What Québec Wants™

The cost of speeding in Québec

The SAAQ (Société de l’assurance automobile) – Québec’s automobile insurance authority – has recently posted web ads aimed at reminding Quebeckers of the high price of speeding.

Some messages are dramatizing the ‘cost of driving’ while others focus on the ‘cost of living’. While the YouTube spot that’s getting much attention is shocking, the posted comments suggest that its intended audience is more concerned with debating the quality of the special effects than with the main message. Many are also anxious to add the music track to their playlist...

By contrast, the ‘cost of driving’ spot is far more realistic. They may not generate much of a conversation online but they perhaps get the message across more effectively.

'Cost of living'

'Cost of driving'

What Québec drivers want from a car.

 

General Motors Canada asked Canadians what they most wanted in a car.

Not surprisingly, they want it all, from safety to style, from form to function.

‘Reasonable cost’ tops the list followed by ‘great fuel efficiency’. And ‘great for a Canadian winter’ comes in third place.

Here is the list of features most important to Canadians in order of importance according to a recently release survey by Ipsos Reid on behalf of GM.

1. Reasonable cost (95% of Canadians claim this as very/somewhat important)
2. Great fuel efficiency (93%)
3. A car great for a Canadian winter (93%)
4. Quiet ride (90%)
5. Warranty coverage (90%)
6. High crash test safety rating (89%)
7. Roominess (86%)
8. Plenty of cargo space (84%)
9. Lots of airbags for safety (83%)
10. Fun to drive (82%)
11. Attractive interior design (76%)
12. Excellent sound system (66%)
13. Drives like a luxury vehicle (66%)
14. Roadside support system (63%)
15. Sleek exterior style (62%)
16. Colour of the car (61%)
17. Child friendly (46%)
18. Is a compact car (45%)
19. Leading edge technology integration, i.e. MP3 players, USB stickes, etc. (45%)
20. Smart phone connectivity via mobile applications (34%)

Quebeckers share similar attitudes towards important car features. However, they differ from Canadians living in the rest of the country when it comes to four features they attach significantly more or less importance to.

They are far more likely to say that a ‘compact car’ is important to them and therefore that ‘roominess' is less so. That’s well known and reflected in the fact that Québec is the market ‘par excellence’ for sub-compact cars.

They are also significantly less likely to attach importance to a car that ‘drives like a luxury car’. This seems to point to a more utilitarian view of what a car is and what purpose it serves. Features such as ‘sleek exterior style’ and ‘attractive interior design’, ‘excellent sound system’ also appear to be somewhat less important to Quebeckers.

Lastly, ‘roadside support system’ is also significantly less important to Quebeckers than it is to Canadians living in the rest of the country. Could it be that Quebeckers need it less? Or is it because they live – and drive – for today with less concern about what the future holds?

[These are some of the findings of an Ipsos Reid poll conducted on behalf of GM Canada among 1,021 adults online between November 18 to 23, 2010.]

 

Volt is coming to Québec in 2011.

According to The Car Guide, Quebeckers will soon see Chevrolet Volts on the road as Hydro-Québec and Chevrolet Canada announced a new partnership by which Hydro-Québec will integrate 20 Chevrolet Volts into its fleet, starting in 2011.

As the world’s first electric vehicle with extended range capability, the Volt has a total driving range of about 580 km. As per Chevrolet, the Volt is the only electric vehicle that can operate under a full range of climates and driving conditions without the limitations of a traditional battery electric vehicle. For the first 40 to 80 km, the Volt drives gas-free and produces zero tailpipe-emissions by using electricity stored in its 16-kWh lithium-ion battery. When the Volt’s battery runs low, a 1.4-litre gas-powered engine/generator seamlessly engages to extend the driving range about 500 km on a full tank.

The Volt has already garnered numerous awards in advance of its year-end launch in the U.S.  including:

• AUTOMOBILE Magazine 2011 Automobile of the Year
• Car and Driver 10Best
• Green Car Journal’s 2011 Green Car of the Year
• Motor Trend 2011 Car of the Year

Quebeckers and greener cars

According to PMB 2010, Quebeckers are significantly more likely to say they "refuse to buy a car that is not fuel efficient".

• 44.5% in French Québec
• 23.1% in English Canada

*Top two box agreement with the statement.

Chevy, FedEx & GazMétro – When brands get nicknames

GM executives issued a memo about Chevrolet’s branding:

"We'd ask that, whether you're talking to a dealer, reviewing dealer advertising or speaking with friends and family, that you communicate our brand as Chevrolet moving forward. The more consistent a brand becomes, the more prominent and recognizable it is with the consumer."

Nothing wrong with that.

However, it also asked GM employees to stop using the word Chevy.

The memo was leaked to the media. GM had to backtrack, calling the memo “poorly worded”. (Backtracking, G.M. Says Please, Call It a Chevy)

It even led to this editorial in today’s New York Times – yes, and an editorial about branding in the automotive sector...

Chevrolizing Chevy

For a while last week, General Motors was telling employees at its Chevrolet headquarters to stop using the word Chevy, explaining it was important for brand “consistency.” After a report in The Times provoked a widespread “Huh?,” Chevrolet said it was talking about expanding foreign markets and was not “discouraging customers or fans from using” Chevy. But the original effort, and the response, left us thinking about the emotional tie of automobile names and their evanescence.

 

As branding or rebranding attempts go, this one strikes us as arguing with success. “Chevrolet” does sound more formal, if not necessarily more upscale, than “Chevy,” much as “Cadillac,” another G.M. brand, sounds more formal than “Caddy.” But car owners do not have formal relationships with their vehicles. They have intimate ones, requiring nicknames.

Chevrolet’s memo also reminds us of the long line of once household automobile names shoved aside by time. There is something almost evolutionary about the history of the industry — an explosion of life forms in the early 20th century, most of them unsuccessful, dwindling into the few major lines that still survive.

Who remembers the Brewster Knight or the Dagmar or the Menominee? What about the Marmon or the Stout-Scarab? The names of vanished autos reads like a graveyard of inventors, though it also reads like a list of the emotions one might be supposed to feel on the open highway. And then, of course, there are the strange cases like the Studebaker Rockne, named after Knute. None of these are more than a memory, not even such memorable names as the Pungs-Finch.

Our feeling is that foreigners will learn to love “Chevy” the way Americans have ever since the company was founded in 1911.

FedEx

I don’t know if it’s true but someone in the parcel delivery business once told me that Fred Smith, the founder of Federal Express, initially pushed back on the idea of rebranding the company using the name everyone used to call it.

GazMétro

This reminds me of a presentation I once worked on for a new business prospect: Gaz Métropolitain – the gaz utility in Québec. We knew most people called it GazMétro and we were planning to recommend rebranding it using this more friendly name – a strategic move given how Quebeckers were at the time frightened by natural gaz, believing it would blow up their home. The president of the agency vetoed the idea.

We did not win the business. But the winning agency obviously made the same recommendation...

 

So many brands wish to engage with consumers, to be seen as ‘friendly’. What’s wrong with being known by your nickname?

Transcreation

Here’s a smart print ad for BMW’s X5 Sports Activity Vehicle.

Now imagine you’re an ad agency based in Houston, Texas and your client is asking for a French version to run in a multilingual global magazine. You’ve done Spanish versions many times and Manuel in the creative department turns great English ads into great ads for the Hispanic market. The French version however is a new challenge unless you use what’s known as ‘machine translation’. And it’s a click away to anyone with Internet access. Here’s what you get when you machine translate the headline and body copy from English to French using an online tool:

Maman du football

Voici la toute nouvelle BMW. Lorsque nous avons dévoilé le X5 d'origine, ce n'était pas seulement un nouveau véhicule, il a été une nouvelle catégorie: le Sports Activity Vehicle. Aujourd'hui, nous avons pris le X5 à un niveau encore plus élevé. Grâce aux avancées comme un siège de troisième rangée en option, en ajoutant plus d'espace à l'intérieur sans sacrifier l'efficacité globale. Et avec astucieusement scuplted lignes extérieures et de nouvelles options d'intérieur, y compris le cuir riche Napa, c'est une habile combinaison de la fonction et la forme. Le BMW X5, nous avons étendu sur une grande idée.

It sounds like gibberish for the most part.

For those of you who cannot read French, here is the machine translated English version of the machine translated French version.

Football mom.

Here very new BMW. When we revealed X5 origin, this was not only one new vehicle, it was a new category: the Sports Activity Vehicle. Today, we took X5 on a level even higher. Thanks to advanced like a seat of third line in option, by adding more; space with interior without sacrificing total effectiveness. And with astutely scuplted outside lines and of new options interior, including rich leather Napa, is a skilful combination of the function and the form. BMW X5, we extended on a great idea.

Now compare that to the original.

Soccer momma.

Introducing the all-new BMW. When we unveiled the original X5, it wasn’t just a new vehicle, it was a new category: the Sports Activity Vehicle. Today we’ve taken the X5 to an even higher level. With advancements like an optional third row seat, adding more room inside without sacrificing overall efficiency. And with artfully scuplted exterior lines and new interior options, including rich Napa leather, it’s a masterful mix of function and form. The BMW X5, we’ve expanded on a great idea.

My point is this: machine translation issues aside, the body copy could be easily translated by a skilled human translator or more accurate translator software. What’s impossible for a machine to be sensitive to are cultural references like the expression “soccer mom”.

The necessity of transcreation

Transcreation: a freer form of translation, probably closer to copywriting, the result of which is a text linguistically and culturally adapted for specific countries and/or regions. Transcreated material should have a similar impact on the target readership in the foreign country as the original source text (whereas translated material may still be clearly intended for use in the country where the document originated).

Here’s an example from a campaign we had to adapt for Québec a few years ago.

This campaign for Durex condoms was aimed at encouraging its target to make a time for sex each week. The Durex “Hump Day” campaign played on the words hump (for Wednesday/middle of the week) and humping which I let Wikipedia define.

The creative idea cleverly dramatized how things are rather cool on Tuesdays, hot on Wednesdays, and then cool again on Thursdays. Or how the tent is down on Tuesdays and erect on Wednesdays.

 

Now, just ask a machine translator like Google translate for the French version of Hump Day and it’s at a loss. Unless you contribute a translation yourself to improve the software.

Only with transcreation done by an experienced advertising creative copywriter could we have come up with a culturally relevant solution.

The Durex Hump Day became les Cinq à sexe de Durex.

Rather than link to a day of the week, we linked to a time of day and a common expression among Quebeckers for happy hour. A ‘cinq à sept’ refers to a get together after work from 5 to 7. The word ‘sept’ sounds like the word ‘sex’.

The transcreated ads look like this.

  

Never say never. But I doubt a machine could have figured this one out.

 

 

Quebeckers think Toyota is doing a good job despite being in a tough spot.

University of Toronto Marketing Professor David Dunne writes in the Globe & Mail today that the Toyota brand will ride this out.

According to Professor Dunne, “while the crisis strikes at the heart of Toyota's brand promise, the   company's management has handled the situation, if not perfectly, then reasonably well. It has assumed responsibility for the problem, pledged to fix it and appointed a task force to undertake a deeper investigation of the issues.”

He adds “look for Toyota's brand to recover, not instantly but, like some of its cars, faster than you expect.”

A survey published yesterday by Canadian Press/Harris Decima tends to support Dunne’s point of view.

The survey asked Canadians about the recall of Toyota vehicles.

Nine in ten Canadians have heard of the recall.

At this point in time, most say they hold a positive impression of the company, although one in five holds a negative impression. Quebec and B.C. residents, as well as more affluent Canadians tend to hold more positive views.

A majority feel the company has done at least a good job in handling the issue, with Quebec residents being most favourable in this regard.

In terms of how this may affect sales, just under one third of Canadians say this recall has made them at least a little less likely to purchase a Toyota in the future.

Fitting with their impression of how the company has responded, Quebec residents stand out as standing by the manufacturer more than residents from the rest of the country. For any subset of the population, the plurality is saying this recall has not yet had any effect on whether or not they would purchase a Toyota.

On the surface, the opinions expressed in this survey suggest that North American automakers may net out with a slight increase in market share as a result of Toyota’s recall.

26% of Canadians are saying this issue makes them more likely to buy North American next time. However, the majority does say this has no bearing on whether they would buy Toyota, another foreign brand or a North American brand in the future.

---------

Based on what you have read, seen or heard would you say Toyota has done a very good job, a good job, a poor job or a very poor job of handling this issue?

 

Lost in translation

The Japanese tourist agency Kinki Nippon Tourist Company decided to change its name after it entered its first English-speaking market and began getting inquiries for sex tours.

Some brand names can create headaches for marketers when the local language gives the brand a different meaning. Somehow the automotive industry seems particularly prone to these often-funny blunders. Ford introduced a low-cost truck, the “Fierra”. Unfortunately the name meant “ugly old woman” in Spanish. Ford also introduced the “Caliente” in Mexico. The word is slang for streetwalker. And we all know about the Pinto, which in Portuguese means “small male appendage.” For more on ‘blunders in international business’, read David A. Rick's book.

GM could be faced with a similar issue in Québec with its new Buick LaCrosse.

In Québécois slang, “se crosser” means “to masturbate”. But that doesn’t seem to be a major concern at GM Canada.

"We will use the Buick LaCrosse nameplate across all of Canada. Previously, we used Allure across all of Canada," George Saratlic of GM of Canada's product communications told the National Post.

GM says it plans to put more emphasis on Buick than it has in the past and adopting a common name for the sedan will help the automaker leverage the major advertising and creative campaign being  developed for its launch in the U.S.

Saratlic adds: "We are confident that this approach will have long-term benefits that will outweigh any short-term issue that may exist surrounding the vehicle's name.”

I guess the jury is out on that one. Jean-Charles Chébat, marketing professor at the HEC in Montréal is quoted in today’s French issue of Marketing Online: “It’s not an appropriate name for Québec.” (The translation is mine.)

 

Drives you nuts (Part 2)

A follow-up to a previous post about Quebeckers' driving habits. In it, I quoted Université Laval professor Jean Marie De Knoninck who heads a government committee on road safety . While he believes 'shock ads' are effective at changing attitudes and behaviours on the road, he added that 'some people don't identify with the violence - it's too over-the-top or surreal for them, like they're watching a movie."

This public service advertisement about texting and driving might be over-the-top or surreal for some but I'm never going to reach for my Blackberry again while driving. If you haven't already seen it, I'm warning you it's disturbing.

Student drivers in Québec

Ten years ago the Yankelovich Monitor asked Canadians if they agreed or disagreed with the statement: ‘everybody should be free to do their own thing’. 80% of French-speaking Canadians agreed compared to 68% of English-speaking Canadians.

This sense of freedom to do your own thing may have led a Québec father to let his seven year old son drive the family car at 70km per hour while capturing the moment on video.

You can see the clip in this CBC news report.

The story was followed closely by two thirds of the Québec population according to a recent survey conducted by Angus Reid Strategies.

What is most interesting about the survey however is the response to the question:

Do you agree or disagree with each of the following statement? - Relying on an online video to file charges against an individual is justified.

A majority of Quebeckers (63%) agree but significantly less than in the ROC.

Driving lessons in Québec

According to PMB 2009 data, Quebeckers are significantly less likely than Canadians in the ROC to have taken or be planning to take a driver education course in the past/next year. 2.5% in Québec (67 index) compared to 4.1% in the ROC (108 index).

Why bother when dad offers the courses and the booster seat for free?

 

Drives you nuts

Eastbound trips down the 401 into Québec offer great opportunities for observational research into the driving patterns of Ontarians and Quebeckers.

Ontarians have a tendency to move into the far left lane, turn on the cruise control and stay there. With their eyes transfixed on the road ahead, they seem to rarely check the rear view mirror. And when cars pass them on the right side, they ignore them.

As you get closer to the Québec border and that big ‘Bonjour’ sign, cars with Québec license plates start taking over the road. And the driving experience, so to speak, changes – more aggressive driving, tailgating, and weaving in and out of traffic lanes.

But is that really supported by data?

Quebeckers on the road

Angus Reid Strategies asked Canadians in November 2008 about what they see on the roads in their province. It concluded that Quebeckers are considerably less inclined than residents in the rest of Canada to have observed bad driving habits. And they are more likely to say that only a few of the drivers in their municipality are bad, and less likely to say that most of them are bad.

So, Quebeckers think they’re pretty good drivers. Or perhaps they don’t see bad driving habits for what they are.

Kanetix.ca offers online auto insurance quotes to Canadians and has valuable data to mine. Of the total car insurance quotes completed online in 2006, 16 per cent included at least one ticket. Québec was in line with the national average.

Percentage of quotes that included at least one ticket:

• Alberta: 17%
• Ontario: 16%
• Québec: 15%
• New Brunswick: 12%
• Prince Edward Island: 9%
• Nova Scotia: 8%

Without fail, the most common traffic ticket across provinces was for speeding. But Québec was the only province to have “signaling offences” in the top five.

I rest (part of) my case.

It’s worth noting that traffic deaths are declining in Canada. Death rates were highest in the Yukon between 2000 and 2004, followed by Saskatchewan, P.E.I., Nunavut, New Brunswick, Alberta, B.C. and Manitoba. Ontario and Newfoundland and Labrador were the only two provinces with death rates below the national average of nine per 100,000. The death rate in Québec was 9.1 per 100,000 people in line with the national average.

To reduce this rate, Québec’s auto-insurance board appears to be shifting gears with its advertising this summer. After trying to change attitudes and behaviors with blood, gore and death, it is now using statistics and charts to show how little time drivers save by speeding. According to a piece published by Canwest News Service:

The example in the ads focuses on someone driving on a road with a 90 km/h speed limit. If you drive at 110 km/h over a 15-km stretch of that road, you'll save only about two minutes, a police officer says in the ad. Yet your chance of having an accident would be six times greater than if you had driven at the speed limit.

The same article quotes Jean-Marie De Koninck, a Université Laval professor and head of a government committee on road safety, who said previous years' shock ads were effective, but such tactics don't work on all drivers.

"Shock ads are good, but some people don't identify with the violence - it's too over-the-top or surreal for them, like they're watching a movie.”