Canada’s Most Influential Brands : PC Optimum enters top 10

February 11th, 2021 | ACA Team,

Top 10 Most Influential Brands in CanadaPC Optimum has landed a top-10 spot in The Most Influential Brands study for the first time. The Loblaw’s loyalty program is the only Canadian brand in the top 10.

“It is very difficult for local brands to obtain and retain a top 10 ranking, and so when we do see a Canadian brand in the top 10, it is really special,” said Steve Levy, COO at Ipsos, at a virtual event on February 2nd.

Levy said a series of “sincere and caring” emails to members from Galen Weston during the pandemic helped strengthen trust in the brand. PC Optimum is also more than a rewards program and is tied to health and wellness, he added.

Now in its tenth year, The Most Influential Brands study is conducted by the Association of Canadian Advertisers (ACA) and Ipsos, in partnership with Publicis and the Globe Media Group. It evaluates 100 brands on five dimensions: trustworthiness, presence, being leading edge, corporate citizenship and engagement. This year, a sixth dimension was added to reflect the help and caring brands showed during COVID.

The study was conducted in thirteen global markets and polled 27,800 people, including 6,000 Canadians.

Canada’s Most Influential Brands: #1 – Google, #2 – Amazon, #3 – YouTube, #4 – Apple, #5 – Facebook, #6 – Netflix, #7 – Visa, #8 – Microsoft, #9 – Walmart, #10 - PC Optimum

The top brands in Canada are:

#1 – Google (-)
#2 – Amazon (-)
#3 – YouTube (+3)
#4 – Apple (+1)
#5 – Facebook (-3)
#6 – Netflix (+1)
#7 – Visa (+3)
#8 – Microsoft (-4)
#9 – Walmart (-)
#10 – PC Optimum (+2)

The event also featured a panel discussion of leading marketers, moderated by Andrew Bruce, CEO of Publicis Groupe Canada.

Shannon Hosford, Chief Marketing Officer at Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment (MLSE), talked about how the events of the past year changed how MLSE reaches out and touches its fan base.

Panel of marketing leaders, featuring: Shannon Hosford, Chief Marketing Officer, MLSE, Eva Salem, VP Marketing, Canadian Tire, Joel Scales, Senior VP Marketing, Jamieson Wellness, Lisa Mack, Head of Marketing Communications, Mobility Brands, TELUS“[What’s changed] is that we have to step out, adapt and be bold as a brand with issues outside of sports and entertainment—one being the pandemic and number two social justice,” she said. For example, when the Raptors went into the NBA bubble in Florida, they arrived in buses wrapped with the words, “Black Lives Matter.”

“Being authentic and being a part of conversations is very different for us [and we’re] stepping out of our comfort zone, but it has deepened the connection with fans,” said Hosford.

The pandemic gave TELUS an opportunity to re-evaluate what the brand stands for, said Lisa Mack, Head of Marketing Communications, Mobility Brands, which jumped 28 spots in this year’s Most Influential Brands study, from #71 to #43.

TELUS has been driven by social purpose from the beginning and its brand promise, “the future is friendly,” has been used for the past 20 years. “We’re taking a more active stance,” said Mack. “We’re inviting Canadians to join us in contributing to communities and the betterment of communities. And so, we’re evolving our brand promise to, ‘let’s make the future friendly.’”

Eva Salem, Vice President of Marketing at Canadian Tire, said, as a nearly 100-year-old retailer with a largely brick-and-mortar business model, “We had to change everything.” That included everything from suspending the paper flyer, to building more e-commerce capabilities, to obliterating internal siloes.”

“The one thing that stayed consistent was our understanding of the role that we play in the community and in this country,” said Salem.