nuchoice-international-logoNutrition, skin-care and weight management. Not exactly things I’d associate with anti-virus software for my computer… but that’s exactly the latest product offering MLM company NuChoice have added to their existing product range.

Launched with as a separate NuChoice division under the name ‘Emmutec’ and featuring a separate compensation plan, Emmutec is NuChoice’s attempt to branch out in the technology sector.

Can a 9 year old MLM company previously specialising in nutrition, skin-care and weight management successfully branch out into anti-virus software market?

Let’s find out.

The Company

As I mentioned earlier, Emmutec is operating as subdivision of NuChoice. NuChoice was founded by John and Catherine Edwards (below) and has been in operation since 2002, bringing nutritional, skin-care and weight management products to the MLM marketplace.

With Emmutec, the Edwards have brought on a new face via Elisa Townsend, who is Emmutec’s Director of Marketing.

Emmutec claim that Townsend has ’20 years of experience in consumer product marketing’ and that she ‘has been instrumental in launching several network marketing companies’, but online Townsend pretty much seems to be a newcomer to MLM.

Well, either that or she has a ridiculously low digital footprint (read: nonexistent) for someone who’s purportedly helped launch several MLM companies.

The Emmutec Product

Emmutec is launching with one flagship product, Emmunize.

Emmunize is antivirus software, and I shouldn’t have to tell you in 2011 why you need to be running some kind of antivirus software on your computer.

Here’s how Emmutec describe Emmunize;

If a friend came to your door, would you let them in?

Sure you would.

But if a stranger comes to your door, would you let them walk in?

I would hope not.

Without the backing of an established player, Emmutec’s Emmunize runs on what they call a ‘whitelist’ principle. Essentially, whereas other anti-virus programs realtime scan what you’re running and watch out for suspicious behaviour and activity against a pre-defined virus definition list, Emmunize simply blocks applications not on its whitelist from running.

The whitelist is maintained by Emmutec and subscription to the list is $8.99 a month for a 1 computer subscription, or $12 a month for a 3 computer subscription.

The Emmutec Compensation Plan

The Emmutec compensation plan offers up both retail commissions on the sale of Emmunize, as well as a residual income component tied to a 3×9 matrix.

Emmutec Membership Ranks

Certain components of the Emmutec compensation plan are tied into membership ranks, of which there are four in total. Here are the Emmutec membership ranks along with their relevant qualifying criteria;

  • Qualified Associate – Subscribe to a $12 Emmunize subscription (3 computers). Note that this is called ‘being active’ ($12 a month is your monthly autoship).
  • Manager – Be active and recruit 3 Qualified Associates to Emmutec.
  • Director – Be active and recruit 6 Qualified Associates to Emmutec.
  • Regional Director – Be active and recruit 9 Qualified Associates to Emmutec.

Retail Commissions

Retail commissions are offered by Emmutec based on the succesful sale of an Emmunize subscription.

Emmutec distributors will earn a $1.25 commission on a single license subscription sale, and $3 on a 3 license subscription sale.

Matrix Commissions

Making up the residual income component of Emmutec’s compensation plan, Emmutec use a 3×9 matrix system.

A 3×9 matrix is 9 levels deep with each leg, starting out with at the top branching out 3 new legs under it. As you begin to fill up your Emmutec matrix organisation, it’ll start to look something like this;

The residual commission offered by Emmutec is a percentage pay out of distributors in your matrix (either enrolled, or added via your upline’s spillover).

I’d assume the matrix payout is based on the retail sales commission earnt by each distributor (meaning that the retail commission itself has to be a monthly recurring commission).

These percentage payouts are paid out according to your membership rank and are as follows;

  • Qualified Associate – 2.5% on levels 1 and 2 of the matrix and 5% on levels 3-7.
  • Manager – As above but with an additional 10% on levels 8 and 9 of the matrix.

Fast Pack Bonus

With each succesful sale of a Fast Pack, Emmutec distributors make a once off $10 commission.

Matching Bonus

Emmutec offers a Matching Bonus to its distributors that are at the Manager level or higher. The Matching Bonus is offered on distributors in your downline up to 3 generations deep (people you’ve recruited, people they’ve recruited and people they’ve recruited).

How many generations distributors are paid out on depends on their membership rank;

Managers receive a 20% Matching Bonus on their personally recruited distributors (1st generation), Directors receive an additional 10% on their recruited distributors recruits (2nd generation) and Regional Directors receive a further 10% on the members their personally recruited distributor’s distributors recruit (3rd generation).

Joining Emmutec

Those wishing to join Emmutec have two basic options;

  • Enrollment Kit – The Enrollment Kit costs you $47 and includes Emmutec back office access for a year.
  • Fast Pack – The Fast Pack costs $59 and includes back office access for a year as well as a one month 3 computer subscription to Emmutec (retail saving of $2)

Conclusion

First and foremost, it’s hard to go past the fact that Emmunize has nothing to do with NuChoice’s other products. No doubt Emmutec will be marketed heavily to existing NuChoice distributors and I’m sure they’re going to struggle trying to pair the products into one little neat marketing package.

Everyone today uses a PC sure, but I don’t exactly run down to my local vitamin shop if my hard drive crashes…

That aside, compensation plan wise Emmutec have put together a nice simple and easy to understand compensation plan. Obviously with a monthly subscription there’s a retail commission attached but I’m not entirely sure on the legality of it.

The Emmunize software itself (which is the actual product) is free and all that you’re paying for is the monthly subscription to the software whitelist Emmunize will allow you to run.

Whether or not a subscription counts as a product I’m not entirely sure. From Emmutec’s point of view, nothing tangible is really being shipped (or downloaded) here. What Emmutec members are really paying for is month to month access to the company’s whitelist.

Recruitment is tied to the upper ranks of membership but it’s easy enough to just focus on retail sales of Emmunize and generate upfront retail commissions along with a residual backend. Recruitment of new distributors is definitely optional which is good to see.

Speaking of which, this brings me to the major problem I see with Emmutec and their Emmunize antivirus software.

At the heart of Emmutec is the concept of their application whitelist. Without this list, not only is the Emmunize style of protection useless, but you also might be limiting what software you can actually run on your pc if you buy new software that isn’t listed on your out of date Emmunize white list.

By out of date I mean that if you stop your Emmunize subscription and new software comes out, it won’t be on your computer’s white list (hasn’t been downloaded because you no longer have a subscription).

Has anyone actually stopped to think about the logistics of this? There’s literally millions of applications that have been released since computers were invented and I’m supposed to trust that some company I’ve never heard of is going to keep up to date, not only with all new software released (in multiple languages?) as well as the massive software back catalogue that already exists?!

That’s a mammoth undertaking and gargantuan promise right there.

And what if some virus embeds itself in known software that is already on Emmutec’s whitelist. Game over?

There’s a reason most antivirus software targets virus behaviour rather than a simple software level authenticity check and that’s because the most modern of viruses aren’t application specific.

Viruses these days target computers, not software applications. They don’t care how they get in and will do anything to gain access to your computer.

As evidenced by the example used in the Emmunize promotional video, the arrival of Emmunize onto the antivirus market doesn’t really change anything. You’re still an idiot if you open up email attachments and/or blindly click embedded links on suspicious looking emails.

And these days with even internet browsers doing some sort of rudimentary check (and hell, even search engines like Google are checking too) to see if websites or links are possible harmful, I’m failing to see the relevancy of Emmunize as even a free antivirus solution at all.

Let alone at a cost of nearly $110 a year ($144 with a 3 computer subscription) a year recurring.

In an evolving market place I don’t really see a market at all for products like Emmutec. You’ve got a ton of competition in the antivirus sector and more importantly a strong list of competitors who offer highly effective solutions for free to personal users, whilst relying on corporate to turn a profit and continue funding their business.

Best of luck to Emmutec, Emmunize and its distributors. You’ve got one hell of an uphill battle ahead of you if you want to survive in the antivirus market.