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IIM Ahmedabad alumni start online petition for retaining old logo
At least 45 faculty members wrote to the institute’s Board of Governors on March 8, questioning the decision to finalise the new logo without following due procedure
Ahmedabad: Over 1,100 alumni of the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIMA) have started an online campaign for reconsideration of the institute’s decision to change its 60-year-old logo. This comes days after faculty members of the premier institute opposed the move.
“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,” said Sowjanya Bonda, who started the online campaign.
At least 45 faculty members wrote to the institute’s Board of Governors on March 8, questioning the decision to finalise the new logo without following due procedure. They questioned doing away with the Sanskrit motto “Vidya Viniyogadvikasa (development through the distribution or application of knowledge).”
The institute on April 1 said the proposed logo will retain both the visual iconography of the old one and the motto. It did not comment on whether the procedure was followed.
The old logo was adopted when the institute was set up in 1961. It has the motif of ‘Tree of life’ inspired by a carved stone latticework grille of the 16th century Sidi Saiyyed Mosque in Ahmedabad.
Alumnus Amitava Chattopadhyay, who is the GlaxoSmithKline Chaired Professor in Corporate Innovation, INSEAD (France), said he wrote to the IIMA director about his concerns. “But I did not hear a good reason aside from the fact that it [logo] is 60-year-old. What is the strategic logic for dumping a well-recognised logo and getting a new one? All the equity built up in the old logo will be lost...” He said stakeholders should be informed before making decisions of such magnitude and why there is a need for change.
Chattopadhyay said the existing logo is light, airy, elegant, and looks grounded in the history of Ahmedabad. He added that the proposed logo looked thick and heavy, vaguely resembling the earlier logo.
HT sent an e-mail to IIMA for comments but did not receive a response.
Vikrant Ghai, an alumnus from Gurugam, said the logo change defies “the very basic principles of brand management taught to us by the very institute”.
Amitabh Thakore, who was part of IIMA’s second batch, said removing Ahmedabad from the logo and replacing it with ‘A’ was not a good move considering there are so many IIMs.
According to the minutes of the 419th Meeting of the Academic Council on March 4, a presentation was made to the faculty members about new logos, one without the Sanskrit line for global representation and the other with it to be used domestically. Most of the faculty members opposed the decision and said the Council was not consulted before the decision to change the logo design was taken.
The logos seem to underplay the iconography of the old one inspired by the iconic Sidi Saiyyed Mosque. The institute on April 1 said the new logo will be unveiled in June and that the Sanskrit line will be retained.
Former IIMA director Bakul Dholakia said the institute’s statement is silent on whether views of the Council will be obtained before finalising the new logo design. “Or is it that the change is already done and only the formality of the official announcement will take place in June.”
