In reference to an article in Maclean's Magazine this week about Tim Hortons being the largest US franchise penetration in Canadian history, yet with little to show for its return on investment:

It is a great surprise to me that Tim Hortons has not taken a leaf out of Colonel Sanders, Mrs Fields, McDonalds, and Wendy's book. I can identify two values that drive US consumers into major franchise, fast-food and they are culture and convenience. Food quality and taste are not the main reason they are top of the food-chain.

KFC has Colonel Sanders, Wendy's had Dave, Mrs Fields is the kitchen-Mom throwback to the dreamy '50s, McDonalds created Ronald. Tim Horton's is a cultural icon to no one in the US.

So it's not a hockey market - why get strung up on that? Mr. Horton left this world in 1974. He still has an image, a style, and a legacy of values. And he played for New York Rangers, Pittsburgh Penguins and Buffalo Sabres! Cultivate the hero persona.

The branding of Tim Hortons in the US is the same-old, same as it is in Canada - does nothing to reach out to customer values. Coffee and doughnut quality will not carry the day. Dunkin' Donuts, the US icon that put Tim Hortons into business in the first place, screams Americana in every ad and promotion that it produces. It begs America to love it and never leave.

There is a reason why the American Heartland has so many down-home ordinary people become major successes. It's because the heartland US customer values are as simple as simple can be. Touch the simple heart of America and America reaches out and touches you right back.

In all things that I have observed of American culture, there is a deep national need to be loved for just being an American. In Canada, Tim Hortons is the Canadian local boy made good, at sports and in business. He is an icon with an unblemished legacy. Why let the fact that he was born in Cochrane Ontario and died 30 years ago be a reason he can't be an American hero.

That's what to pitch right into the heartland of the US.

Tim Hortons needs to be a brand that Americans can fall in love with. That's the customer-centric value.