What is your article about?

How is Quebec unique in the case of this article?

• The chain is viewed as an important part of Canadian culture. Seven-in-ten (70%) Canadians say that Tim Hortons plays a part when they think of Canadian culture. In Quebec, 68% says so, with a higher percentage saying it plays an "important" part.
• On all key measures of brand equity related to quality and service, the brand appears stronger in Québec. Compared to Canadians in the rest-of-Canada, Quebeckers are more likely to say the quality of the food and the coffee has improved or stayed the same. The same is true of their perception of the service and prices.
• There might also be troubling signs in Québec as well but having roughly 85% of the population believing the quality of your food and coffee has either improved or stayed the same should feel pretty good. There is, of course, always room for improvement. One-in-ten in Québec believe the quality of the food at Tim Hortons has worsened but the same percentage of Quebeckers believe the food quality at rival Starbucks has declined.

How do other regions in Canada understand the issue your article explains?

• Slightly more than one-in-two (54%) Canadians hold a favourable opinion of Tim Hortons compared to 59% in Québec where only 17% hold an unfavourable view compared to 25% nationally.
• These regional differences can be attributed in part to the more limited media coverage of the protests we saw in English Canada over the treatment of workers after the minium wage was increased in Ontario and the very public dispute with franchisees. It could well be that it's only a matter of time before Quebeckers join the rest of Canada in believing that Tim Hortons is not the same as it was. But there are lessons to be learned from this regional difference. Lessons that could help RBI devise strategies to insulate the Tim Hortons brand in Québec.

How can marketers use this article to be more successful at selling products?

• The Québec mugs had the maple leaf replaced by a snowflake and the CN Tower was removed. Some will say this was unnecessary and even ridiculous. It nevertheless demonstrated Tim Hortons' concern for regional differences and its willingness to adapt its messaging accordingly.
• Marketers can use the love of quebec towads tim hortons and creat a product representing the province and tim hortoans and take advantage of that.