Glenn
12-13-2006, 02:08 PM
http://www.mlive.com/business/grpress/index.ssf?/base/business-4/1166025158178860.xml&coll=6
Amway puts name on arena
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
By Rob Kirkbride
The Grand Rapids Press
Orlando's most prominent sports venue was renamed the Amway Arena on Monday after the company agreed to buy the naming rights for $1.5 million over four years.
The name change isn't a surprise. The Orlando Magic of the NBA is owned by Amway co-founder Rich DeVos, and the company will have the first crack at naming rights for the proposed arena in Orlando that could open in 2010.
The NBA's international audience sealed the deal. Though not used in North America anymore, Amway is a major brand elsewhere in the world.
The Amway name was killed in the U.S. and Canada in 2000, replaced in North America by the online Quixtar business plan, its parent company Alticor, and Access Business Group, its manufacturing arm.
Yet in recent months, parent company Alticor has used the Amway name for the arena and a series of television commercials that ran before and after Michigan's race for governor.
It's the NBA's international appeal that attracted the company to the naming rights deal, spokesman Rob Zeiger said.
He said the company probably would not have agreed to name a stadium in any other sport.
"I think it has a lot to do with the bang for the buck that we get internationally from associating with the NBA," he said.
"It's very hard to find any single vehicle that puts our name in Asian markets, European markets and Latin American markets simultaneously.
"The NBA is one of those opportunities. They broadcast their games to 200 countries, including many of those we do business with. Our (business owners) can see the name on the arena and feel a little bit of pride."
Bill McKendry, founder and chief creative officer of Grand Rapids advertising agency Hanon McKendry, said the company should return to the Amway name because of its high customer recognition -- whether the public has a positive impression of the name or not.
"It strikes me as very odd," that the company would use the Amway name on the arena, McKendry said. "They've said they are Quixtar and Alticor. To come back and say 'We're Amway' is pretty opposite of how they have tried to position themselves for the last five years or so."
Associating the Amway name with a sporting venue is a good move, according to most West Michigan branding experts.
The Amway Arena name replaces that of TD Waterhouse, which saw its contract expire.
Amway will have the first opportunity to negotiate naming rights for the new arena being planned for Orlando, which could open in 2010.
"Attaching a name to sports is a way to legitimize a company," McKendry said. "Still, you have to find a way to leverage that away from the arena."
He said Hanon McKendry's client, Furniture Row, sponsored a NASCAR team and improved its image with customers and employees.
"People think that if their name is on an arena associated with an NBA franchise, they must be a big company, must be a successful company," McKendry said.
Paul Lane, an advertising professor at Grand Valley State University, said marketing through sports helps advertisers cut through the clutter.
"Today, one of the problems advertisers have is people getting hit with so many commercial messages," he said. "Sports is one of the great ways of getting through all that."
Amway puts name on arena
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
By Rob Kirkbride
The Grand Rapids Press
Orlando's most prominent sports venue was renamed the Amway Arena on Monday after the company agreed to buy the naming rights for $1.5 million over four years.
The name change isn't a surprise. The Orlando Magic of the NBA is owned by Amway co-founder Rich DeVos, and the company will have the first crack at naming rights for the proposed arena in Orlando that could open in 2010.
The NBA's international audience sealed the deal. Though not used in North America anymore, Amway is a major brand elsewhere in the world.
The Amway name was killed in the U.S. and Canada in 2000, replaced in North America by the online Quixtar business plan, its parent company Alticor, and Access Business Group, its manufacturing arm.
Yet in recent months, parent company Alticor has used the Amway name for the arena and a series of television commercials that ran before and after Michigan's race for governor.
It's the NBA's international appeal that attracted the company to the naming rights deal, spokesman Rob Zeiger said.
He said the company probably would not have agreed to name a stadium in any other sport.
"I think it has a lot to do with the bang for the buck that we get internationally from associating with the NBA," he said.
"It's very hard to find any single vehicle that puts our name in Asian markets, European markets and Latin American markets simultaneously.
"The NBA is one of those opportunities. They broadcast their games to 200 countries, including many of those we do business with. Our (business owners) can see the name on the arena and feel a little bit of pride."
Bill McKendry, founder and chief creative officer of Grand Rapids advertising agency Hanon McKendry, said the company should return to the Amway name because of its high customer recognition -- whether the public has a positive impression of the name or not.
"It strikes me as very odd," that the company would use the Amway name on the arena, McKendry said. "They've said they are Quixtar and Alticor. To come back and say 'We're Amway' is pretty opposite of how they have tried to position themselves for the last five years or so."
Associating the Amway name with a sporting venue is a good move, according to most West Michigan branding experts.
The Amway Arena name replaces that of TD Waterhouse, which saw its contract expire.
Amway will have the first opportunity to negotiate naming rights for the new arena being planned for Orlando, which could open in 2010.
"Attaching a name to sports is a way to legitimize a company," McKendry said. "Still, you have to find a way to leverage that away from the arena."
He said Hanon McKendry's client, Furniture Row, sponsored a NASCAR team and improved its image with customers and employees.
"People think that if their name is on an arena associated with an NBA franchise, they must be a big company, must be a successful company," McKendry said.
Paul Lane, an advertising professor at Grand Valley State University, said marketing through sports helps advertisers cut through the clutter.
"Today, one of the problems advertisers have is people getting hit with so many commercial messages," he said. "Sports is one of the great ways of getting through all that."