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#Written by David Tam, 1999.           #
#davidkftam@netscape.net Copyright 1999#
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From tamda@ecf.toronto.edu Mon Jul 12 18:33:50 1999
Date: Mon, 5 Apr 1999 23:34:31 -0400 (EDT)
From: David Kar Fai Tam <tamda@ecf.toronto.edu>
To: APS 424S <aps424@chem-eng.toronto.edu>
Subject: #25-04/06/99-"Molson uncaps new ad campaign"


The Globe and Mail, Wednesday, March 31, 1999. B31.

	This article is about Molson's new marketing campaign. The
brewer will no longer be using its famous "I am" slogan anymore.
Instead they have switch to something like "It's where we get
Canadian". This will have a double meaning of where one should go
to obtain a bottle of Molson Canadian beer, and where one should
go to become culturalized and Canadianized.

	Part of the reason for this switch is that Molson has hired
a new marketing company to perform the advertising. As well, many
other companies have recently begun using the exact same slogan,
but for their own products. In contrary to Molson's belief that
the old slogan is no longer relevant to the company, I believe
the exact opposite. Their old slogan is so powerful and popular
that other companies could not resist using it. It is quite
strange that Molson has allowed others to use the old slogan.
Perhaps it was never trademarked, or perhaps the old slogan has
become so synonymous with Molson Canadian beer that Molson
considers it to be a form of free advertising for itself.

	Molson believes the old slogan was not applicable across the
entire country and that it could not be localized to regional
markets such as the Atlantic provinces, or the west. I disagree
wit this reasoning as well. The "I am" slogan is very flexible
and can apply to so many different situations. In fact, that is
partly why other companies have begun using the slogan.

	I think the new slogan is also a very good one that has many
applications in Molson's realm. Their brand building reputation
has been known to be very solid. Despite the new campaign, if I
were Molson, I would not have embraced the new slogan in the
first place but would have tried to stop other companies from
exploiting old slogan. Perhaps I would have used both slogans.
The old one is much shorter and simpler, and can be used quite
effectively in locations where advertisement space is limited or
attention spans are extremely short, such as bill boards and
other signs. The new slogan is quite a bit longer and more
complex. Perhaps it is more applicable to television ads and
print media. "I am" is short, sweet, and memorable. "It's where
we get Canadian" has deeper meaning but is more complex.