Google in Canada Push
August 19, 2010
The rule of thumb for me was for every US$ 1.00, the Canadian market would yield about $0.25. The reason has more to do with the population of Canada and the dominance of Toronto, Montréal, and Vancouver. Now don’t get me wrong. I think highly of Calgary (gave a speech there once) and Winnipeg (gave a speech there too). As a result, the marketing and communication challenges have to be well understood and the products tailored to the Canadian market, or more properly, markets. If you don’t know the Manitoba’s principal languages or what the Métis are, you may find yourself “out and about.”
According to Alberta’s Red Deer Advocate, Google is goosing its efforts in a country where my relatives still make life interesting. “Google Canada to Hire More Staff and Build Brand” reported:
Google needs to focus on getting Canadian businesses to turn to the search engine as “one of their top three to five business partners…. Google could provide not only advertising, but business applications like email, Google maps, the Google business channel on YouTube, co-marketing opportunities and product integration.
With 150 employees in Canada, Google will add staff. Will the company prove my rule of thumb wrong? Figure $80,000 Canadian per employee, toss in 25 percent for overhead, and multiple by 150. This means that more than $15 million in revenue is needed to fund the expansion. With government projects often a major source of revenue for certain vendors, the lead time for ramping revenue may be measured in six months or more.
A weakening in Google’s revenues in the US could mean that Google’s sales and marketing tactics for markets such as Canada may get some oomph. The only fly in the ointment is that oomph can have some surprising consequences, particularly Mad Ave inspired American outfits.
Stephen E Arnold, August 19, 2010
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