Blue Edition 2011

the BLUE edition

September 2011

investment in marketing

Guerilla tactics Lawrie Ferguson uses fun, memorable marketing strategies to promote Coast Capital credit union Familiar faces Ryan Kesler is one of several sports celebs lending star power to Firstar’s T3 sportswear

Downtown draws Bentall’s Tony Astles hopes to attract out-of-town office tenants to Vancouver

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december

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PHILANTHROPY m a r c h 2 0 1 2 pro f ita b ility j u n e 2 0 1 2 s u s taina b ility

Redesigning sales Interior decorator Suze McCart gets creative with advertising

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biv.com

2 the blue edition

September 2011 Business in Vancouver

THE PRIMARY COLOURS OF BUSINESS EXCELLENCE

There’s an old adage in the business world that it doesn’t matter how good your product is if no one knows it exists. With that in mind, Business in Vancouver focuses this year’s Blue Edition on investing in marketing, with an eye on business-to-business services. Whether you’re a solo-preneur pitching payment-collection options or a real estate broker trying to fill downtown space, you need potential clients to hear about your business. After you’ve studied the lessons offered by experts between these pages, join our Blue Breakfast to hear speakers on the subject Wednesday, September 21, 2011, at the SFU Segal School of Business, 500 Granville Street, Vancouver. To register, visit www.biv.com/colour.

Cutting through the noise

– Baila Lazarus, news features editor, Business in Vancouver

4 Spaced out

Low downtown vacancy rates cause property managers and brokerage firms to find new ways to market office space

6 Show then tell

Award-winning marketing campaigns amplify B.C.’s credit union strengths

8 Stage presence

Small businesses get creative with traditional and digital strategies

10 Star power

When fighting to get your product noticed, sometimes it pays to hitch your brand to a celebrity

12 Brand awareness

Splurging to bring Manchester City to town could help future playerrecruitment efforts for the Whitecaps

Business in Vancouver 102 East Fourth Avenue Vancouver, BC V5T 1G2 P: 604.688.2398 F: 604.688.1963 E: info@biv.com Publications Mail Agreement No: 40069240.

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Printing partner: PacBlue Printing

Richard Lam

Contents

Tight budgets and the ever-harder task of catching the public’s eye are driving a trend toward stunt-based advertising

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Jenny Wagler

Stanley Park statues sporting jerseys, lipstick messages on mirrors and Frisbee coupons.

These were some of the stunts Vancouver advertising companies dreamed up in the past year to help companies maximize limited advertising budgets and stand out from the fray.

“It’s always been a moving target, doing something that’s sufficiently different and intrusive to catch people’s attention,” said Richard Bergin, partner and client services director of Spring Advertising.

The combination of tight advertising budgets and audiences’ ever-growing ability to filter out advertising messages is pushing local advertisers to literally invent new media to convey their messages.

Bill Downie, creative director at Slingshot Communications, was one of the creative forces driving a stunt-filled campaign to focus attention on the Whitecaps’ first Major League Soccer match this past March. (See more on Whitecaps marketing on page 12.)

A limited budget, Downie said, was a key factor that shaped a campaign that included dressing up Stanley Park statues, a 3-D projection on the Sears building downtown and a Whitecaps Idol competition. “That was our starting point. We can’t afford to flood the airwaves; we need to get down to street level and do something that will get media attention.”

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the Blue edition 3

Business in Vancouver September 2011

SPONSOR’S MESSAGE

and an unleased store location were media used by Cossette West in a campaign last spring for Vancouver Island’s Woodgrove Centre mall.

Nadine Cole, Cossette’s vice-president and general manager, explained that the campaign centred around the idea of breaking up with old clothes and “having a fling” with new items.

To drive home the break-up theme, Cossette created decals of lipstick messages encouraging shoppers to break up with their old lipsticks, and affixed the messages to bathroom mirrors in the mall. The agency took out ads in personals pages of local publications and ran personals-style t takes a lot of time and money to build a Facebook ads with messages about seeking new clothes or new fashion. companySCAN and a strong brand!aTell your story a snake, gourmet selection As both a charitable component to the of cheese, a painting, an artifact, with great graphics and keep it growing. campaign and a way of creating more a sample board… hype, Cossette transformed an unleased In 1921, Fred R. Barnard wrote that “a picture store space in the mall into a “break-up store,” decorating it with Kleenex boxes, is worth a thousand words” when he promoted PRINT BIG on a door or any flat chocolate, chick flicks and weepy ’80s adding images to ads on the sides of streetcars. surface, wood, fabric, plexi, mesh, music. Mall customers could drop off vinyl, paper, styrene, coroplast… clothing donations and enter a draw for a Although the old streetcars have disappeared, shopping spree. Cole said using universal truths, such as the idea of a break-up, gives we’ll tell your story with great images wherever stunts more sticking power.

GREEN brochures, you want toPRINT put them!

And if you’ve got an oldposters Bergin also honed in on the importance and more on FSC paper with our hig of having the right message in a stunt – or streetcar, we’ll Fred’s instructions. endfollow waterless DI digital offset press. at least not the wrong one.

“I can stick a billboard out there and put You think it... we’ll print it. the pope next to it and it will get attention and generate PR when I get sued by the CREATE A SIGN for any event, Vatican, but none of it will be of any benebusiness or real estate development. fit at all to our clients unless it’s a brand for From business card size to billboard. whom notoriety is important.”

For stunts to be effective, however, they need other advertising efforts to spread the ADD VINYL to a vehicle, a wall, word that they’re happening. a photocopier, slat boards, windows “Typically stunts are in combination …just about any smooth surface! with some mass-awareness pieces or PR at the very least,” Cole explained, noting that social media is helping drive a trend toward stunts by allowing them to be more broadly publicized than was previously possible and thus more effective. Yes, we’re a printing company, but not just any printing com Looking Cole added that while stunts can add for value, passionate professionals, creative printing co Welcome to PacBlue Printing. an additional element to other campaigns, they’re not going to replace more traditional advertising options, such as TV ads, anytime soon.

“I would never replace my TV buy for a stunt by any means,” she said. “I know I’m reaching a lot more people through TV or www.pacblueprinting.com 200 - 380 West 2nd Avenue, Vancouver • 604.714.3288 • www.pacblue radio.” • THE PRIMARY COLOURS OF BUSINESS EXCELLENCE

Tell a Big Story!

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Slingshot Communications’ Bill Downie (l) and Robert Clements: “we wanted to talk to the whole city, much the way the Olympics did”

Slingshot, he said, planned a campaign with a 30-day countdown to the first match, with new videos released every day and “spikes” or stunts staged periodically during the campaign. For those stunts, he said, his team set out to invent new media.

“That could be a vehicle, a place, a mountainside,” he explained. “Lions Gate Bridge was a target for us at one point: ‘What can we do to Lions Gate Bridge?’”

Spring and Cossette West are two other local advertising agencies that have dreamed up stunts in the past year to get their clients’ messages heard.

In a campaign for the launch of Joey Restaurant Group’s Nimby Burger at Kitsilano beach last summer, Spring armed restaurant staff with Frisbees printed with coupons for free burgers. Bergin said the Frisbees were a means of catching the public’s attention in a way that conveyed the burger joint’s fun, retro branding.

Bathroom mirrors, the personals pages on 50% recycled, 25% post-consumer waste paper

Printing partner: PacBlue Printing

4 the blue edition

September 2011 Business in Vancouver

Spaced out

Dominic Schaefer

With downtown vacancy rates at multi-year lows, few companies want to move locations, prompting property managers and brokerage firms to find new ways to market office space

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Bentall Kennedy executive vice-president Tony Astles: a well-designed building can help attract new tenants

Joel McKay

Despite Vancouver’s international reputation as one of the nicest places on earth to set up shop, many of the companies that fill office space downtown are born and bred on the West Coast.

“Vancouver is a virtually closed market,” said Tony Astles, executive vicepresident, B.C., at Bentall Kennedy. “In terms of the percentage of tenants or square footage available, there’s almost a non-existent amount of new tenants that come in from outside Vancouver.”

There are a number of reasons for that, said Astles, notably the city’s pricey labour and lease rates.

On top of that, Vancouver is not known as a head office city.

In fact, major corporations are more apt to set up satellite offices in the Terminal City than move their headquarters here.

Printing partner: PacBlue Printing

But that doesn’t mean property managers and brokerage firms are investing all their time and money marketing to potential tenants far and wide.

Rather, the city’s existing tenant base is so fluid that vacancy rates remain tight.

That means property managers and brokerage firms have very simple marketing plans: • list available space online; and • keep in touch with existing clients’ growth prospects.

“If you have good head-lease space today and a broker who’s active with it, you’re going to find someone for it,” explained Glenn Gardner, a corporate real estate adviser with Avison Young in Vancouver.

According to Avison Young’s midyear 2011 Metro Vancouver office market report, the downtown core will face “constrained” office supply until mid2014 when new towers come on the market.

“Unless there’s a tenant in your building that needs your space, you have to market it” – Glenn Gardner, corporate real estate adviser, Avison Young Vancouver Printed on a waterless digital offset press

the Blue edition 5

Richard Lam

Business in Vancouver September 2011

Avison Young real estate adviser Glenn Gardner: office space that moves the fastest has the best access to transportation

At mid-year, the downtown vacancy rate remained at 5%.

Unoccupied AAA office space downtown tightened further in the first six months of 2011 to 1.3%.

Gardner said a healthy downtown vacancy rate would be about 10%, adding that the current situation is tough on both tenants and landlords.

“If you’re a tenant and you want to expand, it’s difficult to do that … the reverse of that is if you’re a landlord and you have a tenant you want to keep and you can’t find space for them, then they have to go find space somewhere else,” he said.

The situation is so constrained that Gardner suggests companies in search of more than 5,000 square feet of space need to start looking 10 months in advance.

All this might lead tenants to believe that property managers and brokerage firms don’t work very hard at marketing their properties. on 50% recycled, 25% post-consumer waste paper

But Gardner said that’s simply not the case.

“At the end of the day, unless there’s a tenant in your building that needs your space, you have to market it.”

Astles agreed.

In addition to advertising properties to tenants and brokers, Bentall, which is B.C.’s largest commercial property manager, also makes sure its office space is pleasing to the eye.

“The marketing of the property actually flows right into the space itself … its state of readiness is critical to our marketing initiatives,” said Astles.

From details about how a building operates to its sustainability initiatives, the quality of its elevators and the finish on door handles, Bentall makes sure its clients have every piece of information they need.

“We go to extraordinary lengths to make certain our product has a great experience when you arrive at it,” said Astles. “It’s kind of related to the residential notion of ‘staging.’”

Gardner added that office space located close to rapid-transit nodes is also easier to market to clients.

But when all is said and done, real estate firm Newmark Knight Frank Devencore said its Vancouver clients care about one selling feature more than any other – price.

“As much as the green movement is making headlines, cost is the number one driver for these guys,” said John Wu, an associate vice-president with Devencore.

Because vacancy rates downtown are so low, companies only move if they have to.

That means Devencore not only helps companies locate new office space, but also outlines how a space can help a business cut costs.

“You can’t control revenue but you can control costs.” •

“As much as the green movement is making headlines, cost is the number 1 driver for these guys”

sponsor’s message

THE PRIMARY COLOURS OF BUSINESS EXCELLENCE

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– John Wu, associate vice-president, Newmark Knight Frank Devencore Printing partner: PacBlue Printing

6 the blue edition

September 2011 Business in Vancouver

Show then tell

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Richard Lam

Award-winning marketing campaigns amplify B.C.’s credit union strengths

Lawrie Ferguson, chief marketing officer, Coast Capital Savings: guerrilla marketing tactics can be effective in building business and strengthening customer service

Richard Chu

Last November, Coast Capital Savings wanted to show people who’s boss.

Outside its Georgia Street branch in downtown Vancouver, B.C.’s second largest credit union hired a few people to act as butlers, handing out drinks to passersby and helping people cross the street.

“It was a very memorable, fun stunt, actually,” said Lawrie Ferguson, Coast Capital’s chief marketing officer. “But it was tied in with the launch of the You’re the Boss Mortgage.”

That type of guerrilla marketing tactic has been a fixture of Coast Capital’s various campaigns over the years. In 2009, when the banks were posting record profits after the Great Recession, Coast Capital set up a giant card people could write on to “congratulate” the big-five banks on their record profits. In 2007, Coast Capital used an old vending machine to distribute free stuff as part of the launch of its free chequing account.

All of these tactics might appear to be random good ideas but each was part Printing partner: PacBlue Printing

of a complete marketing campaign that not only includes targeted print, web and TV advertising but increasing use of social media. And all of it has contributed to Coast Capital’s significant growth in the fiercely competitive financial services market in B.C. Ferguson noted Coast Capital’s marketing campaigns follow four key principles: 1. Everything reinforces the credit union’s unique brand that they take “banking seriously, but themselves not so much.”

2. They only advertise when they have a key point of difference.

3. They want to advertise differently.

4. They need to live up to what they advertise when customers walk through the door.

Those tenets have contributed to the credit union’s significant growth over the years. Its membership has risen to 454,000, up 29,000 between 2009 and 2010 alone.

“For the You’re the Boss Mortgage, we

had an overall goal for the year of bringing in $700 million in new mortgages,” said Ferguson. “By the end of July we crossed the $600 million mark. So, it’s delivering the sales and delivering new customers.”

The effectiveness of its marketing efforts has not gone unnoticed. Over the past six years, Coast Capital has won nine separate marketing awards including Marketer of the Year in 2006 by the B.C. chapter of the American Marketing Association.

Ailsa Brown, group accounts manager and partner at Rethink, said one of Coast Capital’s strengths is its willingness to experiment and find better ways to improve people’s awareness and relationship with the credit union’s brand. They’re also very organized. “I feel they are team players, and they’re united, so that makes it easy for them to ask partners to bring their vision to life.”

Having a clear vision is important, especially when engaging in a multi-pronged marketing campaign. Brown noted each Printed on a waterless digital offset press

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Business in Vancouver September 2011

Rethink partner Ailsa Brown: having consensus on a marketing plan within an organization key to successful implementation

Ads for Coast Capital, such as these that focus on no-fee accounts, netted the credit union several marketing awards

element of a campaign needs to be wellplanned, especially if it includes an online contest or a guerrilla marketing stunt.

“You can’t just build it and hope people will come,” she said. “You have to do the right thing to make sure there are some teasers. You can play with what’s at the front and what’s coming up and supporting different parts of a campaign.”

But for Coast Capital’s executives, Ferguson said having staff living up to customer expectations remains key. While some companies might just send an email telling everyone it was important to give great customer service, Coast Capital’s top management thought it might be better to show rather than just tell.

Last year, in addition to having staff receive thank-you notes from each other, Coast Capital’s senior management arranged to give each employee a personal assistant for half a day. They also arranged for an army of improv comedians to go to each branch and do little things to help staff out. on 50% recycled, 25% post-consumer waste paper

“We never actually told the staff this was coming,” said Ferguson. “In the beginning, I think only three people knew what was going on. Some people might ask, ‘Why would you spend the time, money and effort into this internal campaign?’ My response is, it’s far more successful if people get it in their blood as opposed to someone telling me I had to do or say this today. And it has paid off in spades.”

For smaller credit unions, one of their key strengths remains their strong connections in the community.

Joyce Lo, communications officer at G&F Financial Group, said their various sponsorships and partnerships in local events play a big part in giving people a good idea of the credit union’s values.

While some of their advertising is product-focused, Lo said the credit union continues to emphasize its niche financialplanning expertise and personalized service.

The emphasis on service has remained

a key differentiator for credit unions. Lubo Li, senior director of financial services at J.D. Power and Associates, noted B.C. credit unions, in particular, have consistently had the highest customer satisfaction scores in the Canadian banking industry.

On a 1,000 scale, B.C. credit unions had a satisfaction score of 788 this year, up from 776 last year. By comparison, the bigfive banks had a score of 739, up from 708 in 2010.

Effective marketing has remained a key part of that. “Marketing is just as important as the direct experience. It’s reinforcing your brand proposition and the corporate culture for your employees, clients and prospects, who are essentially your competitor’s clients.” •

Coast Capital’s keys to marketing • Have a brand that’s different and stay true to the brand.

• Advertise where it has a point of difference.

• Advertise differently.

• Live up to what is presented in advertising.

Printing partner: PacBlue Printing

8 the blue edition

September 2011 Business in Vancouver

Stage presence

Richard Lam

Small businesses get creative with traditional and digital marketing strategies

Suze McCart, owner, Suze Interiors: started early marketing campaigns going door to door contacting local realtors

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Ingrid de Jong Joffe

When Suze McCart wanted to get the word out about Suze Interiors, her Vancouver-based home staging, interior decorating and redesign business, she got creative and went door-to-door with a special delivery to offices of local realtors.

“My company’s tagline is ‘Bringing your space to life,’ said McCart. “So I took white candles from IKEA and attached my business card to a candle along with a note that said, ‘Bringing your listings to light.’”

This marketing strategy led to McCart’s first clients, who recommended her services to other realtors. Today, McCart relies on traditional and online marketing Printing partner: PacBlue Printing

strategies to raise awareness of her business.

Social networking on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn are instrumental in helping small businesses compete with larger brands. It is the digital version of wordof-mouth marketing; businesses can have real-time conversations with customers.

“People use the Internet as their primary source of information, whether they are looking for a restaurant or a store,” said Thomas Stringham, president and creative director of Vancouver’s Hot Tomali Communications Inc. “Social media [networking] lets them find out what their peers are thinking.”

According to Ipsos’ most recent Canadian Interactive Reid Report, social networking is growing in popularity among Canadians of all ages; 86% of Canadians aged 18-34 years have social-networking profiles, but 62% of those aged 35 to 54 and 43% of those 55 years and older do as well.

From 2009 to 2011, the number of people with Twitter profiles has grown from less than 1% to 19%, while the number on LinkedIn has risen from 6% to 14%.

Facebook is still the most popular place to connect online.

“For online marketing, Facebook is incredible,” said Stringham. “It offers tarPrinted on a waterless digital offset press

the Blue edition 9

Baila Lazarus

Business in Vancouver September 2011

Geoff Murphy, payment adviser, Payfirma: “it’s important to stay on the forefront of technology, and I find using a mix of traditional and online marketing works well for me”

Hot Tomali president Thomas Stringham suggests being strategic, posting blogs and case studies and offering special social networking promotions

geting capabilities and high value for a budget. With its freshness of your data, you can choose to target an ad based on geographic area, age ranges, hobbies and interests. The cost-per-click for Facebook ads results in a very high ROI.” For Geoffrey Murphy, payment adviser for Payfirma, “It’s important to stay on the forefront of technology, and I find using a mix of traditional and online marketing works well for me.

“Merchant services are fiercely competitive, and referrals are the strongest area of business for me,” he added.

Payfirma, an all-inclusive payment processor, recently launched an iPhone app and optional card swiper that attaches to smartphones. It accepts all major credit cards and can authorize a transaction within 10 seconds.

Murphy has noticed a growing number of people contacting him because of his Payfirma blog.

“I’ve been writing about our new iPhone app, which is attracting larger clients,” said Murphy. “This month, nearly 20% of calls were about the app.”

Both Murphy and McCart understand the power of networking. They are members of a Vancouver chapter of Business Networking International and attend other networking events to expand their local presence. For McCart, marketing her business has been a learning experience.

“I did a general mail-out with Canada Post that didn’t work too well,” she said. “I also don’t do cold calling; I’m just not comfortable approaching people that way.”

PayFirma attempted a similar approach.

“We tried direct mail, but it was costly and decided to focus on online advertising because it has a much higher conversion rate,” said Carmela Samonte, PR and marketing co-ordinator for Payfirma.

The company uses social networking as its primary marketing tactic, with profiles on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

Social networking can be very successful, if done right.

“There are good ways and ways not to do it,” said Stringham. “Aggregators post to promote themselves or repost what others post. It doesn’t build value for a brand.”

Stringham suggests being strategic, posting blogs and case studies and offering special social networking promotions.

“It’s important to really be focused on your paying customers,” he said. “Realize there are opportunities to grow and find ways to reward customers.”

To compete with larger brands, one rule hasn’t changed for small-business marketing.

“The number 1 way to be successful is with a simple, meaningful message,” said Stringham. “We use creativity as the main weapon in our arsenal. It doesn’t cost more but it can make a brand stand out against the competition.”

For McCart, launching a new website is her top priority.

“The old one wasn’t viewable on mobile phones or iPads. My new one will have links to social networking channels, and I can update the images and content myself.”

Today, McCart doesn’t need to go door to door to get new business. These days, she creates special thank-you packages for her loyal clients, a tradition that never goes out of style. •

Business basics: • Raise awareness of your brand with

“The number 1 way to be successful is with a simple, meaningful message. We use creativity as the main weapon in our arsenal. It doesn’t cost more but it can make a brand stand out against the competition” – Thomas Stringham, president and creative director, Hot Tomali Communications on 50% recycled, 25% post-consumer waste paper

YouTube videos.

• Find out what customers think about your products.

• Join the conversation and build trust with customers.

• Enhance customer service with timely responses.

• Offer special promotions to savvy customers.

• Network in person for face-to-face connections.

• Use a variety of marketing strategies to reach customers.

Printing partner: PacBlue Printing

10 the blue edition

September 2011 Business in Vancouver

Star power When fighting to get your product noticed, sometimes it pays to hitch your brand to a celebrity

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Nelson Bennett

As a marketing ploy, it was a bit of counterintuitive genius. After investing in an overhaul of its 60 restaurants in 2005, White Spot went looking for a marketing campaign to showcase the improvements it had made to its facilities and menu.

The B.C. restaurant chain could have paid any off-the-shelf celebrity to go on TV and praise its cuisine.

But as Alvin Wasserman of Wasserman + Partners advertising agency points out, celebrity endorsements resonate more with the public when the product they are endorsing is something they are familiar with and which they actually use and believe in.

“The more natural the fit between the product and the personality – meaning that it’s not imposed or unnatural – the better shot you have,” said Wasserman.

And who better to endorse a restaurant menu than a competitor? Someone like Vancouver’s celebrity chef Rob Feenie, for example.

Thus White Spot’s celebrity chef campaign was born: a series of TV commercials featuring the restaurant chain’s own executive chef, Chuck Currie, getting endorsements from Feenie, John Bishop, Umberto Menghi and Melissa Craig – celebrity chefs who run or have run their own highly successful restaurants.

Printing partner: PacBlue Printing

Vancouver Canucks centre Ryan Kesler liked Firstar’s T3 sportswear so much he invested in the company and launched his own RK17 line

• Feenie’s, former owner of Lumière and Feenie’s, is the food-concept architect for the Cactus Club; • Bishop runs Bishop’s Fine Dining; • Menghi owns Il Giardino, Il Caminetto and Trattoria; and • Melissa Craig is executive chef at the Bearfoot Bistro.

“The third-party endorsement was really quite unique, especially in the same industry,” said White Spot president Warren Erhart. “And it worked. It has been a very successful campaign for us.”

Currie was already well-known within the B.C. restaurant industry, but wasn’t exactly a household name with the general public.

Wasserman, whose agency handled the White Spot campaign, knew that celebrity chefs like Feenie actually patronized White Spot. Waserman’s agency came up with a campaign that would feature

Feenie and other celebrity chefs working alongside Currie.

In the process of raising Currie’s and White Spot’s profiles, they would be raising their own, so the company did not need to spend a fortune getting the endorsements.

“There’s no question that Chuck’s profile outside the industry really raised,” Erhart said. “Chuck can’t go down the street today without somebody saying, ‘Hey, there’s Chuck from White Spot.’”

Using celebrities to get an instant “lift” for a product is a tried-and-true strategy. One of the earliest celebrity endorsements came from Barney Oldfield, a racecar driver who in 1909 began endorsing a “bully” new soft drink called Pepsi-Cola.

It’s a strategy that Surrey’s Firstar Sports has adopted in an attempt to gain market share in a sportswear space dominated by brand powerhouses like Under Armour, Nike and Adidas.

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the Blue edition 11

Dominic Schaefer

Business in Vancouver September 2011

Companies wanting to raise their products’ profile can get a quick lift with celebrity endorsements, says advertising executive Alvin Wasserman

White Spot made executive chef Chuck Currie (second from left) a local celebrity through a series of commercials featuring high-profile chefs like John Bishop (left) Umberto Menghi (second from right) and Rob Feenie

Firstar recently developed an athletic undershirt for athletes called T3. Similar to Under Armour, it is form-fitting and moisture-wicking. What makes it unique is a patented triple-gusset design.

One of the reasons Vancouver Canucks centre Ryan Kelser refused to wear some kinds of undershirts was that he didn’t like the way they bunched up, said Doug Thom, Firstar founder and vice-president of product development.

When Firstar invited Kesler to try the T3 out, he liked it so much that he agreed to put his name the product. He now wears the T3 shirt while playing and has his own product line – RK17. He also invested in the company.

Since Kesler gave T3 his seal of approval, other sports stars have followed, including BC Lions quarterback Travis Lulay and Toronto Maple Leafs goalie James Reimer. All wear the T3 undershirts.

Because it is a newcomer competing with giants, Firstar has put a considerable amount of its marketing dollars into celebrity endorsements. It will soon release a commercial featuring Reimer, which he acted in for free.

“We realized that just having the best product doesn’t work anymore,” Thom said. “You have to have notoriety, as far as people who use it. So that’s when we start-

ed working with the Ryans of the world.”

It’s an effective tactic for a company like Firstar, Wasserman said.

“For an unknown brand, you can get a quick lift because you’re hitchhiking on somebody else’s celebrity status. We all buy emotionally, and a brand that resonates with you emotionally will get you to purchase way faster than rationally.”

Wasserman cautions against blowing the marketing budget on endorsements alone, however. Companies still need to spend money on traditional advertising and distribution, he said. There is no point in promoting a product, after all, if you can’t distribute it.

There is also a downside to celebrity endorsements, as Gatorade and At&T learned after their star, Tiger Woods, was caught in an adultery scandal.

“You are, in the end, married to your person,” Wasserman said. “So if your person, like Tiger Woods, takes a dive, your brand goes with it and you have to dump.”

Gatorade and AT&T did just that – dumped Woods; Nike stuck with him.

Newcomers like Firstar can only dream of having the kind of brand power that Nike has. Yet that’s its competition, and it is hard to get shelf space when you are fighting with names like Nike and Under Armour.

on 50% recycled, 25% post-consumer waste paper

Firstar currently sells its sportswear through specialty retailers that cater to professional and amateur sports organizations. It also sells its products online. But its brand is not yet widely available to the general public through retailers like Sport Chek.

Thom is hoping that will change once consumers start recognizing the T3 brand on players like Kesler.

Firstar’s goal is to have at least one high-profile player on every team in the NHL wearing T3 shirts.

By then, Thom expects retailers will want to stock Firstar sportswear because the public will demand it. •

Recipe for success • Remember that having the best product in the market isn’t enough if no one knows about it.

• A product spokesperson should believe in the product and share your values.

• Don’t put all your marketing eggs in one basket.

• Some advertising vehicles work better than others – pick the right medium for your brand.

Printing partner: PacBlue Printing

12 the blue edition

September 2011 Business in Vancouver

Brand awareness While the Whitecaps keep a close eye on finances, splurging to bring Manchester City to town could help future player-recruitment efforts

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Dominic Schaefer

Vancouver Whitecaps CEO Paul Barber believes that financial investments in brand identity are as important as a well-honed strategy of where to spend that money

Glen Korstrom

Investing in a brand takes more than money. Equally important is a long-term vision, ingenuity and an eagerness to partner with other organizations.

Cash investments are vital, though, particularly when a brand is either new in its marketplace or the geographic region where it aspires one day to be well known.

The Vancouver Whitecaps enjoy the luxury of deep-pocketed owners: former Business Objects CEO Greg Kerfoot; former Yahoo Inc. president Jeff Mallett; National Basketball Association star Steve Nash; and Seagate Technology LLC CEO Printing partner: PacBlue Printing

Steve Luczo.

But the team’s carefully crafted multipronged business strategy lies at the heart of why the club is positioned to build its global reputation in the years to come.

Some of the components of that strategy include: •signing major sponsors that provide the in-kind benefit of exposure in addition to money; •an innovative launch campaign to build awareness; and •a willingness to do whatever it takes to lure a major international soccer club the

calibre of Manchester City Football Club.

Tremendous care went into designing the new Whitecaps logo so that it was legible when shrunk to a small size and just as compelling when blown up large.

Gone is the wave and soccer ball that fans of Whitecaps teams in past leagues had glorified. In its place is a simpler, jagged emblem that includes mountains, water and the letters V and W. The Winnipeg Jets followed suit by adopting a similarly simple and scaleable logo July 22.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 14

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14 the blue edition

September 2011 Business in Vancouver

“You can’t bring clubs the size of Manchester City to a place like Vancouver without spending an awful lot of money. It was a big investment for the club, a big investment by the owners in the club”

PAVCO

– Paul Barber, CEO, Vancouver Whitecaps

As part of a sponsorship deal, the pitch at BC Place Stadium is to be branded Bell Field during Whitecaps games

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 12

“These days you have to design new logos for the digital age,” Whitecaps CEO Paul Barber told Business in Vancouver.

“They have to be represented well on an iPhone, iPad, computer screen or a TV screen in high definition.”

Key to building excitement and anticipation was the dribbling out of big announcements in the summer of 2010.

The new logo was released in early June, 2010 – 10 months before the soccer team played its first MLS regular season game. A few weeks later, the club announce its first major sponsorship.

“Bell invested several million dollars a year in our partnership to be our jersey sponsor,” Barber told BIV. “That helped us secure other major names such as EA Sports, BMO, Budweiser and Kia Motors.”

MLS commissioner Don Garber told a Vancouver Board of Trade audience in February that the Bell sponsorship was worth “many” millions and that the combined total of Whitecaps sponsorships was more than that of any other MLS team.

Key to the deal, however, was the Printing partner: PacBlue Printing

agreement that Bell be able to broadcast a large number of Whitecaps games on its TSN TV station and all of the team’s games on its TEAM 1040 radio station.

The pitch at both Empire Field and at BC Place Stadium is to be branded Bell Field during Whitecaps games. The telecommunications giant also won the right to stream exclusive video content, such as interviews, to its mobile customers.

Rogers Communications Inc. picked up the slack by paying to broadcast all of the Whitecaps games that Bell had chosen not to broadcast. The result is that every single team game is accessible on TV, radio and the Internet.

“The Whitecaps are the only MLS team with all of its games broadcast live across all of those different channels, and we’re still one of the three highest-attended teams in the league,” Barber said July 22.

At that point, the team had averaged more than 20,000 fans per game and was gearing up for a near sell-out against the L.A. Galaxy.

The biggest game of the year, however, was against Manchester City July 18.

It was also the most costly game of the

year for the team’s owners, who figured that the international exposure and boost to the team’s global reputation far outweighed any cost associated with staging the exhibition match.

Exacerbating the cost of the game was that: • the MLS collected all proceeds from the sponsors whose brands were shown on screens around the field; • the Whitecaps gave all seasons ticket holders a free ticket to the game; • the team had to invest in grass turf because Manchester City refused to play on an artificial surface; and • rain in the days leading up to the game jeopardized the certainty that the game would take place, thereby hurting ticket sales.

“You can’t bring clubs the size of Manchester City to a place like Vancouver without spending an awful lot of money.

It was a big investment for the club, a big investment by the owners in the club,” Barber said. “[But, it will] boost our standing in the world game. That’s important when you’re competing for players around the world.” •

Soccer lessons • Create a logo that looks just as good small as it does in a large format.

• Dribble out major announcements for things such as a new logo and a new uniform as a way to keep interest high.

• Sign major sponsors to provide the in-kind benefit of exposure in addition to money.

• Have an innovative launch campaign such as placing Whitecaps sweaters on local monuments and sites.

• Do whatever it takes to lure a major international soccer club.

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