AT&T to Dump Cingular Name
AT&T Corp. plans to ditch the Cingular Wireless brand name and orange jack logo in favor of the AT&T Wireless name next year, according to news reports.
The move will help AT&T alleviate confusion about its brand in the marketplace, news reports said. The plan follows AT&T’s announcement in March that it will merge with BellSouth Corp. with whom it operates Cingular Wireless LLC. That merger would “strengthen Cingular through unified ownership and a single brand,” a company statement said at that time.
While the majority of Cingular’s operations will remain unchanged, simplifying the ownership structure will lead to more efficient marketing and service provision under a single AT&T brand, generating further financial synergies and customer benefits, the statement said.
The marketing cost to rebrand AT&T could run into the billions of dollars, news reports said.
The new name would need to be communicated to Cingular’s reported 55.8 million cellular/PCS subscribers. Cingular’s first quarter revenues climbed to $9 billion, a 9.1% increase from one year ago.
The rebranding will also follow this year’s reported $500 million Your World. Delivered ad campaign, which stems from SBC Communications purchase of AT&T in November. Both entities then decided to keep the AT&T name(Xtra, Jan. 4).
In a separate development, San Antonio, TX-based AT&T recently launched the 2006 Summer Series sweepstakes. The promotion rewards fans of Major League Baseball’s Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals with prizes, including rivalry tickets between the two teams, suite seats, the chance to throw out the first pitch or the grand prize—an HD Plasma TV. Consumers have until Aug. 28 to enter the sweeps at ATT.cubs.com or ATT.stlcardinals.com.
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