Section B
Binayjeet Singh 19P079
Divita Ahuja 19P082
Kunal Sadhwani 19P089
Lokesh Raizada 19P091
Mansi Mangla 19P092
Nakul Baweja 19P096
Background AT&T-

○ 1983
■ Employees = 1,000,000
■ Revenue = $150 billion
● AT&T, aka Bell System was the
○ 1984
single largest company in the ■ Employees = 373,000
world ■ Revenue = $34 billion
In 1984, after a series of antitrust ○ 1995
suits, it separated into 7 ■ Employees = 303,000
independent regional operating ■ Revenue = $75 billion
companies-Baby Bells plus AT&T ○ 1997
■ Employees = 121,000
■ Revenue = $49 billion
 Background
September 1995- AT&T split into
AT&T now is a telephone equipment three companies-
supplier and long distance company
○ AT&T- $50 billion
They wanted to compete in the highly
profitable local telephone service telecommunications
business, but the dilemma was why will services company
○ NCR- a computer firm
the competitors buy their products?
○ An unnamed $20 billion
company
 ● The unnamed system and technology company
was now called S&T company
The employees were confused
The S&T Two school of thoughts:
Executives
Company Senior Management
January 1996- deadline for the largest IPO
Leadership-
Henry Schacht- CEO
Rich McGinn- President and COO
Carry Fironia- Executive Vice President
 ● The team formed had VPs of
marketing/communication for each of each
business unit, one trademark attorney and
the VP of public relations for Bell Labs
The S&T The primary function of the team was to act
as an advisory to the external, professional
Company corporate identity development agency
The new S&T company was composed of:
Network systems
Business systems
Consumer products
Microelectronics
Getting Underway
● Beginning of October 1995 ● The cross development team decided
Two names popped up to interview three leading corporate
American Bell Laboratories identity firms on the following
AGB, Alexander Graham Bell criteria:
○ Track record for speed
○ Relevant experience
○ Creative approach
○ Ability to provide a dedicated
team ready to begin immediately
● October 10, Landor Associates was
finalised
● Patrice Kavanaugh was the incharge
The Work Plan Plan for the interviews:

○ Management interviews
■ 30 with S&T Management
• Landor team and cross-unit team ■ 3 with AT&T Corporate
decided to hold up weekly meetings ■ 10 with External agencies
• Decided to conduct fact finding ○ Employee Interviews
interviews with management, ■ 5 employee focus groups across
customers & dealers around the different geographies like Asia-
• world
Needed senior management team’s Pacific, USA, Middle East,
approval on 3 primary questions: Europe and Latin America
○ External Research
• What equity from past should be kept?
■ Telecom Decision Makers
• What should be left behind? ■ Dealer/VARs
• What attributes should be added? ■ Microelectronic customers
■ Network System Customers
Awareness and perception of Bell Labs by principal
audiences

Audience Awareness Perceptions

General Public and small Low to Moderate High quality, dependable,
businesses dynamic, telephony
High State of the art, smart,
Dealers/VARs innovative but slow
High
High end customers High quality, research
oriented, non responsive

Senior management wanted new company to move beyond telephony, thus, bell laboratories
name was quite limiting
 Communications Positioning Platform:
Desired Image Attributes
Based on the limited communication before IPO because of SEC rules and trade-off in having a
renewed brand perception vs retaining core attributes, They concluded on the following desired
image:

Keep Lose Add

Reliability Slowness Speed
Technology Inflexibility Energy
Stature Arrogance Flexibility
Integrity High Priced Competitive/Value Priced
Service reputation Hard to do business with Customer Focussed
Staying Power Global vision for business
Experience/Capability Can do behaviour
Innovative
Enabling/user-friendly
 SEC Rules and the Main Challenge
Because of the SEC regulations, all communications prior to the issuance of an IPO were
severely limited

➔ Problem
- Even internal communication was limited

- Cross unit development team could hardly communicate with divisional management about the
evolving identity plans for the new company

➔ Challenge
- concern about the credibility of the recommended new positioning in the eyes of investors and
customers

- convincing everyone that it was a brand new company, with a new vision and mission, but one that
had retained the herItage of Bell Labs and AT&T
 Visual Audit

How did they Result - Company Result - Industry

Corporate culture had not Most companies used either
Audit? embraced a uniform, blue or black as colors for the
Conducted for all materials
monolithic, umbrella identity logo
carrying the name and/or logo
structure Typography was uppercase
of each of the 5 dvisions as well
Each BU had its own identity letter forms
as competitors’ materials.
an used AT&T logo just as an Few symbols were used by
endorsement They wanted a prime competitors
one company look and feel now
 Naming
● Landor team came up with 4 word segments and
resolved to avoid these words, colours, and their
typographic style, looking at the heavy usage by so
many competitors already
● Goal was to be out of the ordinary, and stand out in the ● Among 2 shortlisted names, Lucent was selected after
cluttered environment, and communicate the new checking with national and international business
attributes of the company decisions makers and general public
● 4 creative themes were developed: Systems, connection, ● Lucent, which meant glowing with light, and marked by
creativity and light clarity, expressed the energy, innovation, and vision,
● Despite management scepticism, Landor experts
principles, purpose, and future of the company well
convinced them to explore metaphors for name ● AGB was being developed as a possible backup
● Extensive legal checks were done worldwide to avoid
any legal hassle
 Symbol
● Landor design team came up with many logos, some
trying to leverage the AT&T heritage
● Idea was to reflect the creative theme selected
● Management reacted favourably towards the hand
drawn designs, but the team was afraid they were just a
Its debut raised eyebrows. While logos of most high-technology firms
fad
were hard-edged, conservative, impersonal, Lucent’s was warm, vibrant
● Hand drawn circle, like a single bold brushstroke, in red & organic. Many observers ridiculed new design too. Media was quick
was approved, called the Innovation Ring to mock, calling it “a big red zero,” “a flaming goose egg,” & “a red,
● Circles convey many meanings like totality, universality, splotchy circle.” One popular line of criticism likened logo to an
timelessness, and perfection, in some cultures it meant imprint left by a cup of coffee called the “million $ coffee stain”.

knowledge or enlightenment
● Red was also a new colour, which would have Reference: https://www.aiga.org/the-lucent-logo-legacy-long-live-the-big-red-donut

differentiated Lucent well from its competitors

February 5, 1996-Launch Day
Implications of SEC blackout restrictions:

● 10 member development team, Landor project group, ● No external communication can be made regarding the
three senior company executives, few executives from IPO of the stock
McCann-Erickson knew about name, symbol, tagline ● Prohibited publicity and corporate advertising
and colour ● Internal announcement can be made to the employees
● No information can be conveyed to internal staff but they can not support that using any external
● Once filled, the reporter monitoring SEC filings will run communication
the new name on associated press wires
● Management had to choreograph internal
announcement to begin immediately upon filing with
SEC
Next steps after Launch Day

Impact on Employees Announcement

• Employees will take time to accept new identity • It will be done by CEO, Henry Schacht, a man
• Most are AT&T veterans, sudden loss of identity they have never met or seen
can lead to emotional reactions • COO Rich McGinn was responsible for selling
• Bold new look and feel of Lucent was counter new company to employees
cultural to AT&T employees • Care and sensitivity is needed while presenting the
new company

Role of McCann-Erickson Steps taken by McCann-Erickson

• Create internal announcement video presentation • Examined competitive advertising and created
• Develop initial advertising campaign to support
bold, clear and distinctive platform
introduction of new identity
• Considered a humorous approach for video
• Needed it to be distinctive & memorable
announcement to counteract tense mood
Next steps after Launch Day

Lucent Guy Live Video Conference

• They intended to add human quality to huge • More than 100000 employees viewed the launch
corporation using an unseen voice to be used in event from respective locations
television and print advertisements • Limited and restricted taping for internal used
• Reliability, speed & responsiveness, customer and were later disposed off
focus and innovation were the main themes • Remote two-way video was set up for questioning
fro different parts of company

Role of Corporate Media relations Response Package

• Reactive approach to reporter’s request of • Comprehensive Q&A package was given for
information rather than being proactive in media reporters questions so as to ensure unintentional
coverage because of SEC hype before 60 day blackout
• CEO & COO weren’t allowed to comment, PR • Guidelines packages was generated by AT&T
department can do so on name & logo only to people, by investor relations and by salespeople
comply with SEC regulations for customers
Institutionalizing the New Identity
The Goal: Enable 100,000 employees in facilities across the world to implement the identity consistently

Set up an implementation task force to: ● Took core decisions including funding,
budget concerns immediately
● Address do’s/don’ts and for monitoring
● Planned for consumer marketing
● Respond to calls for information
perishables (stationery, promotional
● Develop and distribute general guidelines
literature, packaging
● Select and train vendors for marketing materials
● Planned around non marketing
production
● Educate and train employees perishables like signage and vehicle
● Conduct seminars graphics providing significant exposure
for the new name and logo
The “House Style”

Incorporating Standards Reliance on Illustrations

Incorporated illustration over product photographs to

Musts/Non Negotiables : Look and placement of
support the idea of solutions
Lucent logo/name/tag title
Competitors were not doing this yet
Shoulds: Choice of graphics, length and content of text
Digital Library of illustrations to fit “House Style”

New Company Positioning Other Significant Characteristics

Focus on providing solutions Bold Typography

Departure from building and selling boxes Uncrowded layouts
Descriptive/promotional texts to focus on this
More than average white space
difference
Going Public Differentiation, New Attributes,
Message Expansion
Name establishment and Broad
(Financial/General/B2B Customers)
Awareness
First
First Wave
Wave Second
Second Wave
Wave

Total Brand Awareness

June 1996
Lucent Invested >80 M USD in initial
advertising waves

KPIs were set in-place to measure:

• Brand Awareness (Monthly)
• Aided
• Unaided
• Tagline Recall
Thank You!