Speculation continues about a potential name change at mobile operator Eurotel following the recent rebranding of its rival, Oskar Mobil, even as marketing experts are divided on whether such a move actually pays off.

Rebranding is an enormous cost for a company, and the benefits are debatable, they say.

"It is a quite risky business, to rebrand," says Jo Weaver, owner and director of JWA Prague, a public relations and marketing company. "I think once you build a brand, the most important thing is to stick to it. I am quite surprised that people do it."

Vodafone of the United Kingdom spent 500 million Kč ($21.3 million) dropping Oskar from its name to become Vodafone Czech Republic Feb. 1. Spanish telecommunications company Telefónica, which got Eurotel when it bought fixed-line provider Český Telecom last year, is officially still deliberating changing the mobile operator's name.

Vodafone bought Oskar Mobil, the country's third-largest mobile operator, in May 2005. The other major operator on the market, T-Mobile, was rebranded from Paegas in 2003.

Eurotel is now the only original mobile telecom brand name on the market. The rebranding debate centers around whether multinationals actually gain an advantage by renaming acquisitions such as Eurotel, which already has strong name recognition here, to fit within the corporate image.

Risky business

Some experts argue that multinationals need to rebrand acquisitions to streamline costs on advertising and marketing and communicate their corporate message.

"From a global perspective, it helps business a lot," says Joseph Ali Tehranian, creative director at Advertures, an Internet and mobile marketing company. "If you have the same name, the same values ... that makes things a lot easier for administration on the one side and for people around the world to understand what they are looking at on the other side."

Skeptics, however, say rebranding robs the acquired company of the character that made it popular in a specific market in the first place.

Vodafone may run into trouble, Weaver says, because while the company is well-known in large cities such as Prague, it probably isn't as recognizable in smaller towns.

Credibility through branding

Telefónica is weighing the potential advantages of changing Eurotel's name, says Pavel Kaidl, spokesman for the company.

Tehranian says Telefónica will rebrand Eurotel to give the company global recognition. And others in the marketing industry say Eurotel will have to rebrand in order to compete on the Czech market.

"Eurotel has a pretty strong brand, but it is perceived as a separate brand from Český Telecom," says Eva Sepešiová, a marketing and pricing consultant for the telecom industry. "Telefonica needs to have a uniform brand."

Sepešiová says strong brand awareness gives a company credibility, but that building it isn't simple. Vodafone, for example, has made its name known worldwide because it has a long-term strategy, she says.

"Vodafone was known in the Czech Republic long before it took over Oskar," she says. "It was perceived as a strong international player."

Dropping Oskar from its name in the Czech Republic will give the company much needed clout, she adds.