“Canadians like their loyalty programs, and they love Canadian Tire,” said Pone. “In last week’s Leger survey, Canadian Tire was ranked third most-admired brand in Canada (behind Google and Shoppers Drug Mart), exactly the same position as last year. So this brand is less vulnerable than most to consumers’ privacy fears. And people have always understood that the entire point of loyalty programs from the retailer’s point of view is to collect information about you and presumably share it with their suppliers and other parties. That is the quid pro quo.”

Read full article in Financial Post Canadian Tire ups the stakes in its loyalty program, but do customers have loyalty fatigue?

I had the pleasure of being interviewed by Hollie Shaw of the National Post:

National Post

“I see this as a coup for McDonald’s because the deal is not with Tim Hortons, and WestJet has made being Canadian part of their brand in a way that I would see align more with the Tim Hortons brand than it would with McDonald’s,” said Andris Pone, president of Coin Branding.

Read article McDonald’s to start offering McCafe on WestJet flights as coffee wars move from ground to the skies

Andris Pone, president of Coin Branding in Toronto, said Boston Pizza has done a decent job over time in letting customers know that its menu features items other than pizza.

“Pursuing a stronger positioning around burgers isn’t too far-fetched for them,” he said. Still, he added, the broader positioning of Boston Pizza is aching for a reinvention, and has been showing signs of wear along with the rest of the full-service market characterized by chains such as Milestones and Kelsey’s.

“I don’t think there is a lot going on in that area of the market,” Pone said. “The real innovation has happened among those who have moved more upscale over time — Moxies, Joeys, Earls and Cactus Club.”

Read article Boston Pizza looks to fatten up its burger share by turning beef menu into ‘destination’

Although Etsy has a strong history and first mover advantage in the category, Amazon is still far more powerful, said Andris Pone, president of Toronto-based Coin Branding Inc.

“As impressive as Etsy is, with 22 million active users, they are still almost puny compared to Amazon in terms of brand awareness,” he said. “The big story here could be on the demand side, not on the supply side. Many people have never heard of Etsy, and now that Amazon has launched this new category, they will think about buying something handmade online.”

Read article Will Amazon.com Inc crush Etsy.com with new ‘Handmade at Amazon’ category?

Andris Pone, president of Coin Branding, said that although he sees the value of efficiency in managing a consolidated brand, he does not expect this name change will immediately push revenues higher.

“Many Canadians have never heard of Circle K and I think that’s a major risk,” Pone said. “There could be some confusion or uncertainty about what this new brand is, which could theoretically result in the softening of sales.”

Read article Say goodbye to Mac’s: Convenience store to be retired, rebranded as Circle K in 2017

“I don’t want to diminish the cause at all — the cause is really important — but the odds are long that this rebranding of the $20 bill will work,” says Andris Pone.

Pone is the president of Coin, a branding firm. He had to pull a $20 bill from his wallet to confirm the Vimy connection before addressing the challenges ahead for the campaign.

“Canadians call the 20-dollar bill the 20-dollar bill, or the 20 [or 20 bucks], and if there was a new product coming out, something totally new, then attaching the name Vimy to it might attract some more consumer buy-in,” he says.

Read article A dollar is a loonie, $2 is a toonie. Could $20 bill be a Vimy? Group seeks everyday way to honour war heroes

A quote from yours truly in the National Post, in an interview related to Birks’ entry to the United States.  Something that did not make print was my view that the awareness Tiffany’s has built in Canada around the “little blue box” has not just eaten Birks’ lunch, but the entire buffet.

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IN THE MEDIA:  Andris Pone comment on WestJet, Tim Hortons, Lululemon, Indigo and more.

“I am not surprised at a time when they are changing like this that they are having trouble, but I think they could very much turn it around,” said Andris Pone, president of Toronto-based marketing agency Coin Branding. “[Ms. Reisman] has already managed to make that brand about much more than books. The brand is so well-known and it is a major destination for gifts.”

Financial Post

November 6, 2013

Read here

Andris Pone, Coin Branding Inc. president, said WestJet might be missing an opportunity to differentiate the product in the minds of consumers. He recognized why WestJet is keeping its branding uniform given its admirable brand recognition. But he said the customer experience on its 737 will be different than on its Q400.

“I’m not sure you want to leave it WestJet, because then there’s really no obvious demarcation between the mainline and the regional carrier,” he said.

There are ways you could do both, including calling the regional carrier something that elicits the WestJet brand but is “shorter and snappier.”

National Post

September 12, 2012
Read here