The CAIPS Retriever

An Immigrant's Life in Toronto, Canada XII

TTC - a marketing campaign offensive to customers

During my daily commute on the Toronto subway I came across an advertisement that presented the top five reasons for subway delays. The advertisement compelled me into writing this short article.

Here are the top five reasons for delays: blocking doors, holding doors, Mind-the-Gap injuries, litter resulting in track level fires, passenger illness.

Unbelievable, but true - according to the TTC, customers are entirely responsible for delays in the subway schedule. The complete absence of non-customer (e.g. mismanagement) caused delays only reinforces my perception of the message.

An unexpected message, a botched delivery

The tagline, "Do your part. Be safe. Be considerate," reveals the TTC's discontent with customers' less than perfect use of the transit system. Not only is this message offensive but also the way it is communicated is sub par.

Here are a few questions that occur to me when reading the advertisement:

• Why is passenger illness being reprimanded? What is the point of conveying this sort of message: Be considerate; don't fall ill while on the subway?
• What is the practical difference between blocking doors and holding doors?
• On what research (if any) is the ranking based? Good research standards require disclosing at least the period of the research, the size of the sample, the name of the researcher and the name of the sponsor. In the absence of such minimal disclosure, the credibility of the claim is seriously tarnished.
• What percentage of the delays is actually caused by customers? Customer-caused delays might make the top five reasons list, and yet might not constitute an overall majority.
• Why are the concept and design of the campaign executed by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, New York? Did the TTC run short of advertising agencies?

Advice for the good marketer

• Never offend your customers; treat them with respect and care. They pay your wages.
• Whenever you near the idea that your customers are the main (or even one) obstacle in the way of your business, it is time for a comprehensive review of your business model.
• For the sake of the aforementioned respect and care, always present your findings in a professional manner. Professionalism really makes a difference.

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An Immigrant's Life in Toronto, Canada XI

YMCA of Greater Toronto assisting entrepreneurs

What should you do if you have little or no money to start a business? What should you do if your marketing knowledge is far from being perfect? YMCA of Greater Toronto runs a program that can help you with that.

As part of the program, I recently ran a workshop introducing new entrepreneurs to customized marketing and promotion strategies. Following are a few points on entrepreneurial marketing I made during the workshop.

Marketing plays a central role in the virtuous business cycle: acquisition/retention of a profitable customer base, long-term profits, shareholder value, resources and capital, and back to the starting point. In today's turbulent environments, the best approach is known as "customer-oriented". It emphasizes:

• gathering of, sharing of, and responsiveness to market intelligence,
• management of customers as assets,
• outperforming competitors and
• cross-functional integration.

The process starts with an (unbiased) assessment of customers' needs and wants, and continues with product development, not the other way around. If you follow this process, nothing except money can stop you from doing high quality marketing. But lack of funding is a challenging task. If your only choice is low-cost marketing, you have to be creative.

Because they are both "strategies", there is confusion between "management" and "marketing" strategies - but there shouldn't be. It is important therefore to draw a line between them:

• Management strategy centers on the idea that a portfolio of companies, business units, products etc. generates the positive outcome of any portfolio (risk minimization for a given level of return),
• Marketing strategy stems from another idea, that the goal of greater return can be achieved by voluntary focus on the most attractive opportunities, through segmentation, targeting and positioning.

It might seem that management and marketing strategies are totally different, which is both false and true. It is false because both strategies do focus on the market and it is true because they have different responsibilities.

You cannot engage in a market based only on its attractiveness, but you must always take into account a combination of market attractiveness and your own probability of success. The classic mistake is to pursue market opportunities because of a single reason (e.g., "we are first"), only to succumb to followers' and imitators' competition.

• Always do marketing,
• Create and execute a marketing strategy,
• Budget for marketing,
• Consider outsourcing,
• Dedicate time,
• Always have marketing materials handy,
• Market yourself.

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CAIPS Reminders and Updates

Ordering CAIPS notes after receiving your AOR

Please be advised, if ordering CAIPS notes after receiving your AOR (and before the formal assessment of your application), DO NOT include interpretation services in your order (we recommend choosing either CAIPS Standard or CAIPS Standard + Xpresspost).

Explanation: as long as your application has not been formally assessed, there is no need for interpretation services. Do think about adding interpretation services for subsequent stages of your application process. For more details, follow this link to our FAQ page: When is it useful to obtain my CAIPS file?

Rest assured, when no interpretation is needed or requested, we summarize the main areas of concern in our letter to you as a matter of common courtesy. Also, if after receiving your CAIPS file, it turns out that no interpretation is needed (as explained), our policy is to refund you the interpretation portion of our service fee. Thank you.

Recently, CIC has updated the processing times statistics. Published on May 15, the latest data cover the April 2005 to March 2006 period. Unfortunately, processing times have lengthened (considerably in some cases). For more information, please follow this link to the Statistics and processing times section of our Useful Links page or this direct link to CIC's Application Processing Times page.

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An Immigrant's Life in Toronto, Canada X

Census 2006: Statistics Canada and marketing

Do you know that Census Day was May 16? Do you know why all that information is being collected? If you live in Canada and you do not know, it is because of Statistics Canada's botched marketing campaign. Statistics Canada missed to (repeatedly) inform us of two important aspects:

• The benefits of being counted in the Census;
• The legal consequences of not returning the completed questionnaire.

A simple carrot and stick strategy. Instead of creating awareness and thus improving response rates, Statistics Canada is now forced to spend on collecting questionnaires from an uninformed population.

Here is another example of unwise government spending. Three weeks after completing the questionnaire on the Internet, I received in the mail an unaddressed postcard abut "counting myself in". No household that had completed and returned the questionnaire should have received this card. Yes, it is about cut trees, underused computers and wasted taxpayer money. But, instead of learning from professionals how to do marketing, Statistics Canada imposes on marketing subcontractors to have experience in working with the government (or to be already imprinted by bureaucratic, inefficient work).

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An Immigrant's Life in Toronto, Canada IX

The French fries truck: Toronto's sublime marketing on a dime

Go to Nathan Phillips Square to find this French fries truck just in front of the City Hall. You can get dogs, burgers, sausages and fries. The French fries truck has been in business for more than twenty-five years, closing each day only when running out of gas. During lunch, people queue in front of it. It is not uncommon to see thirty people queuing. Few, if any, spill over to imitators.

The French fries truck is a sublime example of little-money and lots-of-professionalism marketing that I wanted to share at an YMCA workshop with people contemplating their own startups. Keep in mind this is not about finding a great business idea but about making a business great, irrespective of its size or industry.

No competitors, just imitators

A few quotations from the blogosphere offer hints at what consumers perceive as value and at their reasons for patronizing this business:

• "The most food for the least money"
• "Good and bargain"
• "High value, low price"
• "Always excellent"
• "One of Toronto's crown jewels of fast food"
• "Excellent and fun"

By definition, low-cost marketing has to be creative. Marketing wise, no two successful small businesses are the same, but finding those underlying, unifying principles shouldn't be a challenge. As long as your customers are your main concern, almost everything you do is marketing. So, what are those marketing principles?

• Product quality: This reduces your competitors to imitators, as mentioned.
• Constant product quality: Raise the bar and keep it up.
• Service quality: In this case, fast food is fast and with a smile on its face.
• Pricing: Stay busy with the above three and forget about inflation. Get profits out of increased turnover.
• Focus: Keep your business scope within reach of your business model. For your customers, a truck is better than a fleet.

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An Immigrant's Life in Toronto, Canada VIII

AirMiles: marketing prehistory

The term prehistory usually describes that (long) period in human evolution before written history became available. That is, before writing was invented. Figuratively speaking of programs that are entirely obsolete, I argue that marketers can discover marketing prehistory in Toronto, Ontario. The sad thing is that - unlike archaeologists - marketers can see prehistory directly; they do not need to dig underneath the earth. For instance AirMiles, a database marketing program so badly conceived and executed that it belongs to bygone ages of marketing.

The advent of industrialization and mass production imposed on marketers the challenge of mass marketing. Personalization, an essential characteristic of good marketing, was lost because marketers had to sell undifferentiated products/services to huge numbers of customers. Later on, computers helped reinstating personalization through database marketing. With it, each customer had her own computerized and readily accessible record and could be offered as good a personalized approach as that of Mom and Pop's stores.

NB: database marketing is not fake personalization. It merely extends the individual's natural information storage capacity (what we call memory) and ensures that everyone on the marketers' side has access to the same wealth of customer knowledge. However, the computer is only an instrument; it needs to be instructed what to do because it will never invent something on its own. So, the ball is still in the marketers' court.

There is a plethora of database marketing programs out there. Credit cards, airlines or hotel chains are well-known examples of companies offering programs that entice customers to exchange benefits with voluntary participation in database marketing programs. Since in the world of consumer benefits discount price is the undisputed king, it is no wonder that the best marketers tied database marketing to discount pricing.

Database marketing makes sense only when improving customer experience. But, considering only the rewards component, when using her AirMiles card in connection with a monthly budget of $300.00 in groceries and $50.00 in pharmacy products, the average Jane earns about 20 points a month. In order to trade a two-slice toaster (at 500 points), she needs to spend about $8,000.00 or wait for more than two years at her expense level - quite a turnoff.

Moreover, Jane only earns points for full $20.00 chunks spent. At the end of each week, the marginal fraction under $20.00 is discarded. The program combines lack of incentives with unnecessary meanness. Marketing would fare better without AirMiles.

For ease of comparison, the examples are limited to grocery and pharmacy shopping in the Washington, DC metro area.

• Incentives: substantial instant cash discounts on lots of products. Savings show up on the receipt, both for the day's and year's purchases.
• More incentives: card, manufacturer and in store discounts add up. The stores even double manufacturers' discounts. How does 50ff sound?
• Being nice to customers: in theory, getting the discounts is tied to using the card. In practice, if you fail to present your card the cashier scans a dummy card for you. This way, you still get the discounts even though you pass the benefits of personalization.
• Maintaining the database in good health: a product mispriced in the cashiers' database - compared to the isle price tag or the weekly flier price - earns the customer an extra product for free, without any question asked.

A marketing queen: good database marketing programs embed good marketing practices that in turn retain satisfied customers - and such is the case with ExtraCare. As the program promised, after shopping and using my card for a while I received personalized offers in the mail. I was offered further discounts on items I shopped most. Once, after tendering no other payment than discount coupons for my purchase it resulted that CVS/pharmacy still owed me a balance. To the cashier's glory, she did not falter and did not ask the manager to solve this complex problem. She just opened the cash machine and handed me the change. A marketing queen that cashier!

With marketing knowledge lacking, both companies and customers fare worse - no company has ever prospered without making its customers happy. Giant Foods, Safeway and CVS/pharmacy are good because they compete shoulder to shoulder in the Washington, DC metro area. But in Toronto bad marketing survives because of the market being less than free, lowering every newcomer's prospects - from getting a good job to getting a decent life.

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An Immigrant's Life in Toronto, Canada VII

Having fun again with marketing blunders

Below is an excerpt from a letter I received on March 15 from my building manager. Nothing could have stopped the letter from making its way to the recycle bin, except for a notoriously funny marketing blunder and an instant urge for a new blog post.

Read carefully, you will not get this kind of promise in the mail anytime soon.

Marketers, care should be taken of both your copy and promises! In this case, not only that my suite was not "replaced immediately," but also the "resident manager" did not make any appointment "in the next week or so."

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An Immigrant's Life in Toronto, Canada VI

Having fun with marketing blunders

Guaranteed recipe to obtain a notoriously funny marketing blunder:

• Leave judgment out of the picture
• Focus on warning standards conformity
• Get recognition on night-time shows
• Blame it on "the computer"

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An Immigrant's Life in Toronto, Canada V

Pricing: a challenge for retailers

One bad marketing experience with Torontonian retailers is pricing. Here is just one annoying example of the retailers' pricing policy. Contrary to anybody's expectations, retailers offer no perceivable per unit price discounts for larger packages. In fact, higher per unit prices are quite common. The following is factual: a .95 liter liquid soap refill sells at $2.99 while a 1.9 liter liquid soap refill (same brand and product, just double the quantity) sells at $7.29, a 22% per unit price increase. Most notably, the two packages sit next to each other for direct scrutiny and comparison on a grocery store shelf.

One of the greatest benefits that retailers bring to consumers is convenience. Nowadays, nobody will go get a loan from the bank to buy one year's stock of groceries in order to get a price per unit deal. That is, nobody except retailers. If they do it in a professional manner, everybody is better off. Consumers are ready to pay for convenience because they would probably fare worse if doing bulk shopping themselves. But confusion ensues in consumers' minds when they are presented with an alternative where a larger package is more expensive per unit than a smaller package.

Even though consumers might perceive the lower quantity package as a relative deal, it still does not sound right. "If something is not logical, it probably is not true" as an American pop-culture icon puts it. What happens is that if consumers want a larger quantity, they can buy more smaller packages instead of one large package. But why buy more since the lowest price is there, in smaller packages? Not only consumers feel mislead, but also retailers sell less. If retailers sell less, their turnover is bad, suppliers offer less discounts and retailers most probably increase markups. Who benefits? Well, I cannot think of anyone. Thus, retailers have to step in and perform in a professional and logical manner, especially when dealing with suppliers that do not impose advanced and strict price maintenance policies.

Coca Cola is the handbook case of dealing with quantity when pricing groceries. Based on observations, a rule of thumb can be formulated like this: double the quantity, increase the price by half and keep halving the price increases. For example, if a half litter bottle of soda sells for $1.00, a one litter bottle sells for $1.50 and a two litter bottle sells for $1.75. (All are hypothetical and approximate.) This way, the consumer either gets a per unit deal or spends less money on a smaller package. It's her choice.

Among other advanced marketing features, Coca Cola demonstrates mastery in pricing by presenting a crystal clear proposition which is enticing and, by way of consequence, profitable. The interesting thing about pricing is that it can be replicated at no cost (actually at a gain) - there are no barriers to that. But hard and expensive things are there in Torontonian retail (large buildings, large parking lots etc.) while soft and inexpensive features like good marketing still lack.

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An Immigrant's Life in Toronto, Canada IV

Loblaws: a mediocre marketing experience

Recently, we went shopping for groceries and my wife was attracted by an end isle prominently marked "specials". She asked an associate what was the special price of a specific product that the associate was loading onto the isle. The associate told my wife that there was no special price as of that day (a Thursday) but the product would go on sale on Saturday. Then my wife remarked that loading the "specials" isle with products that sell at regular price was misleading. To this, the associate replied that there was no price tag affixed to that product yet and so, it could stay on the "specials" isle.

Not that my wife needs any help, she is a real marketing professional, but I need to vent my frustration because negative marketing experiences with Loblaws are quite recurrent, not only in time but also across locations in Toronto. When replying to a client's concern, there is only one phrase that makes you stand out as a marketer, no matter how big or small your business is: "Thank you for bringing it to my attention. I will remedy the situation immediately." When followed by the promised immediate remedy, the phrase works wonders. There is no conceivable reason not to tell your client: "You are right." After all, she pays your salary.

I am bringing to your attention an interesting webpage on a Government website. It is a no-nonsense "Advertising Do's and Don'ts" compiled by Canada-Ontario Business Service Centre (COBSC), Queen's Printer for Ontario, 2006. Here is a link to the webpage. I will let two excerpts speak for me; maybe the government is more persuasive than I am, although it shouldn't.

• "Don't use the words "sale" or "special" in relation to the price of a product unless a significant price reduction has occurred."
• "Do ensure that your sales force is familiar with these "Do's and Don'ts". Advertisers may be held responsible for representations made by employees."

Besides, when Loblaws loads the "specials" isle with regular price merchandise, it also takes shelf space from products that actually are on sale. Did any supplier notice that?

Let it be stated, my only goal is to see those issues resolved for the benefit of an improved customer experience. Based upon how the associate addressed my wife's concerns, I assume that the road to marketing excellence is a long one, but Loblaws needs to go that way rather sooner than later. If Safeway turns its face to Ontario, time might be very short.

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