Brand of the day: T-Mobile
Welcome to Brand of the Day, where we pick the company making headlines for the day and explain five elements you need to know about what has happened for them to be in the news.
Today we feature T-Mobile, one of the top mobile brands in the world, which is making headlines today after rumors surfaced of a possible merger with an equally large satellite provider.
1) The brand
T-Mobile is one of the four largest mobile providers in the US, with almost 60 million customers. The brand was born in 1994 and was originally named VoiceStream Wireless PCS. It’s major competitors are AT&T, Sprint, and Verizon.
2) The eccentric CEO
John Legere has been T-Mobile’s chief executive officer (CEO) since 2012 and is often very vocal about his beliefs, specifically when it comes to the mobile marketplace and T-Mobile. Earlier this year, he partook in a vicious Twitter feud with Donald Trump, and last year, called AT&T and Verizon “fuckers that are raping you (the public).”
3) Advertising
T-Mobile has two advertising strategies. The first, celebrity spokespersons, is a safe, tried and true method. Over the years, faces of the brand have included Catherine Zeta-Jones, Dwayne Wade, and most recently, Kim Kardashian. The other, riskier method, is competitor bashing. T-Mobile has very bluntly targeted Verizon and AT&T in two recent campaigns.
4) Attempted mergers and acquisitions
In 2011, AT&T attempted to acquire T-Mobile for $39bn. However, the merger was ultimately blocked by the United States Department of Justice because it would “substantially lessen” any sort of competition in the wireless market.
In 2013, Sprint also tried to acquire T-Mobile. However, Sprint eventually gave-up on the deal, realizing that much like the AT&T acquisition, it would be stopped by the government
5) Actual mergers and acquisitions
In 2007, T-Mobile acquired SunCom Wireless holdings for $2.4bn.
In 2012, T-Mobile merged with MetroPCS. The deal was allowed to continue because even though merged, the brand remained in its spot as the fourth largest mobile carrier.
Most recently, T-Mobile and Dish Networks, a provider of satellite cable within the US, have been discussing a possible merger. The merger would combine the resources of the second largest satellite provider with the fourth largest mobile carrier. This could change both the mobile and satellite arenas greatly.