AT&T Corp.’s systems and technology division received a fresh face last week when it was reintroduced as Lucent Technologies Inc. Concurrently, AT&T announced it began the process to take Lucent public.
Lucent, meaning “glowing with light” or “marked by clarity and translucence,” suggests clarity of thought, purpose and vision and bears a technological feel, said Lucent Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Henry Schacht.
Once AT&T announced last September that it would split into three companies, the race was on for a new name, logo and image. Landor & Associates, a San Francisco branding and corporate identity firm, launched the project in October. Peter Allen, executive director of public relations for Landor, said the endeavor took about 15 weeks from start to finish. “That’s extraordinarily fast for a company of that size,” commented Allen.
Preceding any concept work, Landor conducted extensive exploratory research worldwide with AT&T management and employees, as well as the company’s vendors and customers, to learn the various perceptions about AT&T and the systems and technology company. Allen said management of the new company indicated the name should convey impressions of innovation, technology, speed and precision, to name a few.
“It’s a unique name*…*Now they need to define what it means,” said Jonathan Bell, vice president of Interbrand Schechter Inc., a New York firm specializing in corporate identity and branding. A key challenge will be to communicate and transfer brand equity to Lucent’s name in the minds of its customers, said Bell. Name and logo play a large role in this objective.
Lucent’s logo, “the innovation ring,” is an abstract, hand-drawn circle in bold red, said AT&T.
“It is extremely difficult to find a `real word’ name that means something positive and meaningful,” said Interbrand’s Bell. Companies often put a spin on words to achieve the desired meaning. AirTouch Communications Inc. is one such example.
A name/logo design needs to “sink in” in people’s minds before a true feeling can be gathered about it, Bell added.
A significant hurdle in crafting a new name and identity for such a well-known company is balancing the new, bright and separate with the familiar and established. In some places where “Lucent Technologies” is written, the tag, “Bell Labs Innovations,” will follow. “That was smart,” commented Bell, as it generates association with AT&T’s brand.
