You need a brand

        Mandel-Campbell calls Canada the "no logo nation" because Canadian companies prefer to compete on price versus competing on the value-added of a brand or marketing. "Just competing on price is a losing proposition," she says in the podcast, especially now that we're competing with so many lower cost producers on everything from beef to wheat to cars. "We offer ourselves as cheaper versions of Americans," she adds. "We're underestimating ourselves and undervaluing our product."

What is a brand? Mandel-Campbell says a brand is not just a logo and distinct product. "You can sell a commodity and still have a brand," and that brand is based on reliability, trustworthiness and quality of product.

It is "critical" to have a brand, she says, and "you don't have to be a large company to do it." So what is your brand?

Andrea Mandel-Campbell podcast