Cingular brand soon to be no more

It seems that AT&T is ready to kill off that cute little orange blob of a mascot we’ve come to know and love, because some time next year, Cingular – as a brand, in and of itself – will be no more. AT&T is amidst negotiations to purchase Cingular’s parent company, Bell South, and after all the T’s are crossed and the all the I’s are dotted, they will be preparing to kill off the Cingular name. Interestingly, Bell South spent $4 billion to make Cingular what it is today, branding wise.

Cingular has built up a reputation as being one of the “hipper” wireless service providers, with a strong following among the younger demographic, so it will be interesting to see how the marketplace will react when all things Cingular convert to a more “mature-minded” (so to speak) AT&T Wireless.

We’re losing a forward thinking moniker in exchange for a name that carries years of tradition. Many say that the AT&T name is “stodgy, old fashioned, big, heavy and dated.”