Banter Without Borders

5 Tips for Succeeding in the Canadian Marketplace

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 “We are not Americans..We are citizens of a distinct sovereign state."*

According to the Wall Street Journal, American retailers are expanding into Canada, already the USA’s largest trading partner. While Canada is a much safer market than Asian countries, there are still many issues that can undermine the success of any American company moving north.  

1. Distinct Market:

Canada must be treated as a distinct market. Canadians have a strong, albeit understated, sense of national pride that is often defined as being ‘not American’ despite the strong north-south (Canada-USA) pull throughout the country because areas of Canada often have a closer proximity to and more in common with their American neighbors than with another Canadian city thousands of miles away. Canadians are concerned about the loss of their culture and tradition by intrusion of American economic and cultural influences. Any company entering the Canadian market should emphasize Canadian content and other Canadian elements of their products or services to demonstrate respect for Canadian consumers. 

2. Segmented Market:

Canada is the world’s second-largest country; it cannot be treated like one unified market for product or for promotion and advertising. Regionalism continues to be an issue in Canada. Canadians have great pride in their individual provinces and their differing lifestyles. Companies that treat the French-Canadian and the English-Canadian markets as 2 separate markets are usually the most successful. When marketing to French-Canadians (25% of the Canadian market), all promotional materials must be available in French. And, even within the English-Canadian market, there are differences in lifestyle among the Maritime provinces, Ontario and the Western provinces to be considered. 

3. Social/Environmental Issues:

Environmental issues (acid rain, ‘reduce, reuse, recycle’) and social issues (women’s rights, pay equity, minority rights and job security) are very important to most Canadians. This should be reflected in a company’s product, packaging, marketing and human resources practices. 

4. Packaging:

Canadian packaging should be eco-friendly, bi-lingual and ‘Canadianized’. Forms and warranties should refer to ‘Province’ rather than ‘State’ ‘and postal code’ rather than ‘zip code’. While Canadians show a preference for American terminology, Canadian spelling follows British guidelines, and any copy should be rewritten accordingly. By law, Canadian packaging must be bilingual. Keep in mind that direct translations from the English are seldom successful and that French copy is on average 20% longer than the English copy. 

5. Marketing:

Canadians are conservative, reserved, cautious and yet open-minded. Avoid marketing hype and stick to the facts; Canadians expect to hear the truth. Free samples are more effective than direct mail in winning over the Canadian consumer.