The Homa Files

TakeAway:  The Comcast cable guy and his truck are getting a new look.

With a reputation for poor service and network problems decided a new name might make people forget.

We’ll see.

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Excerpted from Philly.com, “Comcast unveils new brand name and logo,” By Bob Fernandez, February 4, 2010

Comcast  re-branded its TV, Internet, and telephone services as Xfinity  to signal to customers that this isn’t the same old company.

Comcast will remain as the corporate name, but the company will emphasize Xfinity in advertisements and on 24,000 service trucks and thousands of employee uniforms.

The new brand name first appeared in Comcast ads, around the time of the Winter Olympics, in Philadelphia and 10 other markets.

“This is a pretty big moment where we are upgrading every product area … the new name communicates Comcast’s constant product upgrades and innovation.”

The new brand name … will appear eventually as a logo on the Comcast TV guide and Web sites, and will also appear on customer bills under headings for different services …

Xfinity seems to position the company to compete with Verizon, which markets its TV and Internet services as FiOS, and AT&T, which uses U-verse …

This re-branding comes as Comcast has struggled to rebuild its reputation because of poor service and problems with its network that resulted in telephone and Internet outages. Its customer-satisfaction rating is among the lowest in the industry, but it has improved slightly in the last year.

Comcast spokeswoman said the re-branding was not an attempt to distance the service from the Comcast name. “This is about our product. It is about providing our customers with products that just keep getting better” …

Comcast tried to keep more customers happy by limiting its cable rate increases to 6.9 million subscribers in late 2009 compared with 16.2 million customers in the fourth quarter of 2008 …

Comcast has been on a tear by boosting its Internet speeds, offering more TV channels as a result of its digital transition, and is adding features to its new phone service …

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Full Article
http://www.philly.com/philly/business/83522972.html

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This entry was posted on April 2, 2010 at 7:28 am and is filed under Mktg - Brandmarks & Logos, Mktg - Brands. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.