A couple of years ago, Motorola hired a team of designers to reinvent its image as it tries to regain market share and profitability in its cell phone business.

According to The Arizona Republic, this year the American company will launch ‘Motorolaness,’ a distinctive branding concept to attract the style-conscious consumer. Motorola’s vice president Leif Soderberg told analysts at a recent technology conference in Phoenix, "We have to define what Motorolaness is all about in this wireless communications space. It’s going to go beyond handsets. We want to make a concerted program going forward in defining and distinguishing ourselves."

The first order of business for the design team was to reshape the company’s image from techno wizard to fashion icon. By concentrating on developing consistent, distinctive design elements for each new product, Motorola’s designers believe that consumers and business professionals worldwide will begin to associate with ‘Motorolaness.’ One such device is the Motorola V70 cell phone featuring a cover that rotates or twists open to reveal the phone’s screen and keypad. The device will be introduced in Asia this spring. Besides jazzy covers, Motorola plans to roll out colored, highly intuitive screens that will be ideal for the next generation of applications.

Soderberg is confident that the time to reinvent the company now. "This is hot-product business," Soderberg said. "If you don’t have a great portfolio, you’re not going to be successful."

However, his confidence is not shared by all. Wireless communications analyst with Credit Suisse First Boston Tim Long told the Arizona newspaper that given Motorola’s cell phone unit’s barely profitable status, he predicts that the new designs will have little impact on the company’s earnings until the second half of this year or perhaps 2003.