Many American brands have come to Canada and are doing really well. But you don't see the same success story vice versa. Except for Cirque du Soleil, Lululemon Athletica and Aldo, most others are struggling including one of our most successful global brands until recently - Research In Motion's Blackberry. According to a recent report from The Globe and Mail, the biggest hurdle for Canadian brands is well known: the country is big and the population is small. This means the consumer base isn't large enough to finance a global expansion, which hampers a company's ability to be the size it needs to go international in a country the size of Canada. So when the time comes to expand abroad, many end up forfeiting their independence to a foreign buyer.

In a recent Interbrand report on the 25 top worldwide brands for 2011, no Canadian labels made the cut. One of the criteria to make the annual list is that one-third of a ccompany's revenues come from outside the domestic market. Lululemon is everywhere in Florida, but I'm not sure whether any American consumer knows that it's Canadian, or is it really relevant? The clothing retailer has stores in the U.S. and Asia, as has Roots Canada. Shoe retailer Aldo is probably our country's most successful global retailer so far. The shoe retailer operates in more than 60 countries, in many countries through franchisees. It was reported that it has carved out a niche as a more edgy shoemaker popular among Hispanic consumers.

Apart from the financial prowess to enable Canadian brands to expand abroad, building brand reputation and understanding consumers in different markets are key to success. Sounds like marketing 101? But, in reality, brand perception is a tricky art and science to master. Let's take auto brands, for example. In Canada, consumers ranked Mazda top among mainstream brands while Audi was first among luxury brands, according to the Canadian Perceived Quality Scores. Over 2,500 Canadians were surveyed and each auto maker was given a score out of 100. The top five mainstream brands are Mazda, GMC, Toyota, Hyundai and Buick. On the luxury cars, Audi, Porsche, Land Rover, Infiniti and Volvo top the list. But high scores in brand perception do not automatically mean top sales. But you can be sure that if the brand perception is negative, sales won't be impressive either.

Another top 10 list of brands according to Ipsos Reid's online survey of Canadian consumers indicated that only three Canadian brands made the list: Cirque du Soleil (5), President's Choice (7) and Tim Hortons (8). A total of 100 brands were assessed on the criteria of being a trendsetter, unique, innovative or ahead of its time.

What about Chinese consumers' perceptions of luxury brands? According to the World Luxury Association which ranked the globe's 100 most valuable brands after the "Luxury Oscar Awards" in Beijing, China, Canada's Bombardier Inc. is in second spot in the private aircraft category. I guess Bombardier has a lot to be proud of when it's in the same league as leading fashion brands Hermes, Chanel and Louis Vuitton.

One lesson marketers can take away from Apple is that no matter what criteria you give to any brand-value and brand-perception surveys in the world, Apple is undoubtedly viewed the same globally - not only is it being perceived as the most innovative brand, but it is now the most valuable brand in the world! That's because Apple has focused not only on product innovation, but primarily on being ahead of consumers and anticipating their needs. Has it spent huge marketing dollars to enhance its reputation? You'd bet! Anybody who has read Walter Issacson's biography on Steve Jobs will understand that Apple's success story is all about marketing and building brand reputation - and innovation is just their basic criteria and motivation for showing up at work every day!

Lina Ko

It’s no secret that social media is integrating itself into the search results of what your customers look for. What customers choose to “Like”, +1, or Follow is increasingly affecting what is relevant to their search, opening up opportunities for brands to have a dialog with their customers. The race is on between Google and Facebook to see who can fetch the most relevant content for their user. That Google and Facebook are fierce rivals is obvious, as there is plenty of coverage on the battle between the two titans.

After all, the stakes are high.

Whoever wins fundamentally changes the way we discover information, and I think Google has strategically positioned itself to outdo Facebook at being relevant to users. First, Google is expanding its main source of profits, Google AdWords, into the fertile realm of social advertising; an area Facebook Ads has historically dominated. Second, Google’s recent release of Search Plus Your World creates a search engine that searches information based off of social signals. As search becomes more social, Google has the advantage of synthesizing the data beyond social networks, whilst Facebook can only work within its own database (e.g. Facebook people search).

Google’s Search Plus Your World Paves the Way for Social Advertising

Google’s Search Plus Your World is a commendable step towards combating Facebook’s growing influence. By personalizing your Google+ preference all of the data from your Google accounts into your search results, Google is attempting to change its search engine into a social search engine. As a result of this change, Google’s advertisements are also entering the realm of social advertising. You can expect your search results for ‘winter sales’ to be filled with brand endorsements of +1’s from your friends.

Google knows social will be big, and they’ve been pushing Google+ since it came into being in June. Since its inception, 90 million users have registered on Google+, and all that data will be used to improve Google AdWords. According to Comscore’s 2011 Social Report released in December, 1 out of every 4 minutes online is spent on social networking sites. Google’s AdWords is improving, but what about Facebook’s Ads? Facebook may get social networks, but do they have a clue when it comes to answering their user’s needs?

Could Facebook Build A Google Search Killer?

Imagine for a moment that in addition to searching for friends, companies, or brands on Facebook, you could also search for cell phone reviews. All your friends’ comments about their iPhones, Androids, and whatnot would start showing up on your news stream. Search would no longer be about the ratings of what strangers around the world think, but rather the opinions of friends closest to you.

It’s been nearly a year since Facebook put a patent on “curated search,” which describes the ranking of search results according to link popularity and a user’s social graph. Sorry Facebook, but it seems like Google has the first-mover advantage. If you could’ve beaten Google, you would’ve beaten Google. Even with your belated cash infusion from your upcoming IPO, you won’t stop the Google invasion.

Google to Invade Facebook’s Market

The secret is out. Google is not only creeping into the social advertising space, but is also expected to lead the way in the social search sphere. Facebook, on the other hand, is struggling to evolve its services. Of course, that’s just my opinion – what do you think?

Victor Pan
Marketing Associate of WordStream Inc.

Kraft is the first of 35 companies to offer mentorship to approximately 75 aspiring business students from over seven schools.  This year, we are pleased to welcome Wilfred Laurier, Sprott School of Business and Western University to the program.

The day at Kraft was met with optimism and gratitude by the students:
“Thanks again for organizing the mentorship day. It reinforces my desire to pursue a career in brand management”.

“Thank you for taking the time to give us a glimpse of what real world marketing really looks like”.

“What a great learning opportunity; the students are very eager and excited” (academic coordinator, Western University).

There’s a growing need for hands-on experience – networking with professionals, learning about an organization’s strategic marketing and experiencing all that a marketing role encompasses.  About 75% of the participating students this year are at the MBA and/or upper level – there’s quite a bit of reverse mentoring opportunity to take advantage of.

This year’s program winds down toward the end of March. If you missed out this year, you can enrol in the 2013 program here. 

Leigh LePage