We've been talking for quite some time about the significant investment we're making in raising public awareness of our business, the opportunity we support, and the products we offer. Now that you've seen our multi-million dollar advertising campaign, direct response marketing, and the high-profile sponsorship of Tina Turner's North American tour, I hope it's evident we're making significant investments in our brands.
We're devoting tremendous time, energy, and resources to increasing awareness and understanding of Quixtar North America / Amway Global.
We're also truly committed to helping people improve their health and wellness, as demonstrated by our Nutrilite brand's "Best of Nature, Best of Science, Best of You" philosophy, and that's why I'm especially excited about our newest big announcement. We're joining forces with the YMCA of the USA to support the YMCA's efforts to build healthier communities across America. Not only will we be reaching millions of Americans — the nation's 2,686 YMCAs serve 21 million people each year – with the Amway Global name, we'll actually help people take steps to improve their health and wellness.
Through this collaboration, we will:
– support Activate America®, the YMCA's response to our nation's health crisis – fund a consumer-education campaign designed to empower people to improve their health and well- being – create targeted initiatives for teens – offer online wellness tools for adults and families – provide grants to support wellness events at up to 100 YMCAs during America On the Move Week with the YMCA
There will be plenty of opportunities for Independent Business Owners to become involved this fall in this collaboration, so please stay tuned to the Opportunity Zone and IBO communication vehicles for more details.
We hope you're as excited as we are about tying the Amway Global name to an organization as esteemed as the YMCA, while helping people build healthier lifestyles at the same time. This collaboration is truly a win-win and just one more way that we are supporting IBOs in their tireless efforts to grow their businesses.
Today we announced that Amway Global will be the Presenting Sponsor of Tina Turner's 2008 North American tour, which kicks off October 1 in Kansas City.
You'll soon see "Amway Global Presents Tina Live in Concert" appearing at the tour web site and in other promotions for the tour. The complete announcement is available at the Quixtar Newsroom and below.
This is yet another investment, like our advertising program, in building our brands to support IBO recruiting and retailing efforts.
AMWAY GLOBAL TO BE PRESENTING SPONSOR OF "TINA TURNER LIVE IN CONCERT" 2008 NORTH AMERICAN TOUR
Sponsorship is part of larger brand-building campaign for Amway Global
ADA, Mich., July 10, 2008 – Amway Global today announced that it will be the Presenting Sponsor for legendary, Grammy-winning singer Tina Turner's upcoming North American tour, promoted nationally by AEG Live. "Amway Global Presents Tina Turner Live in Concert" will span at least 36 concerts in more than 20 U.S. and Canadian cities, beginning October 1 in Kansas City. This will be the first tour in eight years for Turner, an eight-time Grammy winner with seven top-10 singles who has sold nearly 200 million albums.
As presenting sponsor, the Amway Global name will appear on tickets, advertisements, and signage at all North American concert venues.
"We are thrilled to be associated with an artist of such high caliber and broad appeal as Ms. Turner," says Steve Lieberman, Amway Global's Managing Director. "A rock tour is not what most people would expect from Amway Global and that's the whole point. There are so many things people don't realize about our business, like the fact that we're the number one online health and beauty retailer. Sponsoring Tina Turner's fall tour is just one example of how we are stepping up our efforts to build awareness for our business and who we are today."
The sponsorship is part of a larger Amway Global investment to help raise public awareness of its business, opportunity, and products in North America. The company currently operates as Quixtar North America/Amway Global but is transitioning to the Amway Global name by 2009. To support this brand transition and also build awareness for the company's flagship Nutrilite vitamin and supplement brand and Artistry skin care and cosmetics brands, the company is investing in a multi-million dollar advertising campaign and high-profile sponsorships, such as the Tina Turner tour.
A recording artist for more than 40 years, Tina Turner appeals to music fans across generations and has career longevity that is rare in any industry, especially the music business. Her concerts are typically sellouts, which is why she has sold more concert tickets than any other solo performer in history.
For more information about "Amway Global Presents Tina Turner Live in Concert" please visit www.TinaTurnerLive.com.
I'm happy to announce that all of the government's claims against Amway UK have been dismissed. This good news allows our business to continue operating in that market and sends a clear message about how we need to be operating in every market. The ruling emphasizes the importance of openness, honesty, and transparency in all we do. It reinforces how critical it is that we enforce our rules and demand high standards of ourselves and everyone who represents this business. And that's what our business transformation here is all about. We are focused on strengthening our product portfolio, brand awareness, compensation plan, and training to help IBOs excel in all aspects of their business. We are committed to making this the very best business opportunity possible and one that every IBO and employee will be proud to be associated with.
One of our key
objectives is to get out with IBOs more — whether one-to-one, in smaller
groups, or in larger formats where we can focus corporate resources – to build relationships, strengthen
confidence, and help IBOs build stronger, more profitable businesses. Going
back in our history, reaching out to the IBOs with product expos was a regular
part of our business and the time has come to do it again. So, with apologies
to Willie Nelson, I am pleased to relay that Quixtar/Amway Global is going
"on the road again" to a city near you with the National
Spotlight. During this two-day event, we
will shine a spotlight on products and the business, including interactive
demonstrations and activities surrounding Artistry, Nutrilite, XS*, and Ribbon, plus
Home Care and Health Tech favorites.
Quixtar/Amway Global
Canada kicked off their Pathways To Success events last year and experienced
great success in providing attendees with greater belief and confidence in the
business, its credibility, and an increased understanding of how to build a
balanced business with greater profitability. Knowing a good idea when we see
it (OK, steal it!), we've built the National Spotlight events in the US to reach the
same results. We are excited to get out and share product information and sales
training to help IBOs realize the full potential of their businesses.
National Spotlight is
open to all IBOs and their prospects and admission is free. In addition to
product booths staffed by experts who can answer questions and provide valuable
information, IBOs will be provided opportunities to attend breakout sessions
that will focus on selling Ribbon, Artistry, and Nutrilite. We are especially pleased that the IBOAI
Board will participate with a presentation on profitability and building a
balanced business. The cities and dates of the National Spotlight events are as
follows:
Los Angeles – May 9-10 Greensboro, NC – May 30-31 Orlando – June 6-7 Chicago – July 11-12 San Francisco – August 8-9 Omaha – August 22-23 New York City – August 29-30 Portland, OR – September 12-13 Dallas – October 17-19
Pathways to Success
events:
Winnipeg, Manitoba – April 12 Toronto, Ontario – May 30-31 Montreal, Quebec – October 24-25 Calgary, Alberta – November 14-15
Like I said, we are
thrilled to have the opportunity to bring the National Spotlight out to the
IBOs and it appears IBOs are excited too. In order to gauge interest and help
our planning, we are asking IBOs to pre-register and the response so far has
been great. Thanks for reading, and wish
us luck!
Have you seen the latest Quixtar University offerings? The Artistry Time Defiance online course
launched just last week, highlighting the age-defying benefits of Artistry Time
Defiance products and how to help your customers select the right products for
them.
Also new is the Sports Nutrition course. Learn how to
identify the three types of customers most likely to buy sports nutrition
products, as well as which products to recommend to these customers.
In general, the product
expertise courses on Quixtar
University strive to do
one of two things. Some courses focus primarily on preparing you for selling products. You learn key benefits of the
products, how to match these products with actual customer needs, and see some
selling dialog that you can model in your own selling conversations. Both the Artistry
Time Defiance and Sports Nutrition courses
fall into this group.
Other available courses
focus more on selling and follow-up
skills. The Artistry Purse-to-Purse
course is one of these. You learn a method for selling conversational or
experiential products in your everyday interactions with others. You can easily
transfer the skills learned in the Purse-to-Purse
course to other experiential products, such as XS Energy Drinks.
Let us know what you think
of these two new courses, as well as any others available in the Product
Expertise group. What features were especially helpful? What information wasn't necessary? What do you
need more of?
What we say about a product – any claim we make about features, benefits, or performance – is more than just marketing. It's a matter of the reputation of our products, business, and IBOs. Because of this, we take claims very seriously.
Before a product is launched, there are dozens of people at Quixtar and Alticor who work on determining what can be said about a product that's accurate, factual, and representative of most people's experience with that product. Claims substantiation typically involves marketing, research and development, quality assurance, and legal, among other departments.
Rules gets involved when someone is making claims about a product which fall outside of what we've published or provided for use.
As many of you may know, Quixtar is planning to launch Perfect Empowered Drinking WaterTM, which is being sourced from an outside vendor. Because this product is manufactured by another company, we rely on the vendor for claims information and substantiation. But our commitment to ensuring only approved and appropriate claims are used to promote our products remains the same, regardless of the manufacturer.
Quixtar recently communicated to its IBOs about the need to make only approved and published claims about this product, and outlined that any IBO making exaggerated claims about the product's effectiveness or implying that it can be used for medicinal purposes would be in violation of Quixtar's Rules of Conduct.
IBOs must only use claims and demonstrations which have been approved by Quixtar to promote this product. This list of approved claims is available at www.drinkperfectwater.com or in the "What's New" section at www.quixtar.com. We currently are working with the manufacturer on demonstrations and claims and will update the list of claims as we are able to substantiate them.
As our rules state, if an IBO is found to be making claims that aren't supported in authorized product literature, Quixtar requires the IBO to correct the misinformation and may apply sanctions up to an immediate six month suspension. We also have a Zero Tolerance Policy against unauthorized websites or advertising.
If you would like to promote Perfect Water, but aren't sure if you are doing so correctly, please contact Rules Administration at qbcr.department@quixtar.com or 616-787-6712. Or, if you become aware of anyone making unauthorized claims about this or any other product offered by Quixtar, please contact Rules at the above e-mail address or phone number.
Today we announced that 2007 was our fifth consecutive year of passing the billion dollar sales mark! Five straight years of billion-dollar plus sales is no small accomplishment and I thank all of the Independent Business Owners whose hard work and dedication make this business opportunity work.
Last year saw a lot of changes for Quixtar and we anticipate even more exciting changes in 2008 as this business transformation moves forward. We look forward to partnering with IBOs to make this business opportunity stronger and more successful than ever before.
You can read the entire Quixtar sales announcement in our newsroom.
I just want to give IBOs a heads-up about something. As you may know, Quixtar is undertaking an overall business transformation that has as one of its goals, Growth through Innovation. We want to help create awareness of and demand for our products and help more IBOs make more money sooner. One of the first things we are doing is adding a rule to help IBOs sell more products to customers. Detailed information about this new rule will be published and distributed in the February poly-bag (along with the Achieve Magazine).
The change, effective March 1, 2008, will allow IBOs to sell some Quixtar exclusive brands at temporary health or beauty shows or expos and certain kinds of sporting events. Up 'til now, we have approved booths for IBOs who wanted to display and maybe let customers sample some products, but we've never allowed the actual sale of the products. Now, at many events, the display and sale will be allowed. Imagine that! The already existing Booth Rule will stay in effect for other kinds of events where we will continue to allow display-only.
The displays will need to be set up in accordance with Quixtar guidelines and with prior written authorization (we're asking for 30 days' notice) from Quixtar's rules department. We will provide supporting merchandising material on a CD, so IBOs can print off their own, pre-authorized signage or handouts.
What kind of sporting events are we talking about? Marathons, 3-on-3 basketball tournaments, kids soccer tournaments, etc. Events of a limited duration, so it's not like a concession stand at a high-school football field, but, rather, the kind of event where the IBO can get permission from the event organizer/organization to set up a booth and sell some product on the day/days of the event.
This rule change was brought to the IBOAI Board, and they recommended adoption.
We will begin accepting applications for Event Sales March 1. The application form will be available on quixtar.com or by contacting Customer Support or Rules Administration. If you have questions, please contact Rules Administration at 616-787-6712 or by email at qbcr.department@quixtar.com.
The pending Rule: [Rule 4.3.3.]
4.3.3 Event Sales: The display and sale of health, beauty and sports nutrition products by IBOs only at temporary (no more than 10 days) health and beauty shows and certain kinds of sporting events (e.g.: bike race, marathon, 3-on-3 basketball tournament) are permitted. The following information must be received by the Corporation, in writing, 30 days prior to the event, to allow sufficient time to grant approval. 4.3.3.1. A written description of the type of event (including date of event). 4.3.3.2. Name of the specific product(s) to be displayed and sold. 4.3.3.3. A list of specific literature to be used at the booth or for handouts. Any privately produced material for handouts or display must be sent with the booth request for approval. 4.3.3.4. A signed statement from the Platinum or above IBO accepting responsibility for booth activity and include a list of all names of IBOs staffing the booth. 4.3.3.5 A post-event accounting of total volume sold must be provided to the Corporation by the Platinum if the volume sold is part of the qualifying volume for Silver Producer or above for purposes of verifying 70% Rule compliance.
As many of you know, our contract with spokesperson Jeannie Mai has come to an end. There has been some speculation and questions as to why Jeannie Mai is leaving, but the truth is very simple: Quixtar has decided to slowly phase out the NAO never accept ordinary cosmetics line in order to focus our resources on the Artistry brand.
Transitioning to a single cosmetic beauty brand will simplify our consumer messaging and enhance its clarity and consistency. This is one of many positive, promising changes ahead for the business, for IBOs, and for customers. That said, we will certainly miss Jeannie Mai and her sparkling personality. Below is a farewell letter from Jeannie.
*****
Hi Everyone!
I understand there has been a lot of speculation about why my contract with Quixtar has come to an end. First off, let me say that this relationship has ended on the best of terms and at a natural point where both Quixtar and I wished to pursue other projects.
My life has actually been entirely changed ever since I discovered the heartbeat behind what Quixtar was really about. I still remember the first excited conversation with an anxious IBO in Hawaii three years ago, and the feeling of meeting family every time I'd greet the passionate people within the corporation. I can recall the pride to be a part of something so revolutionary as I toured the laboratories behind the research of every product distributed. As awesome as the concept to becoming a successful IBO was, I was most attracted to the fellowship that was bonded as every dreamer would work to reach their goals–together. Each time I spoke the words "Never Accept Ordinary", I was praying it over every single heart that was blessed to have a stab at an opportunity like this.
Now that my contract has ended, my work to "never accept ordinary" has actually become my heartbeat. I've made valuable friends for life from this role I had the privilege to experience, not to mention gain a fabulous husband whose qualities that made him an IBO are exactly what I desired to have as my life partner. This corporation has been a dream turn reality, and I wish the same continues for every person who has the chance to experience it from this point on.
I want everyone to know that I couldn’t have joined Quixtar at a better time. This is a business that's only going to improve as we go forward. And because we're in the middle of an exciting transformation, there's never a dull moment – new products, new support, new money, and more. Our plan for this transformation calls for strong brand support, an aggressive reputation campaign, and the transition to a new brand for the business opportunity.
But, it’s going to take some time and a lot of hard work to get from where we are to where we want to be. The transition to a new name started in September with references in the Quixtar Business Opportunity Brochure. In March 2008, we’ll begin a three-phase rollout of the new brand name and logo.
Phase 1: March 2008
All internal and external communications, including advertising and public relations, will carry this logo.
Phase 2: September 2008
Amway Global will be elevated to the lead brand in our communications, and Amway’s 50th anniversary will be acknowledged.
Phase 3: May 2009
The transition to our new business opportunity brand will be completed.
As I mentioned above, March 2008 also marks the start of media advertising and public relations for the new Amway Global brand. We’ll be filling you in on the details of the multimedia, multimillion-dollar campaign during the coming weeks and months. But I can share that our vision is to once again be the business opportunity of choice in North America.
We’ll also be separating Sales and Marketing into two distinct, collaborative teams. To lead our Sales efforts, we’re happy to announce Sandy Spielmaker as our new Vice President of Sales. Sandy joins us with nearly 25 years’ experience in Sales, Marketing, and General Management, with a track record of innovative sales approaches. We will look to Sandy to accelerate our initiatives and achieve our goal of improving profitability for all IBOs. We are actively recruiting qualified candidates for the Vice President of Marketing position and plan to have it filled soon as well.
We all know that talk is cheap. It's easy to throw around words like transformation, change, enhancements, and partnership. It's actions that really count. And at the end of the day, we’re putting our money where our mouth is and investing in new products, expanded training, enhanced compensation, and integrated reputation initiatives. Ultimately, we’re building a compelling and dynamic business that will become the business opportunity of choice in North America.
