• The New York Times, Monday, July 24, 2006 1 PM

Marketers know the value of a venerable brand name. All would love to own a name that resonates through the years and plants a solid, unmistakable image in the minds of consumers. Think Coke, Nike, or McDonald's. Another one is AT&T. Although it has been slightly tarnished of late, the brand still strikes a strong chord with consumers. That's why its owners are betting heavily on a brand resurgence as they expand the company through acquisition, says The New York Times. When SBC Communications bought AT&T last year, SBC promptly took the AT&T name. And if its pending purchase of BellSouth is approved as expected, by the end of the year, AT&T plans to rename that company as well as Cingular, which they jointly own. "The BellSouth and Cingular names are just not at the iconic level globally," the vice president for advertising at AT&T, Wendy Clark, says. "When you have an integrated solution, the nomenclature of wireless and wireline will become blurred to the point where you need a single brand. It's about one-stop shopping."

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