All of Us and Fray work with Russian broadband firm Yota

In a related move, Simon Waterfall’s group Fray has been appointed as lead creative consultancy for Yota. He will also act as a creative director for the company. Yota, which operates in five networked cities across Russia, is embarking on a global expansion and has set up a London headquarters to tackle business strategy, communications, brand marketing and product innovation – disciplines which Waterfall says he will work across.

All of Us business director Phil Gerrard says, ’We’re looking at the customer experience, the interface and the on-screen identity of the service.’ He confirms ’a long-term appointment’ with the company and says All of Us will be working with the other Yota design partners.

Dom Bailey has left consultancy 300 Million to become global chief marketing officer with Yota (www.designweek.co.uk, 26 July). 300 Million, which created the Yota identity (pictured) in 2008, will continue as its lead brand consultancy.

Describing Fray’s appointment as ’the perfect consultancy and brand marriage’, Waterfall says it will give him the opportunity to act on Fray’sphilosophy. ’Fray was set up to sustain creativity across disciplines, and whether you’re talking about the articulation of a brand’s corporatewebsite or advertising, it’s all a manifestation of the brand and we believe brands are about behaviour, in all aspects of design,’ says Waterfall.

’Be it experiential, product, packaging or retail, I’ll be looking at how the brand communicates itself,’ he adds. Yota currently has 500 000 customers across the Russian cities of Moscow, St Petersburg, Krasnodar, Ufa and Sochi, and on 1 July launched in the Nicaraguan capital of Managua.

The company plans to cover an area with a population of 30 million by the end of 2010, and is currently constructing networks in Belarus and Peru. It aims to provide services to developing countries across Latin America, the former USSR, Africa and Asia.