Liberty Global in talks to merge Virgin Media with O2 - Page 4

offmore15 · 13-05-2020, 15:30

Quote:

Originally Posted by JMcB

So as a Virgin media customer with BB,TV,Land line and mobile. What's in it for me in regards to this marger

does this mean virgin mobile and 02 moblie be renamed .

Pierre · 13-05-2020, 16:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by offmore15

does this mean virgin mobile and 02 moblie be renamed .

unlikely, two very strong brands, it would be daft to lose either, best to combine them if possible.

offmore15 · 18-05-2020, 14:38

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pierre

unlikely, two very strong brands, it would be daft to lose either, best to combine them if possible.

i think maybe 02 might be used for mobile brand and virginmedia used as the brand for land line tv and internet brand , and company name 02virginmedia

spiderplant · 18-05-2020, 15:24

Quote:

Originally Posted by offmore15

and company name 02virginmedia

That wouldn't comply with Virgin Group branding rules. All the companies are "Virgin <something>".

Pierre · 18-05-2020, 15:41

Quote:

Originally Posted by spiderplant

That wouldn't comply with Virgin Group branding rules. All the companies are "Virgin <something>".

You only have to look at what's been done before.

In the NL they kept both brands Vodafone/Ziggo and it's doing vey well. hence the decision to try and replicate it in the UK.

I can imagine something like were they would keep the Virgin Media swirl and have the Virgin Logo on one side and the O2 logo on the other side.

Kushan · 18-05-2020, 17:17

Didn't Virgin Media get named as such because NTL:Telewest bought Virgin Mobile and had to adopt the name?

**Chris** · 18-05-2020, 17:23

No, they needed a unified brand once NTL and Telewest merged and their solution was to more or less franchise one from Virgin. I don’t believe the Virgin Mobile branding compelled them to go down that route although there were obvious synergies.

The way it normally works is that Virgin Group buys a stake in the business and then imposes its brand manual on it, but I’m not sure VG has a lot else to do with the day to day running of the business.

Pierre · 18-05-2020, 17:42

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kushan

Didn't Virgin Media get named as such because NTL:Telewest bought Virgin Mobile and had to adopt the name?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chris

No, they needed a unified brand once NTL and Telewest merged and their solution was to more or less franchise one from Virgin. I don’t believe the Virgin Mobile branding compelled them to go down that route although there were obvious synergies.

The way it normally works is that Virgin Group buys a stake in the business and then imposes its brand manual on it, but I’m not sure VG has a lot else to do with the day to day running of the business.

As Chris, correctly, commented. NTL:Telewest bought Virgin Mobile and then bought the rights to use the brand from Virgin Group. Branson has never had anything to do with the day to day operations of Virgin Media. He was a major shareholder due to the Mobile deal but he has since sold most, if not all of them. There were certain criteria the company had to meet in order to use the brand and Branson commanded an annual fee to use the brand. Can't remember the exact figure £30M or something like that.

offmore15 · 19-05-2020, 00:21

Quote:

Originally Posted by spiderplant

That wouldn't comply with Virgin Group branding rules. All the companies are "Virgin <something>".

virgin02

1andrew1 · 19-05-2020, 01:47

It's an interesting branding dilemma. I think the parent company would start off as something like Virgin Media O2. I think they'e both strong brands although the value of the Virgin brand was tainted for some by Richard Branson's request for financial assistance for Virgin Atlantic.

O2 is the bigger brand name with some 23m customers. It sponsors the England rugby team and a range of music venues across the UK and The O2 in Greenwich.

But the O2 brand is also used by other companies - Telefonica in Germany and the former Telefonica subsidiaries in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. And in UK consumers' minds it would probably be perecived as a mobile-only brand without strong promotion.

Virgin Media is only present in another country (Ireland) and is strongly associated with broadband and cable TV, so I'm inclined to think it will continue.

JMcB · 19-05-2020, 04:29

Are O2 in Ireland? And will the VMO2 come together in Ireland aswell

Pierre · 19-05-2020, 09:06

Quote:

Originally Posted by JMcB

Are O2 in Ireland? And will the VMO2 come together in Ireland aswell

No. And no.

spiderplant · 19-05-2020, 11:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by offmore15

virgin02

It needs a capital V, and a space after the n. I think the name also needs to describe what the business does. Virgin O2 would be an oxygen supplier

The most similar case I can find was the merger of Virgin Records and Mercury Records (owner of the EMI brand). They became Virgin EMI Records.

**Hugh** · 19-05-2020, 11:31

What about "VOM2"?

Pierre · 19-05-2020, 11:44

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hugh

What about "VOM2"?

Well if you can remember far back enough when BT launched O2 the full name was:

mmO2

So they could bring it back to VMO2.

But no, they will keep both brands. This is a Joint Venture not a merger. They still have to keep a certain independence as if it doesn't work out they can separate.