Successful start-up over six months
About six months have passed since the inception of the “Well Made Here” organization even though the idea for the project had sparked in the minds of several instigators some years ago already. Here is an overview of the first months of activity for the program.
Many believe that alarms sounded with Donald Trump’s ascension to a position of power, triggering an urgency to protect our manufacturers. Others believe that Canadian manufacturers came knocking on my door seeking help to preserve their domestic market share in a consolidation context where only giants could survive. Others still are persuaded that the real motive behind our movement is the growing consumer attraction to local buying, noticeable across all fronts, throughout the country. Perhaps it was more the hardware store retailers and their buying groups who were the first to want a program that would help them counter the effects of price droppers and a decrease in quality.
All of the above are valid. And true.
What was but an act of faith is bearing fruit. In developmental stages, yet, full of promise. An optimism that leads me to affirm that “Well Made Here” will drive the whole of our industry and its clients to new elevations.
As a first step towards in-store general public awareness, a consumer-focused leaflet inviting customers to visit the ici-here.ca site, and discover the product lines made by participating manufacturers, was distributed between April 17th and May 12th, in theory at 2 404 points of sale making up the network of stores affiliated with and owned by the banners. We say in theory as many of the five million printed leaflets are still being distributed.
The “Well Made Here” program had not omitted providing tools for partners to promote the new brand. For example:
- For stores: a personalized poster template to allow banners to promote their status as major partners in the new program at any point of sale in their network
- For professionals’ service counter: a generic sign distributed by banners to their points of sale, outlining the advantages of the program so that contractors can leverage “Well Made Here” hardware and materials and recommend them to their clients for their building and renovation projects.
- For store employees: a generic poster, also distributed by banners to their points of sale, intended to provide store employees with a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) document in which five key program fundamentals are explained in plain language.
- For manufacturers: a table-top roll-up was designed for manufacturers who want to identify themselves are participants of the Bien fait ici | Well Made Here program while attending trade shows.
- For consumers: a video with the objective of implanting the pairing two sets of keywords “Well Made” and “Made Here”, and, to dissect their meaning so that the consumer makes the link to the dual implication of the program: encourage local buying of quality (Well Made) products that are manufactured locally (Made Here).
