By Howard Solomon
Assistant editor, Network World Canada
The sinking behemoth known as Bell Canada, which is in the process of being refloated, is about to undergo a new paint job in a bid to convince passengers that it’s worth taking a voyage on.
New captain George Cope, who began his command by ordering a number of the mates under him to abandon ship, will on Friday launch what a press release calls a “much anticipated new corporate brand.”
“The new Bell brand underlines that we are moving forward as a company and as a service provider,” the release quoted Cope as saying, “with new services, a new strategy and a new goal.”
What are we getting? There will be a new logo, a new slogan and marketing emphasizing the words “better,” “easier” and “faster.”
New smartphones, long distance plans and a wireless home networking offer are also to be hoisted up the mast.
Well, it looks like given a choice between doing some hard work or pulling out a bottle of Windex and shining things up, gloss won.
I don’t know about you, but few of the people I talk to say they’ve been looking for a new brand from Bell. They want new substance.
How about doing away with wireless access fees. How about promising to exceed service level agreements by 10 per cent. How about hiring more technicians.
Substance, captain, substance. That will impress the passengers that there’s a new Bell more than a logo.