 Welcome to the third installment of ASI's newest e-newsletter, Promogram Canada.
We were happy to get such positive feedback from readers of the initial editions and plan to continue culling together industry news that affects ad specialty suppliers and distributors in the Canadian marketplace.
Please don't hesitate to e-mail me directly with any news pertaining to your company, such as mergers and acquisitions, new hires, awards and accolades received, creative client promotions or new product launches. You can reach me directly at (215) 953-3323 or mbell@asicentral.com.
Meet the Man Who Put Tim Hortons On the Map
 It's safe to say that the creative and marketing ideas that have come from Ron Buist in the last 25 years have affected the lives of the Canadian marketplace. As the former Marketing Director for Tim Hortons, Buist launched some of the best-known and most successful marketing campaigns in Canadian advertising history. An entrepreneur, author, marketer and thinker, Buist has a unique perspective on many Canadian brands.
Buist's greatest challenge was Tim Hortons, one of the most recognizable names and brands in Canada. He began a 24-year career as Marketing Director, and his creative marketing campaigns helped turn a once unknown doughnut shop into one of Canada's leading franchised organizations. While with Tim Hortons, some of his accomplishments included the invention of the continuously popular "Roll Up the Rim to Win" contest, the production of the "True Stories" television commercials, the design of the first Tim Mug travel mugs, and the launch of the popular soup and sandwich program.
In 2002, Buist ventured out on his own, forming Buist Enterprises, becoming a marketing consultant and author. His first publication, Tales from Under the Rim, was a Canadian best-seller, operating as a business study and memoir of how Tim Hortons became a second home to millions of Canadians.
Here, we present an exclusive Q&A conducted by Supplier Global Resource editor Michele Bell with Buist, touching on the importance of using ad specialties in marketing campaigns, what every marketing needs to be doing right now to build buzz for their clients and specific strategies for igniting creativity.
Michele Bell: Tell us about Tim Hortons' strategy for entering a new market.
Ron Buist: Let's take the U.S., for example. There are over 500 locations down there now. Years ago, Hortons was in the States back in the 70's but it didn't survive. Now it has a presence in Buffalo and it's well established - it's moving out from there like a wave, going down the U.S and through the northern states to begin with. Hortons does it differently than a lot of companies - they just don't go down with a great big splash. They pick an area and will buy a group [of stores] at a time. For example, there was a fish and chip company in Detroit - 45 stores - and Hortons bought and converted them all. And now Hortons has a presence in New York City. Dunkin Donuts had a franchise down there, half a dozen locations like in Grand Central station right in Manhattan, and they lost the franchise. So the man who owned the buildings knew about Hortons, called up to Canada and said, "Look, this opportunity is coming up - do you want it?" They not only wanted it, they converted the stores in 48 hours. They started on a Friday night and by Monday morning, they were Hortons stores. They went in like bees; that's the way Hortons works. They're losing money in the States if you look at it one way, but on the other hand, they're getting more and more profitable all the time and gaining ground. The stores are getting stronger and stronger and they went in with that attitude. Hortons never expected to make it in two years. It'll take years, but they'll do it really well.
MB: What are the three most important things a company can do to connect with clients and prospects?
RB: The first point is, are you giving the customer a reason to buy your product? You have to create value and allure to customers crave and covet.
The second point is, are you showing respect for the customer's time and intelligence? Is your message silly? Are you making fun of people? Are you showing respect for the customer's time and intelligence?
The third point is, are you proving you deserve the customers' business? And by that I mean you should be selling the product or service from the inside out. Make sure you've got it right before you advertise it at all. Show respect for the customer, that they've got the ability to buy a good product or service and they're going to be properly rewarded. Have I done my homework? It means you need to eliminate any concern your customers have about what they're getting from you.
MB: How have you used promotional products and did you find them successful?
RB: Very much so. I started with Horton's in 1978 and back then, the coffee travel mug was not invented, really. There was a company that did them in the States, and that's who we worked with. The product itself was a success because it was designed to hold coffee and we didn't just sell an empty mug. We sold it filled with coffee; buy the mug get a free coffee. All I did was take the china mug and stick it into a car holder and fiddle around with it from there. We sold two million of them so it worked really well. But the reason they worked is that we used it as a vehicle to sell our current product - coffee. I've found that promotional products work in marketing when you tie them into the items you're actually selling. For example, for Tim Hortons, giving out pens wouldn't have been the best choice. But travel coffee mugs hit the mark.
MB: What should companies be doing today to build their brand?
RB: It's very strange to me that many companies seem almost ashamed to show the logo of their company in a prominent position.
MB: Why do you think that is?
RB: Because some of them are trying to be so entertaining, clever and cute instead of trying to sell something. For example, if you look at an ad and don't know what the company is selling, there's something wrong. The exception, of course, is when a company is selling something that is not tangible.
Also - and I can't stress this enough - pay attention to your female customers and prospects. That demographic can make or break a brand. When Hortons got started in the business it was skewed strongly towards men. The stores were brown brick - they were dark; they had footstools, little sitting stools and so forth. They weren't bright. Women didn't like them - they don't like parking behind the store. They want to park in front. They want to know where the lights are. They want a drive through. Once those changes were implemented, we had a whole new customer base.
MB: What's the biggest mistake you've made in your career as far as marketing or advertising?
RB: I think that if you're successful at all, you've done some things wrong along the way. In the case of Tim Hortons, it was a product launch -- Tim Horton's cakes. We tried everything to make those cakes sell. We had Cake Express, where you could call up and we'd deliver by cab for birthdays. We sold them in the stores, by the slice, everything else. And then I realized all our products are finger food, but the one thing you couldn't do with a cake is you couldn't eat it with your fingers. You had to have a fork, you had to have a plate. So I thought maybe that's one of the reasons the cakes didn't work because it was not in the same genre as the others. What we learned from that is the importance of sticking to what you know. If you're selling cars and the cars aren't selling well, sell used cars. If the used cars aren't working well, sell floor mats. Sell headlights, sell paint jobs, sell body work. You're still in the same category. You're not out there trying to sell nylons or pantyhose with a car. It won't work.
MB: What are some of the tips you've learned for igniting creativity?
RB: Actually, it was an American who said it better than anybody, I think - Rockefeller: "Do common things uncommonly well." That's the secret to real success. A cup of coffee is about as basic as you can get, but that doesn't matter - the trick with Hortons is not that they make a great cup of coffee, it's that they make the great cup of coffee in over 3,500 locations all the time, every day, consistent, year in year out. That's the secret to it. They do a common thing, uncommonly well and I think that's one of the greatest things you can learn about igniting creativity - look within yourself and decide how you can make something you might be doing all the time even better, and then find a way to tell your clients and prospects that what you're doing is really good and special and unique. I recommend using promotional products for that.
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You can see Ron Buist live at a free keynote session at The ASI Holiday Preview Tour in Toronto on Tuesday, September 27. Visit www.holidaypreviewtour.com for more information.
Ash City CEO Garry Hurvitz Gives Update on Business Conditions in Asia
As someone who travels to Asia every six weeks to check in on the market conditions that will affect the ad specialty industry, Garry Hurvitz - CEO of Counselor Top 40 supplier Ash City (asi/37143) - has a unique perspective on issues like labor and cotton shortages, the cost and availability of raw materials and pricing.
Read on for Hurvitz's latest report from Asia: http://bit.ly/kexxXA |
