The upside of politeness in Québec

By Eric Blais

As expected, the Québec government indicated last week its intention to challenge Québec's Court of Appeal's ruling that the province cannot force companies to add a French component to their name.

UPDATE: At a news conference today, Hélène David, the minister responsible for the French Language Charter, said the government will oblige Québec retailers to add French descriptives to their outdoor banners. However, David confirmed Québec has decided not to appeal the Québec Court of Appeal ruling. Instead, it it will change the law at the level of regulations.

Several multinationals took the province to court after they were told by the Office québécois de la langue française to change their names or risk running afoul of the rules governing the language of business in the province. A Québec Superior Court judge sided with the companies, which included Walmart, Costco, Best Buy, Gap, Old Navy and Guess.

I leave it to others to debate whether this should be forced upon retailers through legislation. It's a sensitive issue but one marketers would be wise to consider from all angles before dismissing it as just one more obstacle to overcome when doing business in Québec.

Québec Premier Philippe Couillard was a brain surgeon before entering politics. He could also have been a marketer. This time, the governments appears to be adopting a slightly different tone. The narrative from past government on this delicate issue has often been about protecting the French language and the Québec nation's distinct identity. It still is but Mr. Couillard gave a different explanation for his government's position - one that sounds more like a marketer's viewpoint than a politician's.

The Premier gave the example of Second Cup:

“Everyone knows that they sell coffee, but it’s like this company said, ‘I know where I am, I know what environment I am in and recognize the existence of the French in Quebec.

“We don’t want to erase trademarks – it’s not that Canadian Tire will become Pneu canadien, let’s be clear on that, but it’s a question of politeness.”

A question of politeness

Most companies operating across geographies comply with local regulations while looking for efficiencies. It's not always an easy balance to achieve and Québec, with its many unique requirements, can be particularly challenging. Those who are frustrated by Québec's demand that a French descriptor be added to English trademarks will view this latest move as one more costly irritant.

Others will view it differently. Many already have; through a marketer's lens instead of a lawyer's.

The Premier called it a politesse, a courtesy. The importance of being courteous is nothing new to retailers. Let's stay with coffee. According to the J.D. Power and Associates 2012 Specialty Coffee Retailer Satisfaction Report, staff, more than price or merchandise offerings, is key to driving higher satisfaction among specialty coffee customers. One of the key staff factor is courtesy. It's not a stretch to suggest that adapting all brand touch points in Québec to cater to French-speaking customers can signal a higher level of courtesy, including the sign above a store's entrance.

A competitive advantage

Quebeckers will view a retailer's brand more favourably if it makes an effort to adjust to their needs. For retailers, adding a French descriptor to an English name is a symbolic way to signal that they are catering to them. There is directional evidence of this in the findings from our firm's What Québec Wants™ study. When we asked 3,000 Canadians whether they agreed or disagreed with the statement "I prefer to buy products and services from companies that make an effort to cater to the specific preferences and needs of people in my locality", 63% of French-speaking Quebeckers agreed compared to 50% of Canadians living in the ROC.

There are no doubt cost and operational implications for doing so. When Crate & Barrel added the word “maison” next to its name, it did what many others have done without being forced to. To quote the Premier again, "it said, 'I know what environment I am in" and I will brand myself accordingly.

There is no law forcing banks and other retailers to have signage in Chinese in Markham, Ontario and in other communities across Canada. They do so voluntarily. Clearly, these organizations see it as an investment instead of a cost. Even Québec's Banque Nationale thinks it's a business practice that will help its brand in that community.

Retailers should carefully consider their position on this issue. Rather than look at this as being forced to invest to protect the French language, they should consider assessing how it might benefit their brand to be the more polite one.

Comments

[F La Roche]

Hear, hear.

I totally agree with your analysis Éric and hope that lawyers would leave it to well mannered--and more strategic--marketers to deal with this issue.

Call it politeness toward, or respect for your customers, or sheer simple good old common sense... If one wants to do business in a foreign territory, in a different language, the least it can do is to adapt to that territory's reality. Politeness would call for this but good marketing would too !

Now to add to the context, let's never forget a key ingredient here, one that heightens the Quebec market's sensitivity to all that is language-touching : that reality is that in Québec 7 million folks want to preserve their French culture amongst a whopping 335 million english-speaking population in North America--a legitimate intent to say the least. Much has been written on this, often referring to it as a battle for survival...

So language in Qc: a hyper-sensitive issue. HYPER. Like it or not.

For a business to present itself in the Qc market as Costco Wholesalers instead of Costco grossistes or L'entrepôt Costco for example --just to name that one; there are so many others-- is a plain lack of respect to me, not to mention as well a very bad read of the market characteristics. Marketers should/can do a much better job...

Let's see now if the PM's angle will lead to a different marketing mind set on the part of foreign companies doing business in Qc. And let's see the market's reaction. (Don't ask me for a to bet.)

[Eric Blais]

Québec's language law, Bill 101, does not force retailers to adopt a French name as it does not apply to trademarks. However, some companies operate under a different name in Quebec; Staples is Bureau en gros, Shoppers Drug Mart is Pharmaprix, Sleep Country Canada is Dormez vous?

The Office québécois de la langue française had indicated that it would force retailers to add a French descriptor to their English trademark. For example, this would have forced Walmart to become Le magasin Walmart or Costco to become L'entrepôt Costco. Some retailers went to court to challenge this and won. It's important to note that several retailers voluntarily choose to add French to their trademark; e.g. Café Starbucks Coffee. The current Liberal government has indicated it would not appeal this decision and would instead use the regulations under the law to force retailers to add French to their trademarks. The details aren't clear yet but, in her press conference yesterday, the minister seemed to indicate that adding a French slogan would meet the requirement. Ironically, Target would likely have met this requirement had it stayed in Canada; its outdoor signage consisted of its name, logo and the line "Trouvez mieux. Payez moins." (Find better. Pay less)

[Andrew Goodnough]

A little history would help me understand the motivation. Is it traditional to append the business type onto the business name in Québec?