Name Awards

Tarred by the wrong color of branding brush

Quixtar is currently running a broad awareness campaign to associate themselves with their real Amway Brand. But many people (including me) thought that Amway somehow became Quixtar to get rid of some of the negative brand baggage of the old Amway name, especially when they went online. So then the question that begged to be answered was if you were going to tar yourself with a brush of a different color, why not keep it very separate and distinct?

Turns out that Quixtar actually was a separate e-initiative originally kept at arms length from Amway – presumably while they learned and saw how it affected their independent business operators and their traditional MLM marketing programs. Of course, it took off like a rocket and has now been fully embraced (if I read their official releases properly), so they want to fold it back in and next year call everything Amway Global. A strange, slow- change strategy that makes my head spin… why advertise who you are now if soon you won’t be?

Could it be that a big agency is calling the shots, and they make more money if it is dragged out to the max? Or does it take the IT guys that long to do the integration?

But in the meantime, those clever names where there is a play on the English language often backfire, especially for the foreigners, the young and the half educated. Especially when you let your graphics designer break the word so it does look like Quix Tar. Don’t blame me if some people miss the implied Star sound.

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