What Quebec Wants

Social Networks - When socializing gets you fired.

The use of social networks by corporations as part of their marketing strategies is now fairly common in many sectors. But what can act as a great multiplier of the brand message can cut both ways. As Virgin Atlantic and British Airways have apparently found out the hard way.

An excerpt from a piece in the November 8^th issue of The Economist:

As well as embracing blogs, firms have been exploiting social networks such as Facebook and MySpace to get their messages to a broader audience. But although they have the potential to be useful marketing tools, such networks can also be a source of damaging publicity, as British Airways (BA) and Virgin Atlantic have discovered to their cost.

On October 31st Virgin fired 13 of its cabin crew who had posted derogatory comments about its safety standards and some of its passengers on a Facebook forum. Among other things, crew members joked that some Virgin planes were infested with cockroaches and described customers as “chavs”, a disparaging British term for people with flashy bad taste. On November 3rd BA began investigating the behaviour of several employees who had described some passengers as “smelly” and “annoying” in Facebook postings.

Read the full article article.

Social networks more about “socializing” among English Canadians than among French Canadians.

French-speaking Canadians who visit social networks mention obtaining information (41%) and fun (24%) as motives more often than English-speaking Canadians (22% and 14% respectively). Conversely, socializing is mentioned as a reason for visiting social networking sites by only 19% of French-speaking Canadians, compared to 43% of English-Canadians.

(Source: The Canadian Internet Project, Year Two Report, 2007)

Show the fashion. Talk the price.

The “new” Fido now lives in a yellow doghouse.

Yellow is the colour of no-name products.

And yellow is the colour of the Best Buy logo used for its new Best Buy Mobile retail format.

It wasn’t clear when Rogers acquired Fido how the two brands would coexist. It is now.

“Giving low prices a good home” can’t be clearer. The brochure says it all: “Times change. Needs change. That’s why Fido is changing. We now offer lower priced plans.”

The old “faithful” idea is still in there somewhere. The line “Toujours fidele” is still up on the wall of the Ste-Catherine store with its sleek, elegant fixtures. Except the signage makes you think of Wal-Mart’s Rolling Back Prices.

Couldn’t price have been emphasized without the Dollarama feel?

This reminds me of something a very smart merchant used to tell me when we discussed his brand. David Margolis founded the off-price retailer Winners. His approach to branding was quite simple: “Show the fashion. Talk the Price.”

Couldn’t Fido have kept its sleek, urban and boutique-feel while still emphasizing value? I’m sure budget brands like Koodo are nipping away but why throw the baby with the bath water?

As John Ryan writes in his post on The Canadian Design Resource blog:

“Perhaps budget is the new boutique.”

When it comes to wireless devices, “fashion” matters – particularly in Quebec.

A survey conducted by Ipsos-Reid in October 2008 for Windows Mobile asked an interesting question.

When choosing a mobile device, what do you look for first, FORM (The look and feel of the phone) or FUNCTION (The features and technology)?

While FUNCTION matters more to all Canadians including Quebeckers, it’s worth noting that Quebeckers are significantly more likely than other Canadians to say that FORM matters (42% of Quebeckers compared to 34% nationally).

So Fido, couldn’t you have kept showing the fashion while talking the price?

Colour blind

Sometimes agency creative folks (particularly in Quebec) have what they refer to as a “flash”. It’s said in French as in “j’ai eu un flash” (I had a flash.)

That’s what Montreal ad agency Amen’s creative director Nicholas Massey says he had when Obama was elected. Quoted in the November 13^th issue of Marketing Online, Massey declared “The idea came to me in a flash right after Obama won the election. It’s the kind of opportunity that doesn’t come along very often.”

Here’s the ad the “flash” produced for client Cyntech’s Permapaint exterior concrete paint.

Marketing Magazine adds: Asked if he thought the symbolism could be seen as racist, Massey said he was more concerned about using such a well-known institution as the White House in an ad, rather than the fact Obama is black.

Says Massey “The whole concept is related to the colour of Obama, but it’s also the fact that a different party won the election.”

Come again?

I’m all for flashes of creativity. But this one doesn’t sit well with me.

Two weeks before the election I was watching Colin Powell on Meet The Press when he endorsed Obama. Here’s an excerpt:

I think we need a transformational figure.  I need--think we need a president who is a generational change.  And that's why I'm supporting Barack Obama.

Powell did not endorse Obama because of the colour of his skin. In fact, Brokaw asked him directly:

MR. BROKAW:  And you are fully aware that there will be some--how many, no one can say for sure--but there will be some who will say this is an African-American, distinguished American, supporting another African-American because of race.

GEN. POWELL:  If I had only had that in mind, I could have done this six, eight, 10 months ago.  I really have been going back and forth between somebody I have the highest respect and regard for, John McCain, and somebody I was getting to know, Barack Obama.  And it was only in the last couple of months that I settled on this.  And I can't deny that it will be a historic event for an African-American to become president.  And should that happen, all Americans should be proud--not just African-Americans, but all Americans--that we have reached this point in our national history where such a thing could happen.  It will also not only electrify our country, I think it'll electrify the world.

Click here for a full transcript of the interview

My take on this: Obama did not run as an African-American. He ran as an American on a platform of change.

So, yes, go ahead and change the White House. But don’t paint it black. That would be belittling the magnitude of the change America desperately needs.

Maybe that’s why this flash of creativity bugs me. I hope it sells a lot of paint.

Words and elections

“Change” won over “Maverick” last week.

Words matter in elections and some are loaded with historical significance.

Interesting decision by the Quebec Liberal Party to build its election campaign around the word “Oui”.

Will the PQ say “Non” this time? Unless they make no mean yes.

Lest we forget.

Surveys suggest we are forgetting, particularly in Quebec.

A recent Ipsos Reid poll conducted on behalf of the Dominion Institute reveals that Canadians - in particular young Canadians - lack of basic knowledge about The Great War and are forgetting this important chapter in our country’s history.

The study reveals that less than half (46%) of Canadians knew that Remembrance Day marks the end of the First World War. Only 42%of Canadians aged 18-34 could correctly identify what this date commemorates.

Ipsos Reid doesn’t provide regional data for this survey but another survey conducted for the Dominion Institute in 2007 does.

As part of a quiz on Canadian history, 1,004 adults Canadians were asked this question:
Remembrance Day in Canada falls on November 11. November 11 was the last day of which war?
Nationally, 37% correctly answered World War 1. A four point increase from the results 10 years earlier.
This number drops to 25% in Quebec – the lowest score.

“This year marks the 90th anniversary of the End of the First World War. It is troubling to see that with every passing year our memory as a country is fading to the point that most Canadians do not even know what we are remembering,” said Marc Chalifoux, Executive Director of the Dominion Institute.

Front Lines

One way to refresh your memory is to watch “Front Lines” – a newly released film by the NFB which I had the chance to see it last night at the War Museum in Ottawa.

A First World War chronicle evoked by archival images and moving letters written home by five soldiers and a nurse. Ninety years after the Armistice, this new film breathes life into anonymous archival images so that we experience the conflict from the inside. Voices describe the everyday experience of war, a mingling of pride, hope, dedication, fatigue, fright and pain. Professional actors read the poignant words written by five soldiers and a nurse, aged 23 to 31.

The NFB is streaming it for free today on its site 

Knowing when to adopt, adapt or create.

There’s an interesting article about marketing in Quebec in the latest issue of Marketing Magazine.

Following are two excerpts about Headspace Marketing and what we believe. Click here for the full article.

Eric Blais, president of Toronto's Headspace Marketing, was born and raised in Quebec and has made a business out of helping marketers understand its nuances. His firm conducts research and helps develop marketing plans for companies looking to make inroads with consumers in the province. "I always say to our clients that there are an awful lot of similarities between Quebec and the ROC (rest of Canada), and they certainly often don't require a different approach," says Blais. "But oftentimes, the differences can be a competitive advantage that you can leverage."

The idea that marketers have greater flexibility in their approach to Quebec is symbolized in the phrase that adorns the boardroom wall at Headspace: "Successful brand building in Quebec is knowing when to adopt, adapt or create for Quebec."

For those (few) who care, here’s a photo of the wall:

 

You can always get what you want.

If you paint it.

This post has nothing to do with Quebec but it’s about “wanting” so it belongs on this blog – sort of.

In its “Consumed” page, The New York Times Magazine's latest issue has an interesting piece by Rob Walker about a couple working in advertising that wanted to work together on a creative project. They hoped to make some extra money and took a refreshing approach - for people employed in advertising. They decided to be totally transparent.

They wanted to spend a night in a hotel with a view of the Vegas strip so they painted one and it sold for $488.50. See all the masterpieces on the couple’s website wantsforsale.com

“Fourth Night in Vegas” sold for $299.00

If you’re interested in this art form, “A Little Shopping in SoHo” is on sale for $2,500.00

All paintings are done in acrylic on 2” deep gallery canvas. As the website says “The price of each painting is exactly what it costs for us to buy that item”.

Playing computer games in the nude.

According to a survey by Ipsos Reid, one in five (17%) Canadian men with Internet access have played a computer game in the nude.

I’m not a gamer but I guess this would be the digital evolution of strip poker.

Always curious, I Googled “video games in the nude” and came across this shot from the game Tomb Raider which follows the adventures of Lara Croft after a powerful syndicate hires her.

Now I understand.

The same survey provides further evidence that Quebec is lagging the rest of the country when it comes to computer games.

On average, 53% of Canadians have bought a computer game. Residents of Quebec are the least likely to have done so at 40%.

25% of Canadians say they have played a game on Facebook, like Scrabulous. Only 12% of Quebeckers claim to have done so. For more on this, see this previous post

Another revealing stat:

Asked what their earliest memory of using a computer is, “playing Solitaire, Free Cell, Minesweeper or Mah Jong" tops the list among 29% of Canadians and 32% of Quebeckers. But Quebec stands out from other provinces with 25% of Quebeckers saying they first used a computer for email, compared to only 15% of Canadians in the ROC.

Wal-Mart in Quebec – Oups we did it again.

What the “Bought in Quebec” program giveth to the Wal-Mart brand, the closing of its unionized Tire & Lube Express in Gatineau taketh away.

Wal-Mart’s approval rating in Quebec took a nosedive after the closing of its unionized Jonquiere store in 2005 because it wasn’t profitable. It dropped 60 points between 2004 and 2006 to just 11%.

In a case study presented at the recent ESOMAR conference in Montreal, Wal-Mart outlined its successful response and PR offensive: the Achat-Quebec program which highlights and encourages consumers to buy products that Wal-Mart is sourcing from the province. A kind of “chez-nous” statement meant to warm up things. It apparently worked. According to the case presented, since the introduction of Achat-Québec in 2006, the company increased its approval rating back to 41% and claims sales have increased by nearly 10% and market share by 1%.

Let’s see what happens to the approval rating now.

Perfect Pitch

What we can learn from elections and new business pitches.

As we await the news about Stephane Dion’s political future following Tuesday’s brutal results, I am reminded of Kim Campbell’s famous pronouncement that “an election is no time to be discussing complicated issues”.

The Gazette’s Craig McInnes put it this way in his September 12^th column  : It's not actually that issues can't be discussed, it's that debates and advertising in elections aren't about seeking truth, they are about winning. A politician willing to ignore the truth can easily twist a complicated issue to his or her advantage when winning is all that matters. Harper's attack on the Liberal's proposal to revamp the tax system with a "Green Shift" is simplistic and fundamentally dishonest, but also brutally effective as long as Canadians are as lazy as he appears to believe we are.

It made me think of the ad business, specifically the lifeblood of the business: new business pitches.

I once heard an ad agency veteran say that “the business of new business is not the business of advertising”. Just as an election is not a time to be discussing complicated issues nor is it during a new business pitch when agencies compete to win an assignment.

The brand might need a serious overhaul to succeed. The spending requirement might make clients run for cover. An objective analysis of the research data might show a glass that’s half empty. The operations might not be ready to deliver the brand promise. Or the client’s internal marketing resources might not be battle ready. It’s the truth and telling it usually loses you the business.

Think about it. How often do you read about an agency winning an assignment because they confronted  the “brutal facts”? (to borrow from Jim Collins’ Good to Great) I once worked on a major pitch where it would have been wiser to tell the client to hold off advertising until the organization was ready to live up to the brand promise. We would not have won the business. Instead we said what we had to say to win and we packaged it all beautifully. And the verdict was “We really like these guys. They understand our needs. We can see ourselves working with them.”

At least until the next election.