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Over the next several months, AT&T is killing off its Cingular Wireless brand (NYT story here), eventually transforming it to simply “Wireless by AT&T.” Come on? Who on the executive team is highly compensated for making decisions like this? If anything it seems like it should be the other way around: Cingular replacing AT&T.

I’m sorry: AT&T is a stodgy brand that is synonymous with landlines and the old world of communications. Cingular spent many years and beaucoup millions building precious, hard-fought brand equity that equated to hip, innovative and looking to the future. In a brilliant [sic] display of timing, AT&T made the announcement about dissolving the brand, a couple days after Cingular achieved the spotlight and distinction as the partner brand of choice for the new Apple iPhone (see photo inset). Apple and Cingular make brand sense: there is resonance with those two names. Not so Apple and AT&T.

To justify their decision, AT&T points to research that says customers want one integrated provider (and I guess one integrated name) for communication services. Funny, I could swear that research showed having brand equity for delivering good, dependable, ubiquitous service as the clear top-of-the-list item for most people and businesses.

This move by AT&T seems ill conceived. It ranks right up there in the Poor Decision Hall of Fame with the “New Coke.”