|
Issue 8, vol. 1 - August 2005
Young Canadians and young Americans have less in common than ever before...
One of the biggest problems we face, as Canadian marketers, is the branch plant syndrome: we work on brands that are global (or at least North American) and we often get lumped in with our neighbours to the South. It's easier to treat North America as one big market when we're all so similar - or so the story goes...
But young Canadians are actually diverging from their American counterparts, socially, culturally, and as consumers. Michael Adams first touched on this in his excellent novel Fire and Ice: The United States, Canada and the Myth of Converging Values, noting that Canadians and Americans of all ages are drifting apart, but for young Canadians this distance is even more pronounced.
We've found in our research that young Canadians are both more liberal (rejecting a lot of traditional institutions and reveling in their hedonism) and more practical (researching before they buy something and worrying about their finances) than their American counterparts. Young Canadians feel that all of the following are more important than their like-aged American counterparts: having sex, owning lots of stuff, getting rich and even giving into temptation.
|
|
|
This seeming contradiction is at the core of the new young Canadian consumer, and speaks to creating distinct marketing campaigns for Canada and the U.S. Young Canadians want their consumer activity to play to their strong desire for a good time, but at the same time to be grounded in some more practical elements. They are less connected to traditional institutions (marriage and the Church, for instance) than young Americans and are starting to be even more proud of the fact that they aren't American - a national spirit that's been present for quite some time but was quieted post-9/11 and has really only rebounded recently. As well, Canadian youth are twice as likely to shop Canadian as American youth are to shop American when deciding between two similar products or services.
The implications for marketers are significant and growing. The fast adapts of U.S. television work that Canadian agencies are forced into doing are going to be less and less successful in this marketplace. At the same time, some American-produced promotional campaigns simply shouldn't be traveling this far North.
Want a free half-hour presentation on the growing differences between young Canadians and young Americans? Contact Lori McKnight at lori@youthography.com.
While big American culture continues to pervade the Canadian marketplace, Canada also continues to get cooler and cooler in the eyes of the world and in the eyes of young Canadians. Spin Magazine recently dubbed Montreal as the coolest music city in the world, but it's not limited there. Smart marketers (like our clients at Solo Mobile) are using home-grown talent such as Keshia Chanté to headline their tours, and alt-rock names like Billy Talent and Finger 11 are showing up in Canadian promotions for international brands such as Nintendo. This often leads to cost savings over importing foreign talent, and recognition from consumers that Canadian brands/promotions are pushing Canadian artists. It used to be that you had to compromise on coolness and relevance to do that, but that's not the case any more.
For more information on Youthography's marketing, advertising, events and promotions expertise, please contact Jeff Roach at 416 204 1256 x231 or email jeff@youthography.com
|