Our Canadian Brand Essence

by Andrea Shillington

February 28th, 2010 marked the day of something new, something special, something found in us all. It will be remembered as the day our Canadian pride reached an all time emotional high. All across the world, people gathered, and Canada’s national pride came to life with a “Go Canada”.

I was fortunate to be one of the many people pouring onto the streets of downtown Vancouver, just minutes after Crosby scored the golden goal for Canada. Entranced by the smiles, random hugs, high-fives, cheers and the instant friends gained. I was infected by the natural high of our shared joy.

Looking back on my pictures of Vancouver’s streets, from the opening ceremonies to closing, it’s evident that something changed. What few high fives I gave and received on the first day of the Olympics, became thousands on the last. What streets were once crowded in dark winter wear, turned to a sea of red and white. What Canadian wear was once a memento turned into a patriotic fashion parade: flags as capes and maple leaf makeup. Anything really, as long as it was red and white.

Post gold, I can’t help but wonder what it was? At first, it was our athlete’s perseverance and courage that struck an emotional chord. Then the sunny skies that put a spotlight over our lands picturesque backdrop and throughout it all, moments on the podium turned us all into winners.

But, what piece of the Olympic magic can we hold onto beyond this day? What is it that makes us so proud to be Canadian? What momentum can we continue to build in our great country? What makes us different than any other nation in the world? What binds us at our maple leaf-loving core?

Please share your thoughts with us. Let’s continue to build what we started.

Some of you may have heard about the scuffle between Vancouver Olympics officials and local apparel manufacturer Lululemon over the latter’s sneaky way of referring to the 2010 Vancouver Olympics without actually referring to the event by name. Lululemon Athletica has come up with a cheeky clothing line that’s named “Cool Sporting Event That Takes Place in British Columbia Between 2009 & 2011 Edition.” Olympic officials were quick to lash out at what they called “rogue advertising” but  Lululemon denied the name was a brazen bid to circumvent Vancouver 2010’s vigorous brand protection policies.

Everybody knows how seriously Olympic officials take their brand’s symbols and insignias, they are sacred and untouchable, and they come out with all their legal might after anyone that tries to dilute, defile or associate themselves with any Olympic symbol without paying the hefty corporate sponsor fees. This includes any mention of anything resembling mount Olympus, any image resembling the Olympic rings, The torch and even the words Vancouver 2010. Local Vancouver Greek restaurant Olympia has been in battle with Vanoc for years over the use of the Olympic torch and the rings in their signage which have been in use for many years but became an issue when it was known that the Olympics are coming to Vancouver in 2010. Olympia restaurant stood their ground and refused to budge to Vanoc demands, they started collecting signatures from people and eventually got their way and kept their signs. This may have opened a Pandora’s box of abusers and it may have encouraged Lululemon to go ahead with their cheeky attack.

While I think that protecting your brand is important for companies, but when it goes too far, when large organizations use excessive legal force and financial muscles to come after small shops. They end up being perceived as an overgrown Goliath, and that can end up hurting their own brand and even in some cases promoting the attacker’s brand,  if only  in the eyes of a certain segment of the market.  Lululemon realized that, and also realized there is a relatively significant segment of the market that is somewhat anti Olympic, and decided to capitalize on that. Not to mention the buzz that was caused by the controversy alone.

So if you decide to pull a fight over an insulted brand, Use your discretion to do so but subtly and gently and don’t make such a loud fuss, otherwise you will hurt your own brand and damage your own image.

I am sure all of you have seen the Mac/ PC commercials where you see Mac's point of view: where it's the reliable, cool and hip versus the unreliable, clunky and old school operating system! And I am sure you have to agree that Mac has a much better differentiation strategy than the PC, but why is it still a PC dominated world. Maybe Macs position of pointing out all the pains and frustrations are just not to convert users? Maybe people don’t care for an unreliable operating system - but rather they are scared of change. Or maybe, like the cell phone, people want to upgrade their operating system - so they can get the next cool trend.

Brand evangelists and marketers can all agree that Apple has done a brilliant job of differentiating themselves by merely simplifying an operating system and reinforcing it with great customer service. Although we constantly see Microsoft upgrade their processor - they still don’t change their service model or fix the “buggy, crashing” operating system. Why is that. Do they know they are giving Apple a competitive edge... Do they even care?

One has to wonder who will win and rule the computing world?

Yes Macs are cool and PC’s are more prone to crashes and viruses - but yet there are significantly more PC users than Mac users, at least 70% according to one statistic. So whose brand is stronger? The fact that the PC does very little to defend itself makes me wonder why everyone isn’t on a Mac already... The campaign has been going since 2006. But then I realize that "PC" is not even an actual brand that belongs to one company; therefore it cannot stand up and defend itself against the onslaught of Mac inspired insults. Microsoft occasionally takes the helm, these days with their I'm a PC and I'm 5 years old.

It’s similar to the Volkswagen trend, and the movement that followed when they first made their comeback in the car world. Volkswagen created a Jetta club - the trendy, urbanites drive Jetta's; this was their differentiation strategy to give re-birth to an old, tired brand. We have been witnessing these cool trend setting brands for years - but is it really enough to gain market share over competition or is it merely just a trend that will pass? I mean really - you have to admit - there are way more geeky computer nerds than cool, creative computer guys.

I was a PC user but switched to Mac, and I am happy about it. I mean, the time I save on my Mac versus a PC because of crashing and virus scans, I was able to finally take a vacation!!!

I am young - I am cool... hey! I am a Mac!
Will this message alienate the Old, Traditional, Corporate types that don't consider themselves super cool? i.e. big businesses.  and eventually drive them into the arms of their good old PC.? The devil they know all too well.

Recently after being in a long-term relationship I found myself to be fabulously free and single. As an out-going, independent, modern gal my first instinct to meet new people was to go through the inconspicuous, the “be-who-I-want-to-be” route of on-line dating.  Through this experience I became acutely aware of all the branding involved in this modern world of dating.

At my disposal the three dating services that popped out at me were Plenty of Fish, Lavalife and E-harmony. In short, Plenty of Fish resembles the traditional night club of the dating scene, Lavalife’s positioned as a urban online lounge or a trendy coffee shop and E-harmony has replaced the traditional “meeting through friends” scene. Not only are the on-line dating companies specialized and target specific, I too was becoming a commodity.

After a couple of weeks of sending smiles, “ping-ing” people, or checking profile photos and passing judgement, I found myself browsing and selecting potential candidates with no substance or merit. I was picking out my ideal man like I was shopping at the grocery store - looking for good colour, freshness and ideally, some firmness.

In the end I came to the conclusion that online dating only succeeds through our failure and desperation of finding the “happily ever after”. It does amaze me how consumed we - social interactive beings- have been trained to communicate with the least amount of effort ever. We have become a digitized generation, lowering our social skills through the use of social online networks.

After my experiences online this fabulous commodity has gone offline, appreciating the real life - with real people.

To be continued....

Anytime Microsoft does anything to challenge Google, it always makes for interesting news. Last week the New York Times did a story on Bing — the new name for Microsoft Live search. 

My favorite entrepreneurial stories are those in which an undying faith and belief are required to combat the ridicule of doing something different. Casting the right vision and purpose for a company has to come from somewhere deep inside if it is going to be completely authentic, meaningful and sustainable. 

I came across TomsShoes.com—a company founded by Blake Mycoskie and built on a very compelling brand promise. For every pair of shoes you buy, they will send a pair to a child in a developing country as part of their One for One movement. 

I came across an interesting article today on CanadaOne.com that I believe we all should read titled 7 things you need to know about why people buy. Although all the points hit home, the two that really struck me from a branding perspective were #5 Framing and #6 Too Many Choices.

If you follow the news (and you do..), you’ve probably seen the media hoopla around “the best job in the world”. It may be a job posting, but what it really is, is one of the most brilliant PR campaigns I’ve seen in a long time. The value of the global coverage and attention it has created, is beyond measurement. Queensland, Australia has been associated with the image of a tropical paradise in the minds of millions of people around the world. It probably is (Great Barrier Reef and all..), but know we all know.

Enter Alberta, Canada. Another part of the world that have been blessed with jaw dropping scenic beauty. Recently this Canadian province launched a new website promoting Alberta. It also got a lot of attention, but for the wrong reasons. It turned out that one of the photos used on the site was, in fact, showing a British landscape. And all hell broke loose.

Yes, it does seem a bit weird to use a photo from the UK to portrait the natural wonders of Alberta. Authenticity being the key word.

But that’s not my point.

Both Queensland and Alberta had the same objective and the same tactic. How the hell do we break through the noise and get some attention (and tourist dollars..) going our way?  Let’s have a website developed and support with some PR. The similarities stop there.

What a different approach - and result. One being truly innovative and putting Queensland on the dream destination map. The other being painfully traditional and executed in a way, that gave it it’s 15 minutes of fame for all the wrong reasons.

Game over.

I'm sure that most of you have seen the Susan Boyle/Britain's Got Talent video by now on YouTube. I saw it last week when the views were fewer than 10 million and it has already surpassed 40 million. If you haven't seen it yet, please check it out - it will make your day.

Low expectations are fertile ground for growing brand loyalty.

Companies spend a lot of money creating awareness and desire for their brands. Building positive expectations before the purchase. And so they should.

But here’s the catch, if the company fulfills its promise (price, service, quality, etc.) it merely lives up to what is already expected from its customer base. The customer is satisfied, but is not turned into a raving fan, passionately promoting the experience and the brand to anyone who cares to listen. There’s not a lot of brand equity to win by just doing what’s expected.

Now, at some point most products or services (if not all..) will fail in some area. Or, to put it in brand lingo terms, the product does not live up to its brand promise; the battery on your Mac laptop suddenly dies, the air-condition in your Toyota goes cold, the concierge at your hotel forgets to give you that wake-up call.

Not only is that annoying in itself, but the process of fixing the problem is in most cases the real pain in the...

For instance, your 14 month old vacuum cleaner sucks.. and not the way it’s supposed to. The mouth piece breaks in two and all you can do is vacuum small circular areas the size of a golf ball.
Now, subconsciously you’ve already gone through the scenario: Trying to find a relevant phone number on the manufacturer’s website, figuring out the specific part number, navigating through their phone maze, shipping the broken piece and finally getting the new part delivered straight to your front door - when you are not at home. In other words, you expect an experience you could do without.

And, this is where the opportunity is. The vacuum cleaner manufacturer has a perfect occasion to turn you into a raving fan of the brand by having a post-sales system in place that eliminates those steps mentioned above. Simply because you don’t expect to be wow’ed.

Here’s an example from my own world. I recently had a new faucet installed in my kitchen. About six months later the shower head (yes, it came with that..) didn’t work and I was immediately dreading an experience similar to the vacuum cleaner spiel. But to my great surprise, and relief, it turned out to be a completely hassle-free experience. No sending parts back and forth, no trying to find the receipt or arguing that it was covered by warranty. Just a quick phone call to a very nice sales person, and three days later the part was delivered to my home at a scheduled time.

I had never heard of this particular brand before, had no emotional connection to it, even though I use the faucet every day. But the fact that it broke down, or rather, the fact that Pegasus (for that is it’s name) had a system in place that completely wiped out my (negative) expectations, and transformed me from a brand ignorant to a brand evangelist for the company. No marketing dollars they could have spend, could have placed the brand so effectively on my short list as this post-sales system taking advantage of my pre-conceived, negative, expectations.

And next time I, or anyone I know, need a product within their range, you bet I’ll be a passionate Pegasus brand evangelist. The product failed, the brand prevailed.