This week we learned why it’s important to get a second opinion before you make major branding changes..On Thursday, the Wexit Party of Canada officially changed their name with Elections Canada. They are now the Maverick Party. And yes, the reference to Tom Cruise’s character in the 1986 film Top Gun has not gone unnoticed. Party leader Jay Hill reportedly mentioned the upcoming 2021 sequel to that movie, also going by the name Maverick, when discussing the name change..The name change was decided by a board of seven people who met once back in July, with very little consultation from party members. The decision also came without much warning and without any clear reasons behind it. It seems unkind to suggest they made this decision on a whim after seeing a flashy new movie trailer which stirred up their nostalgia for the 1980s. I am sure that’s not quite how it went, but that is certainly how it looks from the outside. .The new moniker has received a mixed response online. And by mixed response, I don’t mean a mix of positive and negative. Rather, I mean a mix between outright negative and “this is a joke, right?” .Many people believed that a new name was necessary to transform Wexit from a rowdy movement to a credible political party. Maybe so, but the new name should have conveyed its overall mission. Something like ‘Western Independence Party’, ‘Buffalo Party’, or Western Alliance. .The party’s brass says that that members told them that they wanted a new name, and I don’t doubt that. But I’m skeptical that there was a clamoring for the ‘Maverick Party’..Of course, the Mavericks may go on to prove us all wrong. If so, I will watch their contribution to Canadian politics with great interest. But I’ll be frank: in my opinion, this decision is a major marketing catastrophe for several reasons..First, the meaning of Maverick is vague. The purpose of Wexit was built into the name: the exit of the Western provinces from confederation. But with the name change, the poor Maverick Party members will no doubt spend most of their time explaining who they are and what they stand for. They may draw upon Hill’s explanation: “A Maverick is a leader… not afraid of change and has the ability to seize opportunities.” But that only begs more and more questions. What change? What opportunities? Even when the Mavericks continue to support Western autonomy or full independence, they will now have to explain that to every single person they meet. And they will no doubt get the response, “Oh, so kind of like Wexit?”.Second, name recognition is a rare treasure in politics, and they just threw that away entirely. The Wexit message may have attracted only a small percentage of the voting population since its inception in 2019, but everyone who follows Canadian politics knew the name and knew what it meant. Sure, there was still a long way to go toward developing this brand into a viable political alternative, but it was a good place to start. Most upstart political parties would give the world for the level of brand exposure that Wexit had. Now the Mavericks have to start all over again to achieve the same level of name recognition, and that could take years… if it happens at all..Third, Maverick will now blend in with the crowd of non-establishment rightwing parties. There are already a series of options available for conservative and libertarian-leaning voters who want an alternative to the establishment Tories: from the People’s Party of Canada, to the Libertarian Party, to the Christian Heritage Party. Wexit stood out because it was the only party explicitly advocating for Western Canada and focusing all its efforts in Western ridings, and thus it had the potential to become a Western version of the Bloc Quebecois. .The new branding throws away Wexit’s obvious regional focus in favour of a vague “rebel-without-a-cause” sentiment. It would be like if the Green Party abandoned its explicit environmental branding to market itself more broadly as a generic social justice party. It would gradually relinquish its unique corner of the market and fade into obscurity with the other left and left-leaning parties. Sadly, that may be the future of the Maverick Party..Fourth, the decision calls into question the judgement of the party’s leadership. After the veteran Conservative MP Jay Hill joined the team back in June, political commentators rightly believed that he lent a certain legitimacy to the cause. The Western Standard hailed the move as “a game changer.” But if such an odd branding departure can suddenly emerge from a room of seven people, after very little member consultation or second thought, that calls into question the entire leadership of this organization. .To make such a major irreversible change like this, seemingly without a good reason, is not only a failure in marketing, but a failure in judgement. Leaders of the Maverick Party will now have to work a little harder to convince their members that there are responsible adults in the room, and that they will not change their stripes again in a few years to match the latest Hollywood blockbuster. .Thankfully, the most important front for sovereigntists is on the provincial level, where Alberta’s Wildrose Independence Party and Saskatchewan’s Buffalo Party have shown markedly greater judgement thus far. The movement would be wise to focus here..In any case, it’s too late to fix this mistake. The damage is done. Before anyone could tell them they were making a mistake, the Mavericks finalized the change with Elections Canada. Thus they have sealed the death of Wexit before the party even turned one year old. Perhaps the group of Top Gun fans who are apparently running the show will surprise us all and take the movement farther than was possible under the Wexit name. But seeing the negative public reaction and the obvious marketing challenges, I can’t help but wonder if this plane is headed for a nosedive..James Forbes is the Western Heritage Columnist for the Western Standard
This week we learned why it’s important to get a second opinion before you make major branding changes..On Thursday, the Wexit Party of Canada officially changed their name with Elections Canada. They are now the Maverick Party. And yes, the reference to Tom Cruise’s character in the 1986 film Top Gun has not gone unnoticed. Party leader Jay Hill reportedly mentioned the upcoming 2021 sequel to that movie, also going by the name Maverick, when discussing the name change..The name change was decided by a board of seven people who met once back in July, with very little consultation from party members. The decision also came without much warning and without any clear reasons behind it. It seems unkind to suggest they made this decision on a whim after seeing a flashy new movie trailer which stirred up their nostalgia for the 1980s. I am sure that’s not quite how it went, but that is certainly how it looks from the outside. .The new moniker has received a mixed response online. And by mixed response, I don’t mean a mix of positive and negative. Rather, I mean a mix between outright negative and “this is a joke, right?” .Many people believed that a new name was necessary to transform Wexit from a rowdy movement to a credible political party. Maybe so, but the new name should have conveyed its overall mission. Something like ‘Western Independence Party’, ‘Buffalo Party’, or Western Alliance. .The party’s brass says that that members told them that they wanted a new name, and I don’t doubt that. But I’m skeptical that there was a clamoring for the ‘Maverick Party’..Of course, the Mavericks may go on to prove us all wrong. If so, I will watch their contribution to Canadian politics with great interest. But I’ll be frank: in my opinion, this decision is a major marketing catastrophe for several reasons..First, the meaning of Maverick is vague. The purpose of Wexit was built into the name: the exit of the Western provinces from confederation. But with the name change, the poor Maverick Party members will no doubt spend most of their time explaining who they are and what they stand for. They may draw upon Hill’s explanation: “A Maverick is a leader… not afraid of change and has the ability to seize opportunities.” But that only begs more and more questions. What change? What opportunities? Even when the Mavericks continue to support Western autonomy or full independence, they will now have to explain that to every single person they meet. And they will no doubt get the response, “Oh, so kind of like Wexit?”.Second, name recognition is a rare treasure in politics, and they just threw that away entirely. The Wexit message may have attracted only a small percentage of the voting population since its inception in 2019, but everyone who follows Canadian politics knew the name and knew what it meant. Sure, there was still a long way to go toward developing this brand into a viable political alternative, but it was a good place to start. Most upstart political parties would give the world for the level of brand exposure that Wexit had. Now the Mavericks have to start all over again to achieve the same level of name recognition, and that could take years… if it happens at all..Third, Maverick will now blend in with the crowd of non-establishment rightwing parties. There are already a series of options available for conservative and libertarian-leaning voters who want an alternative to the establishment Tories: from the People’s Party of Canada, to the Libertarian Party, to the Christian Heritage Party. Wexit stood out because it was the only party explicitly advocating for Western Canada and focusing all its efforts in Western ridings, and thus it had the potential to become a Western version of the Bloc Quebecois. .The new branding throws away Wexit’s obvious regional focus in favour of a vague “rebel-without-a-cause” sentiment. It would be like if the Green Party abandoned its explicit environmental branding to market itself more broadly as a generic social justice party. It would gradually relinquish its unique corner of the market and fade into obscurity with the other left and left-leaning parties. Sadly, that may be the future of the Maverick Party..Fourth, the decision calls into question the judgement of the party’s leadership. After the veteran Conservative MP Jay Hill joined the team back in June, political commentators rightly believed that he lent a certain legitimacy to the cause. The Western Standard hailed the move as “a game changer.” But if such an odd branding departure can suddenly emerge from a room of seven people, after very little member consultation or second thought, that calls into question the entire leadership of this organization. .To make such a major irreversible change like this, seemingly without a good reason, is not only a failure in marketing, but a failure in judgement. Leaders of the Maverick Party will now have to work a little harder to convince their members that there are responsible adults in the room, and that they will not change their stripes again in a few years to match the latest Hollywood blockbuster. .Thankfully, the most important front for sovereigntists is on the provincial level, where Alberta’s Wildrose Independence Party and Saskatchewan’s Buffalo Party have shown markedly greater judgement thus far. The movement would be wise to focus here..In any case, it’s too late to fix this mistake. The damage is done. Before anyone could tell them they were making a mistake, the Mavericks finalized the change with Elections Canada. Thus they have sealed the death of Wexit before the party even turned one year old. Perhaps the group of Top Gun fans who are apparently running the show will surprise us all and take the movement farther than was possible under the Wexit name. But seeing the negative public reaction and the obvious marketing challenges, I can’t help but wonder if this plane is headed for a nosedive..James Forbes is the Western Heritage Columnist for the Western Standard
