AT&T's Branding Blunders

Cingular is the new AT&T? The Cingular brand is now extinct because AT&T has a better reputation? AT&T is new? I'm so confused. If you are befuddled as I am, look at this bit of history to get grounded.

What is clear is that AT&T (AT&T Mobility?) is in the midst of what could be the most bewildering rebranding efforts ever. Will this help the company boost its market share? Or will this just irritate current customers (me included) enough to ditch AT&T Mobility/Cingular/AT&T for good?

As usual, the blog-o-sphere has shared its views on the topic. GigaOm surveyed its readers and found that more people favor the Cingular name (new and hip) over AT&T (old and corporate).

So why is AT&T getting rid of the Cingular name, which set the company back an estimated $4 billion to build? Apparently there is some new gadget called the iPhone coming out soon, and AT&T wants its name all over it.

(Graphic above from GigaOm)