Sprint Nextel announce brand plan

Sprint and Nextel Communications announced details about the brand strategy they are planning to use when their merger is completed later this year. As expected, the combined company will be called Sprint Nextel Corp., though Sprint will be featured as the go-to-market “master brand,” while Nextel is used as a “product brand,” according to a statement issued by the two carriers.

The companies said the new branding approach was validated through consultation with research firms specializing in brand and name recognition, and with customers and employees.

"The Sprint name, brand attributes and sentiment they evoke in minds of consumers are relevant today and provide a great foundation for the future,” said Mark Schweitzer, who will be chief marketing officer of the combined company, in a statement. He is currently senior vice president of marketing at Nextel. “The combination of these characteristics of the Sprint name with the infusion of Nextel's professional-grade characteristics, and key elements of the Nextel visual identity, are consistent with what the new company aspires to be in the future.”

He said that the Nextel name will be used as a “product brand within the Sprint service portfolio for services provided on Nextel's iDEN network. Solutions carrying the Nextel brand will be geared toward selected businesses, public-sector customers and those high-value individuals who have proved to be avid users of Nextel services.”

A new corporate logo will combine Nextel’s trademark black-and-yellow color scheme with elements of Sprint’s traditional “pin drop” campaign.

The merger still requires shareholder and regulatory approvals, but is expected to close during the third quarter.