Latest Podcast



Featured Articles

Ofcom says mobile contracts should ditch inflation-related price rises

Ofcom says mobile contracts should ditch inflation-related price rises

UK telecoms regulator Ofcom wants to ban inflation-related rises in phone and broadband contracts. Instead, it says any potential mid-contract price rises should be set out in pounds and pence.
Author: The Fonecast
0 Comments
Article rating: No rating

Global smartphone market is set for recovery, says new forecast

A new forecast from research specialists Canalys shows the smartphone market is set to recover next year. Worldwide shipments declined by 12% last year but that decline is expected to slow to 5% this year.
Author: The Fonecast
0 Comments
Article rating: No rating
Vodafone and Three plan to merge their UK businesses

Vodafone and Three plan to merge their UK businesses

New Hutchison/Vodafone network would be biggest UK operator

Vodafone Group plc and CK Hutchison Group Telecom Holdings Limited have agreed to combine their UK telecommunication businesses, respectively Vodafone UK and Three UK. The merger will create a large new network operator to compete with Virgin Media O2 and EE.
Author: The Fonecast
0 Comments
Article rating: No rating

UK mobile payment service Paym to close in March 2023

UK mobile payment service Paym will close on 7th March 2023. The service, which allowed users to make and receive payments using their mobile phone numbers, was launched in 2014.
Author: The Fonecast
0 Comments
Article rating: No rating
Qualcomm legal action moves forward in the UK

Qualcomm legal action moves forward in the UK

Which? seeks payout for Samsung and Apple smartphone owners

Consumer protection organisation Which? has been given permission by the UK's Competition Appeal Tribunal to represent Apple and Samsung smartphone buyers in a legal case against chip manufacturer Qualcomm.
Author: The Fonecast
0 Comments
Article rating: No rating
RSS

Opinion Articles

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Ee-ee-ee, says Everything Everywhere

Mark Bridge writes:

Mobile networks have changed, haven’t they?

Once they were all about delivering service. Coverage. Quality. Price.

Now it’s much more about branding.

Everything Everywhere has announced it’s to become EE, an obvious abbreviation that’s been used in mobile industry briefings pretty much since the company was created two years ago. It joins the likes of Kentucky Fried Chicken, Hennes & Mauritz, British Home Stores, Independent Television and Marks & Spencer, although all of these took decades to transition into businesses that were just described by their initials.

EE logo (September 2012)

What’s the point?  Everything Everywhere was, as CEO Olaf Swantee admitted today, a bit of a mouthful. (I hope he mentioned this when he first joined the board). It did, however, mean something. EE sounds more like a conversation between mice in a fairy story. It’s an abbreviation with no heritage.

In its brand factsheet the company asks “Why EE?” and replies “People still find that too many of the things they want to do take too long, cost too much, or are just too difficult. With EE we’re planning to do something about it. We’ll focus on the things that matter, that make a difference, that make life easier. We want to show everyone in the UK how the magic of technology can make the everyday better.”

But that doesn’t really answer my question.

So let’s take a look at the big-name competition. There’s O2, a chemical element. There’s 3, a single digit. And there’s Vodafone, which hasn’t changed its brand name since Ernie Wise made the UK’s first ‘official’ mobile phone call in 1985. Insiders may write ‘VF’ on their notes but that’s a private thing.

The word even has a meaning. Vo for Voice. Da for Data. Fone for… er… phone.

That can’t be right.

Come on Vodafone. Get with the program. It’s time to change your name. Based on the choices of your competitors, I’d suggest something short. Something unusual. Something unique.

Perhaps a single punctuation mark. A cough. Or a fragrance.

After all, if you’re a mobile network it seems perfectly acceptable to look a bit dumb. Just as long as you don’t look a bit like a dumb pipe.

Print
Author: The Fonecast
1 Comments
Rate this article:
4.0

1 comments on article "Ee-ee-ee, says Everything Everywhere"

2
0
Avatar image

James Rosewell

9/14/2012 9:41 AM

What was wrong with Orange? EE is a case of big organisations spending a lot of money and time coming up with something worse. Shareholders should be unimpressed.

Leave a comment

This form collects your name, email, IP address and content so that we can keep track of the comments placed on the website. For more info check our Privacy Policy and Terms Of Use where you will get more info on where, how and why we store your data.
Add comment

Recent Podcasts

Big announcements from Apple, Samsung, Microsoft and LG

Podcast - 4th June 2014

Iain, James and Mark begin this week's podcast with Apple's recent iOS 8 revelation and its plan to acquire Beats Electronics.

They then move on to discuss Samsung's Tizen-powered smartphone, a new flagship device from LG and the latest Microsoft Surface tablet - as well as a network takeover in Ireland, BlackBerry’s M2M moves and UK price changes for Vodafone.

Author: The Fonecast
0 Comments
Article rating: No rating

Takeovers, tablets, taxes and testing... all from the perspective of the mobile industry

Podcast - 21st May 2014

This week's podcast begins with news about the creation of Dixons Carphone plc. We then move on to talk about patent-related legal action, customised Braille phones and the health concerns of children using smartphones.

There's also time to discuss tablet shipments, potential protests and foreign network sales.

Author: The Fonecast
0 Comments
Article rating: No rating

Cloud computing and Mobile: questions and answers from Mobile Monday London May 2014

Podcast - 16th May 2014

This podcast contains the audience question-and-answer session from 'Cloud Computing and Mobile'; a Mobile Monday London event held on 12th May 2014.

The discussion was chaired by Camille Mendler, Principal Analyst at Informa, with a panel that comprised Rob Easton of Google, Dr Janko Mrsic-Flogel from Private Planet, Caroline Van Den Bergh of Golden Gekko and Jonathan Raper from TransportAPI.com.

Author: The Fonecast
0 Comments
Article rating: No rating

Cloud computing and Mobile: Mobile Monday London May 2014 panel discussion

Podcast - 16th May 2014

Cloud Computing and Mobile was the title of the Mobile Monday London event on 12th May 2014.

The session was chaired by Camille Mendler, Principal Analyst at Informa, who was joined by a panel that comprised Rob Easton of Google, Dr Janko Mrsic-Flogel from Private Planet, Caroline Van Den Bergh of Golden Gekko and Jonathan Raper from TransportAPI.com.

Author: The Fonecast
0 Comments
Article rating: No rating

Huawei upgrades its flagship, Vodafone fixes its prices and Carphone Warehouse prepares an announcement

Podcast - 14th May 2014

This week's podcast begins with a new keenly-priced flagship smartphone from Huawei. We then move on to talk about a UK price promise from Vodafone, mobile payments, feature phone upgrades, WiFi hotspots and the benefits of a Carphone/Dixons merger.

Iain Graham, James Rosewell and Mark Bridge condense all the biggest mobile industry news headlines from the past 7 days into a free 30-minute podcast.

Author: The Fonecast
0 Comments
Article rating: No rating
RSS
First2345791011Last

Follow thefonecast.com

Twitter @TheFonecast RSS podcast feed
Find us on Facebook Subscribe free via iTunes

Archive Calendar

«March 2024»
MonTueWedThuFriSatSun
26272829123
45678910
11121314151617
18192021222324
25262728293031
1234567

Archive

Terms Of Use | Privacy Statement