What Québec Wants™

Are you fruity and vibrant?

There’s a great scene in the movie Sideways where Miles (Paul Giamatti) instructs Jack (Thomas Haden Church) on the art of wine tasting.

Miles: Let me show you how this is done. First thing, hold the glass up and examine the wine against the light. You're looking for color and clarity. Just, get a sense of it. OK? Uhh, thick? Thin? Watery? Syrupy? OK? Alright. Now, tip it. What you're doing here is checking for color density as it thins out towards the rim. Uhh, that's gonna tell you how old it is, among other things. It's usually more important with reds. OK? Now, stick your nose in it. Don't be shy, really get your nose in there. Mmm... a little citrus... maybe some strawberry... passion fruit... and, oh, there's just like the faintest soupçon of like asparagus and just a flutter of a, like a, nutty Edam cheese... 

Jack: Wow. Strawberries, yeah! Strawberries. Not the cheese...

What do you do if you’re more Jack than Miles?

If you shop for wine in Québec’s liquor stores, you simply look for your colour. And I’m not referring to red or white.

Here’s an idea I’ve been meaning to write about for a while. It’s simple and beautifully executed online and in stores.

Go to SAQ.com and find your taste tag.

Let’s say you select ‘aromatic and mellow’.

You can then view all products from this tag, including their price and store availability.

What if you’re not sure about your preferred taste tag?

You take the online quiz to find your tag.

In case, you’re not sure about ‘fruit only’ versus ‘multiple aromas’, the illustrations should help… Jack would click on fruit only; “Wow. Strawberries”.

Pick your favourite varietal.

Bingo. You are fruity and sweet. Just look for all wines identified by this colour tag and enjoy.

 

 

 

 

Starbucks' glocal brand

Howard Schultz, Starbucks' chairman, president, and chief executive officer had much to say during his talk this morning about his company's turnaround.

He was categorical about how the Starbucks brand experience is globally relevant and should remain so: "The Starbucks customer wants the global Starbucks coffee experience and doesn't want it changed to suit local tastes". He added "what many multinationals fail to understand is you must have local relevancy with the consumer and must have a local management team."

Ten years ago, Starbucks in Québec seemed to be have been adopting a different strategy with its 'Mélange Mont-Royal Blend', a coffee blend specifically for the tastes of the local and regional market.

He made a point about how a blue-chip consulting firm hired to advise on Starbucks' entry into Japan had recommended against it because Japanese coffee drinkers wouldn't patronize a coffee shop where smoking is banned. The consultants were wrong. It must have strengthened his conviction that customers want the global Starbucks experience no matter what.

Howard Schultz's new book is titled Onward - How Starbucks Fought for Its Life without Losing Its Soul. 

George Clooney for Nespresso in France but not in Québec

The Nespresso campaign created by McCann Paris starring George Clooney is a huge success across Europe and in Australia. In airs in France in English with French sub-titles.

Could it ever air that way in Québec? In fact, could any TV spot air on French TV using English voices and French sub-titles? (Assuming an advertiser would want to take this approach.)

This is the CBC|Radio-Canada policy 1.3.7 on the language of broadcast:

Only advertisements designed for anglophone or francophone audiences or website visitors may be carried by CBC/Radio-Canada  English or French services respectively.

A language other than that of the station's may be used, however, as a device to attract attention or create an artistic effect. In such cases, the advertisement must remain intelligible to the audience and website visitors, and the advertiser must use appropriate means to adapt its message to the service's majority audience.

I sent this Nespresso spot to the SRC wondering if using an English-speaking Clooney could be considered 'a device to attract attention or create an artistic effect'.

The answer: We do not approve messages in English with French sub-titles. (Les messages que nous approuvons et qui contiennent des vedettes anglophones sont traduites en français.  Nous n'approuvons pas les messages en anglais avec sous-titres français.)

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Here's the most recent spot in the campaign featuring Clooney and John Malkovich. More on this campaign here.

Secret in a bottle

The Caramilk secret is not so secret thanks to Wikipedia – no need for Wikileaks on this one:

The caramel is dropped into the bar by using a mold that cools the bottom of the chocolate while the upper half of the chocolate bar is still liquid. The caramel is heavier than chocolate and sinks, then the upper half of the chocolate bar is cooled, sealing the caramel into the bar.

Now Canadians are being treated to the latest in brand stretching: Caramilk cream liquor.

The first chocolate bar flavour in the alcohol market. Imagine that.

See what this  blogger had to say about the sample she received over the holidays.

Cream liqueur in Québec

The consumption of cream liqueur among Quebeckers and Canadians in the ROC doesn’t differ significantly. According to PMB 2010, 6.5% of Canadians living in the ROC personally drink cream liqueur (103 index) compared to 5.8% of Quebeckers (92 index) who are also more likely to be lighter liqueur drinkers. We should point out that 1.3% of Canadians living in the ROC personally drink Crème de menthe (66 index) compared to 4.8% of Quebeckers (237 index). Anyone for Trident Peppermint Splash Cream Liqueur?

Logo fatigue

 

Could Starbucks go from catering to ‘familiar strangers’ to becoming ‘strangely familiar’ to its customers?

Organizations have to update their visual identity from time to time.

Yellow Pages had to evolve, as it no longer dropped these thick phone books at your door allowing your fingers to do the walking.

Federal Express went short when it decided to be called what people called it; FedEx. Gaz Métropolitain did the same in Québec; Gaz Métro.

Tim Horton’s dropped the apostrophe when it moved into Québec; Tim Hortons.

Some brands try to look younger by contemporizing their identity with what is essentially minor surgery. Betty Crocker and Aunt Jemima had makeovers over the years.

Others end up looking older and perhaps wiser by reclaiming parts of their past with references to their heritage.

Others have no choice but to create something new following a “merger of equals” which it rarely is.

I get that Starbucks wants to align its visual identity with its strategic direction of broadening its core business beyond coffee. But I’m not so sure that this requires the coffee chain to drop both its name and the word coffee from its logo. Academics were quoted yesterday in the extensive press coverage the change is generating (the change's real purpose?) saying that Starbucks is more than coffee, it’s an experience. True. But it’s likely to remain an experience rooted in coffee culture for a long time. Starbucks coined an expression to refer to this experience: the familiar stranger. A reference to regular customers known to baristas only by the way they take their coffee. Let’s hope Starbucks doesn’t become simply strangely familiar to its customers.

By the way, I was interviewed on French CBC radio this morning on this topic. It’s called Radio-Canada despite being in the television and webTV business…

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Here's a very clever take on what we can expect next from Starbucks - by Tim Nudd on Adfreak.com

 

Red Red Wine

The ten best-selling wines at the Société des alcohols du Québec (Québec’s liquor board) paint an interesting picture, and it’s red.

According to an article published in today’s La Presse, nine of the top ten sellers in 2009 were reds and one was a rosé.

1. Brouilly Georges Duboeuf (France)
2. Shiraz/Malbec Fuzion (Argentine)
3. Modello Masi Delle Venezie (Italie)
4. Merlot/Cabernet J.P. Chenet (France)
5. Merlot Vivola di Sasso (Italie)
6. Mouton Cadet Bordeaux (France)
7. Ménage à trois Folie à deux (USA)
8. White Zinfandel Ernest & Julio Gallo (USA)
9. Merlot Grand Sud (France)
10. Shiraz/Cabernet Jacob’s Creek (Australia)

The best selling white was ranked 15^th: Kim Crawford Marlborough (New Zealand).

We also learn that the top four spirits in 2009 were Smirnoff vodka, Bailey’s, Bacardi white rum and Jack Daniel’s.

How do you take your coffee?

While taste matters most to all Canadians, Québec coffee drinkers give more importance to ambiance than coffee drinkers in the rest of Canada.

These are some of the findings of an Ipsos Reid poll conducted between September 17th and 21st, 2010, on behalf of McDonalds Canada.

Antacid with Coke

I saw this in a drug store in Baton Rouge, Louisiana on a recent trip. At first, I thought it was a rather odd cross-selling/merchandising approach.

 

But I guess there’s more to it. Artist Humble Houdini offers a ringtone called “antacid with Coke”.

Clearly, this is a topic that generates quite a bit of chatter online.

Why does an antacid dissolve in coke faster than in water?

Antacid after a Coke binge?

Chew an antacid while drinking Coca-Cola.

Antacids in Québec

PMB asked Canadians if they use upset stomach remedies for heartburns.

11.7% (116 index) of Quebeckers do compared to 9.5% of Canadians in the ROC.

Perhaps Quebeckers (like the folks in Baton Rouge) know something about Coke (or is it Pepsi?) and Tumbs.

How about more taxes with your Pepsi?

Some survey results make you wonder what the motives for the survey were.

This one was conducted by Ipsos for the Association des embouteilleurs de boissons gazeuses du Québec (Quebec’s soft drink bottlers’ association).

The press release’s headline: Les Québécois croient davantage à l’éducation de la population qu’à la taxation pour modifier les comportements alimentaires des gens. (Quebeckers are more likely to believe in education than taxation to change people’s eating habits. – the translation is mine).

We learn that a majority of Quebeckers (75%) believes that a tax on some products would have little or no impact on fighting obesity. In fact, 84% of Quebeckers believe that the best long-term solution to change people’s eating habits is education.

Ipsos surveyed 811 adults online in Québec to get these answers.

Key learning:

• Quebeckers do not want more taxes.
• Quebeckers would rather learn about the health implications of their consumption of high-fructose soft drinks. And then decide what to do about it.

Mystery solved.

How about a double double with Stevia, Truvia or PureVia?

I love sugar in my coffee. And I’ve never adopted so-called artificial sweeteners.

Now an alternative appears to be gaining in popularity. A sweetener is derived from a plant called stevia, which grows in Paraguay and Brazil and has been used for centuries in South America. According to the Globe & Mail, it's already available in Canadian natural-food stores as a tabletop sweetener. But now companies such as Cargill Ltd. and Merisant Worldwide Inc. are extracting rebaudioside A, one of the   components that makes the plant sweet, and turning it into a zero-calorie, natural rival to artificial sweeteners like Splenda.

According to the same G&M article, consumer research firm Mintel estimates the market for products made with stevia could reach $2-billion (U.S.) by the end of 2011.

Last fall, Health Canada released updated rules that allow stevia and its extracts to be added as a non-medicinal ingredient to natural health products, which has opened the door to allowing food and beverage makers to expand the use of stevia in their products.

Stevia is available under various brands including Truvia and PureVia.

See this spot for Truvia – the all natural, zero calorie sweetener that comes from a leaf. Honestly sweet. Honestly?

Quebeckers and low calorie sweeteners

The all-natural aspect of a sweetener that comes from a leaf might change Quebeckers’ attitudes towards low calories sweeteners. However, for now, it seems they aren’t huge fans of the stuff. According to PMB 2009 data, only 7.7% of Quebeckers used a low calorie sweetener in the past 6 months compared to 16.1% of Canadians in the ROC.