At an evening meeting, Wednesday, of the Board of Governors (BoG) at IIM-A, it was decided to “keep in abeyance” the decision to change the logo of the country’s premier management institute. Many have reason to believe that the decision comes in wake of opposition from various quarters, including faculty members, students, alumni and design fraternity. The meeting was convened prior to the institute’s 57th convocation.
When asked by scribes on possible reasons, Kumar Mangalam Birla, chairman, IIMA, BoG, stated: “We had a discussion and decided to keep in abeyance as of now. Errol (IIMA Director Prof Errol D’Souza) will put it out for wider consultations and inputs and we will then take a look at it again. A lot of emotions (are) attached to the existing logo so we thought it right to take everyone’s opinion into account.”
In a statement issued on April 1 on its official website, the IIMA stated that “the proposed logo is to be released in June of this year after the annual vacation.” The proposal was approved by the IIM-A BoG.
“The Institute, in the process of revamping its website, found the need to refresh the logo. Evaluation, exploration, development of wordmark, development of brandmark were all kept in mind while coming up with the final design recommendations,” read the official statement on the website.
However, a section of the faculty opposed the proposal and wrote a letter, saying the move “will have far-reaching implications and long- term consequences” on the institute’s brand and stakeholders.
“The logo is our identity — the jaali and the Sanskrit verse define us and our Indian ethos. For us, it is a symbol of our Indianness… It is our commitment to vikas of the country, industry, society, students and management discipline. The change in logo is sure to have a long-lasting impact on the IIMA brand,” stated the letter.
