MTC Group Rebrands International Operations As Zain

Kuwait's MTC Group has re-branded to Zain which becomes the Group's corporate master brand with immediate effect. Four country operations in Kuwait and Bahrain, (both formerly MTC-Vodafone), Jordan (formerly Fastlink) and Sudan (formerly Mobitel) will immediately re-brand to Zain. The Group will commence operations in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia under the Zain brand in early 2008 after being awarded the third mobile telecommunications licence in July 2007.

Additionally, the Group's successful operation in Iraq, mtc atheer, will also re-brand to Zain in the near future after recently winning an extended 15 year nationwide licence. All new or acquired operations run by the Group will be branded Zain.

Recent reports that the company was considering moving its international headquarters from Kuwait to Bahrain would also have been heightened after the company's press release regarding the brand name change was sent from Bahrain and not Kuwait City as would have been normal.

Dr. Saad Al Barrak, Zain Group's chief executive officer, said: "Zain will bring together all our operations under a single, strong and unique identity. We believe it is the optimal platform upon which we can build a global brand with the ultimate goal of better serving our customers. It will propel the Group towards becoming one of the top ten global mobile telecommunications companies in the next four years."

The new identity was developed in partnership with consulting firms and advertising agencies. Brand architect Tito Alai, the Group's chief commercial officer who also developed the Zain Group's successful Celtel brand in Africa, said: "The name Zain was selected from a list of over 400 after extensive research across many countries and cultures validated its broad global appeal.

"Although it was chosen for its simplicity, memorability and ease of pronunciation across the global marketplace, as an added bonus Zain was found to be rich in positive connotations. For example, in Arabic, Zain means 'beautiful, good and wonderful", in Latin it means 'dark horse' and it has many positive meanings in other cultures found in Africa, Asia, Europe and beyond." Notably Mr Alai adds: "Zain tested extremely well among cross sections of the potential global audience and with the planned investment will become a formidable brand within a short period."

Posted to the site on 10th September 2007