What Québec Wants™

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Oprah wants to know about life in Montréal.

 

It’s not clear if the Oprah show is planning to travel to Montreal but it’s asking about life in Montreal on its website. The questions are fairly typical for Americans inquiring about life in Canada. Here’s a sample:

• We want to know what life is like in Montreal for a typical Canadian family and how it's different from those of us in the United States.
• How is your daily routine different from a typical Americans?
• Are there customs or traditions you follow that are unique to your family, Montreal or Canada?
• Are you a hockey fanatic?
• How is Montreal different from say life in Cleveland, Ohio?

This one suggests that Oprah’s researchers haven’t spent much time in Montreal, let alone checked out Stats Canada online...

• Does your family speak French at the dinner table?

If you’d like to provide answers, click here.

Here’s an image from the front page of le Journal de Montréal that provides a partial answer to this question:

• If we were to spend an average day with you or your family, what would we see?

This cyclist is riding one of 5,000 Bixi bikes available to residents of Montreal.

The wine this legal drinking age 18 year old is taking home is going to add up to the highest per capita consumption in Canada at 21.58 litres compared to 14.61 nationally and 8.96 in the USA.

And the music he’s listening to might very well be from Montreal's Arcade Fire.

 

Branding horror

It’s often said that if you don’t define your brand, someone else will.

Sometimes, that someone might be a monster.

Among all the media coverage that the tragedy in Norway generated, we find a few articles dealing with the fact that Anders Behring Breivik wears Lacoste shirts. It seems to be his preferred clothing label. According to an article in The Telegraph, he’s declared so on page 1406 of his crazy 1500 pages manifesto.

Yesterday, a representative from Lacoste reached by La Presse said their thoughts were with the people of Norway but offered no comments on the potential branding issue – a wise move… Why would they?

This reminds me of another horrific story. Karla Homolka, the partner of rapist and murderer Paul Bernardo, was reportedly fond of Tim Hortons’ Iced Capp. I recall media reports drawing attention to this irrelevant aspect of the case. But I don’t recall Tim issuing a statement about Homolka’s endorsement of the famous drink.

Why Québec Inc. might be Ltd.

 

The Financial Post recently published a most interesting article on Wealth in Québec.

Here are some excerpts. The full article can be accessed here.

Per capita, there are far fewer rich people in the French-speaking province than in Ontario. Barely 3.9% of taxpayers earn more than $100,000 a year in Quebec compared to 6.3% in Ontario, according to 2008 revenue department statistics, which are the most recent available. The ranks of the truly monied are even thinner.

“We in Quebec have succeeded in various things. But we still have a problem with risk-taking and growing,” says Yves-Thomas Dorval, head of the Conseil du Patronat, a group that represents Quebec’s largest employer associations. “We elevate people who like to keep things small. And we decry companies that are becoming big.”

Quebec has the lowest entrepreneurial intensity, as measured by the ratio of business owners and self-employed workers to total employment, when compared to Ontario, British Columbia and Alberta. And that doesn’t appear set to improve, with one recent survey showing only 7% of Quebecers indicating they intend to start a new business or take over an existing business over the next 10 years, compared to a national average of 13%.

In his 2006 book Éloge de la Richesse (In Praise of Wealth), Montreal journalist Alain Dubuc writes that Quebec has a significant “ideological blockage” in which its citizens are deeply suspicious of richness and rich people in general. He says one of the main reasons is a widespread conviction that when someone enriches himself, “someone else, somewhere else, gets screwed.”

 

 

Are you fruity and vibrant?

There’s a great scene in the movie Sideways where Miles (Paul Giamatti) instructs Jack (Thomas Haden Church) on the art of wine tasting.

Miles: Let me show you how this is done. First thing, hold the glass up and examine the wine against the light. You're looking for color and clarity. Just, get a sense of it. OK? Uhh, thick? Thin? Watery? Syrupy? OK? Alright. Now, tip it. What you're doing here is checking for color density as it thins out towards the rim. Uhh, that's gonna tell you how old it is, among other things. It's usually more important with reds. OK? Now, stick your nose in it. Don't be shy, really get your nose in there. Mmm... a little citrus... maybe some strawberry... passion fruit... and, oh, there's just like the faintest soupçon of like asparagus and just a flutter of a, like a, nutty Edam cheese... 

Jack: Wow. Strawberries, yeah! Strawberries. Not the cheese...

What do you do if you’re more Jack than Miles?

If you shop for wine in Québec’s liquor stores, you simply look for your colour. And I’m not referring to red or white.

Here’s an idea I’ve been meaning to write about for a while. It’s simple and beautifully executed online and in stores.

Go to SAQ.com and find your taste tag.

Let’s say you select ‘aromatic and mellow’.

You can then view all products from this tag, including their price and store availability.

What if you’re not sure about your preferred taste tag?

You take the online quiz to find your tag.

In case, you’re not sure about ‘fruit only’ versus ‘multiple aromas’, the illustrations should help… Jack would click on fruit only; “Wow. Strawberries”.

Pick your favourite varietal.

Bingo. You are fruity and sweet. Just look for all wines identified by this colour tag and enjoy.

 

 

 

 

Localisation

I came across this fantastic Greek-style yogurt from President’s Choice.

It’s a ‘Must try!’ product according to a flash on its packaging. If you use machine translation to find a French equivalent – say Google translate – you will get ‘Faut essayer’. It’s literal but it just doesn’t sound right. Sadly, we see this sort of meaningless literal translation on packaging quite often. For example, a handwash branded Level has a bilingual label describing the product in French as ‘la main se lave’ meaning ‘the hand washes itself’.

It’s clear from the French version of this yogurt that PC insists on more than translation for its labeling as ‘must try!’ becomes ‘coup de cœur!’ in French. (Notice the proper ligature of o and e.]

A 'coup de cœur' is when you fall instantly in love with something.  You are shopping and impulsively buy a new skirt that you just have to have - you could say that it is a 'coup de cœur'. The idiom is well understood by French consumers and, more importantly, will send a clear signal that the brand is making attempts to connect locally. It becomes even more important as many brands now seek to engage in meaningful conversations with consumers particularly via social networks.

We call this adaptation.

The language industry calls this localisation.

Language localisation is not merely a translation activity, because it involves a comprehensive study of the target culture in order to correctly adapt the product to local needs. (Wikipedia)

This definition of localisation suggests that it requires a comprehensive study of the target culture. It’s true. However, it seems that even machine translation is catching up - but isn't quite there. Ask Google translate for an English equivalent to ‘coup de cœur’ and you’ll get ‘favorite’ (or is it ‘favourite’?)

I guess machines don’t yet ensure true localisation (or is it ‘localization’?). And what should it be: yogurt, yoghurt or yogourt? Ok, you get the point (vous obtenez le point).

Ditch the blonde when advertising in Québec. - Part 2

A follow-up to a post from a year ago.

It referred to the president of Ipsos-ASI, a reputable advertising research firm, advising against featuring blondes in ads in Québec since blondes only make up only about 3% of the Québec population.

I argued that this simply reinforces one of many clichés about the kind of advertising that works and doesn’t work in Québec.

Ipsos Reid, a sister company to Ipsos-ASI, just released a survey it conducted on behalf of Schwarzkopf Professional that sheds new light on this burning question.

A majority (59%) of Canadians ‘agree’ (13% strongly/45% somewhat) that ‘blondes are sexy’, with men (67%) being especially likely to think so. Just four in ten (41%) ‘disagree’ (11% strongly/30% somewhat). In fact, given the choice to choose any hair colour for a day, fully one in three (33%) Canadians would go/stay blonde, rather than choose any other hair colour (67%), with Quebecers (37%) being the most likely to say they’d want to go/stay blonde.

Case closed.

The cost of speeding in Québec

The SAAQ (Société de l’assurance automobile) – Québec’s automobile insurance authority – has recently posted web ads aimed at reminding Quebeckers of the high price of speeding.

Some messages are dramatizing the ‘cost of driving’ while others focus on the ‘cost of living’. While the YouTube spot that’s getting much attention is shocking, the posted comments suggest that its intended audience is more concerned with debating the quality of the special effects than with the main message. Many are also anxious to add the music track to their playlist...

By contrast, the ‘cost of driving’ spot is far more realistic. They may not generate much of a conversation online but they perhaps get the message across more effectively.

'Cost of living'

'Cost of driving'

Walmart Supercentres aiming to tap into the 'emotion' of food in Québec

Interesting article in today's issue of The Gazette about Walmart's plans to open six Supercentres in Québec.

According to Chantal Glenisson, vice-president of operations for Eastern Canada, "food in Québec is more about emotion... it's about family and socializing". Let's see what Walmart does with that insight that Metro hasn't already done. 

Joe the Plumber elected Joe the Plumber

 

One last post about politics before going back to marketing.

Following the leaders’ debate in French, Muguette Paillé became a star in Québec. She’d asked the  tough question to the leaders in a pre-taped segment aired during the debate. The leaders jumped over each other to answer and show genuine concern for her needs. She became a social media sensation and the more ‘traditional’ media amplified the story. She was referred to as this election’s Joe the Plumber.

Guess what?

Madame Paillé has a fresh new MP in her Berthier-Maskinongé riding. Her name is Ruth Ellen Brosseau. She is 27 years old and was elected as part of the orange ‘crush’. She has never visited the riding and, so far, she’s staying quiet. She isn’t a plumber but she is the assistant manager of Oliver’s Pub in Ottawa.

Madame Paillé got a House of Commons of the people, by the people, for the people and Ms. Brosseau got a new job.

Those who were tired of ‘professional’ politicians should be pleased.