It’s been a landmark week for mobile broadband in the UK, with the launch of the first 4G (that’s fourth generation) network being officially unveiled by operator Everything Everywhere.
Everything Everywhere is a joint venture between the two parents companies of the T-Mobile and Orange mobile networks. The launch was not purely of new tech and spectrum usage, the company simultaneously released details of its new brand name of the 4G network – ‘EE’. Yep, just two little letters.
The release of the new branding, name and logo created something of a debate amongst branding and marketing experts. As Brand Republic reported, some likened the logo to two ecstasy pills laid next to each other – suggesting the logo was born on a drug-fuelled night out. Another thought it would be read as ‘MM’ or ‘WW’ – depending on the logo’s orientation (clever clogs).
Brand Republic’s editorial staff also took to Twitter wondering how the new name was actually pronounced – is it E.E or Eeeeeeeee? Luckily, the company was on hand to provide some useful, and somewhat patronising, responses in the form of written and audio ‘guides’. See the visual guide below, or listen to the ‘audio version’ here (click the speaker button on the left). For the record, it’s E.E.
Hmmm. Helpful, good natured Twitter banter, or outright patronising?
Being born out of a merger between Orange and T-Mobile, EE has some interesting brand heritage (anyone know if the T in T-Mobile stands for anything by the way?) But given they have the monopoly on 4G for the time being, anyone wanting to jump on net-gen mobile services should be very Eeeexcited.
