What Québec Wants™

The Honda Civic is no longer the best-selling new vehicle in Québec.

According to manufacturers' sales data published in Protégez-vous, 458,287 new vehicles were sold in the province in 2016, an increase of 3.1% from 2015. While the market has long been dominated by compacts, the Ford F-Series now leads, ahead of the Honda Civic and the Hyundai Elantra that have lead for years.

Despite falling sales, the Honda Civic remains the most popular compact (-8%), ahead of the Hyundai Elantra (+ 9%), the Toyota Corolla (-7%) and the Mazda 3, which lost ground this year (-29%).

SUVs continued to outperform compacts in 2016. With 168,400 vehicles sold, SUV sales increased 11.7% while compacts were down -7.8%. As in 2015, the Toyota RAV4 is the most popular SUV (+ 15%), ahead of the Honda CR-V (+ 24%) and the Nissan Rogue (+ 13%).

 

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Distracted driving in Québec

A recent Ipsos survey on behalf of RBC Insurance reveals that Quebeckers are least likely to consider other drivers using a cell phone while on the road (either to talk or text) an annoyance. 55% of Canadians consider this a ‘pet peeve’ while only 43% of Quebeckers with a driver’s licence think it’s an annoyance. Cell phone usage while driving tops the list of ‘pet peeves’.

Other annoyances (in order) include tailgating/following too closely, not indicating lane changes or turns, cutting drivers off, frequent braking for no reason, driving too slow, speeding, misuse of the passing lane (hogging the left lane), failing to yield fo merging traffic and pets on drivers lap.

Could this mean that cell phone usage while driving is less of a problem in Québec? Or are Quebeckers simply more tolerant or perhaps less aware of the risk? Hard to say.

Some related statistics

The number of cell phone subscribers in Canada rose from 100,000 to more than 27 million between 1987 and 2013. Almost three quarters of Canadian households indicated that they have a cell phone, and half of all phone calls made in Canada are now wireless.

Canadians also exchange approximately 270 million text messages and 2.2 million multimedia messages every day. (Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association)

Offences related to cell phones and driving in Québec

Since July 1, 2008, 271,080 offences related to using a cell phone while driving have been entered on SAAQ records following notification of a conviction:

• 11,485 in 2008
• 42,617 in 2009
• 48,944 in 2010
• 56,730 in 2011
• 63,945 in 2012

(Société de l’assurance automobile du Québec, Direction des études et des stratégies en sécurité routière, October 2013.)

Quebecers' perceptions of risk and behaviours

A survey conducted in November 2012 on behalf of the SAAQ revealed that:

• 99% of Quebecers consider that writing or reading a text message while driving is relatively or very dangerous;
• 18% of drivers who use a cell phone admit to sometimes texting while driving;
• 67% of drivers who text at the wheel stated that they were unable to keep themselves from reading the text message, even when they are driving;
• 35% of them cannot keep themselves from responding in this situation;
• 84% of Quebecers consider that talking on a cell phone while driving is relatively or very dangerous;
• 50% of drivers who use a cell phone admitted that they sometimes talk on a cell phone while driving;
• 18% of them do it quite or very often;
• 28% use mainly a hand-held device;
• 56% use a “hands-free” system;
• Almost all respondents (97%) know that it is prohibited to use a hand-held cell phone while driving a vehicle.

The Québec government has been running a campaign to raise awareness of the risks associated with cell phone usage while driving. The research report on the most recent campaign in 2013 suggest that awareness is not the main issue. Behaviour is the problem.

An excerpt from the report available in French only (a translation follows):

Quant aux messages textes, il arrive à 19 % des conducteurs qui utilisent un téléphone cellulaire de texter au volant. Cette habitude est étonnante quand on considère que presque 80 % de ces conducteurs reconnaissent que leur risque d’avoir un accident est accru lorsqu’ils textent, qu’au cours des 12 derniers mois, 30 % reconnaissent qu’il leur est arrivé de conduire de façon erratique dans ce contexte et 1 % a été impliqué dans un accident. Près d’un conducteur sur cinq qui texte en conduisant a été l’objet de comportements d’impatience à un feu rouge attribuables à leur utilisation de la messagerie texte au volant.

[19% of those using a cell phone use it to text while driving. A surprising fact considering that almost 80% of these drivers acknowledge the increased risk of an accident and that, in the past year, 30% say they drove erratically as a result and 1% were involved in an accident because of it. One in five say they made other drivers impatient while texting at a red light.]

Here’s one of the most recent TV spots urging drivers to teach people to wait for your answer. “It won’t kill you” to do so.

 

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Can you wait a little longer for a reply?

SAAQ issues shocking ads against texting and driving

Selling cars to millennials in Québec

Matt Carmichael, the author of Buyographics, offers an interesting perspective on millennials and cars in the latest issue of Advertising Age.

“They have much less of a love affair with the car than previous generations did.”

Do they?

PMB asked Canadians if they agree or disagree with the statement “I get quite attached to my car”. 29.2% of Canadians millennials (between the ages of 18 and 29) agree. Among millennials in Québec, the level of agreement climbs to 34.4%.

Among their parents (Canadians between the ages of 50 and 59), slightly more (32.5%) agree. That is not a major generational difference. It may well be that when these parents were in their twenties the love affair was stronger but we don't have data on this.

Carmichael advises automakers to “quit talking so much about miles-per-gallon - even though sustainability is important. Talk more about the social aspects. Show the people interacting each other, sharing experiences and sharing the road.”

No doubt that sociability and connectivity matter to the millennials. But don’t completely stop talking about fuel consumption, at least not in Québec.

25.4% of Canadian millennials living outside Québec agree with the statement “I refuse to buy a car that is not fuel efficient”. Among millennials in Québec, it’s 49.6%.

For an insightful look into millennials and cars, read Jeremy Cato’s article published in the Globe and Mail earlier this year.

According to Cato, “millennials, like their parents, will warm to car ownership when they have the money and the need. The real issue is the barriers young people face in entering the car market. Aside from the cost – for example, astronomical insurance rates – governments have implemented graduated licensing programs that have slowed the rate at which young drivers take the wheel. Thus, the love affair blossoms later.”

Volkswagen and the Dufour-Lapointe sisters; storytelling for an authentic brand endorsement

The sisters achieved instant celebrity status following their victories in Sochi. At press conferences and in interviews, the Dufour-Lapointe family was telling its amazing story to news media. That story included a brand which the media happily mentioned. Here’s how The Globe and Mail told it on February 9th:

Ms. Dufour described cramming her sleepy kids and their gear into the family Volkswagen on early weekend mornings to drive to the Laurentian mountains.

Thanks to smart thinking from Volkswagen, the story has a new chapter.

Moved by this family's story and proud of their Olympic and World Cup victories, Volkswagen decided to offer each of the Dufour-Lapointe sisters a car. And they had their pick of model: Chloé chose a Golf GTI, Justine a Beetle, and Maxime a Tiguan.

It was the sisters' parents who drove them around in the now-famous Jetta; in a way, it has become a symbol of their devotion. And so Volkswagen Canada thought the parents deserved a little recognition as well. 

When VW presented the sisters their keys, it also surprised their mother, Johane, with a gift: a 2014 Jetta in blue, the same shade as the Jetta that has driven her daughters this far.

Here’s the video.

 

The story was also told by the family on Monday on Pénélop McQuade's popular show on Radio Canada. You can view the clip here. 

How Honda’s breakup with Martin Matte opened Pandora’s box in Québec

Honda hit a raw nerve in Québec last week. It signaled it would shift gears after riding with its advertising spokesperson, comic superstar Martin Matte, for the past thirteen years. What should be viewed as just another business decision by marketers intent on improving their return on investment and adapting to a changing advertising and media landscape, turned into a PR mess for the car maker in this critical regional market.

Here's what appears to have unfolded based on various media reports, social media posts and a published interview with Honda's regional manager for Québec.

Martin Matte was first to announce the "big news" (his words) on his Facebook page. He thanked the two agencies (BOS and LG2) which he says he learned to love. He ended his post with the wish that Honda will one day return to making advertising in Québec for Quebeckers. With over 345K fans and 38K Twitter followers, the news spread faster than a Civic going zero to sixty.

This was no longer about an advertiser adopting a different strategy for a regional market. The headline of an article published the next day in Marketing Magazine - which has since been removed - read “Honda parts ways with LG2, centralizing account in Toronto”. Quoted in the article, the head of Honda’s agency LG2 predicted that Honda’s sales in Québec would likely decline without original Québec advertising. Infopresse, the Québec advertising trade publication, had a similar headline “Honda cessera sa création publicitaire au Québec” (Honda will cease creating advertising in Québec). That was just the marketing trade media. La Presse, Le Huffington Post Québec, Le Journal de Montréal, as well as bloggers and the business press, amplified the “big news” Martin Matte had announced on Facebook. La Presse’s even published a piece by Franco Nuovo about the “divorce” and revealed that Martin Matte did not know the reason for the decision. Suddenly, a business decision about a media mix and the use of a spokesperson became what was described by an agency exec as “a sad day for the Honda dealers and for the advertising industry in Québec”.

Given how the story had been distorted, the head of Honda’s operations in Québec, Pierre Langevin, moved into damage control with media interviews aimed at reassuring Quebeckers that Honda’s advertising creative and media investments in Québec would remain despite his plans to shift away from brand image television advertising to more product-focussed advertising via print, web, radio and out-of-home posters.

What seems to be getting lost in this story is what Martin Matte himself wrote to his Facebook fans when he went public with the “big news”. He wrote “I admit that two years ago, I told them that I was thinking about stopping, while it was still good, to avoid stretching this. They convinced me to stay on for another two years with an optional additional year.” (The translation is ours.)

A great campaign that, one would assume, produced results for Honda had perhaps run its course.

The story should have ended there but it didn’t.

The shock waves triggered by Honda’s decision combined with Air Canada’s recent decision to part ways with Montreal-based agency Marketel after 27 years to give the business to a Toronto agency, got industry commentators asking if it’s indeed the end of made-in-Québec only for Québec advertising. Could the pendulum have swung back? Could we be heading back to the days of poorly adapted advertising from English Canada or the U.S.? Could the legacy of Jacques Bouchard, regarded as the father of Québec advertising, be wasted?

Perhaps. But that’s an issue few marketers in the rest-of-Canada and the U.S. care about.

Without conducting an exhaustive study, anyone observing the advertising landscape in Québec today compared to the 90s would likely conclude that there are less national and global brands creating Québec specific advertising campaigns. Many brands like Pepsi and The Home Depot still invest in local campaigns. Some marketers who made the investment in Québec-only advertising were disappointed with the results and reverted back to adaptations. Many others have come to the conclusion that Québec is simply not a priority market even when it might represent significant growth potential. They have a presence in the province but they look for the most cost effective way to support their business. And that, for many, is achieved by adapting their national strategies and brand communications for the Québec market. It’s about return-on-investment. Period.

There are also many marketers who believe that national and global advertising platforms carefully adapted to resonate with Québec consumers can be as effective, and at times more so, than campaigns created specifically for Québec. It’s also not always an all-or-nothing approach: some will take a national campaign and “activate” it differently in Québec to meet specific objectives there.

In the end, building successful brands in Québec is about knowing when to adopt, adapt or create for the market. It’s been our firm’s credo for the past ten years. It doesn’t always make us popular in Québec but it makes business sense.

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.