Food for thought: The spy who sold out
Forgiving a pretty face
Facebook to agencies: how will people share your story?
Is “The Pitch” an accurate reflection of our industry?
So here it is: some of the biggest brands in the country have identified my hometown of London, ON as a sweetspot for market research. Brands like McDonald’s, Krispy Kreme, Canadian Tire, and Viagra have triangulated their options, and somehow all concluded that if it’ll sell in London, it’ll likely sell anywhere in Canada.
Now, London is my town, so I’m no stranger to the buzz of consumer research. I know, for example, that it was a thirsty London population that gave Labatt breweries its boozy start back in 1847, and that London Life Insurance Company, Ford, Kellogg’s, 3M, Trojan Technologies, Electro-Motive Canada and all major operations of General Motors operate out of there.
So, while I appreciate London’s inherent charms from a personal perspective, this market testing thing has me wondering: what is it about my hometown that makes it such an attractive proposition to large corporations?
I nudged together some stats to try to get to the bottom of it, and here’s what I came away with:
• The average age of the population is 38.2 years old
• The population is pretty evenly divided: 48.2% male and 51.8% female
• The retired population reflects Canada as a whole, with a 13.7% retiree rate
• There is a middle-class-to-millionaire standard of wealth – an average family take-home salary is $68,000
• Very low unemployment rates, high home-ownership rates
• 84.8% of the population of London are white – represented by English (115,540); Canadian (88,225); Scottish (80,735); Irish (69,825); and German (40,100)
If London has been identified as an ideal marketing ground, perhaps it would be valuable to investigate it as a new agency venue.
I put it to you, Canadians and otherwise: what do you think makes a city like London prime for marketing reconnaissance?
Stuart Thursby
July 7, 2010 @ 11:35 am
Having spent a few years there at Western, I’m a bit perplexed. I can’t remember seeing a single solid bus or transit shelter ad while there; most of them were local ads, and tended towards the mediocre side of things.
That’s not to say good advertising or design doesn’t, can’t or won’t exist in London. It just seems to be that aiming to sell your advertising to the average person will result in average advertising, and London, for all its charms, is the most average city I can think of, as the post’s image says.
catherine cassidy
July 7, 2010 @ 1:20 pm
Stuart, you may have to reevaluate your definition of average -”typical of a range of values”. You should be aiming your advertising at the “average” person to connect with the most people. It doesn’t necessarily mean it is mediocre or inferior.
According to the above definition of the average person in London… I am that person. It is possible that the “average” person can still appreciate an elegant message and its execution.
Michelle Davey
July 7, 2010 @ 2:46 pm
London does have a very high amount of entrepreneurs and therefore, a lot of the advertisements you will see around the city are focused on local businesses in the area.
But the question at hand is not really about the advertising you see throughout the city (although still a great discussion) but more so the market research that is conducted based on this claim.
How do you feel about the market researchers relying on us to judge whether their product or service will be accepted nationwide (i.e.: McDonald’s wants to launch a new sandwich. They will test it at McDonald’s locations in London to see if it sells before launching nationwide).
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catherine
July 7, 2010 @ 10:54 pm
If London is representative of the “average” person in Canada than I think my statement about advertising holds true for marketing as well.
If a product or service appeals to the “average” person in London than it makes sense that it would appeal to the “average” person elsewhere. And the average would be the greatest number of people to connect with which I assume would be the marketer’s purpose.
I’d be curious to see a case study in action though… and it is disturbing to think that it may have been Londoners who kept the McGriddle on McD’s breakfast menu :(
Curtis Westman
July 8, 2010 @ 9:19 am
“…it is disturbing to think that it may have been Londoners who kept the McGriddle on McD’s breakfast menu :(”
Nope, that one was all me. Sorry!
Ashley
July 12, 2010 @ 7:42 pm
You say “very low unemployment rates”, yet London has had one of the highest unemployment rates in Ontario. I think you should check your stats on that.
Jessica Barns
July 12, 2010 @ 10:48 pm
Ashley is right. There are quite a few factual mistakes. Cataloguing companies without specific reference to what the companies’ purpose was, does not prove that London is “prime for marketing reconnaissance.” Furthermore, the supposed stats that you collected have nothing to do with why London has so far been used by corporations to test businesses and products. Those stats are static and your examples, taken throughout London’s history, do not match them.