Also in this report:

– Top Client Overall: Cirque de Soleil marries art and commerce p.36

– Top Client, Food & Beverage: Natrel milks new dairy lines p.36

– Top Client, Media: Journal de Montreal revitalizes image p.37

– Top Client, Alcoholic Beverages: Labatt builds Ice, 50 p.37

– Top Client, Top Newcomer: Microcell unleashes Fido blitz p.40

– Top Client, Retail: Value Plus fuels Ultramar gains p.40

– Top Client, Automotive: Sexy star gives rise to Toyota sales p.41

– Top Client, Telecommunications: Bell puts face to company name p.41

In this issue, Strategy inaugurates a new feature: a special Quebec edition of its annual Top Clients report, devoted to recognizing the accomplishments of that province’s leading marketers.

Strategy’s selections appear on pages 36-40. Our editorial staff has reviewed the year’s news, solicited expert opinion and chosen Quebec-based client organizations that stand out as exemplary marketers in a variety of business categories.

As in our national Top Clients report, the selections are based on what we consider the fundamental tenets of good marketing: sales results, attention to brand development, innovation and relationships with suppliers.

Bringing a company back from the brink is no small task.

In the case of Les Croustilles Yum Yum, a 37-year-old snack food manufacturer based in Warwick, Que., it took new products, new package designs and an expanded distribution network. Oh, and a drag queen named Mado.

Yum Yum, a company that lists the introduction of salt-and-vinegar potato chips to Canadians among its historic accomplishments, has come close to extinction twice in the past decade. The first time came in 1989, when the company was crippled by a protracted strike. Then, in 1994, Yum Yum lost its contract to package private-label chips for the Metro-Richelieu grocery chain.

In 1995, under new president and general manager Garry Garcin, the company embarked on a major rebuilding program, starting with measures to improve overall product quality.

Early last year, Yum Yum introduced new designs for all its product packaging, giving greater prominence to the brand name and logo that many Quebecers still remember fondly from their youth. Newly-installed equipment enabled the company to introduce a line of non-fried products, including corn puffs and potato ‘fries,’ under the FunYum brand name.

At the same time, Yum Yum has put renewed effort into adding new distributors, particularly in the greater Montreal market, while working with existing accounts, such as Provigo and IGA Canada, to increase shelf space.

When it came to supporting these efforts with advertising, Garcin says, the company decided to go for broke.

‘We wanted to do something people would sit up and notice. You may love it, you may hate it, but by God, you’re going to remember it.’

The result was an attention-grabbing tv campaign, from Montreal’s Natcom Publicite Promotion, featuring ‘Mado,’ an outrageous drag-queen character created by popular Quebec performer Luc Provost. The tv was supported by a scratch-and-win bingo promotion in convenience stores and supermarkets.

With Mado’s help, Yum Yum saw sales figures in 1996 increase 37% over the previous year. The company has jumped from fourth place to second, behind Hostess Frito-Lay, in the $300-million Quebec snack market.

With sales of traditional potato chips growing at a relatively modest rate, Garcin says Yum Yum will continue with the introduction of new products such as baked no-fat potato and tortilla chips.

‘Consumer tastes change so dramatically. We’ve got to keep targeting other niches where we can see increasing demand.’