Tim Hortons: Why the coffee giant is 'genuinely beloved' by Canadians

Picturethe richest best-dressed company director and the poorest worst-dressed unemployed worker both couldbe seenholding a cup of Tim Hortons coffee in their hand and neither would feelawkward.

"Could you do that with Starbucks? Could you do that with other brands?Tim'sis every man and every woman, and thats its power," said Alan Middleton, a York Universityassistant marketing professor.

That observation, whichMiddleton sayswas originally made bycultural anthropologistGrantMcCracken, helps to explain the enduring love affair that Canadians have with the coffee and doughnut giant.

And it's alove affair that'sprovably true, says Middleton, who specializes in domestic and international branding and is the executive director of theSchulich Executive Education Centre.

"It's genuinely beloved," Middleton said.

To allay any fears Canadians may have over the announcement of the mergerwith Burger King, TimHortonstook out a two-page newspaper ad on Wednesday promising that a TimHortonscoffee before and after the deal will remain the same.

What the ad didn't point out is that Tims has been owned by American-based interests before. Wendy's International bought the chain in 1995 and hung on to it until 2006when it was spun off as a separate public company. But analysts say Tim's ownership hasn't seemed to matter to Canadians and hasn't affected the chain's Canadian identity.

While it's the biggest coffee chain in Canada, with more than 3,600 stores across the country,Tim Hortonsconsistently ranks high in brand studies, he says,and qualitative and quantitativeresearch shows that Canadians believe the company is reflective of Canada.

Its community work, sponsoring local sporting clubs has earned it a number of sponsorship awards, while its work in student programs andthe Tim Horton Children's Foundation haveengenderedan enormous amount of goodwill.

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Interbrand Canada, a leading brand consultancy firm,annually ranks the best Canadianbrandsbased onfinancialanalysis, the role of the brand in consumer purchasing decisions and brand strength.This year, Tim Hortons came in fifth but it was the highest ranking retail brand in their top 25, which Interbrand Canada managing director Carolyn Ray attributes in large part to Tim Hortons' ''authenticity."

Among the highest in 'authenticity'

"Authenticity isaboutyour heritage and your values and being true to who you are and I think Tim Hortons, certainly in the retail sector, scored among the highest in authenticity," Ray said. "Which means all the things they do in the community and all the thingstheydeliverfrom acustomer service perspective areviewedby consumers as authentic."

Authenticity, or being relatable to consumers, is different than Canadians having some kind of strong patriotic attachment to the brand.Middletondismissedthe notion that Canadiantiesto the company, founded by Toronto Maple Leaf hockey player Tim Horton, come from any profound sense of nationalism.There are certainly tinges of pride, but it's not overt.

"We don't do well in responses to nationalism," he said.

The Molson Canadian beer "I am Canadian"rantcommercial, in which averageCanadian Joe talks about why it's great to be Canadian, is a perfect example, he said.

"The individual commercial was huge but whenthey tried to turn it from the Molson Canadianbrand to an ongoing campaign, it failed," he said. "We dont buy based on nationalism. We buy based on this company kinda gets us."

Middleton credits Tim Hortons' success on a combination of its strong roots in communities, its ability to cater to consumer wants while introducing new products and its marketing and advertising strategy.

While some of Tim Horton'stearjerker"True Stories" commercialsmay resonate with Canadians and are important, most of the company's advertising goes toward highlighting the products they offer, Middleton said.

Have a 'value' proposition

"They constantly communicate what the product's good for, what the beverage is good for and that it's good value. So they have a value proposition," Middleton said.

Douglas Hunter, author ofDouble Double: How Tim Hortons Became a Canadian Way of Life, One Cup at a Time, said Tim Hortons has been very shrewd about not building up their own self importance.

"They've done good marketing around people telling their own stories. They've let people tell their own stories. It's always dangerousfor a company to tell you 'I'm really important to you and your identity.'"

Hunter believes Tim Hortonsbecame a Canadian cultural phenomenonin part because of the CBC'sRoyal Canadian Air Farce doughnut shopsketches, which featuredcharacters sitting around a table at a coffee shop, riffing on the events of the day. Although the sketches never specifically referred to Tim Hortons, the coffee chain was the major player in Canada at the time.

"If you were thinking of a coffee doughnuts store, you really were thinking about Tim Hortons," he said. "And I think it did come out of that doughnut gang idea. We really started to equate this idea that ordinary, mushy, middle-class, middle-spectrumpolitical values Canadians go to Tim Hortons and meet and talk about the day."

From that perception grew a new political reality, said Hunter, where Tim Hortons was the place where you met "ordinary Canadians" and was the only place that politicians could be seen meeting Canadians.

"Have we jumped the shark on that yet? Idon't know.I kind ofthoughtthat we had. Even in 2012, when Iwas [touring]the book, I wasstill seeing mediashorthand of'the TimHortons voters.'I thought 'why do we keep talking about theTimHortons'voter?' I think people just go to Tim Hortons."

The "Tim Hortons" voter may just be part of the Canadian lexicon, much like "double double"and "roll up the rim"have all become familiar phrases.

"Its the differencebetween calling it Tim Hortons and Tim's," said Middleton, the marketing professor."Brandswould die for that crossover affection."