Marketing Magazine
November 2, 1998
Oh, Canada in the spotlight
Companies are adopting Canuck icons, both to create a stronger identity and to tap into a growing sense of consumer patriotism
Move over Roots, you're not the only one associating your product with powerful Canadian symbols. It seems the proud, industrious beaver is building its dam in someone else's marketing campaign. Don't feel bad. Moose, Mounties and maples are popping up in a new string of ads as well.
The eye-catching billboard for Toronto's Kraft Canada's new Post Maple Crunch Shreddies campaign is a bold example. The ads, created by BBDO Canada of Toronto, plant a Shreddie in place of the red maple leaf between the two large red bars of the Canadian flag. Meanwhile, a billboard for Toronto's Zellers Inc., announcing the introduction of a Martha Stewart line, shows a smiling Martha standing along side a Mountie and his horse under the heading "I think I'm going to like Canada."
Shreddies and Zellers are among a recent surge of companies employing explicit Canadian imagery in their advertising. And while strong national symbols might not be the most original idea in marketing, a reminder that a product is Canadian does appeal to some consumers in an internationally competitive marketplace. Such ads benefit from being instantly recognizable to the consumer while serving to tie the company to a sense of national pride and identity.
According to Paula Prociuk, director of marketing and sales, Canadian Geographic Enterprises of Vanier, Ont., it's about time.
"Canadians have been shy about taking ownership (of their icons). I think they're feeling better about reconnecting with them."
When Prociuk joined Canadian Geographic about six months ago, she felt the perception of the magazine's readership and its reality didn't match. She set out to change its image in the minds of media buyers from being a niche magazine for outdoorsy and retiring types into a general interest magazine with a much more diverse, even upscale readership.
The "Our Readership Will Surprise You" campaign inserts wildlife into various human environments, including a sidewalk cafe, boardroom table and ski chalet, each creating an element of surprise. For example, a print ad depicting a Canadian moose situates the animal in the middle of a busy downtown street as seen from the perspective of someone catching it in their rearview mirror. And while the association between Canadian Geographic and Canadian wildlife symbols is obvious, Prociuk says the creative use of animals in the ads, representing the purchasing power of the magazine's audience, works to reposition it away from the old typical Canadian image. "The icons are being reinterpreted," she adds, "they can become wallpaper after a while."
The same philosophy inspired the trade and bus shelter campaign for Canada's Home & Garden Television (HGTV), which also depicts a quintessentially Canadian image -- a beaver building a dam -- but again with an element of surprise. This is no ordinary dam. The original photograph capturing the beaver busy at work was manipulated to subtly add decorative touches to its habitat like a flower box, a chimney and a front deck and ladder. A maple leaf floats in the foreground.
The national image is appealing to viewers both emotionally and intellectually, says Todd Goldsbie, vice-president strategic planning and business development, Toronto's Atlantis Broadcasting Inc. (which owns HGTV). "People have the same emotional attachment to their homes as being a safe, comforting, peaceful place," he says. "We could've promoted the channel in a way that was more pragmatic, but we wanted to identify what sets us apart from other home and garden television available." And since there are numerous garden shows filmed in the U.S., including an American channel already called HGTV, it was crucial to differentiate itself as Canadian programming by emphasizing the environmental relevance, Goldsbie says.
Marketers have good reason to believe that consumers respond to sentiments of patriotism. Molson Breweries of Toronto conducted a million dollars worth of research in 1993 to try and tap into the mindset of its Canadian brand target audience -- young adult males. What they discovered then was shocking. Focus-group subjects expressed a newfound pride in being Canadian.
And with this ignition of patriotism, a new campaign was created. In 1993, "I Am" was born.
Molson had quite another challenge this year when deciding how to market a distinctly American brand of beer in Canada by giving it a Canadian twist. The result is the recent wacky trio of Molson's Miller Lite TV ads created by MacLaren McCann of Toronto. Each of the new spots, "99 Bottles," "Headlights" and "Hunting Tent," includes a moose and starts with a flash of Molson's new Canadian slate, which takes the existing U.S. slate -- a still shot of a Miller Lite can with the words "Miller Time" -- and places the image on top of a large, red maple leaf. "We wanted to reassure the Canadian consumer that Miller Lite is brewed in Canada," explains Molson marketing director, Richard Kellam. "We know the benefits (for them) of having brands brewed here."
And while Kellam says the introduction of the maple leaf on the slate was the most important part of emphasizing the brand's Canadian connection, Molson didn't want to jeopardize the strategy that was already in place in the U.S. "The link to the brand is identical, we just added the word 'Canada' and that took us into a different direction -- creating situations that are more symbolic of Canada." Kellam says Canada is the first country to take the U.S. campaign and regionalize it. Molson plans to introduce all U.S. executions in the future. with the new Canadian slate.
But what happens when too many marketers decide maple leaves and moose should become mascots for their products?
Adidas Canada of Toronto might be finding out the hard way. Its national "Flags" campaign, which appeared this summer on billboards and superboards, portrays a series of international athletes superimposed on an abstract of their country's flag. The campaign was designed to show the company's support for a diversity of sports at all levels and to stress its involvement at an international level. Along with Irish rugby players, Kenyan runners and French soccer players, the two Canadian executions include members of the bobsled team and a man in a wheelchair racing in the Special Olympics. In keeping with the flag theme, the Canadian sports moments are framed by two large red bars on each side -- symbolizing the Canadian flag.
Two large red bars. Yes, the very bars used to introduce Maple Crunch Shreddies. Chantal Chretien, marketing coordinator at adidas, says she hopes there's not too much confusion with the Shreddies ad. "Unfortunately they came out at the same time," she says.
By using bold Canadian imagery in advertising, companies are risking more than audience confusion. The use of important emotional symbols means marketers are venturing into sensitive territory. The Bell Canada Dieppe TV spot that ran last November sparked much debate. The ad shows a teenager touring Europe who calls his grandfather from the beaches of Dieppe (using Bell's services, of course) to say "thanks." Some viewers were offended by the ad, arguing it exploited an aspect of Canadian heritage in order to promote a product.
Ads that tap into emotions are a good way to break through the clutter and have an impact on consumers -- but there has to be a logical connection, says Shirley Roberts, president of the consumer strategy and research consulting firm Market-Driven Solutions Inc. of Toronto. "If there's confusion, ambiguity and it doesn't relate to the product at hand -- it's wasted," she says. So while companies might be capitalizing on Canadian heritage now, Roberts says it is the stimulation of emotions in Canadian advertising that is likely to be the longer-term trend.
"The more impersonal our world becomes, the more important it is to tap into the psychological side of consumers."
Only in English Canada, you say?
When Maple Leaf Meats of Mississauga, Ont. launched its summer TV campaign to remind consumers about the delights of summer meats and barbequing, the scene was set during Canada Day celebrations. In Quebec, Maple Leaf chose a different reference point. It ran radio spots of a very popular local comedian, Stephane Rousseau, doing his easily recognized comedy routine about an average guy barbequing.
"The very lifeblood (of Quebec advertising) is that unique and distinct advertising is required," says Jane Hope, founding partner and creative director of design, Taxi Advertising and Design (the company that created both Maple Leaf ads). Now working in Toronto, after 22 years in Quebec, Hope is confronted with Ontario clients asking, "Do I really have to spend all that money on a separate campaign for Quebec?"
"It's a reality that has to be respected," she replies.
In the aftermath of the Quebec referendum, Quebec agencies reported the referendum made it easier for them to sell the fact that Quebec is a distinct market with a need for homegrown advertising and PR. But privately, they admitted to blacklisting such words as "chez nous," "ici," "pays," "Canada," "nation" and "Quebecois."
So what happens to all the clever campaigns spotlighting Canadian imagery when those products hit the Quebec market? In most cases, they disappear. Off-the-record, industry insiders say politics play a strong role -- Canadian images would be politically incorrect in a sovereignty-minded province. But others insist differences in humor and culture are what motivates them to run unique Quebec advertising.
"It's not an advantage to use those types of images in ads," says Jean-Marc Leger, president of Le Groupe Leger & Leger Inc., a survey firm based in Montreal. He says Quebecers respond to ads that use humor and are associated with local celebrities like Celine Dion or Jacque Villeneuve.
When Andrea Wojnicki, product manager for the Maple Crunch Shreddies, set out to promote the new cereal, she says the company didn't ask for Canadian symbols -- it wanted images to replace the maple symbol. The most important factor was to make the ad impactful, easily identifiable and singularly focussed, she says. What BBDO Canada came back with was four executions based on a maple leaf theme. A Shreddie replaced the leaf on the Toronto Maple Leaf Jersey for the Toronto market only and it replaced the leaf on the Canadian flag, but only for English Canada. The ad was adapted for the Quebec market by showing a fig leaf labeled "Bouleau" (Birch), a pine cone labeled "Pin" (Pine), an oak leaf labeled "Chene" (Oak) and a Shreddie labeled "Erable" (Maple). This ad is also being shown in English Canada.
"We consider all four executions to be one campaign," says Wojnicki. "We chose the most relevant two for each market."
