Sprint Plans to "Sprint Ahead," Minus Nextel

[Pibe38]

http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/next%21/s...tel-272712.php

Brand identity crises seem to be all the rage these days—Sprint's joining the party by all but dropping the Nextel name and adopting the all-too-easy slogan of "Sprint Ahead." The focus of the new marketing campaign, which starts July 1, will be on its data services and network speed.

Chalk it up to what you will—lagging quarters, brand confusion, or the iPhone launch, all of which were tossed out by analysts as reasons for the change-up—mourners of the Nextel brand will number far fewer than Jack's bereaved, to be sure. After all, when was the last time you actually said (or heard) SprintNextel? Exactly.

Bye bye Sprint Nextel...

[1oddmanout]

So, the Sprint Cup for Nascar?

[Courtney1985]

I heard this today too from our Rep. That is right. Sprint Cup, lol. It's so stupid I think. Anyways, they dropped the Nextel name b/c nextel is now moving to the Hybrid's which have sprint & nextel. Eventually the old nextel (iden) network will be gone. That is what I am understanding.

[Catman51]

Usually, I thought, when a company buys another, it becomes one company.
It was being run like 2, being a Sprint customer, I'd have to change plan and networks to get a Nextel phone. That kinda made no sense.

[MojoSwag]

Well, the plan was for them to gradually phase out the Nextel name anyway. Over the next few years, the plan is to integrate the two companies further. You're gonna see more of those hybrid phones coming out combining the best of both networks.

[MojoSwag]

Well, the plan was for them to gradually phase out the Nextel name anyway. Over the next few years, the plan is to integrate the two companies further. You're gonna see more of those hybrid phones coming out combining the best of both networks.

[phyrebird]

Originally Posted by MojoSwag

Well, the plan was for them to gradually phase out the Nextel name anyway. Over the next few years, the plan is to integrate the two companies further. You're gonna see more of those hybrid phones coming out combining the best of both networks.

Except... the hybrid phones suck ass. It's kind of like when you get one of those all-in-one printer/scanner/fax/copier/blender/breadmaker machines; sure, you have the features of them all, but none of them work very well.

[MojoSwag]

I totally agree that they all suck ass right now. But the new one that they came out with was decent. The whole "hybrid" things is still pretty new. It'll probably take about 1-2 before it fully works right, and they finally get a good working phone with the direct connect that actually looks good that would even make you want to buy it!

[Courtney1985]

I sale about 25 Hybrid phones a month, and yes if you are with Sprint currently and you switch to a Hybrid, it's pointless, you're losing coverage so you may think it sux. But all my customers currently with Nextel now,on the old Iden network, who have switched to the Hybrid, have gotten nothing but better signal. They now have both networks so where the old nextels didn't work at all, they now do with the telephone. Not the walkie talkie in a dead zone. That's what my customers are loving about it. They at least have something to talk on. Several new models will be coming out, we've just gotten the 902, it's bad, and I agree, they are all ugly as hell!!