Goodbye buffer face. EE brand likely to be axed following BT acquisition
It says a lot about the fast moving and fickle tech world we live in that a brand can have so much money spent on it in terms of marketing and advertising, only for it to disappear after three years.
Because that’s what seems to be about to happen to EE following its £12.5 billion acquisition by communications behemoth BT.
EE boss Olaf Swantee has already stepped down from his role and BT boss Gavin Patterson has refused to rule out the EE brand being axed, although he says it will not happen in the “short term”.
Other analysts have predicted the days of the EE brand name are numbered. Kester Mann, who is principal operators analyst at CCS Insight, says it is “inconceivable that the EE brand won’t go”.
BT wants to market a quad play offering to customers, comprising TV, Broadband, Landline and Mobile in one, and it will simply be too confusing if they have to choose between different brands.
And whatever you think of those cheesy ads with Kevin Bacon and the slightly annoying ‘buffer face’ campaign, it does seem like a huge waste of money to pull the plug on a brand which was just starting to get some consumer recognition as well as awards from the industry.
Launched in 2012 by Everything Everywhere, EE was actually formed in 2010 as a joint venture between T-Mobile owner Deutsche Telekom and Orange. The T-Mobile and Orange brands were withdrawn in February 2015 in favour of the EE brand. And now it looks certain that EE will disappear in favour of the BT brand!
