Tim Hortons shines among Canadian women’s top brands

April 16, 2014 – Tim Hortons has emerged as
a top brand and company among Canadian women, says advertising agency Marketel in
a national study.

April 16, 2014 – Tim Hortons has emerged as
a top brand and company among Canadian women, says advertising agency Marketel in
a national study.

“How Brands Are Winning (and Losing) with
Canadian Women” includes new data from 1,000 Canadian women on the brands they
can’t live without, the state of marketing to women right now and advice women
would give today’s advertisers.

The study is intended to help launch the
company’s marketing-to-women division, MarketELLE, which is designed to help
clients tap into the global purchasing power that women control.

It ranks the "Top 10 Brands Canadian
Women Love." Respondents were provided a list of 100 leading brands and
companies from which to indicate their most-loved and most-disliked brands.
Open-ended follow-up questions then probed the reasons women selected their
various brand responses. Follow-up qualitative research was used to deepen the
understanding of women's responses.

Top 10 Brands Canadian Women Love (April
2014)

"This study was designed to be
provocative, to explore which brands are winning with Canadian women today, and
also to delve into the hot-button issues that are turning Canadian women off.
The findings provide insight into the whys behind women's loyalty – and their
loathing," said Diane Ridgway-Cross, executive Vice-president of
MarketELLE, in a news release. "There is quite a body of research that
suggests that women tend to have stronger emotional responses to brands and
companies than men do – and that the factors that women evaluate brands and
companies against are greater in number and more nuanced.

"The Top 10 List is fascinating
because there are some results our team expected – like Tim Hortons being
ranked #1 in most of Canada and Jean Coutu ranking #1 in Quebec," said
Ridgway-Cross, "And yet there are some unexpected results as well. I think
many people will be surprised, for example, that Walmart came in as the #2
most-loved brand for Canadian women. But it makes sense. Moms, who act as Chief
Purchasing Officers of their households, place great importance on being
efficient with both their time and their family's budget which is exactly why
Walmart ranked so highly."

"The survey showed that the factors
that influence women's brand feelings include everything from, on the positive
side: Canadian-based companies; companies that support local communities and women's
causes; brands that save her time and money – just to name a few," said
Ridgway-Cross. "And on the negative side, women cited issues with brands
who they believe are contributing to obesity in our society; promoting unreal
images of women; overlooking women's value as a customer-segment; practicing
questionable sourcing policies and many more concerns."

Three themes arose from the study:

Pragmatism and Practicality: A number of
the brands on the Top 10 list aren't very "sexy" in the world of
brand love. The survey indicates that the vast majority of Canadian women
sincerely value when a brand or company is working hard to help them make ends
meet. The past several years have ushered in an era that celebrates frugality
over spending to excess. And thus, even amongst the higher income brackets,
women in the survey demonstrated a strong appreciation for brands that help
them spend more wisely.

Connecting to Connectedness: Two technology
companies – Google and Facebook – hit the Top 10 Most-Loved Brands list – which
is impressive when you consider that these brands beat-out more than 90 other
leading brands. These two companies hitting the Top 10 speaks volumes about
women's ubiquitous connection to the internet and their love for technology
overall.

Falls-From-Grace: In this world of 24/7
media coverage and social media amplification, a few missteps that might have
been forgiven in earlier times can literally take a company down. As we
explored brands that women strongly dislike, several brands fall into this
category. Once beloved by women, it is now the company's challenge to determine
how to rekindle their brand love amongst Canadian women.

Quantitative research for the study was
completed online among a random sample of 1,000 Canadian women aged 18-64,
weighted by age and province, and was conducted by Callosum Marketing in March
2014. MarketELLE  provided data analysis.