Interview: Barton White discusses rebranding of powder business to form Kymera International
November 27, 2017
Kymera International, the name by which ACuPowder, ECKA Granules and SCM Metal Products are collectively known, recently launched a new website combining the product portfolio of the entire organisation. The website offers a user-friendly way for customers to explore the offerings of each of the three individual companies within the context of their partnership and roles under the Kymera umbrella.
ACuPowder International and ECKA Granules joined SCM Metal Products in 2010 and, for seven years, the three brands have specialised in the manufacture and marketing of high-quality pure and alloyed copper and aluminium powders. While each of these companies has good individual brand recognition as providers of metal powders, and will keep its name under the Kymera umbrella, the decision was eventually made by the partners to unify under a single name and thus eliminate ambiguity as to the relationship between them.
Barton White, Kymera CEO, recently talked to PM Review about the origin of and reasoning behind the rebrand. “We did not want to lose the extremely well-recognised names of ACuPowder, ECKA and SCM that for years had been synonymous with providing high-quality materials; however, we also felt that it was time for all to become one,” he explained.
“The goal was to remove any ambiguity in the market as to the relationship between the three brands and also eliminate the internal ‘we/they’ by becoming ‘we’! After weighing all of the positives and negatives it was decided to move forward with the rebranding but also work to preserve the current brand names.”
The three companies contacted several professional marketing firms before settling on a firm in California, USA, to drive their rebranding efforts. “Our goal was to pick a name that actually had a meaning that fit with our desire to combine the three brands,” stated White. “The name would have to be unique enough that it could be protected/copyrighted and also have a domain name that was not taken. We also needed to be sure that the chosen name and logo would not be offensive to people across different cultures… not easy.”
Employees at the three companies were initially polled for suggestions, but despite a range of options, “nothing seemed to click for us,” White continued. “We then focused on mythological figures, since these were typically associated with strong and meaningful characters.”
The Chimera of Greek mythology is a creature composed of vital parts from three different animals – a lion’s head, a ram’s body and a serpent’s tail. According to White, this made it a perfect fit for the organisation: “The combination of the three animals makes the hybrid creature more powerful than its individual pieces.”
“The problem was that there were many companies either directly named Chimera or where the spelling was very close, and so we decided that it was not unique enough,” he continued. “So we played with the name to make it more unique, as well as easier to pronounce.” Kymera was the final result, and a logo – depicting a lion, a ram and a serpent – was designed to match. After extensive research to ensure that neither name nor logo had any negative cultural connotations, the rebrand was complete.
ACuPowder, ECKA Granules and SCM Metal Products’ plant locations will all now run in conjunction with Kymera International (for example, ECKA Granules’ German copper facility will be known as Kymera International, ECKA Granules Germany). For the foreseeable future, however, Kymera International will have no legal status and all of the Group’s companies will continue to use their respective product labelling and banking for invoicing and payments.
“Over time we expect that people will become more familiar with Kymera International and that it will develop its own excellent brand identity just like ACuPowder, ECKA Granules and SCM Metal Products,” stated White.