Cingular, the biggest mobile carrier in U.S., is being renamed AT&T…that is not a secret. But it will start Monday, reports WSJ, two weeks after the merger between AT&T and BellSouth completed. The two companies owned it together prior to this. As the story says, the new name is a step back in time for Cingular, which bought the old AT&T Wireless in 2004 and eventually dropped the AT&T name altogether.
The service will be sold as “Wireless from AT&T.” Initially, AT&T ads will combine Cingular’s logo, an orange X-shaped character named Jack, with the round AT&T trademark. AT&T executives say using both logos will train consumers to recognize that Cingular is now AT&T. The AT&T slogan, “Your world delivered,” replaces the Cingular slogan, “Raising the bar.”
Over the coming months, AT&T will phase out the Cingular name altogether, which experts says might hurt the brand among younger consumer who consider AT&T to be an old, stodgy brand. OH, also, the Apple iPhone (or whatever it will be called in June) will be an AT&T service, not a Cingular one. Apple & AT&T, that’s a thought.
NYTimes: The story says it will be the biggest “de-branding” campaigns in advertising history…AT&T will not disclose the budget for the campaign, which will continue for five or six months. A campaign last year to promote AT&T as the new brand name of SBC Communications cost an estimated $1 billion.