Well It's Onto Vancouver

Hardly has the glow from the amazing opening ceremonies in Beijing begun to warm the fans and athletes of Beijing 2008, that marketers must now turn their attention to Vancouver and 2010. Most of the Olympic marketing programs for 2008 are in place and many fully executed. You can expect the post games honeymoon to carry some marketers further, but most are now shifting their marketing sights to Vancouver. For Western Canadian marketers this means looking at opportunities to tap into this most powerful of all marketing opportunities. Some have done this and are well on their way, or at least should be by now, to putting their plans into action.

The point is that those marketers that have not yet looked at what this once in a life time opportunity can bring to their brand and its inhabitants, need to start now to seriously think about it. While the high profile and expensive sponsorships are gone, more affordable supplier relationships with VANOC should soon be up for grabs. As well, building non direct association programs to take advantage of the attention and interest that is attracted by 2010 may also be an appropriate plan for a smaller organisation that has ties to the Vancouver and area market.

No matter what approach you take, do yourself a favour and at least take some time to think of what 2010 could mean for your business in Western Canada...but do it soon as the world has already begun to look to the beautiful coast on the western side of Canada.

2009 Planning Season Starts Soon

As we approach the typical planning season for many businesses, it was timely that the Conference Board of Canada just released its forecast for Gross Domestic Product percentage growth for the provinces in Canada in 2008 and 2009. These numbers will provide a key component of the macro environmental factors that business should take into account as they establish their marketing plans for 2009. Along with trends in demographics, socioculture, technology, regulatory, and nature, the economic trends going forward play a key role in determining the opportunities and threats for your business or client business in 2009.

So with this in mind lets look at the forecast for the provinces in the West, noting that the national economy is projected to grow only 1.7% in 2008 and 2.7% in 2009.

In 2008 Saskatchewan is picked to lead the West and Canada with a GDP percentage growth of 4.2%, followed by Manitoba at 3.6%, Alberta at 2.6% and BC at 2.2%. It is noteworthy that GDP growth is highest in all the Western provinces compared to those in Eastern Canada; another sign that economic power has shifted to Western Canada at the moment.

In 2009 Alberta is estimated to return to it Western GDP leadership role at 3.3%, followed by BC at 2.9% as they get even closer to the Olympics of 2010. Saskatchewan slows to 2.8%, as does Manitoba to 2.7%. The resource power of Newfoundland really kicks in to propel the province to a national GDP growth lead of 4.2% in 2009.

So for the upcoming 2009 planning season you need to factor in a slowing economy in Saskatchewan and Manitoba, and economic growth in BC and Alberta.