BCBusiness

W hen QMUNITY—a small Vancouver-based not- for-prot that provides support ser v ices to queer and transgender youth—needed a secure way for crisis-line work- ers to talk to teens, a landline didn't quite cut it. QMUNITY's audience is more likely to message via Facebook and Whatsapp during times of stress, so the organization's execu- tive director, Dara Parker, turned to an organization with unique and deep ties to the city's LGBTQ community to ask for mobile phones. That organization, Tanya GoehrinG 28 BCBusiness february 2016 for many small orGanizaTions, a corporaTe parTner can mean The difference beTween success and failure—one reason amonG many why Telus ranks no. 2 on our lisT of b.c.'s mosT influenTial brands b y JAC OB PA R R Y Help ON THE LINE Rank most infLUEntiaL infLUEncE LovE infLUEncE LovE bRands scoRE scoRE Rank Rank 1 BC Hydro 387 154 1 4 2 Telus 336 144 2 6 3 save-on-Foods 296 171 3 1 4 YVR 275 161 4 3 5 Fortis BC 207 129 5 11 6 London Drugs 200 163 6 2 7 iCBC 200 109 7 22 8 Vancouver Canucks 199 129 8 12 9 WorksafeBC 184 102 9 30 10 MeC 172 118 10 15 A Couple oF DeFinitions ■ How wE dEfinE LovE The "attitudinal equity" for each brand (what Ipsos calls brand love) is an amalgam of our feelings on eight key attributes: a brand we identify with; brand we trust; brand we see as unique; brand we see as innovative; brand we see everywhere; brand we see as socially responsible; brand we see as making a posi- tive contribution to B.C.; and a brand we are likely to interact with ■ How wE dEfinE infLUEncE "Influence requires relevance and having an impact on the way people live," says Rodenburgh. While there are a number of dimensions that drive influence, the top five are: trustworthiness, leading edge, engage- ment, corporate citizen- ship and presence "Big brands have very big impacts on peo- ple's lives," says Rodenburgh. "Take Google, for example," he says of the No. 1 brand on Ipsos's national ranking of inŽuential brands. "Google has a signicant inŽuence over people today. At a more local level, big British Columbian brands have similar inŽuence over us." He points to the dominance of Crown corps on the local list—BC Hydro, WorkSafeBC, ICBC—and notes that these brands have impact "because of a legislative scope that allows a public brand to have more inŽuence than they have love." In the case of Hydro, however, they've man- aged the impressive feat of ranking highly in both influence (No. 1) and love (No. 4). How? Well, more on that on page 31 ("A River Runs Through It"). And then there's Telus—arguably B.C.'s best- known retail brand—which also ranks highly on both inŽuence (No. 2) and love (No. 6). Nobody has to choose Telus as their cellphone carrier, like they have to choose Hydro for their electricity—and yet they do. Why? More on that below ("Help on the Line"). "The most in f luent ia l brands are part of our daily lives, our routine, and ultimately they help make life better, more inter- esting and more meaningful," says Rodenburgh. "Achieving that is no easy task." —Matt O'Grady The Survey MeThodology: 1. 65 brands were evaluated by ipsos between november 2 and 17, 2015 2. each survey respondent was asked to rate 10 brands randomly 3. each brand was rated by approximately 200 respondents 4. respondents were 18-plus, online british columbians, and data was weighted by age and gender The 10 Most Inuential Brands (complete list starts on p.32)

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