Rebrand / TurnaroundMobile service providersAug ’25 → Aug ’26Independent BII analysis

What caught our attention. Vi has used the past year to change how it presents itself. The dot in its logo has literally moved up. We compared its Aug ’26 reading with Aug ’25 to see whether consumers’ keenness to buy moved with the brand.

The dot has moved up.
So has consumer Buying Intent.

Mobile service provider · Aug ’25 vs Aug ’26

Will Trust follow soon?

Buying Intent

121.30+53.50 pts

Aug ’26 (from 67.80 in Aug ’25)

Trust

63.80−24.70 pts

Aug ’26 (from 88.50 in Aug ’25)

Desire

154.20+108.40 pts

Aug ’26 (from 45.80 in Aug ’25)

Vi is the only major mobile service provider to rise on Buying Intent year on year: powered by rising Desire, while Trust still lags.

What the data shows

Measured · What BII data shows

The rise was not a one-measure event. Brand Desire gained about twice as many points as Buying Intent, while Brand Trust moved the other way, so the recovery is being carried by wanting the brand rather than by relying on it.

Across the category, Vi was the only major provider whose Buying Intent rose year on year: Jio’s fell 20.5% and Airtel’s 3.8%. Vi’s share of the category’s Buying Intent roughly doubled, from 8.8% to 17.5%.

Month to month, Vi’s readings swing widely. Comparing August with August reads the same point in the year and is the cleaner comparison.

Seventeen months of the three measures

Normalised index, Apr ’25 = 100. Monthly readings swing; the August-to-August comparison reads the same point in the year.

Vi monthly Buying Intent, Brand Desire and Brand Trust, Apr ’25 to Aug ’26
Month	Buying Intent	Brand Desire	Brand Trust
Apr ’25	178.60	244.40	81.50
May ’25	140.20	118.40	135.90
Jun ’25	248.80	297.40	149.00
Jul ’25	41.40	51.70	22.20
Aug ’25	67.80	45.80	88.50
Sep ’25	146.90	198.20	62.70
Oct ’25	223.10	284.10	114.40
Nov ’25	108.40	101.90	97.20
Dec ’25	73.20	107.70	25.60
Jan ’26	60.50	77.20	36.70
Feb ’26	227.50	335.70	91.60
Mar ’26	23.40	38.20	6.80
Apr ’26	147.60	162.50	106.90
May ’26	73.90	102.30	45.90
Jun ’26	118.40	100.60	111.80
Jul ’26	78.00	58.70	82.80
Aug ’26	121.30	154.20	63.80

Only one major provider rose

Buying Intent, Aug ’26 vs Aug ’25

Vi+78.91%

Airtel−3.77%

Jio−20.53%

Vi’s share of the category’s Buying Intent: 8.8% → 17.5%.

Why this is interesting

Interpreted · What the pattern may mean

A common assumption is that consumers come to trust a brand first and want it afterwards. Vi’s readings run the other way: Desire has recovered well ahead of Trust.

For a turnaround that is both encouraging and fragile. Keenness to buy that rests on the appeal of a brand, without the reassurance of relying on it, can be quicker to fade, which makes Trust the measure to watch.

What might be happening?

Interpreted · Possibilities rather than findings

The data tells us what has changed. It does not by itself establish why. These are directions a brand team could investigate.

One possibility worth investigating is whether the renewed brand identity and communication has refreshed Desire faster than the service experience has changed.
The pattern may warrant looking at the competitive context: with Jio and Airtel both softer, some of Vi’s gain may reflect rivals losing pull rather than Vi alone gaining it.
A brand team could test whether the fall in Trust is about day-to-day service or about confidence in the company’s future: the two call for different responses.

What should Vi look at next?

Investigate · Questions BII can take further

Is the rise in Desire broad-based across the 16 cities, or concentrated in a few?
Has Trust begun to follow Desire in any city or age group?
Which Brand Behaviours strengthened with Desire, and which weakened with Trust?
Which age groups account for most of the gain in Buying Intent?
Does the August level hold over the next three readings?

Tracking a brand turnaround

How BII can be used this way

This illustrates how BII can follow a turnaround measure by measure. Reading Buying Intent, Brand Trust and Brand Desire together shows whether a recovery is broadening or resting on one measure, and which one needs strengthening next.

A brand team could use this approach to set Trust as the lead indicator: when it starts moving with Desire, the recovery is more likely to hold.

See the six ways brands use BII

Go deeper in BII

Explore this question by:

City · 16 cities
Zones within a city
Age
Gender
Brand Trust
Brand Desire
Brand Behaviours (22)
Competitive set
Monthly trend

Method and caveats

Period: Aug ’25 compared with Aug ’26; monthly readings Apr ’25 to Aug ’26.
Category: Mobile service providers.
Base: BII’s monthly national reading across 16 cities.
Reading: Normalised index (Apr ’25 = 100). Point changes are differences between two stored readings; percentage changes are ratios. BII shows what moved rather than why.

Figures updated. The LinkedIn post showed Aug ’26 Buying Intent of 120.7 and Trust of 62.9. BII’s September category review revised these to 121.3 and 63.8.

Independent BII analyses. Brands featured are selected because we find the market development noteworthy; inclusion does not imply a client relationship.

What would this analysis reveal about your brand?

Track Buying Intent, Brand Trust and Brand Desire across your brand, its category and its competitive set: every month.

Brand	Then	Now	Change
Birla Opus	13.90	112.80	+710%
	51.30^*	57.10	+11%
	415.50	377.40	−9%
	39.20	32.20	−18%