Andrea Mandel-Campbell, author of Why Mexicans Don't Drink Molson, gave the first talk of Laurier's Innovation & Entrepreneurship speaker series tonight at the Schlegel Centre for Entrepreneurship.
Mandel-Campbell paints a depressing picture of Canadian business from a global perspective, pointing out that Canada has never produced one of the world's top 100 brands -- something that Switzerland has done a few times, even with population about three-fifths of Ontario's. We're not home to any "globally-relevant" multinational companies, generally show little entrepreneurial spirit, and are much better at coming up with ideas than in making money off them.
There's no disputing that Canada has a pretty sad track record. Run through the list of Canada's largest corporations and there are very few which have products well-known outside of this country. That's certainly not a new observation, and Mandel-Campbell seemed to be more interested in using it to promote a cardboard-conservative ideology than in offering suggestions about what can be done to make things better. It came as no surprise to learn that she used to work at the National Post or that The Fraser Institute was quick to have her as a featured speaker.
Mandel-Campbell didn't say anything about lowering taxes during her one-hour talk, but she managed to hit most of the other standard talking points: Canadian businesses are mollycoddled by government protectionism, we need fewer regulations on foreign ownership, our country suffers from dysfunctional attitudes toward money where people are more interested in dividing up wealth created by others than generating it themselves (she was not pleased that Tommy Douglas came out on top on the CBC's The Greatest Canadian competition a few years ago). She even said that almost all of Canada's great companies were "built, funded, and managed" by Americans that we bribed to come here. You've heard most of this many times before (and I'd want to look into that claim about Americans -- it sounded far too universal; I can think of iconic Canadian businesses that had no American involvement).
She made several references to Molson, Noranda, and Dofasco, but, surprisingly, never mentioned RIM, even though she was giving her speech about a three minute drive from RIM's headquarters. The BlackBerry just missed making the list of world's top 100 brands this year, which -- if Mandel-Campbell is correct -- would have been a first for Canada. Now, RIM is not a rebuttal to Mandel-Campbell. It's an anomaly in Canada (as is/was Nortel) and really is the exception that proves the rule. But it's one that needed to be acknowledged in Waterloo, especially when one of your key messages is that Canada has never produced a top global brand. It would probably be more helpful for the next generation -- which Mandel-Campbell said is the her primary target -- to celebrate RIM and try to understand how it became a global success without being acquired. It's certainly too late for Molson, Noranda, Dofasco -- or any companies in their industries -- to be our flag bearer and inspiration.
Canada's record in building global brands can be embarrassing, infuriating, and depressing. Mandel-Campbell gave a pleasant enough talk, even if it seemed heavier on ideology than information or insight. She certainly came across much better than her two would-be debaters who asked the first two "questions" during the Q&A. A thumbs-up to Benson Honig for moving things along.
Overall, it was a successful event and was certainly worth attending. Up next in the series is NuComm International CEO Réal Bergevin on November 7.
Mandel-Campbell paints a depressing picture of Canadian business from a global perspective, pointing out that Canada has never produced one of the world's top 100 brands -- something that Switzerland has done a few times, even with population about three-fifths of Ontario's. We're not home to any "globally-relevant" multinational companies, generally show little entrepreneurial spirit, and are much better at coming up with ideas than in making money off them.
There's no disputing that Canada has a pretty sad track record. Run through the list of Canada's largest corporations and there are very few which have products well-known outside of this country. That's certainly not a new observation, and Mandel-Campbell seemed to be more interested in using it to promote a cardboard-conservative ideology than in offering suggestions about what can be done to make things better. It came as no surprise to learn that she used to work at the National Post or that The Fraser Institute was quick to have her as a featured speaker.
Mandel-Campbell didn't say anything about lowering taxes during her one-hour talk, but she managed to hit most of the other standard talking points: Canadian businesses are mollycoddled by government protectionism, we need fewer regulations on foreign ownership, our country suffers from dysfunctional attitudes toward money where people are more interested in dividing up wealth created by others than generating it themselves (she was not pleased that Tommy Douglas came out on top on the CBC's The Greatest Canadian competition a few years ago). She even said that almost all of Canada's great companies were "built, funded, and managed" by Americans that we bribed to come here. You've heard most of this many times before (and I'd want to look into that claim about Americans -- it sounded far too universal; I can think of iconic Canadian businesses that had no American involvement).
She made several references to Molson, Noranda, and Dofasco, but, surprisingly, never mentioned RIM, even though she was giving her speech about a three minute drive from RIM's headquarters. The BlackBerry just missed making the list of world's top 100 brands this year, which -- if Mandel-Campbell is correct -- would have been a first for Canada. Now, RIM is not a rebuttal to Mandel-Campbell. It's an anomaly in Canada (as is/was Nortel) and really is the exception that proves the rule. But it's one that needed to be acknowledged in Waterloo, especially when one of your key messages is that Canada has never produced a top global brand. It would probably be more helpful for the next generation -- which Mandel-Campbell said is the her primary target -- to celebrate RIM and try to understand how it became a global success without being acquired. It's certainly too late for Molson, Noranda, Dofasco -- or any companies in their industries -- to be our flag bearer and inspiration.
Canada's record in building global brands can be embarrassing, infuriating, and depressing. Mandel-Campbell gave a pleasant enough talk, even if it seemed heavier on ideology than information or insight. She certainly came across much better than her two would-be debaters who asked the first two "questions" during the Q&A. A thumbs-up to Benson Honig for moving things along.
Overall, it was a successful event and was certainly worth attending. Up next in the series is NuComm International CEO Réal Bergevin on November 7.
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