Dow Corning decided to create a new business unit that would sell these silicones at the lowest base prices following clear business rules. Landor was asked to transform Dow Corning’s idea for this new business unit into a viable brand. Everything had to be created from scratch. The brand had to be differentiated from the parent company yet perceived as offering the same high-quality products at a lower, unbundled price. It needed to be distinct from competitors and credible as a global supplier of high-volume silicones. It had to be a value brand that provided a clear opportunity for Dow Corning to grow mature businesses, and it had to use the web as a primary vending channel. All this had to happen in about 14 weeks.

The tight timeline required Landor to work on several phases simultaneously. Following an intense discovery and brand strategy phase, Landor’s Brand Driver™ and naming work occurred concurrently with the look and feel process in order to drive website development. Once the name Xiameter was chosen, it was added directly to a prototyped user interface for the site’s existing information architecture. The resulting business unit met—and exceeded—Dow Corning’s expectations and is already highly competitive in the marketplace.