Earlier this week, I had the opportunity to speak at a conference on multicultural marketing organized by the NDMAC (Non-prescription Drug Manufacturers Association of Canada). I was there to speak about marketing in Québec. It was nice to be invited considering how conferences about multicultural marketing rarely include French-Québec as an "ethnic" group. Likely because it's a visible minority that isn't as visible as others.
Jean-François Bouchard, President and Co-Founder of Montreal-based agency Sid Lee was also a speaker. But he wasn't there to speak about marketing in Québec. He made it clear that he did not want to speak about Québec since his agency has global reach and just happens to be based in Montréal. In fact, Bouchard claimed that all marketing is ethic marketing. True enough. But he also claimed that there is no such thing as Québec experts since Québec is not a homogeneous market. True to a point. But I disagree that there is no need for Québec market expertise. I'll let the renowned pollster and social analyst Michael Adams argue my point. Here's what he writes in his book Unlikely Utopia: In Québec, fully 70 percent of the population claim French ancestry, have French as their mother tongue, and have family heritage in Québec stretching back three generations or more. This is a province that, although diverse, has a dominant ethnic and linguistic majority – a "nous". In my experience in boardrooms in Toronto and various North-American cities, I can tell you that there is a great need for objective expertise on the Québec market.
While he was not interested in speaking about Québec, Bouchard could not resist sharing his five deadly sins of marketing in Québec. And I cannot resist sharing my thoughts on his deadly sin #3. "Hire a mediocre agency". Can't argue with that. But I'll argue with what followed in brackets: "(because it is part of your agency network)". Translation: global network agencies operating in Montréal are mediocre and independent Montréal agencies are not. To be even more provocative, something Bouchard repeatedly said he wanted to be in front of this group of drug marketers, he added that there are a lot of "has beens" working in these network agencies and "they work for you". I have to admit, this is a new business pitch I have never heard a Montréal agency use with a Toronto audience.
I recognize that there is a new generation of young Québec entrepreneurs who see the world as their oyster. And it has achieved much. Sid Lee and Taxi being great examples in our industry. Yet pursuing global opportunities seems to often come with what sounds like a rejection of Québec's unique place in the world and a desire to somehow homogenize it with the rest of the world. To some, Jacques Bouchard's 36 distinctive keys of Québécois are old news. "To be honest, I couldn't tell you the 36 cordes sensibles" said Stéphane Charier, VP and creative director at Taxi's Montreal office in Marketing Magazine's October 27, 2008 issue.
This brings me back to Sid Lee's Bouchard. In his remarks about multiculturalism (which he referred to as intra-culturalism), we heard about his client Cirque du Soleil – very much a multicultural organization with contortionists from China, gymnasts from Russia and so on. Bouchard's point was that even the Québécois members of its management team no longer think of themselves as Québécois. They instead think of themselves as "citizens of the world".
This, somehow, reflects the same need to shed the Québec identity in order to act on the world stage. As if one cannot be a citizen of the world and a Quebecker. Or an agency cannot be a world agency and a Quebec agency.
Too bad Bouchard doesn't want to talk about it; his agency would be even richer for it.
Facebook in French, Québec French that is.
French-speaking Quebeckers using Facebook used to be asked about what Lycée they attended instead of what Cégep or université. That's because the French version of Facebook used European French.
That's changed according to a release from the social network - thanks to a collaborative effort among Facebook's French-speaking users in Québec.
A week ago today the earth went dark for Earth Hour.
Wells wrote about what the agency calls "eco-creativity": on Saturday, from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m. E.T., Montreal will play host to Ideas in the Dark, where artists will create with the lights out and then put their works on display when the lights come back on. There will be creative thinking in the dark, and musical performances in the dark, all in aid of a celebration.
The Gazette reports a saving of 150 megawatts of power across the province – exactly the same as for last year's event.
A study released this week conducted by Ipsos Reid on behalf of Canwest News Service revealed that participation rates varied greatly across the country. Overall, Ontarians (74%) were the most likely to report having observed Earth Hour, while a majority in Alberta (63%), British Columbia (62%), Atlantic Canada (59%), and Saskatchewan and Manitoba (57%) also got involved. The lowest reported levels of participation are found in Quebec (35%).
In Alberta (+11) and Ontario (+3) participation rates increased over last year. But in BC (-8), Quebec (-3) and Atlantic Canada (-2) participation dropped, while it remained unchanged in Saskatchewan and Manitoba.
A closer look at the results points to the real issue in Quebec.
While only 7% of Canadians have never heard of the event, 1 out of 5 Quebecers (19%) has never heard of it.
WWF might want to rethink its awareness building strategy in Quebec. The site and its related activities may have been super cool but it seems to have kept Quebeckers in the dark about Earth Hour.