By Dan Mitchell, MLM Blog Correspondent
From Forbes.com:
…The rebranding strategy doesn't always work. In 1999, multilevel marketer Amway changed its name to Quixtar in North America. In doing so, Amway hoped to tap into the e-commerce boom with a tech-y sounding name. It also tried to distance itself from the shady associations that dogged the company. (Not true, says Steve Lieberman, vice president and managing director of Amway Global. "We weren't trying to hide from the name because for the first two years the names Quixtar and Amway coexisted, and Amway continued to exist overseas," Lieberman says.) But last year, after five years of flat North American sales, Amway reversed course.
The new name hadn't stuck, and international markets–where the Amway brand still existed–were outperforming North America. "Even though we hadn't used the Amway name in nine years, it still had a 90% brand awareness, compared to 3% from Quixtar," says Lieberman. So last year, the company retired Quixtar and reintroduced Amway with print, radio, online and TV ads. According to TNS Media Intelligence, Amway parent company Alticor spent $24.5 million on advertising, including $15 million in TV ads alone between October and March.
