Cell C’s brand refresh drive is taking shape, with the telco looking to increase its store footprint across South African shopping malls.
This was the word from Cell C CEO Jorge Mendes, in a recent interview with ITWeb, after Blue Label Telecoms, its largest shareholder, announced its financial results for the six months ended 30 November.
South Africa’s fourth biggest mobile operator unveiled a new brand identity last year, at an event hosted at Cell C’s headquarters in Buccleuch, Johannesburg.
At the time, the telco said the rebrand is a “transformative” moment for Cell C, introduced in line with its broader business strategy, to form deeper connections with customers, while offering the latest disruptive products and services.
Its new brand identity encompasses a new logo, payoff line, audio mnemonic and brand redesign.
“I am very proud of what the team has managed to achieve – the brand is really looking good. We now have presence that we didn’t have before,” said Mendes.
“We completed 11 new stores before the year started, and during this calendar year, we are doing another seven. We are looking to complete about 100 and that will take about 18 months.
“The performance in the stores has been improving and we are starting to offer different services that we never offered before.”
The development comes as Cell C is franchising the majority of its retail stores, in a move it says is in line with the strategy to leverage partnerships and collaboration to boost revenue and drive growth.
Meanwhile, Cell C, which has had financial troubles over the years, is also looking to accelerate its mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) business to become a going concern, said Mendes.
He revealed that during the reporting period, Cell C’s total revenue was up 13% to R6.7 billion, while mobile data traffic shot up by 27%.
According to Mendes, the MVNO business witnessed growth of 27% in the six-month period and the average revenue per user increased by 14% to R102.
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