Hello again world. It’s been a crazy couple of months, culminating in my realization that Canada doesn’t actually have that many companies that think they need a helpful brand strategy guy like me.

I’ve decided to take Interbrand’s list of the top 25 Canadian brands, and count down some basic brand-brain impressions, things I like, and things I think could improve.

La Senza. Meaning “the without”, it’s a very successful Canadian-born brand, that went international many years ago. The UK operation was sold off in 2006 to a VC firm.

La Senza Canada’s website is a great example of Canadian conservatism overtaking the essential point of the category – to make women feel beautiful, sexy and comfortable with better underwear than anyone else.

From the independent La Senza UK:

and from La Senza Canada:

UK: pictures of actual women wearing the clothes. Canada: just the clothes, thank you. The basic premise I’m talking about of course is: Men may purchase razors but in the quest for a handsome smooth face. People may buy drills but only in the quest for the cleanest, easily created, most useful holes in their walls.

Women (and men) aren’t as excited about underwear, rather their interest is to look and feel beautiful, sexy and comfortable. Showing underwear with no people in them is tragic. Sure, you can worry that some conservative elements in the country are worried about titillation, but when titillation is an essential part of the product’s (read brand’s) objective, you can forgive me for despairing.

La Senza Canada, I would be happy to manage a full consumer-experience research project both for the website and the in-store experience, followed up by a clear brand strategy recommendation and plan. My hypothesis is that there are better ways to position vs sexy, “gorgeous” Victoria’s Secret than “La Senza is the conservative Canadian’s value conscious lingerie choice”. It’s beneath you.

The Pants with Nobody Inside them