Sasol

I fell in love with the Sasol logo the moment I first saw it, which if I remember correctly was in an animated format online. It's almost hypnotic, I can stare at it for ages, and I have to say that it's one of my top favourites of this series.

The international award-winning Sasol rebrand was launched in 2001 (I bet you don't remember their previous logo).

Sasol (originally Afrikaans for Suid-Afrikaanse Steenkool en Olie - South African Coal and Oil) is an innovative and competitive global energy company, engaged in the commercial production and marketing of chemicals and liquid fuels; with a growing interest in oil and gas exploration. Established in 1950 by the South African government, Sasol employs more than 32 000 people worldwide and remains one of South Africa’s largest investors in capital projects, skills development and technological research and development.

Via Sasol's Corporate Identity page:

Sasol's identity owes its inspiration to what is at the core of what Sasol does - chemicals. It suggests the essence of the products, and businesses working in harmony in order to create something new and dynamic. The central sphere denotes stability, while the six rotating 'business units' suggest a force greater than the sum of its parts - strength through synergy.

Well that's the short of it. Clifford Boobyer, Creative Director at Firedog (then creative lead at Trademark Design), was responsible for the Sasol global rebranding project and identity design. I exchanged a few e-mails with Clifford, who was very accommodating to share some insight into his creative processes:

It was a mammoth project, with a very simple easily sold creative burst right up front.

At this stage of my career, I had just moved on from fiddling around with an application that shipped with early Macromedia called Extreme3D onto the more serious 3D Studio Max. I thought I might try build an identity around a 3D application - this was still before the trend of 3D marks we see so readily today, and it felt kind of cool to do something different.

So I got to grips with the Sasol business and soon worked out that all their business related back to organic compounds one way or another. Whether it be oils, gas, or any other compound - they all seemed to be built from the same building blocks: Hydrocarbons. And when you start looking at modelling around hydrocarbons - you can really get to understand where the brand mark started to develop. So I guess it was the geek in me (before Wikipedia, mind you) which became fascinated behind the science of the brand.

Chemistry in Motion

I asked Cliff about the animated logo that applies to digital environments:

Coupled with the new application I was learning, this journey of discovery inspired me to create a very progressive and animated mark. So I recreated the model in 3D Studio Max, based on a very basic layout sketch that I did. I think because what I wanted to do was so singular in it's idea - I didn't spend long sketching.

I dropped in a large Silver carbon atom and created a series of coloured hydrogen atoms that rotated on paths closely around the core. I remember the mark being multiple colours, red, green, blue, yellow etc. - we changed them all to shades of blue later on client consultation. It was then just a case of bringing the hydrogen atoms to life and making them move around the core, without bumping.

Because it was early days in 3D - there was no Flash output. I laboured one of the junior designers of the time with the process of recreating all the frames of the end animation in vector Flash. It turned out nicely at least!

So, I think it was one of those rare occurences of a brand identity that started with an animation. And moved on from there. The client bought the idea and the pitch in one go.

I think it was in the studio for 18 months and the brand guidelines generated in the end topped 750 pages.

More reading: Sasol re-brand at Firedog, and Sasol's Electronic Brand Book (2.3mb SWF)

Wimpy

Up until I started this series, I'd always assumed that Wimpy is a uniquely South African brand. As it turns out, Wimpy was founded in London in 1954 while the brand (originally called Wimpy Bars) was originally created as early as the 1930s. By the early 1970s the business had expanded to over a thousand restaurants in 23 countries.

Wimpy UK, which comprises 194 outlets across England, Scotland and Wales, and operates a further 20 restaurants under a master licence arrangement in Ireland, is the largest independently owned franchised restaurant chain in the United Kingdom. The business owns the Wimpy trademark in 15 European countries.

Wimpy opened in South Africa in Durban in 1967. Today, Wimpy is one of the leading restaurant franchise groups in South Africa with more than 400 restaurants.

Famous Brands, owner of the Wimpy franchise in South Africa, acquired Wimpy UK in February 2007. Having acquired the brand, Famous Brands rebranded Wimpy in the UK to bring it in line with Wimpy South Africa.

The bun logo in use today is apparently one used by Wimpy UK from the 1960s until the 1980s. After a bit of digging on Google and Yahoo's image searches, I came across the following Wimpy logos, although I have no idea when and where they were in use.

My understanding is that the logo currently in use evolved from previous revisions and has since found its way back to the UK. So not strictly a South African logo, but a South African-owned brand and a real icon which I feel deserves some recognition. I love how the logo captures the essence of the brand with such simplicity.

Neotel

The much anticipated Second National Operator (SNO) for fixed line telecommunication services in South Africa, Neotel is licensed as South Africa's first alternative infrastructure-based telecoms provider, capable of delivering a broad range of wireline and wireless data telecoms services on a national and international level. It launched in August 2006.

The Brand Union, a global brand agency with 21 offices worldwide, were tasked with a full brand creation which began in November 2005. I hope they don't mind that I've borrowed some images from their photo journal to illustrate how the logo mark was conceptualised:

You can view a comprehensive case study on their website. What follows is a short extract:

The primary identity is composed of two points connected by the energy of communication. These "points" could represent people, places, ideas, even business opportunities. But overall, the symbol stands for Connectivity. Communication. Possibility.

This uniquely South African symbol draws from a warm, rich palette and resonates with the exuberance of a South African sunrise. The dawn of something new. Ultimately optimistic, the symbol is reflective of a future of hope. The activated orange creates a dynamic plane of colour in which the identity lives and advances. This creates the impression of the symbol living on, and beyond the page, advancing towards the customer. This upward, dynamic movement suggests aspiring to new heights.

Etc, etc, etc. See the logo in action on the Neotel website and in their first television ad:

Continued: Part 3

When I moved at the beginning of August, I applied with Telkom to have my ADSL line transferred. It went relatively smoothly - infact they even called me up a few days earlier than they'd initially planned for, to come do the installation. They provided me with my new telephone number, I was back online, everything was great.

My good forture with the Telkom God ended this week. What they didn't tell me however, is that when you transfer your line, you're issued with a new account! As "Africa's largest integrated communications company", Telkom aren't very big on communication.

Unless you notice the new 12-digit string at the top of your monthly paper invoice, which I generally don't even check because I use eServices (their online bill payment system), you'll have no idea that this has happened. They don't even take the initiative to link your new account into your eServices profile - you have to do this manually - and even when you've done that, you have to wait for the account to be loaded into the system. I'd love to know why this very simple task can't be automated. "Automation" isn't part of the Telkom vocabulary.

The other thing Telkom do - with no opt-out option - is they SMS you every month when your "tel no" - note not account - is in arrears:

Telkom Reminder: Our records indicate tel no 021 461**** is in arrears with R566.71. Please pay immediately & contact 10210 with receipt particulars.

This is perhaps the only thing Telkom automate.

So with an account balance of R0.00 (which was correct, since my account was in credit after a previous month's invoice was double paid thanks to the incompetence of their eServices system), receiving SMS messages saying otherwise, and a suspended line, I called them up to find out what was going down.

Speaking to Telkom Support is always an adventure. I get the impression that their systems produce random results, based on the different array of answers they provide me with every time I speak to someone different.

In brief, I'm now liable for a R119 reconnection fee. I promptly paid my account that was in arrears, and was assured the next day that I'd been reconnected. After fiddling with my router and trying all possible combinations and resets, I phoned again. I hadn't been reconnected.

The story continues next week...

And another thing - the monthly paper invoice, comprising no less than 3 A4 sheets - how much energy are they wasting and how many trees are they destroying, by not providing their users with the option to receive it electronically, like most other established service providers do? You'd think that a "progressive" technology company like Telkom would be one of the first to adopt this green approach. "Ethics" isn't part of the Telkom vocabulary either.

Your days are numbered, Hellkom! Neotel are coming...

UPDATE [19/11]: Call to Telkom Account Enquiries:
<me> Hello, I'd like to find out the status of my account please.
<Pinky> Sorry, we are currently offline. Would you mind calling back in an hour?

At the recent Telkom analyst day, Telkom's Steven Hayward said that the fixed line provider has a soft cap, adding that they have not switched off any customers who exceeded their caps.

When asked whether the low usage limits, or caps, associated with ADSL are not at odds with Telkom's intension of providing media rich content to their broadband subscribers, Steven Hayward, Managing Executive for Retail and Marketing at Telkom, made some dubious statement about the incumbent's capping policies.

"We don't have a hard cap on it, we have what we call a soft cap," said Hayward. He further stated that "...in fact, we have not switched off any customers as long back as I can recall. So we don't switch them off."

Hayward further said that when a customer goes 'way over' the allotted usage limit that Telkom phones the customer, informs them about their high usage and then tells them that they have to pay extra to use this service.

Mr Hayward, I would love to receive your response to my original post which follows...

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My turn to contribute to the anti-Telkom sentiments making noise across the local blogosphere recently.

TelkomInternet (my ISP & ADSL provider) sent me the following yesterday (not the first time I've received an e-mail like this):

Dear subscriber

According to our records your total usage as at [2007-3-16 00:00:01] has reached and exceeded the threshold for the overall service.

Uploaded: 2.58GB
Downloaded: 1.47GB
Combined Total: 4.06GB

Reaching the threshold has resulted in your username being disabled from our network of services until the 1st of next month.

Your actions have resulted in your username being added to our list of high-end users and repeated behavior of this nature could result in an overall blacklisting of services from TelkomInternet.

So according to Telkom I've uploaded 2.58GB this month already. What the hell are they smoking?! Do they just make these figures up?

Let's examine this. Compare their usage graph with my own (I use Net Activity Diagram to monitor my internet activity). If I log into Telkom's Usage Tracker tool, I'm presented with these stats:

3 March - Uploaded: 859.9753 MB
4 March - Uploaded: 849.1983 MB

I have a 384kbps line, which is theoretically supposed to allow for 128kbps upload speeds. I'm not exactly sure how this works, but I guess that after considering factors like protocol overheads, propagation delays etc., I get a maximum transfer rate of 20kbps. After doing the math, at that rate and with consistent connectivity, it's possible that I could have uploaded 1.7GB over two days. Only I didn't, and this is confirmed by my NAD stats.

I've read the My Broadband forum posts. My wireless firewall router is securely locked down, and both my router and Telkom account passwords are very secure - I changed them as an extra measure after receiving the first e-mail.

I tried to get a response from Telkom on this issue in September last year, the first time this happened, when I'd supposedly uploaded more than 3GB over 4 days. My e-mails were forwarded to their abuse department and I never heard anything back. I tried calling, but in typical Telkom style, they're only interesting in hearing from you when you want to buy more bandwidth.

So what's the deal here? I'm pretty sure that my bandwidth isn't being stolen, but if that's the case then it's not by any fault of mine. It frustrates me to no end that my service has already been cut off when I've only used half of my cap, and I'm now planning on switching to a better ISP. One that provide a decent level of support, and who I can trust. Chances are they'll be cheaper too!

Enjoy the ride Aquila!

UPDATE: Telkom responded to my e-mail which contained a link to this post. They attached a document with my ADSL connection logs, which I must mention do not match up with either my usage stats on their site or my own usage stats. Assuming they read this post, here's what they had to say:

We have reviewed your ADSL connection logs, as per attached, and we do not pick up any irregularities. Also please note that the logs show that all the connections were made from your location.

UPDATE [26/03]: I cancelled my TelkomInternet account today and signed up with Cybersmart. And yes, they're cheaper. So far so good!

Last December I blogged about the announcement of South Africa's SNO, or, the long-awaited challenger to Telkom's landline monopoly.

They launched today: introducing Neotel - "the first national infrastructure-based competitor in the fixed line telecoms sector in South Africa". Via My Broadband:

Neotel kicks off its offerings with wholesale international services. Neotel will most likely expand its operations early next year with voice and broadband offerings to corporate and residential customers.

Neotel aims to offer a variety of services in the fixed line telecoms environment, providing Telkom with its first real competition in this arena.

It is expected that Neotel will capture between 10% and 15% market share from Telkom in its first year of operations.

More here: SNO to launch operations today, or follow news updates via Google News South Africa.

Also be sure to get involved in the Telecoms Action Group - who are campaigning "to place an advert in one of the country's big newspapers to tell Telkom exactly what we think of their service and demand a speedy and competitive alternative. [...] The advert will be similar to the Spread Firefox Advert Campaign, which took out a double-page spread in the New York Times (see PDF)".

UPDATE:
SNO launches services as Neotel (My Broadband)
New S.Africa fixed-line operator to spend billions (Reuters)
Telkom rival officially launched (Finance24)

The SNO will offer voice, at a limited mobility, data and value-added network services such as high-speed internet access.

But consumers should not be excited yet since the SNO representatives were not forthcoming about operational plans, or who would head the SNO, despite the fact that the day of the licence issue had been anticipated.

Service roll-out is expected in July - we'll see, hopefully. Tata Telkom, you monopolistic bastards!

To honour the government's objectives of bridging the digital divide, the SNO will be required to provide internet connectivity to 2 500 public schools or public education and training institutions, and 2 500 to rural public clinics.

Sweeet. Keep up-to-date here (or via RSS).