Cingular Mobile Brand to Vanish after AT&T Re-Branding

January 14th, 2007 · No Comments

Cingular, the No. 1 U.S. mobile carrier, which built up its market presence with billions of dollars over the past few years, will see its brand replaced by AT&T’s starting this coming week..

AT&T took full control of Cingular with its $86 billion purchase of BellSouth last month. In the marketing campaigns first stage, which launches on this Monday, Cingular’s orange logo of a bouncing jack will co-exist with the AT&T globe logo on everything from television ads to sales uniforms and monthly bills.

“We did not enter that decision lightly,” Wendy Clark, vice president of advertising at AT&T, said in an interview. “We came to understand that consumer customers and business customers alike are looking for a single provider. We heard it so consistently across the marketplace.”

AT&T ’s name and logo will eventually completely replace Cingular in a process expected to take several months The exact timing will be determined as more customer feedback comes in, Clark said. Cingular built up a reputation among younger customers who may not easily associate with the AT&T brand.

Although, AT&T had indicated that the re-branding was a part of its strategy, as reported by Adweek, the announcement still appears strange given the recent announcement of Apple’s iPhone device which is exclusively linked to Cingular through a multi-year exclusive deal.

Source: CNET