What Québec Wants™

Mediocrity, citizens of the world and other musings

Earlier this week, I had the opportunity to speak at a conference on multicultural marketing organized by the NDMAC (Non-prescription Drug Manufacturers Association of Canada). I was there to speak about marketing in Québec. It was nice to be invited considering how conferences about multicultural marketing rarely include French-Québec as an "ethnic" group. Likely because it's a visible minority that isn't as visible as others.

Jean-François Bouchard, President and Co-Founder of Montreal-based agency Sid Lee was also a speaker. But he wasn't there to speak about marketing in Québec. He made it clear that he did not want to speak about Québec since his agency has global reach and just happens to be based in Montréal. In fact, Bouchard claimed that all marketing is ethic marketing. True enough. But he also claimed that there is no such thing as Québec experts since Québec is not a homogeneous market. True to a point. But I disagree that there is no need for Québec market expertise. I’ll let the renowned pollster and social analyst Michael Adams argue my point. Here’s what he writes in his book Unlikely Utopia: In Québec, fully 70 percent of the population claim French ancestry, have French as their mother tongue, and have family heritage in Québec stretching back three generations or more. This is a province that, although diverse, has a dominant ethnic and linguistic majority – a “nous”. In my experience in boardrooms in Toronto and various North-American cities, I can tell you that there is a great need for objective expertise on the Québec market.

While he was not interested in speaking about Québec, Bouchard could not resist sharing his five deadly  sins of marketing in Québec. And I cannot resist sharing my thoughts on his deadly sin #3. “Hire a mediocre agency”. Can’t argue with that. But I’ll argue with what followed in brackets: “(because it is part of your agency network)”. Translation: global network agencies operating in Montréal are mediocre and independent Montréal agencies are not. To be even more provocative, something Bouchard repeatedly said he wanted to be in front of this group of drug marketers, he added that there are a lot of “has beens” working in these network agencies and “they work for you”. I have to admit, this is a new business pitch I have never heard a Montréal agency use with a Toronto audience.

I recognize that there is a new generation of young Québec entrepreneurs who see the world as their oyster. And it has achieved much. Sid Lee and Taxi being great examples in our industry. Yet pursuing global opportunities seems to often come with what sounds like a rejection of Québec’s unique place in the world and a desire to somehow homogenize it with the rest of the world. To some, Jacques Bouchard’s 36 distinctive keys of Québécois are old news. “To be honest, I couldn’t tell you the 36 cordes sensibles” said Stéphane Charier, VP and creative director at Taxi’s Montreal office in Marketing Magazine’s October 27, 2008 issue.

This brings me back to Sid Lee’s Bouchard. In his remarks about multiculturalism (which he referred to as intra-culturalism), we heard about his client Cirque du Soleil – very much a multicultural organization with contortionists from China, gymnasts from Russia and so on. Bouchard’s point was that even the Québécois members of its management team no longer think of themselves as Québécois. They instead think of themselves as “citizens of the world”.

This, somehow, reflects the same need to shed the Québec identity in order to act on the world stage. As if one cannot be a citizen of the world and a Quebecker.  Or an agency cannot be a world agency and a Quebec agency.

I spoke later in the day about marketing in Québec. And I shared our firm’s model of filters and influencers that can help ensure brand success in Québec. I of course spoke about Quebeckers’ deep sense of belonging and sense of place. Something many who market beer and pop in the province have successfully capitalized on over the years. To support my point, I showed a somewhat serendipitous video clip from CNN’s Larry King interviewing the surviving Beatles and the widows about the Cirque du  Soleil’s show called Love.  Also interviewed was Guy Laliberté, the Cirque’s founder. I have often used this video clip because it shows one of Québec’s most successful entrepreneurs on the world stage - a Sid Lee client and likely a model for Bouchard’s global aspirations. When Larry King asks Laliberté if it was difficult to stage to the Beatles’ music, his answer was “Listen, the pressure is enormous. We were just a bunch of little kids from Québec, Montréal, you know.”

So here’s a billionaire “citizen of the world” who is still very much from and about Québec. It runs deep...

Too bad Bouchard doesn’t want to talk about it; his agency would be even richer for it.

Facebook in French, Québec French that is.

French-speaking Quebeckers using Facebook used to be asked about what Lycée they attended instead of what Cégep or université. That’s because the French version of Facebook used European French.

That’s changed according to a release from the social network - thanks to a collaborative effort among  Facebook’s French-speaking users in Québec.

The release quotes Jimmy Lavoie, 17, an avid Facebook user from Québec, who was the most prolific translator. "As I worked on the translation, my goal was to help create a site that feels natural and comfortable to French Canadians. I like the French language and I try to protect it, on the Internet and in real life. I'm especially proud of Québec French, also called Canadian French, which is recognized as a different dialect from the European French language.”

 

 

Getting it wrong

In a post published last December, I wrote about De Beers’ belief that the idea of an enduring item that retains value will persuade consumers to buy diamonds despite the financial crisis.

Now Ad Age is publishing ten case studies about five brands doing it right in the recession, and five doing it wrong.

Here’s the story about De Beers:

Last holiday season, De Beers doubled its U.S. marketing budget in the face of gloomy news reports. The diamond purveyor believed -- incorrectly, as it turned out -- that diamond sales would be robust as consumers looked for gifts with enduring value. Worldwide demand for diamonds has softened, however, and parent company LVMH saw profits decline 16% in its watches-and-jewelry division last year. Even more telling, only 1% of 434 retailers surveyed by National Jeweler said De Beers' marketing efforts helped boost sales.

In the dark about Earth Hour

A week ago today the earth went dark for Earth Hour.

In Quebec, the World Wildlife Fund, Earth Hour’s sponsor, turned to ad agency Bleublancrouge for a way to raise Earth Hour’s visibility in the province. In her Persuasion column a week ago, the Globe & Mail's Jennifer Wells detailed what the agency recommended and implemented; a super cool darkened website http://www.ideasinthedark.ca where “visitors scroll across the seemingly black screen, the mouse casts the glow of a subtle spotlight upon the text, a call to Quebeckers to participate in Earth Hour 2009.”

Wells wrote about what the agency calls “eco-creativity”: on Saturday, from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m. E.T.,  Montreal will play host to Ideas in the Dark, where artists will create with the lights out and then put their works on display when the lights come back on. There will be creative thinking in the dark, and musical performances in the dark, all in aid of a celebration.

Did it work?

You be the judge.

Here are two data points to help you in your analysis:

The Gazette reports a saving of 150 megawatts of power across the province – exactly the same as for last year’s event.

A study released this week conducted by Ipsos Reid on behalf of Canwest News Service revealed that participation rates varied greatly across the country. Overall, Ontarians (74%) were the most likely to report having observed Earth Hour, while a majority in Alberta (63%), British Columbia (62%), Atlantic Canada (59%), and Saskatchewan and Manitoba (57%) also got involved. The lowest reported levels of participation are found in Quebec (35%).

In Alberta (+11) and Ontario (+3) participation rates increased over last year. But in BC (-8), Quebec (-3) and Atlantic Canada (-2) participation dropped, while it remained unchanged in Saskatchewan and Manitoba.

A closer look at the results points to the real issue in Quebec.

While only 7% of Canadians have never heard of the event, 1 out of 5 Quebecers (19%) has never heard of it.

WWF might want to rethink its awareness building strategy in Quebec. The site and its related activities may have been super cool but it seems to have kept Quebeckers in the dark about Earth Hour.