Faces adapts to local market

Everyone’s heard the clichés before.

‘We’re living today in a world without borders.’ ‘There is no such thing as a Canadian company anymore.’ ‘The whole world is our marketplace now.’

But what, exactly, does all of this mean in terms of concrete, day-to-day reality? What do Canadian firms go through in the effort to market their products and services internationally? How do they build brands on a global basis? What are the challenges – and the rewards?

For this special report, Strategy’s writers profile the global marketing activities of several noteworthy Canadian companies.

Valentine’s Day may be a big deal in Canada, but it doesn’t signify a whole lot in Singapore.

To most of us, that’s just an interesting little nugget of information. But if you’re a Canadian cosmetics retailer that markets worldwide, it’s a business issue of some considerable import.

What it means specifically to Shelley Tushinski, vice-president of marketing for Toronto-based Faces, is that a special tent card designed for this year’s Feb. 14 promotion in Canada couldn’t mention Valentine’s Day by name. The text had to be vague enough to support a more generic promotion in the Singapore market as well. In the end, the wording chosen for the front of the card was: ‘Heart & Soul. Care for the body you love.’

An awareness of cultural differences is one of the major prerequisites for any company interested in pursuing an international strategy. Certainly that’s the lesson that Faces has learned through its own efforts to establish a global brand.

Founded in 1974, the company has over the past decade built a presence in several countries outside North America, including Singapore.

When it was purchased by Toronto-based Flagship Capital Partners 18 months ago, Faces placed a temporary moratorium on further global expansion. Now that the transitional period is over, however, there are plans to begin developing franchises in several new markets, including Israel, Puerto Rico and China.

The company’s global strategy is simple, but impressively farsighted. ‘We didn’t build our business [domestically] and then try to go global,’ Tushinski says. ‘We actually built the product line and the business with a strategic view to take it global.’

Faces offers products appropriate to women of all ethnic backgrounds. The line includes 25 different foundations, spanning virtually every skin tone, along with 200 lipsticks and 150 eye shadows.

The ethnic diversity of the company’s hometown makes it the ideal place to develop a product line for the global marketplace, Tushinski says. ‘Toronto is a mosaic of the world,’ she explains.

Faces positions itself as a kind of cosmetics candy store, somewhere between the drugstore makeup aisle and the high-end department store cosmetics counter. Most franchises in Canada are stand-alone kiosks located in high-traffic mall areas. In other countries, however, that retail model isn’t always ideal. Vandalism in malls is a significant problem in Mexico, for example, so the Faces franchises in that country take the form of traditional retail outlets, rather than booths.

Whether a customer visits a Faces franchise in Markham or Mexico City, it’s important that the experience be the same. For this reason, franchise operators from other markets fly in to Canada regularly to take part in the teaching seminars offered by the company.

Faces eschews traditional advertising, relying primarily on public relations and point-of-sale support. Marketing materials are developed here in Canada, and then sent to franchise operators either electronically or via snail mail, to be adapted as circumstances require.

The company never assumes that what works here in Canada makes perfect sense in all other markets, Tushinski adds. For this reason, franchisees are given the leeway to apply their own expertise on local markets.

‘The key to the whole thing is finding operators who know the market,’ she says.

Also in this report:

– Tim Hortons issues wakeup call: Builds underdeveloped breakfast category p.25

– Honeydew pegs future on U.S. sales p.26

– Buckley’s takes bad taste message abroad: Cough syrup marketer making steady inroads in U.S. and overseas p.27

– Great Canadian Bagel makes slow but sure gains in Moscow p.27

– Southbrook Farms and Winery proves its worth abroad: Ontario winemaker uses foreign success to boost sales at home p.28

– Seagull Pewter sells at shows: Family-run giftware operation does business in over 20 territories p.28

– Clearly Canadian launches in U.S. first p.28

Cannes Lions 2025: Canadians nab more medals on final festival day

Strategy is on the ground in Cannes, bringing you the latest news, wins and conference highlights all week long. Catch all the coverage here.

Friday’s batch of Silver and Bronze winners included the oldest category at the Cannes festival, Film, as well as Sustainable Development Goals, Dan Wieden Titanium, Glass: The Lion for Change and Grand Prix for Good. Canadians were recognized with four Lions today: two Silver and a Bronze in Film, as well as a Bronze in Sustainable Development Goals.

FCB Toronto was given yet another nod for its work, “The Count,” for SickKids, bringing the medal count for that campaign to four, including a Gold for Health & Wellness. Another Canadian agency recognized on the final day of the festival was Klick Health Toronto, which earned a Silver in Film for its work “Love Captured” for Human Trafficking Awareness and a Bronze for “18 Months” for Second Nurture. And over in Sustainable Development Goals, the Bronze went to Publicis Canada and its “Wildfire Watchtowers” work for Rogers.

Another massive win for Canada included not one, but two Young Lions (pictured above) taking home medals in the annual competition. In Design, the Gold Young Lion was awarded to Rethink’s senior motion designer Jesse Shaw and ACD Zoë Boudreau. The second, a Bronze in Media, went to Cossette Media’s business intelligence analyst Samuel David-Durocher and product development supervisor Tristan Bonnot-Parent.

Film (2 Silver, 1 Bronze)

1 SILVER: “The  Count” by FCB Toronto for SickKids Foundation

“The Count,” a striking campaign from FCB Toronto for SickKids Foundation, has earned 1 Gold, 2 Bronze and now 1 Silver for Film at Cannes. If you watch it, it’s easy to see why. The collaboration between brand and agency honoured the hospital’s “VS” platform, while steering it in a new direction from its initial development by previous AOR Cossette. The creative celebrates childhood cancer patients who have to fight for every birthday, while honouring the hospital’s own milestone – 150 years and counting.

 

1 Silver: “Love Captured” by Klick Health Toronto for The Exodus Road

Klick Health Toronto added to its medal tally with a Silver in Film for it’s work “Love Captured” for The Exodus Road. The creative features a romantic getaway that isn’t what it seems in an experiential short film for the global anti-trafficking organization. The experience takes viewers through a tragic and twisting experience of exploitation.

 

1 BRONZE: “18 Months” by Klick Health Toronto for Second Nurture

Klick Health Toronto also won a Bronze in the Film category for its work, “18 Months,” done for the charity organization Second Nurture. The animated film is based on a real-life story in which a same-sex couple adopts a baby found in a subway station, and the 18-month journey into a story of hope.

Sustainable Development Goals (1 Bronze)

1 BRONZE: “Wildfire Watchtowers” by Publicis Canada for Rogers

Publicis Canada landed on the winners board for its work, “Wildfire Watchtowers,” for Rogers. The Canadian-developed wildfire-detection tech – which has been billed as “a fire alarm in the forest” – uses AI-powered sensors installed on 5G towers to monitor vast remote areas in real time. By scanning, identifying and reporting early signs of wildfires (up to 16 minutes faster than other systems), the technology helped prevent 54 fires in 2024 alone.

Catch the Gold winners later today when they’re revealed at the gala in Cannes.