Graham Clark's Blog

Over the summer Loblaw Cos. Limited came under fire from the Muslim community for producing a Punjabi ad during the holy month of Ramadan which was mistakenly aired during a Hindi language Bollywood film. Ethnic markets represent great potential in Canada, with one in three Canadians expected to be from visible minorities by 2031, representing 70% of the forecasted growth in consumer spending over the next decade.To attempt to tap into this market, retailers such as Loblaws, Shoppers, Home Depot & Wallmart have focused marketing campaigns & products on these groups.

There are problems that can occur however, as highlighted by Lowlaw’s gaffe, that result from a lack of inside knowledge and attention to detail. This is where hiring a CMO or marketing team, which has knowledge working with these ethic groups, will become increasingly important. Home Depot’s strategy of running popular Cantonese speaking workshops at their stores in Richmond BC illustrates the potential created by a localized & specialized marketing approach can work. Being in tune with the local population is therefore very important for a business. With first-mover status a business can respond quickly to their needs and win their store brand-loyal customers for life.

Source:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/industry-news/marketing/a-worldly-ad-approach/article1722311/?cmpid=nl-bizt1

Source: http://www.freshphonenews.com/rogers-wants-your-money-revises-hup-policy-7186/

On Tuesday, Rogers Communications Inc. completed a take-over of Atria Networks LP, an Ontarian fibre-optics firm. The 425 million dollar acquisition was more expensive than expected, however it gives Rogers access to roughly 1100 lucrative existing business clients and 5600 kilometres of fibre-optic cable around Ottawa, Kitchener-Waterloo and the Greater Toronto Area. This will help Rogers deal with rapidly expanding data usage from online video streaming and smart-phone use. The deal is seen as an efficient way of Rogers quickly expanding their business opportunities while keeping ahead of current and potential rivals such as Telus and Bell.

This purchase is a smaller tactic of Rogers’ larger, needs-based positioning strategy by expanding their access to customers and lowering future costs by increasing operational effectiveness. The deal will help to reduce the threat of substitutes by preventing new wireless cell phone and telecom firms from competing with them in the business to business data market. Rogers has increased the barriers to entry into their markets by using their current low cost of capital to increase time and cost barriers for rival firms.  In sum, Rogers appears to have made a bold move, but one with a large potential payoff.

Source:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-investor/rogers-to-buy-atria-for-425-million/article1744043/

Last week Toronto-Dominion (TD) Bank took over South Financial Group, based in Florida, increasing their number of state-wide branches to 165. TD is taking advantage of their financial strength following the recession to purchase weakened American banks. This new acquisition is added to 3 other Florida-based banks to they have taken over in the past year. They have targeted the Florida market because it is a deposit rich state which hosts many Canadian ‘snowbirds’ during the winter months.

Building a brand image takes time, especially for a financial institution in a post mortgage-crisis market, so TD will take a year to transition South Financial Group branches into full TD branded locations. Some aspects will however change immediately, such as expanding opening hours to 7-days a week, to fit their marketing slogan of being “America’s Most Convenient Bank”. They hope to retain long-term customers by reducing the shock created by sudden changes. This acquisition is a good (but cheap) one for an ambitious TD Bank looking to expand their portfolio while retaining their AAA rating. TD plans to hold on to much of the staff with expertise in the state who could be invaluable when seeking ‘organic’ growth of their brand.

http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2010/oct/04/td-bank-completes-acquisition-of-fourth-banking/

http://www.charlestonbusiness.com/news/34255-south-financial-group-to-merge-with-td-bank-financial-group

Recently the United States, Japan and the EU have submitted a complaint to the WTO about local content rules being used by Dolton McGuinty’s government. The rules state that half the goods and services used for FIT projects (that are paid premiums for generating renewable energy) must be from Canada. The project is aimed at trying to create “thousands of green jobs” while the province phases out coal generation in the province, a long term election promise of the liberal government.

From a household’s perspective the local content rules present significant problems. By forcing suppliers to use less efficient and more expensive Canadian sources for wind and solar power this is discouraging households from investing in renewable power generation. However, a main goal of Mr. McGuinty’s plan is to create jobs, as illustrated by Samsung being convinced to build “four manufacturing plants in the province”. The rules aid energy installers who can provide some of the required local content, but it also harms firms selling renewable energy projects as they become more expensive. The key for other large suppliers is to follow Samsung’s example and take advantage of government support while they can.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/us-eu-join-fight-over-ontarios-green-energy-plan/article1736573/?cmpid=nl-news1