Mobile giant will be ‘everywhere’ brand

Everything Everywhere is not a good name for a new company. It is childish, cumbersome, vacuous and hollow. Don’t get me wrong, it would make a pretty good strapline and an unbeatable (by definition) business proposition. It just seems to me a bit of a naff choice of company name.

What Everything Everywhere is, however, is a powerhouse of a communications company. It has two monster brands in Orange and T-Mobile. It has more than 30 million customers, more than 700 retail outlets – and big plans.

It is not news to anyone that a merger between Orange and T-Mobile was on the verge of completion and would create the new industry leader. But some of the claims made in Everything Everywhere’s announcement on Tuesday suggest this is a company that believes it is set for a much grander future.

The first interview with Steven Day, vice-president of brands and communications for Everything Everywhere (see page 5 or visit www.marketingweek.co.uk/EverythingEverywhereinterview for a fuller record of Day’s comments), reveals much. Day addresses obvious early questions about whether the company was right to retain both mobile brands. You may think that not choosing one or the other was a “fudge”, and sceptics may yet be right as Everything Everywhere plans to review the performances of both brands after a year and could still “switch one of them off”.

“The interesting part has yet to unfold. Everything Everywhere has the potential to become a Unilever-style conglomerate operating across several sectors”

But the interesting part is still yet to unfold. Everything Everywhere seems dead-set on becoming a collector of great and profitable brands. Day cites travel operator group TUI as a benchmark for the future. But Everything Everywhere has the potential to become a Unilever-style conglomerate operating across several sectors.

The language used in both the announcement and our interview leaves open the possibility of much more than just telecoms dominance.

“We are Everything Everywhere,” says CEO Tom Alexander. “It’s our name, our vision, and our ambition. It’s our vision to give our customers instant access to everything everywhere, opening up a world of endless possibilities.”

“The company intends to propel itself beyond mobile communications,” said the press statement, “with a greater focus in developing new revenue streams based on the way customers will use their devices in the future.”

Big plans indeed. It will not just be rival communications brands that will watch this story unfold with intrigue.

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