What Québec Wants™

Quebeckers, smart phones and shopping

 

With the Christmas shopping season in full swing, there is no shortage of pronouncements about how mobile technology has changed the way we shop forever.

Comparison-shopping is certainly a lot easier with smart phones that scan barcodes and connect to the web to provide local prices as well as online ones. Check out Google Shopper.

We might be in for radically different shopping trips in the future but, as they say in Québec, “c’est pas demain la veille” (the eve isn’t tomorrow). Only 9% of Quebeckers own a smart phone (Blackberry, iPhone, Android, etc.) according to a recent survey by Ipsos Reid on behalf of CIBC. Québec appears to be the province with the lowest ownership of such devices; Atlantic 17%, Ontario 26%, the Prairies 18%, Alberta 28% and BC 16%.

 

Marketing to reduced expectations

I keep seeing this billboard for Chatr with the claim that it has "fewer dropped calls than new wireless carriers". I guess it's Rogers' way to claim its network's superiority over Wind and Public. Somehow it must sound odd to those who aren't following the intricacies of the wireless sector's ultra competitiveness.

It's also an odd formulation for a superiority claim: we're the least defective of your options.

I get that no network is perfect but somehow the old "Can you hear me now" campaign for Verizon in the U.S. made the glass look half full instead of the half empty focus on dropped calls.

Here's what marketing to reduced expectations would sound like in other sectors:

The airline with the fewest delayed flights.

The retailer with the fewest out-of-stock items.

The car company with the least recalls.

The Mexican resort with the lowest crime rate.

This billboard posted a few feet away from the Chatr billboard might be an over-promise but it sure sounds more positive than one that markets to reduced expectations.

Truth and dare

Readers of Le Journal de Montréal today will come across two ads that claim to tell the truth and nothing but the truth.

The first is from Vidéotron, the cable broadcasting, internet provider, cable telephony and wireless telephone company that’s part of Quebecor, owner of le Journal de Montréal. The headline is about having the “power to know the whole truth”. It borrows from Vidéotron’s slogan about the “Infinite Power” of cable initially, and now, of pretty much anything in telecommunication. The ad goes on to list 13 service features the competition claims to offer, followed by a reality check and then what Vidéotron offers.

Flip a few pages and you'll come across another ad. This time from Bell, the “competitor”.  The headline reads “The power to know the truth.” There’s no attempt at debunking the competition’s claims but there’s an offer for a free HD PVR.

 

So if you can’t handle the truth from Vidéotron, there’s something free from Bell.

Don’t expect Vidéotron to play Bell’s game. Here’s what Robert Dépatie, president and CEO of Vidéotron, had to say on the subject in a Globe & Mail article last week:

“Bell is extremely aggressive, to a point that I don’t understand why they’re attacking on pricing so much. We have built our brand on customer service, values and product. We have no intention to match their pricing. If they want to do that war, they’re going to do it alone.”

Two different approaches. And perhaps further proof that there’s no monopoly on the truth.

Brain training is not that smart

Nature.com is publishing the findings from a study of computerized mental workouts. It seems they don’t do much to boost mental skills.

You get better at the mental task you trained for but no better at other tasks.  

Here’s an excerpt. For the full report in PDF, click here.

‘Brain training’, or the goal of improved cognitive function through the regular use of computerized tests, is a multimillionpound industry, yet in our view scientific evidence to support its efficacy is lacking. Modest effects have been reported in some studies of older individuals and preschool children, and video-game players outperform non-players on some tests of visual attention. However, the widely held belief that commercially available computerized brain-training programs improve general cognitive function in the wider population in our opinion lacks empirical support. The central question is not whether performance on cognitive tests can be improved by training, but rather, whether those benefits transfer to other untrained tasks or lead to any general improvement in the level of cognitive functioning. Here we report the results of a six-week online study in which 11,430 participants trained several times each week on cognitive tasks designed to improve reasoning, memory, planning, visuospatial skills and attention. Although improvements were observed in every one of the cognitive tasks that were trained, no evidence was found for transfer effects to untrained tasks, even when those tasks were cognitively closely related.

Quebeckers and intelligence

Yankelovich asked Canadians whether or not they agree with the statement “I think my I.Q. is higher than average”, about half of Canadians thought so. There was no significant difference between agreement levels in Quebec and in the ROC.

It also asked about agreement with the statement “I probably know more things than other people”. 35% of Canadians in the ROC agreed. That number climbed to 45% among Quebeckers.

They must have known that.

The rewards and perils of early adoption

On the day the iPad was released for sale, one of my Facebook friends posted a photo of himself holding the brand new device.

He’s obviously an early adopter. But why? Why be one of the few who can claim to have gotten it first?  

Rob Walker in his ‘Consumed’ column in the New York Times last weekend may have provided part of the answer. Here are a few excerpts. The full text can be accessed here.

Earlier this year Apple previewed its iPad tablet computer and enjoyed a blizzard of media attention. As is often the case, the most memorable response came not from a tech blog or a mainstream media outlet but from the satirical publication The Onion. In The Onion’s telling, the iPad would include this feature: “To ensure that its users receive the constant public attention they crave, the iPad will emit the phrase, ‘Hey, does that guy have an iPad?’ every eight minutes.”

To stick with the popular meaning then: let’s just call the estimated 200,000 people who preordered iPads for between $500 and $700 early adopters. What’s so great about being one of them? What these people are likely to get for their consumption daring is a chance to experience every single glitch or flaw that will be tweaked and patched in the months ahead. Also the guarantee that they’re paying full price (just like the early adopters who paid $600 for an iPhone in June 2007; the price was cut to $400 two months later, and angry adopters were mollified by a $100 store credit). And how surprised will they be if a year from now Apple introduces a new, cheaper and decisively better iPad? Sure, they get first-on-the-block bragging rights — assuming that it turns out iPad adoption proves worth bragging about. Somebody was first to buy the Newton, the Edsel and any number of other products that we don’t even remember the names of anymore, because later adopters never materialized.

I suppose it’s possible that the device will so improve the owner’s quality of life, productivity and social standing that he or she will enjoy a kind of competitive advantage over nonowners for a few months or a year. But there’s an inverse relationship between how long this advantage lasts and how good the thing is. If the iPad is so wonderful, I’ll just buy one, too; I’m pretty sure Apple will happily meet all demand. And if it stinks, then there was never any advantage to buying it early, now, was there?

Quebeckers and early adoption

When it comes to new technology adoption, Quebeckers in general tend to be laggards.

Agreement with various technology statements according to PMB 2009:

“I tend to be the first to own new electronic products”

• English Canada 19.7% (102 index)
• French Canada 17.3% (90 index)

“More and more, I feel that I’m being left behind by technology”

• English Canada 16.7% (90 index)
• French Canada 26.1% (140 index)

“I am excited by the new development in technologies”

• English Canada 20.5% (109 index)
• French Canada 12.3% (65 index)

“I like to buy products that offer the latest in new technology”

• English Canada 11.2% (105 index)
• French Canada 8.8% (82 index)

 

Self-expression as a new form of entertainment

I had the opportunity to listen to a talk by Arianna Huffington yesterday. The co-founder of the Huffington Post was in Toronto to give a speech to the communications industry as part of Advertising Week.  

She had much to say in her speech and in interviews about ‘The Brave New World of the New Media” including about what she calls the ‘linked economy’. Here’s an excerpt from an item in the Toronto Star - ironically the lead sponsor of her talk:

The site has raised $30 million (U.S.) in two rounds of financing, the most recent by venture capital firm that valued the site at $100 million.

All this while many traditional U.S. newspapers are struggling with the challenge of new media made worse by an economic downturn that saw advertising dollars shrink.

At least some of that could also be due to sites like The Huffington Post, which freely borrows content from mainstream media sites to enhance their coverage. Huffington calls it the "linked economy. We link to others, they link to us and that's how we see the future."

Self-expression as a new form of entertainment

Huffington asserted that everything from user generated content, to citizen journalism, to blogging, and social networking has become a new form of entertainment.

I guess that's really why I’ve been blogging for the past two years. I just want to have fun.

Disconnect to recharge

She repeatedly encouraged her audience to turn wireless devices off at the end of the day to recharge and get some sleep in order to make the most of what technology enables us to achieve.

I’m going for a nap.

Y2K 10YAG

It's hard to believe it's been 10 years since the rollover to the new century when many expected the greatest computer crash in history. Happy New Year.

Future Shop in schools. What’s all the fuss over a thin red line?

Two weeks ago, the Toronto District School Board agreed to paint two proposed computer labs in the shades of grey and red, the corporate colours of Future Shop, in return for $100,000 for computers for two Toronto high schools to be chosen within seven kilometres of a Future Shop store.

With a looming $28 million deficit and a computer budget cut by 22%, the Board voted in favour of the corporate donation.

Quoted in the Toronto Star, Board chair John Campbell supported the Future Shop donation saying, "Future Shop is trying to be a good corporate citizen. No, we don't want to see corporate logos all over the schools, but we're talking about a coat of paint.

But not all agreed. Some, like Trustee Michael Coteau, claim that letting a company "brand a room (with corporate colours) where children are going to learn is a dangerous thing."

The Board’s careful consideration of the pros and cons of such an initiative is understandable. Schools should not become venues available for advertising and promotions. (In Quebec, it would be illegal to do so in schools attended by children under 13 years old.) But this is about a corporate donation with some form of recognition. There are already logos in schools on hardware, software, sport equipment, etc. And logos are welcome during fundraisers (think Pizza Pizza).

As Trustee Bruce Davis said: “We’re on an eight-year replacement cycle for the computers in our schools. Who of us would put up with working on eight-year-old technology?" Putting up with a grey and red paint job is a small price to pay.

This issue became somewhat of a controversy in Toronto over the past few weeks. I was interviewed on the subject, along with a school board representative, on TFO (Ontario’s French Television Network) on April 23^rd. You can view the interview – in French – by clicking on this link - Panorama TFO

This isn’t the Future Shop’s first donation to schools in return for the paint job. The Surrey Board of Education accepted a similar offer a few years ago. This picture shows the grey walls and the “thin red line”. I wouldn’t lose sleep over it.

System overload in Québec

Rarely do we see such marked differences in survey results when comparing Québec to the rest of Canada. Particularly in the business-to-business sector.

When it comes to information technology, business managers and executives in Québec say their IT people are stretched to meet their business’ IT needs – significantly more so than in the rest of Canada.

This is one of the findings from a survey of 1005 Canadians managers and executives conducted by Ipsos Reid in February on behalf of Microsoft.

It’s not clear from this survey if this is a function of limited human resources in the IT area of Québec businesses, historically lower investments in IT, or another more attitudinal reason. Whatever the cause, those selling IT solutions to Québec businesses should take this data into consideration. The “do more with less” story some are using in these recessionary times might sound way too familiar.

Office affairs

This ad is appearing in business magazines in Quebec. It promotes the Bizhub from Konica Minolta.  The headline says “Love affairs at the office” and the sub-head reads “when efficiency and flexibility meet”.  I’m sure the folks at Konica Minolta believe this double meaning will resonate with their target prospects. Here’s some related data.

Quebeckers and love at the office:

Léger Marketing asked Canadians in June 2002 whether they believe companies should have strict rules forbidding flirting and intimate relationships between co-workers. Quebeckers were significantly more likely to say “no” than Canadians in the rest of the country. Perhaps Quebeckers don't feel the need for rules because they're significantly less likely than Canadians in the ROC to say they've ever cheated on their partner (only 18% in Quebec say they've cheated compared to 31% in Ontario and as high as 37% in Alberta) according to a January 2004 survey by Ipsos Reid. But before you conclude that Quebeckers are more faithful, see what they describe as "cheating". They are significantly less likely than other Canadians to say that a secret dinner date, a kiss, and online/internet flirtation is cheating.

But I digress... - back to Quebeckers and office copiers:

In April 2006, Ipsos-Reid asked Canadians about their use of office copiers for personal reasons (Ipsos-Reid survey for Canon Canada). Quebeckers were significantly less likely to say they print or copy personal materials or documents using the centralized office printer/copier. Interestingly, among those who use the office printer/copier for personal reasons Quebeckers were more likely to print shopping coupons while Ontarians were more likely to print driving directions. Shopping coupons??? Sounds like counterfeit to me. It’s well documented that Quebeckers are avid coupon users but this is the only survey I’ve seen that confirms they’re printing them on the office’s colour copier…

The same survey also asked Canadians what they do when the office printer stops or if an error message appears. Canadians in the rest of Canada were more likely to say that they usually contact the office manager/administration personnel. Quebeckers were significantly more likely to say they try to fix it themselves. I would too if I was printing coupons…