Orange and T-Mobile to rebrand?
There’s been lots of talk recently about Everything Everywhere in light of the ongoing 4G negotiations and Ofcom’s recent decision to allow Orange and T-Mobile to provide the UK’s first 4G service, months ahead of any of their rivals. Apart from the fury about their being granted a monopoly for 4G, there has been significant speculation about the company’s future branding.
Although Orange and T- Mobile have been merged together as Everything Everywhere for a couple of years now, they have continued to operate on the high street as two separate brands. Their head-start with 4G has led some to suggest that they will use the opportunity to rebrand focussing on being the only UK network able to offer 4G speeds from the end of the year. Existing users could gradually be migrated over to the new network according to industry sources. Another alternative that has been mooted is for a third brand to emerge alongside Orange and T-Mobile specifically to focus on high-speed 4G.
However, the network has been quick to deny any such claims. A spokesman for Everything Everywhere said that they remain committed to the existing brands. The company said “It is well known that we ran a brand review last year,” a spokesperson said. “The outcome of that brand review is confidential. However what we can say is that we remain committed to our hugely successful brands Orange and T-Mobile … Any suggestion otherwise is entirely speculative.”
So for the time being, the UK’s largest mobile network is going to stay separated as Orange and T-Mobile. We do know for sure that the brand consolidation can been considered though and discussed at the highest levels in the company so, despite the denials, we certainly wouldn’t rule it out completely. It might make more sense to use this opportunity to launch a new company name but it’s clear that the rebranding exercise will be very costly. What’s more some would deem it foolish not to continue cashing in on the existing brands that are recognised internationally and have been built up for some time now.
What’s your take on this? Is Everything Everywhere a good brand name? Would they be better off rebranding Orange and T-Mobile? And do you think this would even ever happen?
