What Québec Wants™

Girlfriends and blondes.

The term "girlfriend" took on rather negative connotations this week. Like "white house intern" did a few years ago. Granted, she was quite the girlfriend and the boyfriend should have known better. This isn't a political blog so I won't go further with this.

But the "girlfriend" thing brings up a unique aspect of coupledom in Quebec where a "girlfriend" is known as a "blonde". It might be because blondes have more fun although the expression isn't used in French.

Interestingly, being someone's "blonde" is not limited to girlfriends. It's very common in Quebec to hear a 45-year-old man refer to the mother of his children as his "blonde" and her referring to him as her "chum".

It might have something to do with the fact that there are proportionally more common-law unions in Quebec than in the rest of Canada (see the chart below). You move in with someone that's your "blonde" or your "chum" and you're still together 20 years later with kids to whom mom (even a brunette mom) and dad are each other's "blonde" and "chum".

A special brew for Quebec City's 400th

Unibroue, Quebec’s large micro-brewery (pardon the oxymoron) is introducing Quatre-centieme (the 400^th), a special brew to commemorate the founding of Quebec City. In its release, Unibroue says it is a “brewer of history that’s always been proud of its origins, as the names of its products attest: La Fin du Monde, la Maudite and the popular Blanche de Chambly". Founded in 1991, Unibroue must be referring to Quebec’s origins and not its own when it says “we've always been proud of our origins”. Available on tap and in 750 mL bottles, this beer is a nice addition to the celebrations. And let’s hope it’s a big party despite the limited knowledge of history among 22% of Quebeckers.

That’s the percentage of Quebeckers who could not answer correctly the question “in what year was Quebec City founded?” in a recent survey by Leger Marketing published in the Journal de Montreal. Perhaps this beer will help some do the math.

"The daily life instant trends of Quebeckers." Say what?

Metro Inc. made an announcement yesterday through a press release issued via CNW. 

The English version included this quote from the company’s VP Marketing:

"The results of inside researches prove us that our customers purchase the majority of their weekly grocery items from Thursday to Sunday. Consequently, they wish to benefit from the weekly specials just after they watch the circular. This change in the validity days is the results of these consuming method changes"

The release went on to state:

“For METRO, this decision is in the daily life instant trends of Quebeckers and the lack of time associated to the meal planning. From now on, when customers will look at the Metro, Metro Plus, Super C and Metro Richelieu circulars on Wednesdays, they will be able to benefit from the specials the day after.”

I had to look up the French version of the press release to understand what the retailer meant by “the daily life instant trends of Quebeckers”. The French version is as follows:

"Pour METRO, cette décision s'inscrit dans le courant d'instantanéité de la vie de tous les jours des québécois et le manque de temps associé à la planification des repas."

It basically says that Quebeckers live their daily lives in a spontaneous way and spend less time planning meals. I’m sure that Metro’s proprietary studies support this strategy. Here’s a look at some other data on this.

In terms of spontaneity, Quebeckers are ahead of Canadians in the rest of Canada. Asked by Yankelovich whether or nor they agree with the statement “I like to do things on the spur of the moment”, 83% agreed strongly or moderately compared to 70% in the rest of Canada. This is consistent with Quebeckers’ propensity to live in the moment in almost every aspect of their lives.

They might be spending less time planning meals than they used to but Quebeckers are generally more “meal involved”. For example, they are significantly more likely to say they have “a sit down meal every evening” (70% compared to 53% in English Canada according to PMB (Print Measurement Bureau – 2004) and to say they “love to cook” (43% compared to 36%).

Data from PMB also show that Quebeckers are significantly more likely to look at flyers and newspaper inserts when planning their shopping – 50% of Quebeckers say they do so compare to 40% in the rest of Canada.

PMB also segmented grocery shoppers into four segments. Two segments are overdeveloped in Quebec; “brand central” and “budget family shoppers” and share the following characteristics. They’re organized in their grocery shopping. They plan their meals ahead, and make a list of what they need.

Quebeckers rely more on flyers and coupons than Canadians in the rest of Canada. Anything retailers can do to make them even more useful will help. While Quebeckers might be spending increasingly less time planning meals (the “daily life instant trends” Metro refers to in its release) and looking for short cuts to save time, all indications are that “dashboard” dining isn’t about to take over well planned meals prepared and enjoyed by food lovers.

“Play hard. Work hard.” There’s a reason the expression has no equivalent in Quebecois French.

Quebeckers work fewer hours than Canadians in the rest of the country and spend relatively more time engaged in activities Statistics Canada’s General Social Survey refers to as “Free Time” and “Personal Care”. “Free Time” includes socializing in homes, restaurant meals, watching television, reading books and magazines, going to the movies, leisure activities, etc. “Personal Care” includes sleeping and home meals.

Joyful living in Quebec is about living in the moment and, for many in Quebec, working to live instead of living to work. This data proves it again.

An article published in the Montreal Gazette earlier this year offered an interesting analysis.

It quoted James Milway, executive director of the Institute for Competitiveness and Productivity, an independent think tank funded by the Ontario government. Milway's organization put out a study just over a year ago comparing the total number of hours worked per year, per worker, in Ontario, Quebec and 14 U.S. states. That study found Ontarians worked 1,739 hours a year - about 31/2 weeks less than the U.S. workers in the study - while Quebecers worked fewer than 1,700 hours. 

Paul Daniel Muller, an economist and president of the Montreal Economic Institute, said it's clear Quebeckers work fewer hours than people in Ontario or the United States.

"I'm not going to say it's good or bad (for the overall economy). But the general rule is that if you want to earn more, you have to work more," he said.

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In Quebec, working fewer hours goes hand in hand with taking more vacations.

With the summer holidays approaching and the “construction holidays” as it’s called in Quebec, we’re taking a look at Quebeckers and their vacations.

Quebec's construction holiday has been an annual tradition since the summer of 1971, and it's not just construction workers who take off. It's been estimated that a quarter of the province's labour force take their holidays at the same time.

Quebeckers like to take vacations. In fact, they’re more likely than Canadians in the rest of Canada to take all of their vacation days.

According to a recent survey by Ipsos-Reid for Expedia, 65% of Quebeckers say they always take all of their vacation days compared to 45% in Ontario, 38% in the Prairies, 43% in Alberta and the Maritimes and 41% in BC.

Quebeckers are also less likely to feel guilty about taking time off from work (21% vs. 31% nationally) and more likely to say they return from vacation feeling better about their job and feeling more productive (49% vs. 39% nationally) - more on this below.

The same survey asked Canadians whether or not they have “vacation envy” – defined as feelings of jealousy when a co-worker or friend returns from vacation. Only 28% of Quebeckers said yes while 42% nationally said yes and as high as 54% said yes in BC.

Back to James Milway, executive director of the Institute for Competitiveness and Productivity: “Taking longer holidays might add to Quebec's reputation as a haven for slackers. But some say allowing workers to spend "down time" with family, or just relaxing, will improve productivity in the long run.“

There’s no evidence of improved productivity (for more on this, read Jacques Ménard’s book entitled “Si on s’y mettait…” (If we got on with things… - my translation). Ménard is CEO of BMO Nesbitt Burns.

However, there seems to be a positive impact on quality family time. When Ipsos Reid ask Canadians about their work in a survey conducted in July 2007, Quebeckers were significantly more likely to disagree with the statement “I find it hard to balance my work time and family time.”

The Gazette article also quoted Karl Moore, a professor at McGill University's Desautels Faculty of Management: "As a parent and a human being, I think it's a good thing - but we have to remember that while we are relaxing, our competitors have their noses to the grindstone. It's more balanced and mature of us, but on the other hand, when we are compared to our competitors, who are now not just across town but global, we do look just a smidgen lazy." 

Marketers might think that this opens up opportunities to equip vacationers from Quebec with electronic gadgets to help them stay in touch with their work. On this point, Ipsos-Reid asked Canadians if technological advances such as PDAs, Blackberries, Pocket PCs, webmail and cell phones make it easier or harder to get away from work. Significantly more Quebeckers (57%) said it made no difference.

That would mean work getting in the way of play.

Identity, pride and marketing in Quebec.

The Globe & Mail calls it “Quebec’s day of reckoning”. The long awaited (and partially leaked to the media) Bouchard-Taylor report on “reasonable accommodation and concerned adjustment” is finally public. Judging from what we’ve already heard from politicians, we’re in for a treat. 

While most of this has little to do with marketing, at its core it deals with culture and identity. Deep-rooted beliefs that anyone marketing in the province cannot ignore. The abridged version of the report is available online in English (to accommodate those who do not speak French). On page 85, the report’s authors write “Let us remember that no information allows us to confirm that discrimination is more prevalent in Quebec than elsewhere. Considering the number and variety of immigrants that Montreal has welcomed in recent decades, this point is noteworthy.”

There has always been some contradiction in survey data about Quebeckers’ tolerance of minority groups. On one hand, they’re far more tolerant of gays and lesbians than Canadians living in the rest of Canada. On the other hand, some surveys paint a portrait of a more xenophobic population. 

Perhaps it has to do with something quite simple as Jean-Philippe Warren, Concordia Junior Research Chair in the Study of Quebec, points out. One factor affecting Quebec society’s reaction to some immigrants’ requests is the simple fact that there are fewer newcomers in this province than in others. One in five people living in Canada were not born there. In Quebec, the average is roughly one in 10. “Sociologically speaking, but quite paradoxically, the more meaningful interaction you have with newcomers, the less threatened you feel.”

The countdown to the annual July 1st moving day madness in Quebec has begun.

Canada Day in Quebec is Moving Day. Moving day on the first day of July began in 1973 when the Quebec government decreed that leases should begin on July 1. The special day leaves Quebecers scrambling to find commercial movers and friends to help them hoist sofas. About 10 per cent of the 1.3 million apartments in Quebec change hands on July 1.

Advertisers are capitalizing on this unique ritual.

Rogers and Ikea are inviting Quebeckers to “pack their boxes” (Faitesvosboites.com) through a microsite where they can fill a truck with Rogers and Ikea merchandise to have a chance to win $15,000 in Rogers and Ikea products. Rogers will also hold in-store events on May 31st in 15 Montreal area stores distributing boxes, labels and markers. 

Pepsi also tapped into this unique ritual a few years ago in a television commercial that dramatized a variety of uniquely Quebecois rituals from poutine eating to the July 1st moving day.

Pride sells. And on July 1st in Quebec, “I am moving” might sell more than “I am Canadian”.

Mountain Equipment Co-op got it right in Quebec

Ask Canadians if they prefer country life to city life and 46% say yes. Ask Quebeckers and that number climbs to 67%.

That may explain, in part, MEC’s huge success in Quebec over the past five years since it entered the province.

According to a release CNW this week to celebrate its fifth anniversary, “Mountain Equipment Co-op opened its first store in Montreal, heralding its arrival on the Quebec market. With a business model all its own, Canada's largest outdoor clothing and equipment retailer has since enjoyed unprecedented success. MEC's record over the past five years has been nothing short of sensational-with over 350,000 members in Quebec, the store has reached out to close to one in seven adults in the province. This breakthrough is all the more remarkable given that MEC took over 30 years to reach the same market penetration in the rest of Canada.”

MEC attributes much of this success to its philosophy and core values that have always been driven by sustainable development. MEC Montreal store manager Patrick Tremblay also emphasizes how the organization tapped into Quebeckers’ love of the outdoors: "Consumers are keeping a closer eye than ever on how companies go about their business as well as their ties to the community and the environment. Consumers here immediately fell in love with the high quality of our products, as well as their diversity and design, and they appreciate the work we do to encourage people to head outdoors and enjoy all that nature has to offer."

But there’s more to it. MEC entered Quebec the right way investing heavily to adapt to the market and speak the language. In an interview published in Marketing Magazine in 2005, Louise Arbique, the director of French marketing in Quebec for Mountain Equipment Co-op, had this to say: "Quebecers share MEC values. People really appreciate that they feel respected in their language and their culture, and we worked very hard to adapt MEC for the Quebecers."

La coopérative de plein air

MEC’s work on Le Petit MEC, a visual dictionary of more than 6,000 words that translated all of the company's products into French received a Mérite du français award by L'Office québécois de la langue française.

MEC also used Quebec images in all collateral. As the VP Marketing at the time said: "We are not just taking English or western-based content, plonking it into Quebec and translating it and assuming that will somehow resonate with people."

At an estimated pricetag of $2 million for its francization program (costs were paid from profits generated at other stores), MEC did it the right way and Quebeckers are rewarding it accordingly.

HEADSPACE MARKETING & GADOUA WIN CONCOURS STRATEGIES' IMPACT AWARD

The AMM-PCM (Montreal's Marketing Association and the Publicité Club de Montréal) unveiled the winners of its second annual Concours Strategies last night at a gala attended by more than 700 Québec marketing professionals.

Toronto-based Headspace Marketing won in the “Impact” category for its integrated marketing-communications program supporting the repositioning of Gadoua Bakeries. Concours Strategies celebrates the work of marketing-communications professionals in Quebec with an emphasis on strategy development and proven results. The campaign Headspace Marketing developed for Gadoua’s bread products in Quebec involved a repositioning of the umbrella brand communicated through advertising, innovative packaging, and a website. The impact was immediate and significant.

Philippe Gadoua, Eric Blais, Mario Daigle (Allard Johnson Communications - Impact Award Sponsor

Concours Stratégies - Finalists

Impact
Boulangeries Gadoua & Headspace Marketing (winner)
Fido & Bos, DraftFCB, Komunik et Revolver 3

Innovation
Mira & Publicis Montréal (winner)
Cadillac/GM Canada & Fjord Marketing interactif
Producteurs laitiers du Canada & Nomad Logic

Creativity
TELUS & TAXI Canada (winner)
Lise Watier & Carat, Promotions Speed
RE/MAX & Carat

Audacity
Laboratoires Paladin & TAXI Canada (winner)
NEWAD & Christianne Bourbonnais, Sid Lee

Effectiveness
Commission des normes du travail & Cartier Communication (winner)
Office national du film du Canada & Provoka

When it comes to advertising to children in Quebec, outside the box thinking can get you outside the law.

Advertising to children under 13 years old is illegal in Quebec. It’s a law most Quebeckers support. There are strict guidelines enforced by Quebec’s consumer protection branch and there is an effective complaint mechanism in place. Responsible marketers follow the guidelines by crafting their messages and adapting their media strategies accordingly.

Yet once in a while we hear marketers claim their ignorance after campaign posters show up in daycare centers and schools.

There was last year’s Igor campaign by Saputo for its line of muffins under the Vachon brand showing up in daycare centers. As part of the campaign, which featured an animated gorilla named Igor, more than 1,000 day-care centres in Quebec, Ontario, and the Maritimes received CDs with original music, discount coupons, posters featuring the Igor character, as well as loot bags for children containing a booklet on the history of the character. It contravened article 248 of the province’s Consumer Protection Act, which forbids advertising to children under 13.

Now there’s ConAgra’s campaign for POGO (quite possibly the world’s best corn dog according to the company website) showing up on or near school grounds. If the ultimate objective is to stretch a small budget to get maximum visibility by stirring up a controversy, ConAgra got the return on investment it hoped for. Campaign posters showed up on or near school grounds, skateboard parks, etc. They’ve apparently been taken down since.

But the real “out of the box” thinking here is creative thinking… The Pogo campaign is built around a metaphor. Pogo, in the campaign, is referred to as “ boutte” (Quebec slang for a man’s sexual organ). Nice idea. I wish I had sat in on that creative presentation.

You should read Konrad Yakabuski’s piece in today’s Globe & Mail’s Report on Business for the details. Globe & Mail

Yakabuski quotes ConAgra’s marketing representative: “It's an irreverent, humorous campaign that's relevant for the target,” Andrew Armstrong, ConAgra Canada's vice-president of marketing, explained in an interview. “The whole idea is making fun of being a man. We, well, not capitalized, but tried to tie that in to the relevance of our product. It's like: Being proud of your Pogo and being proud of yourself.”

Perhaps it’s relevant to teenagers and a food product. I don’t have their insights into the Pogo eating experience and penises. But the disturbing part comes from ConAgra’s website which Yakabuski quotes in his article: “ConAgra Foods has a special responsibility to schoolchildren to provide healthy options and accurate nutritional information”. Schoolchildren? I guess they mean high schoolchildren. POGO is also pitched as a “hearty after-school snack” on the company’s website. Whatever the actual target group definition, they’re on thin ice with this campaign.

Quebeckers checking out

Loblaw's plan to hire 1,000 store employees, mostly for cash service and bagging, at 20 stores in the highly competitive Ontario market might be a sign that we're returning to humans instead of the self-serve checkout machines that have crept up in grocery stores and other big box retailers.

Like the fast check out lanes, they are meant to speed up the process. It's a welcome option as long as it lives up to the promise. Items that won't scan. Items that need to be weighed. Codes that need to be entered. Items detected in the bag that weren't recognized. And too many push pads to manage all lead to the dreaded "please wait for attendant" message. Suddenly, what was expected to be a speedy exit for technologically advanced shoppers with no need for the personal touch turns into an experience similar to getting the full search at airport security.

A survey conducted by Ipsos Reid/NCR (September 2004) offers some interesting insights into how Quebeckers and Canadians in the ROC views these machines and the benefits they are meant to provide.

While there are no significant differences in the appeal of self-checkouts between Quebeckers and Canadian in the ROC (22% of Quebeckers would be more likely to shop at stores with a self-checkout option compared to 27% as a national average), Quebeckers are significantly more likely to view the impact of self checkouts as ensuring customer support in the other areas of the store.

The answer to this question is most telling.

Retailers who have deployed self-checkout are looking to reallocate staff to other areas of the store for improved customer service. Which of the following areas are most important to you when you shop?