Irish sensitivites colour Esat BT logo

The BT piper logo, one of the most instantly recognisable corporate symbols in Europe, has had to be altered for the first time, for its Irish market debut.

The logo is normally made up of blue type with a red-and-blue piper and is typically reproduced on a white background. The Esat BT logo is one colour with blue type followed by a blue piper. The change is in response to market research the firm conducted. It found the original red, white and blue was "perceived as being too British".

Another change is the position of BT in the new name. The company has several names for its products and services and in all cases the BT name is used as a prefix such as in BT Ignite or BT Cellnet.

Putting Esat first was, according to a spokeswoman, a further concession by the parent company to local sensitivities and a recognition of the strength of the Esat name in the local market.

The name change follows the acquisition of the Esat Group by BT in 2000.

The rebranding exercise will be complete within three months and is being undertaken on a shoestring budget. There will be some press advertising but none of the glossy television advertisements seen this year for Vodafone and O2, two other telecoms that also underwent name changes,Marketing expenditure on the entire name change is expected to be below €100,000, a modest budget for any telecom.

"A lot of the rebranding work will be cheap and cheerful," said a company spokeswoman, adding that the company does not have the budget for a lavish campaign.

Before deciding on the current name, BT conducted a series of focus groups to assess the attitude to the name. The spokeswoman said the response to the BT element of the name was "surprisingly positive".