While reading through some of my classmates blogs, Diane Guo’s first blog post really caught my attention. She basically told a story about two friends simultaneously ordering a Canadian, and when asked “Why?” they both replied “Because I am Canadian”. She then went on to describe how effectively Molson has developed a great customer value based marketing approach by focusing on some key values in Canadian culture.

My interest in this story comes from the fact that I too am Canadian, and I absolutely agree that Molson’s marketing strategy is extremely effective in appealing to Canadians. Considering the fact that quality-wise, I wouldn’t say it’s any better than Budweiser, Kokanee or Coors (mind you, I am by no means a beer savant), Molson’s ability to very clearly differentiate their product is quite impressive. They do so by representing their beer, primarily in their advertisements, as the pinnacle of Canadian living. Like many Canadians, I associate my country with things like cold winters, excessive politeness, pond hockey, mountains, and all other kinds of natural beauty, and although I don’t experience all of these things on a daily basis, I still feel a great connection with every one of them. Seeing these things in Molson’s advertisements remind me of home no matter where I am, and for that reason I am a loyal consumer of their beer. Here’s a clip with three of Molson’s older commercials that pretty effectively demonstrate their representation of Canadian values:

Just searching some of these commercials on Youtube gave me chills. I can’t think of any other brand that has managed to do the same thing.