Canadian capitalists: shrinking violets

Jeffrey Simpson of the Globe and Mail discusses Andrea Mandel-Campbell's new book, Why Mexicans Don't Drink Molson:

Canadians, although believing the world loves and need them, seldom think globally. They lack confidence. They are instinctively protectionist in too many areas. They think small. When they lift their commercial eyes, they see only the U.S. market.

Not many capitalists in the Canadian Council of Chief Executives or the Canadian Chamber of Commerce are going to like Ms. Mandel-Campbell's book. She's hardly a predictable, anti-globalization, head-in-the-sand leftie. If anything, she's a free-enterprise kind of analyst...

...her more telling criticisms are directed at business itself...

...Canada has very few companies with a Canadian brand name. Some that had or have a brand name changed it to hide their Canadian roots, as Northern Telecom did...

...She writes: "While Sweden has Ikea, Finland has Nokia and Italy has the fashion triumvirate of Armani, Gucci and Prada, Canada does not have, nor has it ever had, [italics hers] a single global brand name."

That's an exaggeration, but not by much...

We are Canadians, proud, parochial and, in Ms. Mandel-Campbell's words, entering the "suds of global obscurity."

Italy also has Ferrari, The Netherlands has Philips, Denmark has Bang & Olufsen, Switzerland has Rolex, and on, and on, and on. On the other hand we are, to the world public, a commercial nullity--one of the reasons that we are associated overwhelmingly with mountains, maple syrup and Mounties (and beer brands owned by foreigners).

Such an image (Greater Liechtenstein?), without industrial or technological resonance, makes it much harder to break into international markets. As Ms Mandel-Campbell points out, Nortel does its best to downplay its Canadian identity abroad (as does Bombardier, despite all those silly commercials it runs in Canada about "my Bombardier") - and I wonder how many foreigners know the makers of the BlackBerry, Research In Motion, is a Canadian company?

It's amazing that Layton, Barlow, McQuaig, Klein et al. still think Canadian capitalists are fearsome beasts who need taming.

Mark C.

Damian adds: Roots makes a big deal of its Canadian origins (despite being founded by two Americans), but that's the only company that immediately comes to mind.

Posted by markc at June 5, 2007 08:39 PM