Comcast Name Change: New Name For Comcast - Xfinity

Photos

Xfinity

see larger image

uploaded by Sudha Krishna

Comcast has changed its name. The new name for Comcast is Xfinity. Comcast, a Philadelphia based cable giant that provides TV, Internet, and telephone or VOIP services to millions of Americans has often been the subject of consumer complaints about poor service and high prices.

So the re-branding Comcast as Xfinity can be considered an exercise in brand revitalization. . Changing the name from Comcast to Xfinity is being greeted with some ridicule by industry observers. Time magazine has already placed the Comcast to Xfinity in its number 1 ranking of  top ten worst corporate name changes list. 

Comcast will start rolling out the new Xfinity brand in 11 markets, coinciding withing Xfinity branded advertisements during the Winter Olympic broadcasts

"This is a pretty big moment where we are upgrading every product area," said David Watson, executive vice president of operations.

He said the new brand name communicates Comcast's constant product upgrades and innovation.

Comcast officials said the new brand name will not change any customer's e-mail address. The new name will appear eventually as a logo on the Comcast TV guide and Web sites, and will also appear on customer bills under headings for different services. For example, instead of being called Comcast Internet, it will refer to Xfinity Internet." (source: Seattle Times)

So far the new Xfinity branding focuses on a promotional website. It is unclear whether the re-branding will actually improve's Comcast's perception among consumers. According to the Seattle Times one thing is clear is the name change is consistent with what Comcast's competitors are doing.

"Xfinity seems to position the company to compete with Verizon Communications, which markets its TV and Internet services as FiOS, and AT&T, which uses U-verse. Cablevision, the New York-based cable company, sells its services under the brand Optimum.

"Verizon has FiOS. Comcast now has Xfinity. It's rebundling it in a high-tech package. You are rebundling an improved product, an enhanced service," said Marc Brownstein, president and chief executive of the Brownstein Group, a Philadelphia brand-communication, public-relations and advertising firm."

Customers who have Comcast in their email addresses will not be affected.