Nokia Siemens Networks

New:  Company, name and logo

Launched:  The logo, 12 February, 2007;  the company, late March?

Story in brief:
A company that did not yet exist launched its brand on a booth at the 3GSM World Congress in Barcelona, and held its first press conference as Nokia Siemens Networks, the 50/50 spin-out of the network infrastructure manufacturing and services businesses of the two parents. In the wake of Siemens' legal difficulties (having to do with alleged bribery), the closing was a bit delayed. But when it's done there will be a new category giant (est. 2006 revenues $22 billion), second to Ericcson but bigger than Alcatel Lucent.

The relatively new firm Moving Brands won this competitive assignment (from a New York firm) for the appeal of its "multi-sensorial" branding promise. According to account lead Peter Faulkner, one winning idea was that logo design should begin with a moving image, before it gels as a logo.

The name decision was a given, and not up for review, but Moving Brands was able to persuade their new client not to merely combine the two partners' existing logos. The brief, after all, was two-fold... to exploit existing equities, and the name did that, but also to express something new, which here must be done through design. The core idea the consultants proposed, the guiding "brand narrative,"  would be that networks unite communities, thus... "bringing networks to life."

Moving Brands were proud to have completed analysis, planning and logo design in a two-month window. (Whether Nokia Siemens should be proud to have asked this is another matter.) We'll have to wait until the deal is closed, however, to see how the multimedia promise plays out, because that work (which is to include a "sonic memnonic" or sound logo) is still in progress; we'll hear if after launch.

Credits:
C.E.O. Designate - Simon Beresford-Wylie
Chief brand officer - Louise Proddow (also pending incorporation)
Identity design - Moving Brands (UK)
 

First Impressions:
The name: Like "Alcatel Lucent," its competitor's name, it is an awkward marriage of supposed equals, a perpetuation of  duality and a reminder of the past.  But unlike Alcatel Lucent (which have ceased to exist) Nokia Siemens is an inherently unstable name, subject to change as soon as the company is ready to control its own destiny (and brand).
The logo design:  When a name is weak, the use of a dominating visual device is strategically appropriate. This 'wave' device, which is not really a symbol, effectively frames the name and gives it a graphically distinctive identity. I can't wait to hear what it will sound like.