What Québec Wants™

Tim might be changing but Quebeckers remain faithful.

Canadians are apparently mad as hell at Tim Hortons. The brand is taking a beating according to recent reputation studies by Léger-National and Ipsos Canada. Commentators are claiming the brand is in trouble and has lost its connection with the Canadian public. Professor Sylvain Charlebois, in a recent Globe and Mail article, argues that Canadians have been keeping tab on how "RBI's ultimate commitment has been to its shareholders and not necessarily to the Canadian public". He adds that the dramatic drop in brand reputation confirms that the "transformation into a foreign company is now complete".

Corporate reputation, as measured by Léger, is a function of perceived financial success, CSR, honesty and transparency, quality of products and services and innovation. As one would expect, the key driver of reputation in the foodservice sector is the quality of products and services. A survey released this week by the Angus Reid Institute offers a closer look at what is going on with this driver and other key components of Tim Hortons' brand equity. It reveals that the iconic Canadian brand is, so far, healthiest in Québec.

Despite its reputational hit, Tim Hortons remains a cult brand with a strong following across Canada. Six-in-ten (62%) Canadians still regularly patronize its restaurants. Almost the same number of Quebeckers do so (57%).

The chain is viewed as an important part of Canadian culture. Seven-in-ten (70%) Canadians say that Tim Hortons plays a part when they think of Canadian culture. In Quebec, 68% says so, with a higher percentage saying it plays an "important" part.

Slightly more than one-in-two (54%) Canadians hold a favourable opinion of Tim Hortons compared to 59% in Québec where only 17% hold an unfavourable view compared to 25% nationally.

On all key measures of brand equity related to quality and service, the brand appears stronger in Québec. Compared to Canadians in the rest-of-Canada, Quebeckers are more likely to say the quality of the food and the coffee has improved or stayed the same. The same is true of their perception of the service and prices.

I don't have access to trended data on these brand metrics. There might also be troubling signs in Québec as well but having roughly 85% of the population believing the quality of your food and coffee has either improved or stayed the same should feel pretty good. There is, of course, always room for improvement. One-in-ten in Québec believe the quality of the food at Tim Hortons has worsened but the same percentage of Quebeckers believe the food quality at rival Starbucks has declined.

These regional differences can be attributed in part to the more limited media coverage of the protests we saw in English Canada over the treatment of workers after the minium wage was increased in Ontario and the very public dispute with franchisees. It could well be that it's only a matter of time before Quebeckers join the rest of Canada in believing that Tim Hortons is not the same as it was. But there are lessons to be learned from this regional difference. Lessons that could help RBI devise strategies to insulate the Tim Hortons brand in Québec.

When it entered the Quebec market, Tim Hortons was a "foreign company" from Ontario.

Back then, Dunkin Donut felt more local than Tim Hortons. The coffee and donut chain suffered greatly in Québec after Tim Hortons' arrival. It took a 13-year battle for former franchisees in Québec to win their case. The franchisees had sued the company for failing to live up to its obligation to promote the U.S. donut chain's brand in Québec as it faced growing competition from Tim Hortons. The ruling by the Supreme Court of Canada in March 2016 forced Dunkin' Brands Canada Ltd. to pay the 21 former operators of 32 locations in the province nearly $18 million, including interest and legal costs. Today, there are only three locations in Québec.

Tim Hortons did many things right to endear itself to Quebeckers. One of the earliest and most visible was its name change.

Tim Horton's became Tim Hortons. The company removed the apostrophe after signs using the apostrophe were interpreted by some to be breaking the language sign laws of the Province of Québec in 1993. The change demonstrated good corporate citizenship and was a smart business decision ensuring efficiencies by using a standard name across the chain.

Tim Hortons made significant efforts to localize its brand story for Québec.

Here's an example. Back in December 2010, Tim Hortons released its festive holiday mugs. There were two versions. The Québec mugs had the maple leaf replaced by a snowflake and the CN Tower was removed. Some will say this was unnecessary and even ridiculous. It nevertheless demonstrated Tim Hortons' concern for regional differences and its willingness to adapt its messaging accordingly.

Over the years, Tim Hortons invested in localized advertising, often going beyond the French adaptation of its English campaigns. Perhaps the most memorable example of homegrown Tim Hortons advertising in Québec was the "Minou et Pitou" campaign which focused on two characters, Minou and Pitou, using two well-known Québec actors, Patrick Labbé and Elyse Marquis, in the title roles. It's fair to say that they made the brand a household name.

 

A local brand experience where one feels at home.

Ten years ago, I spent two days working at a Tim Hortons restaurant in Mascouche, Québec as part of a project for the coffee chain. I got to experience first hand what it's like to work behind the counter and, more importantly, I got to observe and interview customers.

As I changed the coffee pot every twenty minutes for a fresh one, I saw proof of the chain's "Always Fresh" promise. I also witnessed how the chain was "Always Inviting". If there ever were moments of truth that made Tim Hortons a unique destination for these patrons, they were the result of the convivial atmosphere and the sense of community and place. Going to Tim Hortons, a place where people knew your name, brought these people closer to their community. What the homegrown advertising in Quebec captured was not made-up. It was experienced every day in small towns across the province. Breakfast with toasts and "cretons" (a forcemeat-style pork spread containing onions and spices) and the clever naming of products like the Timatin breakfast sandwich made Quebeckers feel even more at home.

The Tim Hortons brand might be losing share of heart in English Canada but, if it learns from its past in Québec and recommits to that market, Quebeckers will continue to reward it with their true patriot love.

The secret sauce goes far beyond the actual sauce.

Cara said it sees a major opportunity to tap the experience St-Hubert has built up in selling to grocers for its other brands like Swiss Chalet. This makes sense. However, Cara should know that when Québec grocery shoppers pick up a can of St-Hubert sauce, they're also taking home a source of pride rooted in history and comforting rituals.

From the Globe and Mail's Report on Business:

This is no ordinary acquisition.

With the purchase, Cara gets Quebec’s number one full-service restaurant chain, which it considers a platform to expand its other brands into the province. It also gets a retail business that makes restaurant-branded food for purchase in groceries as well as two factories – currently working at about half capacity – that are ripe for developing comestibles.

Perhaps more importantly, however, it gets that which can rarely be bought: A deep pool of emotional capital that comes from 65 years of consumer loyalty.

Started by Hélène and René Léger in 1951, the franchise chicken chain is so ubiquitous in its home province that its 1960s jingle is still recognizable to most Quebeckers. Its restaurants are community gathering places, its meal packs staples on election campaign buses.

As Eric Blais of strategic marketing firm Headspace Marketing Inc. puts it, St-Hubert’s secret sauce goes far beyond the actual sauce, famed chicken and creamy coleslaw.

“Drive through any small town across Quebec and you’ll see a church, a caisse populaire [credit union] and a St-Hubert,” Mr. Blais said. “You’ll also see a busy Tim Hortons. They’re local and, like Cheers, everyone knows your name.”

Schwartz's - A market in the hole

Marketers usually ask if there’s a hole in the market. The real question is often whether there’s a market in the hole.

When you pay $10 million for a famous hole-in-the-wall, you’re betting there’s a market in the hole. That’s what the new owners of Schwartz’s, the Montreal landmark deli, are hoping for by introducing its smoked meat through Sobey’s IGA stores in Québec - with plans to expand distribution.

The Globe and Mail reports that the purists are upset. “I’m against it. It’s becoming commercial” says a customer. When was Schwartz’s not about commerce? I’ve once bought kilos of its famous spices simply by asking the staff to fill an empty foodservice size container of yellow mustard. They were more than happy to sell their magic ingredient.

If the supermarket version is as good as the hole-in-the-wall version (or its take-out version next door), there will be a market in the hole.

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. 

Québec’s cheap chic and saintly chicken are coming to Toronto.

The Globe's ROB reports that La Maison Simons department stores will open a store in the West Edmonton Mall in 2012, the first of about a dozen planned for the rest of Canada, including Toronto. The Québec City-based retailer is betting that its mix of cheap-chic styles and pricey designer lines will resonate outside Québec. Simons is an institution in Québec City and it has obviously done very well in Montréal if it's expanding in the RoC.

If it succeeds, it won't be the first apparel retailer to go west from Québec City. Holt Renfrew did the same many years ago. Simons was founded in 1840 and Holts was founded in 1837. Holts’ first store was on rue Buade and Simons’ was, and still is, on côte de la Fabrique.

According to the same article in the Globe, Mr. Simons and his team have done their research and will adjust their assortment for Edmontonians' taste, and their waist size - people in that city are on average two sizes bigger than Quebeckers. See this previous post about Quebeckers BMI (Body Mass Index).

Talking about waist size, St-Hubert BBQ, with its rotisserie chicken and decadent desserts, is also heading west. Actually, it is returning to Toronto since it appears it has nowhere else to go in Québec. St-Hubert had a few restaurants in Toronto, one on The Queensway and one on Avenue Road at Lawrence. If you have grown up with St-Hubert in Québec, let's just say it's hard to crave Swiss Chalet's chicken. Both locations were shut down although the Queensway location still looks like a St-Hubert from a distance.

According to various articles in La Presse and Le Journal de Montréal, St-Hubert plans to open three “Express” locations in Toronto’s suburbs in 2012.

The battle against Swiss Chalet will be a tough one but Ontarians might just find St-Hubert’s chicken irresistible judging by the reviews on Chowdown.

Here’s what one fan wrote

I'm sorry but I am one of those non-Quebecois that love the occasional pilgrimmage to the chicken church, fault me for that if you must, but there you have it.I will admit that the Avenue Rd. location was a bit depressing looking, but the Queenway saint has kept up with the corporate image and is (imo) more inviting and warm than Swiss Chalet. I also prefer St.Hubert's chicken, as the chalet chicken always tends to be a tad too pink for comfort. And DAMMIT!! you get all you can eat coleslaw, and it's good! They also have pudding chomeur, which I admit I have had better elsewhere, but it will do in a pinch. I just hope that the Queensway location doesn't close.

 

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

 

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.

Handmade breakfast

Here's a billboard anyone driving around Montreal these days can't miss. As always, it features Cora herself introducing us to one of her creations. But it's the headline that caught my attention: Déjeuners faits à la main.

 

The French version of the website repeats the claim with "Brillamment fait à la main" (Brilliantly made by hand - the translation is mine.) But the English version invites us to "start your day with a star" - presumably a reference to the star-shaped fruit that tops this dish.

 

So why the "handmade" reference in French? Aren't all of Cora's breakfasts made by hand? Aren't most restaurant breakfasts made by hand?

Mea culpa advertising

PR experts call it the three R’s of crisis management: Regret, Responsibility and Remedial action.

This is usually the advice given to those caught cheating, stealing or lying.

It appears the strategy can also pay off when a brand is simply admitting it made a bad product and is intent on changing it for the better.

Many were skeptical when Domino’s Pizza revamped its menu and improved its pizza. While quality improvement is certainly not a novel strategy for a brand plagued by negative perceptions, a television campaign based on a candid admission that your product was ‘bad, tasted like cardboard, was mass produced, boring and bland’ was refreshingly honest.

All indications are that it worked.

According to the Wall Street Journal, despite tough competition from Pizza Hut and Papa John’s, the pizza giant boasted its most lucrative fourth-quarter earnings – producing twice as many sales, better margins, and lower interest expenses.

Honesty pays (at least, that’s what Quebeckers say)

Yankelovich asked Canadians which of two statements they agreed more with:

I believe that the best way to get along is not to tell people exactly what you think of them

50% of English Canadians agreed more with this statement compared to 13% of French Canadians.

It’s best at all times to be honest with people

49% of English Canadians agreed more with this statement compared to 87% of French Canadians.

Get iFat

If you’ve had to eat in a typical US airport in between flights, you’ve seen the rows of quick service restaurant counters and witnessed what repeated indulgence at some of these establishments will do to your waist size.

Now there’s a web based tool designed to help you chose your meal from your favourite restaurant. Called Fatburgr, the site and iPhone application act as a repository of nutrition information for ‘all your favorite restaurants’.

The name Fatburgr and some of the headlines on the website give you an idea of who’s targeted here... Find Your Food, Jiggle Less.

And the portrayal of the typical restaurant patron leaves no doubt.

 

Quebeckers and restaurant types

Here is where French-speaking Quebeckers say they’ve eaten up to 4 times in the past month according to PMB 2009 (and the comparison with the restaurant habits of Canadians in the ROC). You can see the 'St-Hubert effect'...