AT&T Dumping Cingular Brand Explained by Stephen Colbert

[Jason Dunn]

I was watching <a href="http://www.comedycentral.com/shows/the_colbert_report/index.jhtml">The Colbert Report</a> a few days ago (hilarious TV show) and I saw something that I just had to take a screen capture of: Colbert explained the entire history of AT&amp;T and the companies they broke off into, then re-absorbed through mergers.<br /><br /><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/cingular-renamed-at&t.jpg" /><br /><br />I think that graphic says it all. :lol: From my point of view, AT&amp;T is making a huge branding mistake by getting rid of the Cingular name and brand. As I <a href="http://www.smartphonethoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=83660">said in this thread</a>, AT&amp;T is a legacy brand that makes me think of the '70s, telephones with rotary dial mechanisms, bad customer service, and bloated inefficiency. Cingular, on the other hand, makes me think bright orange, mobile phones, and wireless data. They spent years and millions of dollars building up the Cingular brand name, and now it's all gone. In fact, I think I'd actually feel embarrassed to have a phone with the words AT&amp;T on it (as illogical as that sounds). It's like having a phone that says "Sears" on it. Old brands that have no place in the modern era. Well that's how I feel about it, how about you?

[Birdiestyle]

Link to the actual Clip:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bj1Mtv9cD0I


It was on Digg a couple days back... :) Good Stuff...

[drummrsanonymous]

I have almost no doubt that this survey will sway heavily towards Cingular. I voted that way. But, I bet that general census might reveal different results. While Cingular may have greater brand power with us techies, John Q Public will probably take more comfort in good ol' AT&amp;T.

I've never really liked the move to the AT&amp;T name for any of the telco services; I'd prefer Cingular, SBC, or any of the Bells. However, I do think this new company does need a single brand name for all its services. I don't think that the advantages of keeping Cingular while having AT&amp;T for the landline side would outweigh the benefits of having a unified brand.

[paschott]

Actually, I think it would be pretty cool to have a phone with "Nike" or "New Balance" on it. :D

http://www.spymuseum.org/see/images/hollywood_shoe_phone.jpg

As for the actual brand here, I don't really care all that much other than just another name to deal with. (or one less name, not sure how that works)

-Pete

[squirrelist]

I purchased the Audiovox SMT 5600 just before AT&amp;T Wireless was rebranded to Cingular. Not because I wanted AT&amp;T, but because I wanted the plan they have and the phone. I still use that phone even though my contract is up because it works so well. But because I find the AT&amp;T branding embarrassing, I downloaded graphics to convert everything to Cingular branding.

[j92627]

I frankly could not care less about what label is on my phone.

[ctmagnus]

They could save themselves a fortune if they imported a bunch of unlocked/non-carrier-branded phones from overseas.

[bnycastro]

funny stuff hehehe :lol:
--
for a non-US resident I'm really not bothered with this but I must say I like the AT&amp;T logo [the circular one] rather than the X-dot thing of cingular, however I like the Cingular name more. So keep Cingular and use the AT&amp;T logo hehehe :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

[virain]

AT&amp;T is an icon of American communication. And as far as I know, AT&amp;T was forced to spin off it's wireless and other services because it was regulated by gov to the death. and couldn't withstand competition from Verizon and other Telecom companies. I had used AT&amp;T services before, and honestly, wasn't completely happy. But for America to loose AT&amp;T brand would be like to loose McDonald :mrgreen:

[RKosin]

Let's not forget the font change from upper to lower case. It softens the context of the Death Star, don't you think :wink:

[dma1965]

I frankly could not care less about what label is on my phone.

I have to agree 100% with j92627 on this one.

I work for a company which sells bulk automotive lubricants (motor oil), and we have our own brand. We sell this to oil changing locations, mechanics garages, and so on. When we first started doing this, we had a hard time convincing them that motor oil is a commodity, and that most people just do not care about what brand is being used for their oil change. This was a tough sell until big oil companies started squeezing them on prices, and they gave in to us. Guess what, the customers did not give a hoot!

Wireless services are becoming a commodity, just like ISP services have, cable tv providers, landline phone service providers, gasoline stations, and the list goes on. Most people truly do not care who provides the service. Branding is not nearly as important as quality of the product (service), price, availability, and convenience. Consumers are just a little more educated today than they were even 10 years ago, and they now know that branding is NOT a guarantee of happiness. Years ago, a consumer looked at a brand and said "Oh, that brand is good, that is the product I want..", now the consumer says "Oh, that is the product I want at the price I want.", and only reference the brand when asked about it. The only time branding becomes important is when there is a mystique and active aftermarket for the product (think Rolex watches), or no real competition for the brand (Apple iPod), or just plain snob appeal (Rolex, Apple, the list goes on). Do you remember when every handheld was called a Palm, or when Compaq/HP was THE Pocket PC to own? Is that still the case today? Think about it.

[Gen-M]

AT&amp;T makes sense if you consider the non-US market.

[ghostppc]

I prefer the Cingular name. I can understand the need to unify the companies under one banner. But like some others have said, the Cingular name is a little more fresh and techie and a lot of marketing money was put into it. But either way, I'm glad for unbranded/unlocked phones so I don't have to hang my head down in shame for large brandings on my cell! :devilboy: That said, now let's just sit back and wait for the FCC to break it all up into separate companies again! :razz:

[gmontielh]

As a former ATT wireless customer I loved the friendly service, great reception, domestic and international rates. When SBC bought it to switch to Cingular I expected that the ATT service qaulity remained untouched asCingular's plainly sucked. Reason for which I left Cingular ages ago. As I travel internationaly I remained in Cingluar still with a glipmse of hope. Almost 2 years later only thing that I can agree with Cingular is that they are the network with fewer drop calls. "Reliabilty' which is very valuable to me but that it is not very encouraging... :|

[don dre]

I associate Cingular with bad customer service, pricing, and dropped calls. I associate AT&amp;T wit nothing. I used to have ATT wireless. they had equally bad customer service but their network was superior (where I live). I was so sick of cingular's incompetence with billing errors and dropped calls I switched to verizon wireless. As long as the company improves customer service and provides a good product, it doesn't matter what the name is. There both well known names. In retrospect though, cingular was a waste of money since they could have adopted ATT Wireless.