See how we created a brand identity to help unify network APIs worldwide
- Ericsson collaborated with multiple partners on the brand identity creation of Aduna, the new joint venture with a mission to help businesses and developers seize the network API opportunity.
- Aduna was unveiled to the industry at Mobile World Congress 2025 through the new company’s own booth.
Senior Vice President, Chief Marketing and Communications Officer
Senior Vice President, Chief Marketing and Communications Officer
Senior Vice President, Chief Marketing and Communications Officer
Stella Medlicott, Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing and Communications Officer at Ericsson, speaking about creating the brand identity of Aduna at Mobile World Congress 2025
As a Chief Marketing and Communications Officer, you don’t often get a chance to be a part of creating a new brand—especially for a company that has such transformative potential as Aduna.
Aduna is the recently launched venture between Ericsson and some of the world’s largest communications service providers (CSPs). As 5G and edge computing reshape the digital landscape, the demand for solutions that harness these technologies is escalating.
Aduna accomplishes this by enabling developer platforms, such as Vonage and Google Cloud, to scale globally and accelerate their boldest ideas through network APIs built on existing industry-wide CAMARA standards.
Last September, we announced the venture with 12 CSP partners, and we’ve been working together on the name and the new brand ever since. This was a high-stakes job as Aduna is more than just a company. It represents a vision for the future of connectivity, built on innovation, simplification, and collaboration. Our mission is to empower the builders and makers of the world to unlock new possibilities by harnessing the ubiquity of mobile networks globally.
Aduna is going to change the game
Aduna represents a unified force—a convergence where diverse talents and sectors join hands to create something greater than the sum of its parts. It’s a platform designed to benefit a diverse range of stakeholders:
- CSPs can monetize network investments by exposing key capabilities through APIs, creating a win-win for the entire ecosystem.
- Enterprises can leverage network capabilities to enhance customer experiences and streamline operations, among other opportunities.
- Developers can access intuitive tools and detailed documentation as they build the next big thing.
Aduna combines network APIs globally, ensuring that new applications work anywhere, on any network. It will sell combined APIs to a broad ecosystem of developer platforms, including hyperscale cloud providers (HCPs), communications platform as a service (CPaaS) providers, system integrators (SIs), and independent software vendors (ISVs).
At the pre-MWC analyst day on February 12 in London, Infobip and Sinch were announced as new partners, joining Vonage and Google Cloud, who have been with Aduna from the start. These partnerships provide access to an ecosystem of more than 10 million developers. Aduna serves as the harmonizing platform, integrating insights from partners such as Vonage, Google Cloud, Infobip, and Sinch to accelerate developer innovation. By collaborating with these industry leaders, Aduna enhances its capabilities in cloud communications and customer engagement, further enriching its network API ecosystems.
Creating a brand identity that reflects and elevates Aduna’s mission
As all its partners are world-class companies with long histories and distinctive brands, the very essence of Aduna needed to be reflected in its brand identity. We needed to collectively build a brand representing the parent companies while creating something entirely new.
While working closely with our partners’ teams, our brand team and agency partner looked at more than 500 different name options across up to 20 languages, consulting with experts and academics on cultural and historical meanings.
The name Aduna is derived from the word coadunation, an originally Latin term that means many different entities coming together. It stood out as a strong five-letter word that perfectly fit the ethos of our new company—collective strength from many partners. We also wanted a name that would be emotive and engaging to developers, who are our key audience.
Aduna’s hero imagery showcases a visual identity characterized by a neutral color palette.
The visual identity was equally thought through. It was crafted with a neutral color palette that unites multiple tones instead of owning a single color. The example above is just one of its many colors.
The logo is a modern symbol inspired by a kaleidoscope, where shapes converge in harmony and symmetry, connected around a shared sense of purpose. The design brings together modernity and intellect, exemplifying how multiple industry pioneers converge and how all the pieces seamlessly fit together.
Aduna’s name and logo highlight how companies with unique brands converge to form a new entity.
The hero imagery was also developed with the kaleidoscope theme in mind, evoking the sense of possibility with a link to our partners who create a new and better-connected world. The brand identity feels fresh and modern, leveraging the strengths of Aduna’s owners to create something truly original.
Unveiling a strong brand identity at Mobile World Congress
MWC 2025 was the real introduction of Aduna to the industry. In the run-up to the event, we announced KDDI as a 13th equity partner as well as strategic partnerships with Infobip, a leading CPaaS provider, and Sinch, a leading cloud communications provider.
Outside the main Ericsson pavilion, we have an Aduna booth that was also inspired by the kaleidoscope theme. It shows the power of the collective and serves as a symbol for uniting both people and Aduna’s owners, partners, and customers. Many of our partners also feature Aduna at their own booths.
The kaleidoscope enables our Business Builders to present the Aduna story from different angles. We invite visitors on a journey from the basics—explaining what an API is—to real-world cases, built around features such as location, geolocation, fraud detection, and number verification. Through one of our interactive zones, visitors can explore how to onboard the first network API and discover commercial and technical tracks focusing on developer platforms. We are working together with our partners, including Verizon, AT&T, SAP, Telefónica, and Deutsche Telekom.
Demonstrating Ericsson’s broader strategic shift
We are demonstrating Ericsson’s own strategic shift during this year’s MWC. In 2025, we have an open-to-all space that fosters innovation and engagement, as well as our traditional invite-only section.
This year, we wanted a very different look and feel for the booth. We updated our design and colors and decided to showcase fewer but larger interactive zones, highlighting collaborations with customers and partners. Up to 20 percent of the Business Builders at our booth come from other companies. In addition, we launched a new conference program, which has been fascinating to attend.
It’s quite a striking change. One of the key differences we’ve seen at the event is that now it’s not just talking about technology but also exploring how it can be applied and used.
That’s exciting for us. Our customers have been so engaged in what they can do with their network and how they can monetize it.
In our booth, we showcase how programmable networks change the way businesses operate. We feature our new energy-efficient solutions, such as massive multiple input, multiple output (MIMO) networks, remote radios, and RAN Connect, that lay the foundation for Aduna’s work while improving performance and sustainability.
For example, Telstra’s recent upgrade to a high-performing 5G network using Ericsson’s 5G Advanced software and Open RAN hardware will help developers make the most of network API-based services through the new venture. It's interesting to see how these innovations also help Aduna unlock new opportunities.
It's just the beginning of the network API journey
After visiting the Aduna booth, I must reflect on the speed at which our team and partners created this thoughtful, future-looking brand. It’s a remarkable achievement, considering that we announced the venture just six months ago!
There is a real urgency to our work here. Aduna is more than a company; it’s a catalyst for a transformative movement with a mission to leverage the power of ubiquitous mobile networks.
The market and the technology are developing rapidly, but the window for a collective industry group to take advantage of the network API opportunity will not stay open forever. This work needs to be done now and I’m so proud that we’re leading the way.
Delve deeper into how we foster innovation and contact us if you would be interested in joining as a developer or partner: