ChatterAI

Make Every Dollar Matter. Every dollar we spend is a choice that can help us fulfill our needs while strengthening our economy. Buying Canadian is one way to ensure our money stays in the country, supporting local businesses, fueling innovation, and building stronger communities. But supporting Canada isn’t always about where a company started—it’s also about where it invests. Many global companies don’t just sell to us; they build here. They set up head offices, hire Canadians, establish distribution centers, and support local suppliers. They also recruit their future in our universities and develop talent, and many Canadians have gone on to run businesses worldwide. These companies invest in Canadian suppliers, buy Canadian media, support Canadian charities, and pay Canadian taxes that help fund the services we rely on. It would be helpful to know which companies export to Canada versus those that are part of our economic fabric. But from firsthand experience, I know that businesses like Unilever, Kraft Heinz, Mondelez Canada, PepsiCo , The Coca-Cola Company, Anheuser-Busch, Molson Coors Beverage Company, Nestlé, Procter & Gamble and many multi-nationals believe in Canada and contribute to its growth. As consumers, we have the power of choice. Buying Canadian is a great way to invest in our future. However, we should also recognize and support the companies that invest in us. Every dollar we spend has an impact on our communities, our economy, and our country. Let’s make it matter. #BuyCanadian #SupportCanada #MakeItCount #InvestInCanada #CanadianEconomy Jim Slomka Errol Cerit, P.Eng. Michael Graydon Ron Welke Jessica Grigoriou Gary Wade Naniss Gadel-Rab Christine Cruz-Clarke Chantal Butler Todd Allen Sofia Colucci Leslie Malcolm George Tsilfidis Andrew Oosterhuis Doug Port Steve McGraw Kevin Royal Anthony Longo Nina Patel Laura Collaton Jamie Nelson Canadian Federation of Independent Grocers Christine Kalvenes Ryan Collis Tom Sorotschynski Dale Hooper Tony Matta Jason McDonell Jeff Doucette Food, Health & Consumer Products of Canada FHCP Per Bank

🚀 🚀 🚀 We’re taking off! New brands, new clients, new teams… we’re having a blast taking on all this new work, but always looking to add more strategic clients to the roster! Interested in learning more? Reach out!

Our very own Tony Chapman talking to CP24 News about the issues Sunwing faces and a great Canadian Brand with yet another great maneuver, Pizza Pizza Limited. Worth a listen!

Strategy is much more interesting when you mix it up. When you know your audience, and all those who covet them. Too many businesses default to a Direct Strategy - me against you. If you opponent is of equal strength this rarely works, if anything it is drain on resources and perceived value - as price and offers become your tiebreaker. Years ago I put together a strategy workshop, and it has stood the test of time. Even more so given how hypercompetitive things are. In my workshop I talk about the four types of strategy. 1)Direct Strategy: Play to your distinct advantage. The Head-to-Head Battle. When you have a clear advantage—a stronger brand, better product, or superior execution—going head-to-head can work. The US military seeks a 3-1 advantage as the metric for going all in. Amazon is an excellent example of an enterprise that sacrifices profit to secure market share and a dominant position in distribution. 2)Indirect Strategy – Change the Criteria by which your customer buys. Instead of competing on the same terms, you shift the criteria for success. A great example was with PepsiCo and their Taste Challenge. I worked on this brand for 32 years over my two agencies. When we went direct, we struggled, but we had a proof point: when we changed the criteria from celebrities and mass marketing to blind taste tests, we personalized preference and won a significant share. 3)Containment Strategy: Hold on to what you can. When you’re losing, sometimes the best move is to defend some territory and use that as a base to fight back when recalibrating your offering. A great example is the LEGO Group. In the early 2000s, LEGO was in serious trouble. Sales were plummeting, and the company had expanded too aggressively into theme parks, video games, and unrelated product lines, losing ground to digital entertainment. The company was on the verge of bankruptcy in 2003. Instead of continuing to fight a losing battle, LEGO contained the crisis by refocusing on its core product, engaging adult LEGO fans and doing strategic licensing deals with Star Wars, Harry Potter, and others. 4)Divide and conquer Strategy: Choose where to Win. Dollar Shave Club took on Gillette online, and Tesla focused on EVs rather than other internal combustion cars. Next time you think of your marketplace, look at your strategy. Is it direct because you dominate in the sector, or do you deploy something different? If you are every interested in working with me, reach out. Speaking and workshops directly to me. Anything involved with intelligence, insights, ideas, strategy and creative reach out to either me, Tom Sorotschynski or Sean Donnelly, the Founding Partners of ChatterAI. SK Uddin #strategy #tarriffs #competition #AI #Strategy #CompetitiveAdvantage #Leadership #BusinessGrowth #ChatterThatMatters Tom Sorotschynski Sean Donnelly Neal Bouwmeester David Colebrook Chantal Butler Chantal Chiarelli Nick Dean Shabnam Weber Wendy Baker

This is a special four-minute edition of Chatter That Matters. Canada's economy and sovereignty are under threat—not from weapons but from tariffs. This isn’t the moment for political grandstanding, showboating, posturing, or scoring points. It's time for extraordinary. RBC sponsors my podcast, and this weekend, I had the honour of reading a note from their President and CEO, Dave McKay, to all employees. RBC didn't ask me to do this, and they are not compensating me. I read his letter in this podcast and hope you will listen.  This is the kind of leadership our country requires.  Positivity, possibility and making Canada's destiny a matter of choice, not chance. Please listen to it and share it. His remarks and others of similar tone deserve a much broader audience, spanning our private and public sectors without geographic or partisan boundaries or biases.  Canada. It's time for extraordinary. To listen, and if you can, please share. Apple: https://lnkd.in/eX9J5aV Spotify: https://lnkd.in/gHbASP_R My site: https://lnkd.in/gHFpj_42 #tarrifs #Trump #Leadership #Canada #Mexico #UnitedStates #RBC

How Canadians and Businesses Feel About U.S. Tariffs – Insights from ChatterAI. Over the weekend, we ran Chatter AI to analyze how businesses and Canadians feel about U.S. tariffs and the best path forward. We can slice and dice this data in many ways. One word that roared through all is the need for leadership across the private and public sectors. This is not the time for grandstanding, flying solo, baiting Americans, or emotional outbursts. This is the time for leadership, strategy, and a united front. Here is a top line of key concerns: Business (994,733 responses over 4 months) 1️⃣ Economic impact 2️⃣ Trade relationships 3️⃣ Consumer prices 4️⃣ Supply chain disruptions Canadian Concerns (1.5 million responses) 1️⃣ Export challenges 2️⃣ Economic impact 3️⃣ Trade relationships 4️⃣ Retaliatory measures When we asked what the Canadian government should prioritize, 1,439,492 responses pointed to negotiation and relationship-building as the top approach. To limit negative fallout, 1,132,328 responses highlighted: Monitoring economic impacts Supporting local businesses Engaging in diplomatic negotiations The consensus?  Canada must be proactive, balancing resilience with smart diplomacy. #Trade #Economy #Tariffs #Canada #AI #ChatterAI

Ignore brand building at your peril! With algorithm-driven media and ever increasing AI-generated creative, the focus on performance marketing has never been more intense than it is now. However, the performance era in advertising has come at the expensive of brand equity. Given lacklustre performance, brands like Nike and Adidas have, and are fundamentally revising their investments, reducing their undue focus on performance and are re-investing in brand building. But there is more to this than mere reallocation of budget and effort. According to a new report, 'The Multiplier Effect', published by WARC in partnership with Analytic Partners, BERA.ai, Prophet and System1, “The distinction between brand and performance is a false choice.“ Their evidence based research suggests that performance and brand advertising combined, delivers greater returns, and that building equity for tomorrow while driving sales today is achievable. Marketing organization will need to adapt their media and creative approaches, teams and budgets, but more importantly their entrenched mindsets on the relationship between brand and performance. No doubt this will require tremendous commitment and effort, across the marketing organization. Combined with AI thoroughly transforming marketing and at pace that makes ones eyes water, marketers have their work cutout for them. 2025 holds both opportunities and challenges for us all - I am excited. In the words of Franklin D. Roosevelt: "A smooth sea never made a skilled sailor” So trim your sails and standby to gybe! ChatterAI Tony Chapman Tom Sorotschynski Hilton Barbour Paul Curtin David Lewis Canadian Marketing Association #marketing #ai #brand #performancemarketing

Canada: It’s Time. We can lament a wasted decade, complain about lost opportunities, and complain about our differences. However, looking in the rearview mirror will not drive us forward. Canada and America are no longer partners. “Without this massive subsidy, Canada ceases to exist as a viable country.” That wasn’t from a dictator—it was from the President of the United States. The message is clear: cripple us economically or absorb us entirely. Canada. How do we react? With positivity and possibility. With bold, decisive action. With new allies. How: First, democracy still exists in North America. 1)Recall government. Liberals choose your leader. At the end of March, we have a national election. Throwing on more band-aids to hide our festering wounds is time and money we do not have. 2) Elect Red or Blue, I don't care. I care about boldness, speed, decisiveness, ideas, parking egos, and ideology. 3)Raise voters' financial literacy. 'There is no such thing as government generosity.' Everything we spend is due to taxpayers and their ability to underwrite more debt, a lifetime of servitude for future generations. 4)Stop spraying money like an unneutered cat. Cut billions in waste. Feed Canada versus feeding the government machine. Use AI to drive efficiency and transparency. 5)Our Loonies stops here. Every government contract stays here. $17 billion for multinational consultancies? Repatriate that money and invest in Canadian IP. Creativity and media - buy Canada. Wine and spirits. Small Business. 6)Repatriate world organization fees and invest in focused trade missions. 7)Strike and honour exclusive international deals for our food, rare minerals, uranium, lumber, content, and energy. 8)Build pipelines to the East and West Coasts with Ontario Steel. Refinery. 10)Scrap the carbon tax. Cut personal and business taxes. 11)Free trade across all provincial borders. 12)Rally our immigrants and their network abroad. Positivity and Possibility: We no longer need scale. The new economy is based on agility, flexibility, adaptability and capital. In a decade, we can be a superpower in ingenuity, AI, Content, food, rare minerals, energy, preventative healthcare, longevity, Indigenous medicines, data centres, nuclear, sustainability and more. In two decades, debt free. Tear out the rear-view mirror, hoping America will bring us into a deal we like or can trust. Accept that Trump sees America as his and the borders as his moat. He wants a toll to enter. He is very confident in America's might. He will be either very right or very wrong. Regardless. Trump sees Canada as something he can mug. I see the world moving on and away and Canada leading the charge. Pura Canada. If you are interested the 10-minute keynote I delivered at Excellence Canada, - https://lnkd.in/gv5ACW_T It’s about where Canada was, where we are, and where we can be. #chatterai #tarrifs #Trump #51ststate Rob Sacks

Has been a great start to the year and we’re not slowing down!

Always championing the entrepreneurial spirit, even on a Sunday! Great sound bite from the one and only Tony Chapman. We’re all this excited, daily, with what we’ve got going on!