For a good part of the 90s I lived overseas. Half a year in France, a year in the UK, and then 3 in Japan. And I travelled extensively – in more than 30 countries by the year 2000. I came back from that experience a changed person. Before living overseas, Canada was just the place I was born and grew up. After living overseas, it was the place I chose to be. I knew what other countries offered and what we had here. I realized we have something great.

Ever since then I’ve been working to take more of Canada to the world.  Canadian businesses are so often great at what they do, but not great at telling others about it.  So I (and Mezzanine) spend my time marketing those great companies to the world, and at home.  We shout their praises from the highest mountain tops so that others know about them and how great they are.  These companies deserve to be recognized as world leaders for what they do – and to enjoy the financial rewards of their innovation, initiative and hard work.

I’m enjoying watching the Olympics and seeing Canada pursue an aggressive goal and achieve it.  This is an exciting time.  I hope it’s the start for all of Canada – not just the sports world but the business world too – to pursue their rightful positions as global leaders.  We have every reason to do so.

I was listening to the CBC wrap-up of Olympics coverage this afternoon.  The topic was along the lines of “Is our investment in the Olympics worth it”.  Apparently Canada spends about $22M on supporting athletes for the Olympics.  I didn’t catch if that was for summer sports, winter sports, or both.  But I was amazed that there were a few people who called in to say they feel it’s a waste of money.  All I could think was that $22M is a pittance.  The government wastes many more millions on far lesser programs.  And how can we quantify the value of the inspiration that the Olympics provides?  If watching athletes – Canadian or other – inspires anyone in the country to aim high, keep working hard on their trade, and be proud of what they accomplish, then surely that investment yields an incredibly healthy ROI.   

This fits with marketing when it comes to the idea of ‘creative’. We often preach about the importance of measurement in marketing, because far too many dollars are wasted on tactics and techniques that don’t provide meaningful results.  But we have to be cautious when it comes to our ‘measurement, measurement, measurement’ mantra – because sometimes it’s hard to measure or put a value on a great idea that separates a company from its competitors.  Just like it’s hard to put a price on the value the Olympics provides to Canadians.