Lynne Kiesling While we’re in a Smithian place here at KP, Grant McCracken’s post on the paucity of strong Canadian brands is comment-provoking. Grant poses Wealth of Nations as a theme (and indeed as the title of the post), so…

Ed, I agree there is lots of talent at work in the comments field, and it routinely puts me to shame. As it turns out, Jim Dingwall is an old Toronto friend of mine and yes I have badgered him more than once to take up blogging. No luck. Thanks, Grant

Jim Dingwall, why aren’t you blogging? There should be a URL behind your name, not an email address!

Barry Ritholz, thanks for the props to Reiser. He was Scottie Pippen to Seinfeld’s Michael Jordan in the ’90s, and with smart people like Grant attributing his schtick to (the increasingly self-righteous) Jon Stewart, Reiser’s impending erasure is sadly assured. Yes, he tended toward the mawkish, and “Mad About You” was ultimately just another sitcom, but he deserves better than elision–hey, even Pippen was damn good.

Stewart appropriated Reiser’s verbal tic and made it a hip pop culture reference — not that there’s anything wrong with that . . .

First, Canadians possess a commodity mindset. It’s genetic. We export a lot of commodities — rocks, trees, wheat, oil, etc. –but nothing branded except the occasional mad cow. Commodities are bulk goods and by definition anti-brand – they are generic, “no-name” raw materials sold almost exclusively on price and volume– their value-added identity comes much later in the hands of someone else. That’s the Canadian way.

We live in a highly parochial, “made in Canada” culture. Few local brands are designed to travel abroad. Indeed, it’s amazing how many of Canada’s top brands and institutions rely on Canadian references in their corporate names as a basic identity fix. Canadian Tire, Molson’s Canadian and all of our major banks come immediately to mind. In so far as Canada has no notable reputation for manufacturing or service excellence, a Canadian moniker is hardly a unique global selling proposition. So, from a marketing perspective, many of Canada’s high profile brands can’t venture outside of Canada without a name change that pretty well kills their brand identity. For example most Canadian banks go by meaningless acronyms in the United States – BMO/Harris, CIBC World Markets, RBC Financial, and TD Waterhouse.

Interbrand’s top ranking brands possess distinct visual identities. Close your eyes and you can immediately picture the Golden Arches, the Nike swoop, the exact type font and precise blue of IBM, the shape of a Coke bottle and the Coca-Cola script, Disney’s magic mouse and Mercedes’ hood ornament. Quickly now, pick two of Canada’s top brands — Tim Horton’s and Canadian Tire — and try to visualize their logos. I rest my case. A world-renowned brand needs a distinct visual identity and recognition in the marketplace. Unfortunately, Canadians possess a dismal visual sense. Maybe it’s because our lives are dominated by vast unchanging vistas of snow, endless prairie fields of canola and barren grey granite landscapes. We lack the ability to give any Canadian product a dynamic and unique visual identity.

The only successful Canadian brand I can think of in the international marketplace is our beloved national police force: the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. How ironic. Canada, the self-styled kinder, gentler nation gets top-of-mind recognition for an armed law enforcement officer in a red tunic and Boy Scout hat. It should come as no surprise that the RCMP sold the rights to use the Mountie image to ……wait for it …..The Disney Corporation.

“As American as motherhood and apple pie.”

The winning entry was:

“As Canadian as . . . possible, under the circumstances.”

adriano: sucking on that big american tittie is alright now and again, usually tho it makes one vomit. Must be laced with somthing…

Adriano, the other way of seeing it, to be sure.” Thanks, Grant

LK, not quite a brand, but certainly an innovation. And this would make an interesting investigation on its own. Thanks, Grant