RSSSprint Nextel Reveals New Brand Identity
By Ed Oswald | Published June 23, 2005, 1:48 PM
Sprint and Nextel announced how they will handle the transition to the combined company that is expected to complete by the end of the summer. The name for the company will be Sprint, however Nextel's brand name will continue to be used for certain services provided by the company.
Originally, it was believed that the merged company would take the name Sprint-Nextel. However, according to officials, internal studies showed that the Sprint name alone carried a better positive response on its own. Sprint Nextel will only refer to the corportation itself.
Nextel will remain as a product name, used for services such as Direct Connect, which will be provided over Nextel's former iDEN network. Sprint says it plans to target these services to "selected businesses, public-sector customers and those high-value individuals who have proven to be avid users of Nextel services."
Although Nextel may be getting phased out as a primary brand, Sprint's new logo will incorporate the yellow and black colors that have become synonymous with Nextel. Also, the new logo incorporates an artistic impression of the pin drop, which has been a major part of Sprint's brand identity for years.
Nextel's logo will stay the same, except for the text "Together With Sprint," and will be used to show the company's new ties. Similarly, Sprint's initial advertising will also include the line "Together With Nextel" to reinforce the idea of a combined company in consumers' minds.
Nextel's sponsorship of NASCAR will remain as is through the 2006 season. The company says an announcement regarding the series name and branding will come before the 2006 opening race.
"The companies are in the enviable position of possessing two incredibly valuable brands with overwhelming positive and powerful equity in the marketplace," said Mark Schweitzer, designated Chief Marketing Officer for the new company and Nextel's current senior vice president of marketing. "Our brand strategy and logo will integrate the most valuable assets of each company's identity."
At a recent CTIA convention, Nextel demonstrated a gateway to allow IDen users and CDMA push to talk users to communicate. And I suggest you go to Nextel.com and read the "Nextel Promise", Any phone, or rate plan you activate now, will be honored by the merged Company.
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|What the hell is corporate america thinking nowaday? Merging 2 bad companies with the same bad management will not make the newly form company good.
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|So Nextel will still use the old crappy network? If that's true, let the horrible service and reception continue. I don't know about you guys, but I don't like phone companies whose service cuts out every time you get near a tree. If not for the highly-annoying two-way feature, Nextel would have gone bankrupt a long time ago. Plus, I love when you hit the two-way button on the phone and nothing happens. It's amazingly crappy technology.
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|What's wrong with the iDEN network? I've never had one problem with it, and I've been using Nextel for years.
When you press the Direct Connect button on the phone, are you sure you have it set to a certain number? I hope your not pressing it and hoping some random person will talk back with you.
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|Give it time...if you go to nextel.com and look at the very top of the page there is a FAQ and one question is about SPRINT & Nextel able to talk to one another on the 2-way radio.
They say something is coming where both systems will talk to one another....SOON!
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|does that mean nextel can call sprint free,
just how att can to cingular?
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|So, AT&T and Cingular merged and the company got amazingly good, even though on their own, AT&T sucked and Cingular sucked. And they kept the name Cingular.
So, Nextel and Sprint merge and the company could become great - Sprint-Nextel would be available in double the locations, and with both the money combined they can improve their network.
Now, something's gotta be done about T-Mobile. Verizon is good as is. T-Mobile sucks.
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|T-Mobile uses the Sprint network. How can Sprint be OK and T-Mobile suck?
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|T-Mobile does not use the Sprint network, they use a totally different technology than Sprint. Virgin Mobile uses the Sprint network & their customers rate the dependability very high.
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|Never heard of either of these companies.. Is the author American by any chance, and assumes the whole internet community are also American?
I thought this site was s global one, with global news?
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|Well I've heard of British Telecom and O2, so it can't be that complicated to hear of Sprint and Nextel. Especially if you're interested in tech.
But yes, they are American companies, which you can easily gather from any Google search or by reading the merger article linked in the first paragraph :)
Microsoft is also an American company. So is Google.
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|And people say that AMERICANS are arrogant.
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|Off topic but...
Hey Mark,
Thanks for helping Cerulean incorporate your UPnP Plug-in into trilly 3.1 :P
I knew I recognized that name! :)
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|No Probs. :-)
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|Just FYI if you don't have a cell phone yet. I have Sprint (personal phone) and a Nextel Blackberry (work phone) and they both suck. Maybe this merger will make their service better.
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|Better service after a merger?
I don't think so!
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|Why not port your number and change service then? At least with your personal phone - check out T-Mobile or Verizon.
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|Too wrongs dont make a right and I think that saying can also be changed to two sucky services dont make a less suckier service.
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|Hurray for the Independents!!!!!! This merger will make this the largest independently owned wireless provider. Oh and by the way can you say TOTALLY WIRELESS!! no ties to corporate moguls that have underlying resposibilities to land line services. Talk about service of course the blend will make it better once the bugs are worked out between IDEN and CDMA. No one has it all covered!!Look at the data services offered by Sprint and Nextel no one else will even be close to matching those offerings.C'mon get with the program in another 5 years land lines will be a thing of the past and this merger will put these companies at the top of the game!
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|Ahh, you lucky Americans. In Canada the number stays with the company, nomatter what. :(
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|I own a nextel and i love it, i kno people who have has sprints and they hate it, all i kno is if they change anything with serivce, plans phones etc.. ima be pissed i have been with nextel for 3 years and long as its friendly and as good i will stay with it as long as its around
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|yeacmon: I thought Sprint was a landline provider?
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|oafyc,leased lines.
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