According to this article in Ad Age, branding guru, Al Ries, wants Guatemala to change its name to Guatemaya.
Guatemala is a country rich in heritage. It was the cultural center of the Mayas, the most advanced civilization in all of North and South America. Even today, 43 percent of Guatemala’s population of 14 million people are of Maya descent. Many still speak dialects of the Maya language.
With mountain ranges as high as 10,000 feet and a culture seemingly unchanged for 500 years, Guatemala is a tourist paradise. Scattered throughout Guatemala are hundreds of spectacular Maya ruins. Cities, temples, houses, playing fields. The relics of a glorious past. More spectacular than the Pyramids of Egypt or the Taj Mahal of India, and built for the living rather than the dead.
It makes sense, on paper. But we’re talking about a nation here, not a brand.
