Brand Canada: so what is a “Canadian”? 10 quirky facts.

Some odd insights from Ipsos Reid’s Darrell Bricker

I’m excited about an event coming to Ottawa ‘s Chateau Laurier next month: the IABC 2012 Canada Business Communicators Summit. But even better: Beg to Differ has one free pass to give away (more about that below). But since I think, thumb speak, sildenafil and write a lot about Brand Canada, it’s the opening keynote by Dr. Darrell Bricker, CEO of Ipsos Public Affairs and author of Canuckology that has me thinking.

Grab from promotional video by HarperCollins Canada (see full video below).

Disclosure: the author isn’t paid to promote this conference, but is helping out a friend, and is gratefully accepting a free pass himself in return.

A conference strong – and free (*if you win the pass)

So here’s how the IABC Summit’s agenda for day one describes Bricker’s Opening Keynote:

The Big Shift” – Understanding Communications in the New Canada.

The presentation will explore the profound changes that are happening in Canada today. What do Canadians look like? What do they value? Who do they trust? Understanding these factors is essential to being a successful communicator in the New Canada.

Indeed. We communicators need to know our audience. But as Canadians communicating to Canadians, that actually means we need to know and understand ourselves – our own brand and how it relates to Brand Canada. And that is bloody hard – whether you are a backpacker in Europe, a business, or the Dalai Lama. We all have our blinkers on.

So what is a Canadian?

We’ll get to the Bricker’s mind-bending insights in a moment, but I want to hear from you:

  • What is this thing we call a “Canadian”?
  • What does being Canadian mean – and can we measure Canadian-ness?
  • How does that effect how we communicate with Canadians?

And in return for sharing, you could get a free pass to that conference.

Special offer from Beg to Differ
(Generously provided by organizers of the IABC Summit)
What you get:
Free One-day conference pass valued at $675 for either November 2nd or 3rd (your choice).
How to enter:
Two ways: 1) Answer the questions above in the comments; OR 2) Share this post on Twitter with the hashtag #CdnIABC12. I’ll draw a winner at random on Monday morning.

Ten surprising facts about Canadians

So without further ado: some shocking stats about Canadians taken from Bricker’s book and this  interview – originally from the Globe and Mail.

  1. The average Canadian spends 7.7 minutes in the shower.
  2. 750,000 Canadians believe the country borders the “Antarctic Ocean”
  3. Only 27% of Canadians know what happened in 1867. (Hint: you’re soaking in it)
  4. The majority of Canadians believe in angels, but in Saskatchewan and Manitoba it’s 77 per cent.
  5. Canadians would rather have the superhero power to heal themselves than travel in time.
  6. Almost one in three Canadians admits they let “laundry pile up until they run out of underwear”.
  7. 58 per cent of Canadian women feel most romantic with the sound of waves nearby.
  8. When asked to compare their partner to an animal, Canadian women were less likely to choose gorilla, tiger, or stallion (Oh my!). The most popular answer? “Cuddly bear.”
  9. The most popular answer from Canadian men to the same question: “don’t know.”
  10. Only 40% of Canadians trust polls…
Many of these facts in video form:

Books by Darrell Bricker

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