Success Comes One Personal Story at a Time

Ron Buist, inventor of the Tim Hortons Roll Up the Rim to Win campaign, says that the company’s success, and its connection to the Canadian psyche, are based on the local approach.
"I lost a lot of skin off my back when I came in one day with the idea that we should use Freshness Made us Number One," said Buist. "[Owner Ron Joyce] said ‘Don’t you ever do that. We don’t’ what people to think that we want to be some big hooha.’"
Buist, speaking at the Aftermarket Conference for Executives that wraps up today in Mont-Tremblant, Que., said that he learned the value of the franchisee when he wrote to one in the Maritimes and neglected to put his wife’s name in the letter. "I am still known to this lady as the one who sent the ‘Sorry Roses.’"
Aside from the coffee cup rim contest, Tim Hortons has been able to capitalize on its Canadian image with a series of commercials that tell true stories of people and Tim Hortons.
"Franchisees are as local as possible. These are true stories about real people." It doesn’t take a rocket sceintist to understand that without that local connection, you wouldn’t learn about these stories.
"These are real Canadians, real Customers. We do not make them up. Here is a Canadian company that has built itself on the little guy."