Vodafone is celebrating: it’s 30 years since it introduced the brand as the new name for Racal Electronics’ mobile phone network.
The branding was unveiled on 22 March 1984 at the launch of Racal’s “new portable and mobile public telecommunications service” which promised to offer a “nationwide public telephone network unavailable today.”
The Vodafone name was created by a member of the company’s original directors and the advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi, and is made up from the words ‘voice’, ‘data’ and ‘phone’. The proposal to spell ‘phone’ as ‘fone’ was initially rejected by then-CEO Sir Gerry Whent.
He eventually caved in, allegedly saying “in for a penny, in for a pound – you can have your flipping ‘f’ as well,” and later regarded the decision as the right one.
Initial demand for the service was expected from “people constantly on the move” such as business executives, sales reps, journalists, doctors and vets, as well as industries that maintained vehicle fleets, such as construction, logistics and utilities.
The first mobile phone call in Britain was made on Vodafone’s network, which went live in 1985, while the company has become one of the most iconic and biggest technology and communications firms in the UK. Vodafone’s service went live in 1985 and the company has since become one of the largest technology firms in the UK. It has expanded to a number of markets around the world, but falling revenues in Europe have led it to move into fixed line communications.
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