We are alumni of IIMA. Having understood through reliable sources that IIMA has decided to change the logo of the Institute we are writing this letter to you. We do hope you will receive it in the right spirit and review the decision.

World around us has been evolving quite swiftly and all of us are trying to keep up with the pace of change. We all need an anchor now more than ever before to stay centered and deal with all the change around us. Family, Home town and Campus are 3 things that give us this necessary stability and centeredness. They hold us up, remind us who we are and rekindle us when we feel beaten down. 

Logo is an integral part of what the campus means to us. We are writing to appeal to the institute to not change the logo and allow us, the alumni, the privilege of this rare constant in our lives. The brand IIMA and the logo “Tree of life” means a lot to us. The logo makes us feel oneness with the Country’s heritage through the  Sidi Saiyyed jali. The motto “Vidyaviniyogadvikasa” inspires us to achieve development through application of our knowledge. This is one of the very powerful anchors that helps us navigate through our careers. This motto along with its powerful message is also in Sanskrit like mottos of many other Educational Institutions’ in India. You may refer to the full list of Institutions with Sanskrit Mottos here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_educational_institutions_with_Sanskrit_mottos The logo along with the motto reflects our culture and heritage and keeps us tied to our roots. 

While there are a few cases of reputed Institutes changing their Logo successfully, it is a fact that the majority of  them have not changed their logos for nearly a Century and are still conducting their activities with full relevance to the changing times. We believe that a logo has a heritage value and it should not be lost in the eagerness to ‘modernize’ the image of the Institute. We believe that the continuing high performance of the graduates and alumni in the changing world outside is a big testimony to the quality of education provided by the Institute and ‘modernizing’ the logo is the last thing that may be attempted. There is still opportunity to invest in enhancing the prestige of the Institute in other areas like research and academics. Changing logo is an unnecessary distraction at this time.

Sir you are quite aware that a lot of us work in branding and marketing domains. With respect to the Logo - Who are our primary audience? 1. Alumni, 2. Faculty, 3. Potential and current students and 4. Corporates that recruit from the Institute. Has there been any primary survey to understand their level of bonding with the Brand IIMA? If so, has there been any expressed concern on the lack of global feel about the logo?

We do understand that the brand needs a new avatar sometimes. More so when there is a new competitor challenging the position of the entity, when the target audience changes drastically or when the brand’s values and mission changes. To the extent of our knowledge, none of these changed for IIMA. This leaves us wondering what is the real purpose of the proposed change in the logo? We would all like to not allow any political agendas to have a say in the current proposal. 

We are of the opinion that the process of taking such a major decision should have included tapping into the wisdom, experience and opinions of different stakeholders including the alumni. It is also very unusual to change logo to attract global students or for International image purposes. Having two logos is also a very impractical way of tackling the issue. There are many better ways of attracting International students or talent.

Please note that this correspondence is sprouting out of anguish that the proposed logo change might lead to brand dilution and loss of critical elements of our identity. Hope this appeal communicates our underlying emotion about the proposed changes. Hope it provides you an additional perspective about how one stakeholder segment thinks about this proposal. This segment, IIMA Alumni, is  an integral part of IIMA ecosystem. We continue to contribute to the development of the institute in many ways. We hire and mentor IIMA graduates, we donate funds for the Institutes' development, we are always eager to share our knowledge and support various initiatives of the Institute. Above all some of the alumni have actually outperformed their own alma mater bringing in International fame and name to the Institute. We all are proud stakeholders of Brand IIMA. 

 We would like to conclude by saying that no successful brand has ever changed brand logos in the past. Even if they did, they did minor tweaks in an incremental manner. A dramatic change in the Logo is a huge business risk in terms of recognizability, affinity, emotional connectedness among TG and might lead to loss of business. 

We reiterate our request and pray that you reconsider the proposal of changing the Institutes logo. We will be happy to further share our perspective over a virtual call and hope to hear from you.