When Cingular acquired rival AT&T Wireless, it created the nation’s largest wireless carrier with the most expansive digital voice and data network in the country. How would the combined company be positioned?
- Define a brand strategy and provide messaging recommendations for the launch of the new entity
- Identify through research the benefits of the new company and determine best methods for communicating this to key audiences; critically important to retaining customers and acquiring new ones
- Provide recommendations to guide the company’s future brand positioning and communications
- Established through interviews with customers of both companies that the acquisition was viewed positively on two fronts: Cingular customers anticipated greater network coverage while AT&T Wireless customers hoped for enhanced customer service
- Recommended that Cingular employ a warm, friendly tone to reinforce the promise of enhanced customer service
- Determined that the Cingular symbol, ”Jack”, would appear creatively in communications to emphasize the new coverage benefits while continuing to remain as the symbol for the company’s approachability
- Identified customer service as a point of secondary emphasis for the launch and a crucial point of differentiation for Cingular’s long-term strategy
- Used the AT&T blue in launch communications to allude to the company’s AT&T heritage
- Recommended that Cingular continue to build brand equity in the color orange over the long term as a friendly and entrepreneurial representation