Executive Summary:
Report on DFAIT Trade Commissioner Service
Advertising Campaign ACET Survey
(POR 343-07)

POR-343-07
Contract # 08170-070582/001/CY

Prepared for
Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada
Trade Commissioner Service
Lester B. Pearson Building
125 Sussex Drive
Ottawa (Ontario) K1A 0G2
Kevin.Chappell@international.gc.ca

April 15, 2008

Table of Contents

1. Executive Summary
   1. Advertising Recall
      1. Unaided Recall
      2. Aided Recall
   2. Evaluation of the Performance of the Government of Canada
   3. Awareness of Trade Service Organizations
   4. Recommendations

Executive Summary

The Strategic Counsel is pleased to present this report to Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada (DFAIT) and the Canadian Trade Commissioner Service (TCS) on the results of a post-campaign evaluation of advertising aimed at executives working in companies who are engaged in exporting activity or investing in international markets. Respondents to the survey included business executives, principally from the C- suite or senior ranks of firms, who travel outside of Canada for business purposes. A total of 400 business travelers were interviewed by telephone in March 2008, following the launch of advertising in business magazines, airports and on the Internet to raise the profile of and promote the services of the TCS. This is the first time TCS has formally evaluated its advertising. Thus, these results represent a benchmark against which future campaigns can be compared.

A. Advertising Recall

Overall, recall of the advertisements among business travelers was modest. A number of measures of recall were collected in the course of the survey, including "unaided recall" (e.g. with little explanation of the advertising) as well as "aided recall" (e.g. providing the respondent with some description of the ad and prompting them as to whether they have seen the ad in a magazine, airport or on the Internet) by medium, "total aided recall" and "total recall (aided + unaided)." Together, these measures provide some assessment as to the effectiveness of the campaign in reaching the target audience and are useful in offering the TCS some direction for purposes of media buy and creative development in any future campaigns.

1. Unaided Recall

Unaided or general awareness of the advertising is modest but reasonable for this type of campaign and for the audience. About one-quarter of business travelers recall seeing advertising on international trade services for exporters and investors. Recall of the advertisements is highest among Quebecers (36%).

It is important to note, however, that those respondents who work in larger organizations ($5 million in annual sales or more), those who are more familiar with organizations that assist exporters (aware of TCS, EDC, BDC) as well as those who are somewhat heavier users of media (read business magazines or daily newspapers) are more likely to recall seeing the ads; about one-third of these "more engaged" business travelers recall seeing the ad. This suggests that the ads are at a minimum being seen by a reasonable portion of that segment of the target audience that is likely more "tuned-in" although there are clearly opportunities to expand the breadth of exposure to the ads across the wider spectrum of the exporting business audience.

2. Aided Recall

When asked more specifically about advertisements that depict a business person standing in front of an international city backdrop asking you if you were doing business abroad, recall rates were again relatively modest, although again these findings should be considered in the context of the nature and scope of the campaign, particularly the mediums in which the ad appeared, as well as the very targeted audience. Although less than 10% recall seeing these advertisements either via magazine, in an airport, or on the Internet, this number reflects a reasonable result for the target audience given the lower reach of magazines, billboard advertising and the Internet, compared to television and radio, for example, which typically generate higher aided recall rates given multiple and ongoing ad exposure.

By the same token, the "call-to-action" (e.g. to access TCS services) was also fairly modest with very few of those who had seen the ads indicating they did anything as a result. Again, it is important to interpret these results recognizing that this is only the second year in which the campaign was run and typically actions occur after repeated, and typically sustained, exposure.

The following table illustrates the trends in aided recall, message recall and action taken, by medium.

Interestingly, while recall of the Internet advertising was the lowest, across the three mediums, the "take-up" or "call-to-action" generated by this medium was slightly higher compared to the other mediums. Although the base sample on this indicator is quite small, it is worth re-examining the delivery of the "call-to-action" across all three mediums to ascertain opportunities for enhancement and increased impact.

The main message of the magazine advertisements, according to those who saw the ads, is fairly generic (something pertaining to the services and assistance available to exporters or to promoting sales) rather than a specific message about services available through TCS.

Total aided recall, those who saw the advertisements that depict a business person standing in front of an international city backdrop via any of the three mediums is modest at 24 per cent, but represents a reasonable starting point for tracking in future evaluations. Notably, when aided and unaided recall are combined, the figure jumps to just over four-in-ten (43%). Of note, both total aided and total recall are higher in Quebec. This suggests that the Quebec media strategy should be reviewed against that employed in other regions of the country to ascertain what the principal differences are and how any specifics of the Quebec strategy might be adopted in other areas. Of course, it would be important to consider any unique features of the target audience in Quebec versus other parts of the country in conducting this analysis.

B. Evaluation of the Performance of the Government of Canada

Ratings of the performance of the Government of Canada could be characterized as fair to good. The government is perceived to be doing a moderately good job overall and in providing information to the public about government services. At the same time, there is considerable room for improvement on the rating of government in offering international trade services.

Notably, business travelers who recall seeing the ads that depict a business person standing in front of an international city backdrop are more likely to think the Government of Canada is doing a good job on offering international trade services.

Awareness of the advertising has a positive impact on some measures of government performance, although not all. Most particularly, and perhaps most importantly for TCS, awareness impacts perceptions of the government's international trade service offering as well as the sense that government is innovative in the ways in which it provides services and information to citizens. Nevertheless, on both these measures, and many others as well, there is considerable room for improvement in assessments of performance by the target audience. As noted earlier, subsequent campaigns will likely reinforce and build on positive perceptions.

^*Calculated by subtracting the figure for those "not aware" of the advertising from those "aware" of the advertising.

C. Awareness of Trade Service Organizations

Awareness of trade service organizations in Canada is very high among business travelers, particularly for Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) and Export Development Canada (EDC). Fewer business travelers are aware of the Canadian Trade Commissioner Service (TCS), however.

Awareness of the provincial trade services, while not as high as their federal counterparts, is still relatively high.

Many of those who are aware of TCS are still not using the services. About one-quarter of respondents have used TCS services. Another one-third plan on using TCS services in the future. Fully 39 per cent say they do not plan on using these services in the future. However, larger firms (over $5 million in annual sales) and those whose exporting sales make-up over half of total sales are much more likely to use or plan to use the services provided by TCS. Notably, for those who have used TCS services, ratings of the organization's performance are strong.

D. Recommendations

This is the first time that the TCS has undertaken a formal evaluation of its advertising campaign. The results generally suggest there is an opportunity in future campaigns to continue to enhance target audience exposure both to the advertising as well as to TCS, the organization. The key recommendations are as follows:

• Modest recall rates suggest that the media strategy should be closely examined with a view to more explicitly identifying primary, secondary and tertiary target audiences as well as media usage and habits for these audiences. The results suggest that the strategy is achieving somewhat better results among that segment of the audience that represents firms with a higher proportion of annual sales/revenues generated from exports, although results even among this segment could be improved upon. Awareness of TCS itself is higher among this segment as well as among those business travelers with at least 10 years of experience in their industry. This segment is likely to be somewhat more "tuned-in" to the export market and to the players and organizations that could provide assistance. As such, particular messaging may be more appropriate for this segment of the audience, but less effective among other segments of the exporting market;
• Linked to the above point, it may be useful to conduct a limited series of qualitative interviews among various segments of the target audience to more fully assess knowledge of TCS as an organization, its services, comparisons with EDC and BDC (and perceptions of key differentiators, both with respect to information and service) as well as to obtain feedback on advertising (from the perspective of content, creative and the media strategy employed). Given relatively modest results, in-depth interviews could prove extremely insightful in pointing to additional opportunities to enhance exposure to the ads as well as the "call-to-action;"
• As noted earlier, a thorough review of the media strategy should be undertaken. In particular, it is important to consider unique regional aspects of the strategy (e.g. Quebec versus other regions/provinces) to determine what aspects of the media buy in Quebec could be applied and/or adapted in other parts of the country;
• TCS may wish to consider setting specific objectives for the results of future campaigns, specifically with respect to the improvements in recall rates and in action taken. Depending on the nature and reach of future campaigns, target for increases in recall could be set at +5 points (e.g. a 5 point increase from the 2008 results). Similarly, it is reasonable to establish goals or targets of +2 points, or perhaps slightly higher, on action taken with respect to next year's evaluation. Goals should also be set for all other objectives including the number of enquiries from new/existing clients, visits to the website, etc.; and
• Finally, further refinement of the specific target audience for the advertising should be undertaken. In this regard, it is important for future evaluations, and for the validity/credibility of the results of these evaluations, to ensure that the respondents closely reflect the desired target audience, to the extent that it is possible to accurately define and reach this audience. For example, if the campaign is specifically intended to target those businesses with high dollar volume of sales generated through exports, the respondents to the survey should target this audience exclusively. By contrast, if clients are principally micro-businesses (this segment represents about 50% of the TCS clientele) with annual revenues below $500,000, this group should be targeted more directly in the evaluation. A further discussion of the sample design for future evaluations is warranted.