Canadian Immigration Advertising - Case Study Example

Canadian Immigration Advertising 1896-1914 Introduction Advertising can become effective if it appeals to the target people for which it is intended. Nowadays, it is used to create an image of Canada for tourists as well as potential immigrants who can contribute either capital or skilled labor to boost the economy of the country. Potter, E.H. (2008, p.54) believes public diplomacy is one new way. However, looking back to the past from 1896-1914, advertising meant communicating the many benefits of migrating to the prairies, with not much of a need for diplomacy. It was different long time ago. Much background information will clarify the differences between Canada’s advertising for immigrants today and Canada’s advertising for new settlers long time ago. Nevertheless, some other elements of advertising applicable to the past are still applicable in the present. This research paper focuses more on the advertising strategies applied in the years when Canada was made up of a vast wilderness. One might imagine encountering Indians in such places. This documentation also points out how the wilderness was prepared for new settlers and how the Indians eventually did not present themselves to be a problem. Advertising is salesmanship. According to Jones, J.P. (1998, p.82), “The notion of advertising as a branch of salesmanship is so obvious and has such a long history that few American advertisers have ever been able to imagine advertising as being anything else.” In order to convince people about having to migrate to Canada, there should be attractive reasons capable of captivating different prospects from various nations to seriously consider the idea itself. Popular wants and needs ought to be considered. This research paper identifies a specific advertising which was created almost a century ago to invite immigrants into Canada. It became one of the landmark campaigns known to have brought about the conversion of this country into a nation with various cultures. The main objective of this research is to discover how the 1896-1914 advertising campaign of the Canadian government under the Liberals became a success, and to explain why there was a success indeed. To be clear about the topic, there will have to be a definition of effective advertising and the identification of the criteria for it to be successful. II. Literature Review With advertising effectiveness for a topic, a popular understanding of this part of business was taken from John Bartle’s description of excellence in advertising. And this is the fact that advertising must be seen as a marketing tool for a business agenda to improve results of operations to achieve a target. (Butterfield, L. 2012, p. 26) Lee, M. and Johnson. C. (2005, p.3) defines details of advertising as “a paid commercial, nonpersonal communication about an organization and its products or services that is transmitted to a target audience through mass media such as television, radio, newspapers, magazines, direct mails, outdoor displays, or mass transport vehicles.” In the Canadian government’s advertising campaign from 1896 to 1914, mass media mostly through newspapers and pamphlets was utilized. This will be seen against an international as well as national background during the time of the Liberals’ performance in governing Canada, its citizens, and resources. A book by Careless, J.M.S. (2005, pp. 301-326) gives a vivid overview of Prime Minister Laurier and the Liberals’ fortunate circumstances which was gratefully supported by advertising initiatives to achieve the desired objective of populating Canadian prairies with immigeants who can make the lands productive to meet European and American increases in demand for food supply. Other authors, like Hans Fredercik Dahl, believe that the term “mass media” did not really appear in Canada until 1920. (Allen,G. and Robinson, D. 2009). That must have been due to the first year when Canada had a licensed radio broadcasting which was in 1919 (CBC Archives 2004). These should be considered because the years covered for research were 1896-1914. .Television sets reached the Canadian public over 5 years after World War II. The available advertising methods then were with the use of newspapers and printed materials like pamphlets. And one of the advertised news which was part of the government agenda to attrack new settlers into the Canadian prairies involved the promise of education (Axelrod, P. 1992, Conclusion). Schools were necessary for survival against diseases, for farming education, for assimilating the natives into the British culture, and to let potential immigrants know about the concern of government for those who will relocate in the Canadian prairies. Canada was greatly influenced by the British Empire during the years 1896-1914, before those years, and even after those years. An entire book gives many descriptions about the intertwined lives of the people in Canada with the people in the British World. This book was by Buckner, P.A. (2006). Thus, advertisements coming from Canada definitely reached Europe through Great Britain. Francis, R.D., et. al. (2009, p. 292) disclosed how the Mormons’ religious group of Americans became the largest settlers in Western Canada right before 1896. Somewhere near Lee’s Creek which is now Southern Alberta, the Mormons established farms and soon after became the early elite. By 1896-1914, settlement of Western Canada was part of the national policy of the Canadian government. Such a policy pulled immigrants into the prairies of Canada at a time when USA agricultural lands were becoming fully occupied or expensive, a condition referred to as the “push factor”. Conditions in USA pushed entrepreneurs and farmers upwards to Canada while a government-created policy pulled them into the prairies with various incentives. And advertising by the Canadian government played a crucial role of making the potential immigrants aware of those incentives through pamphlets, newspapers, and agents. Before 1896, Canada was largely populated by the French and British nationals. As of 1871, a census in Canada (Kelley, N. and Trebilcock, M.J. 2010, p.23) showed that of 3.6 million 24% were Irish, 20% English, 16% Scottish, 6% Germans, and 32% were French. Other Europeans in Canada were estimated to be at only 2% (Dutch, Blacks, and Indians). After the completion of the railway passage for settlers and which served as the farmer’s means for exporting grains, an economic boom took place. Prices of wheat went up. Farming became attractive as a result of its profitability. The Canadian government, under Clifford Sifton who was then the Interior Minister, found ways and means to facilitate the entry of thousands of immigrants. He identified the target prospects to be American, British, and Eastern as well as Central European farmers and peasants. The rationale for choosing then was climate related. Those accustomed to the cold temperature were more capable of surviving the harsh cold climate of Canada. Clifford Sifton resorted to advertising. For him, advertising meant selling a barren and cold place to live in. To avoid discouraging prospective immigrants, he recommended that Ads avoid words like freezing or reporting the temperature, the presence of snow, and the atmosphere of desolation. Land was offered for free or at cheap prices. Abroad, the Canadian government gave incentives to agents who would promote the idea of immigrating to Canada. Americans were preferred because they would normally bring capital along with them. The flow of British nationals into Canada continued to be robust from 1901 to 1921 when nearly 2,000,000 British were reported to have been added to the majority population which had been also British. And records showed that for 30 years, from 1891 to 1921, there were 3,800,000 immigrants. When World War I broke out sometime 1914, that was the time when most migrated to Canada. Covering all the other reasons for migration would be (a) cheap land availability, (b)dissatisfaction over the poverty in the homelands of immigrants, (c) employment, (d)adventure, (e) better chances of acquiring wealth, and (f) search for freedom from persecution in the religious or political sectors. Many of those who decided to immigrate were the family members of earlier immigrants in Canada. And one other explanation why the government continued to attract and facilitate entry of new immigrants is because large numbers of Canadians (about 3 million) migrated to the USA. The restrictions against entry to Canada were said to be lenient. Only lazy, impoverished, and aimless or ill-disciplined people were not allowed into Canada. Both Minister Clifford Sifton and Frank Oliver, the successor, disapproved of accepting immigrants who had no skills, although starting 1914, about 30% to 43% of those who migrated to Canada were unskilled ( 2010, p.119). The success of promoting migration to Canada from 1896 to 1914 became apparent when statistics showed Canada as having gained “six of the ten largest annual immigration levels ever registered” (Kelley, N. and Trebilcock, M.J. p.113). Behind that success was a talented leader with good organization skills, good administrative and political skills. That was Minister Cliford Sifton. He became the youngest cabinet member by 1896. He was given the challenge of western development. Immigration into Canada was one of the major strategies he implemented. At that time, prairie Indians were reported to be creating “the greatest problems for the government” (Marchildon, G.P. 2009, p.184) By 1901, after Indians were allocated land, taught farming, provided with schools for them to be assimilated into Canadian-British society, they became peaceful and self-reliant. It was Cliford Sifton who had to reorganize the Department of Ministry to establish peace with Indians over the long term. This was a necessary step because without peace, the idea of attracting immigrants would have been not feasible. But due to peace, faster progress became possible. It was with the government commitment to shoulder the cost of educating the Indians that eventually paved the way to more lasting peace. III. Historical Context It should be mentioned that one of the problems related to Indians was pertaining to the use of land. Indians wanted land for their use. Iroquois Indians resisted assimilation for a time. The government had to persuade them to sell some of their ownership to land for the purpose of more productive use and so that the Indians themselves can better afford farming equipment with capital derived from the sale of land. Other land areas were simply claimed out of their territorial coverage. When the government was able to take ownership of more land, it was able to offer land for immigrants to develop. And those lands maintained by Indians became more productive. By 1925, for example, “the southeastern Saskatchewan File Hills farm colony for ex-pupils” flourished from with 36 families of farmers owning 3,000 acres of cultivated land, “with big barns, bank accounts, and automobiles” (Marchildon, G.P., 2009, p.235) Before the arrival of Europeans in Canada, an estimated 250,000 Indians from various tribes claimed a part of the 4,000,000 square miles, while newcomers were considered as land grabbers by the aborigines. Indians were considered by the French to be savages.(Jenness, D. 1932, p.1) It took about three centuries to deal with those aborigines and eventually assimilate them as part of the European culture that was exported to Canada. Some years before 1896, Manitoba’s Lt. Governor Adams G. Archibald implemented the Manitoba Act by distributing 1,400,000 acres to half-breed residents. That meant giving about 10,000 Indians born out of intermarriage with British, 140 acres per person. It was in coordination with Archbishop Tache. The distribution of land to resident British-Indians resulted in the dispersal of people and the protection of their ownership of land from further claims by people coming from other countries. By 1873, an amendment included distribution of lands to Selkirk settlers (Francis, R.D. and Palmer, H. 1992, p.123-124). It took more decades to clarify land ownership laws. Thus, when immigrants were invited into Canada, the situation was totally different from the past centuries. There was no news of savages to discourage entry of foreigners. People were focused on the economic progress desired by many during the advent of industrialization. Eventually, peace facilitated entry of immigrants and industrialization development assisted by immigrants’ demand propelled by their income from working in railways, farms, factories, mines, and the service business. Estimates revealed close to half of Canadian immigrants lived in cities and were employed in various industries. From 1896 up to 1914, Emery, G. (2001.p.5) described the success of Canadian prairies to be with “massive economic development and population growth”. An increase in the world market prices of wheat, the lower cost of delivery from the farms to Europe and USA, and improvements in farming technology with dry farming definitely created a high demand for land. Thus, the attraction of free land in Canada captivated also the speculators in land value and not just the farmers. IV. Findings and Discussion Population of the Canadian Prairies soared to great numbers as shown in a census as follows: [Source: Emery, G. (2001). Methodist Church on the Prairies, 1896-1914. p. 6 ] Donald Avery wrote (Walker, B. 2008, p.128) about the impact on Canada’s economic and social situation by 1914 as a result of immigrants working for their wages. There were “Germans, Americans, Russians, Greeks, Poles, Negroes, or Mexicans”. Unfortunately, some of them were branded with having brought to Canada a problematic behaviour of agitating anarchy. This resulted in amending the immigration policy to exclude people with tendency to promote anarchy similar to “15,000 Galicians, 11,000 Germans, 10,000 Jews, 2,000 Hungarians and 5,000 Russians and other Slavs and Bohemians” (2008, p.129) who were discovered to have caused troubles in their country, then migrated to Canada to escape their troubles, only to created another one in a foreign land. When World War I broke out in Europe, thousands of immigrants identified by the British to be a native of enemy countries were treated as prisoners of war and placed in 24 camps in Ontario. Promoting Canada was therefore not without encountering setbacks after the period 1896 to 1914. These stories nonetheless proved a successful campaign to captivate thousands of immigrants into Canada. According to Magocsi, P.R. (1999, p. 190), personal correspondence from relatives in Canada to other relatives served as the best way to advertise Canada to recruit new settlers. People were informed about free land available for new settlers In contrast, Americans were then experiencing high cost of land in the USA. And so, when the Americans were attracted by the offer, Canada was said to have accumulated $ 270 million to $ 1 billion worth of capital inflow from the USA to Canada. (Magocsi, P.R.1999, p.190). But it was not enough for the government to depend on the communications of existing settlers, because there were bigger motivating forces like the need to populate western Canada in order to make the Canadian Pacific Railway more profitable. Clifford Sifton’s idea of advertising Canada included the use of various communication materials like “maps, pamphlets, diagrams, reports, books, photographs” (Rose, J.W. 2000, p. 50). These materials were made available in public locations like places where people buy cigars or where people take breakfast. 65,000 informative materials were produced in his first year of office. By 1990, the number of pamphlets exceeded a million. News spread about the Canadian government giving settlers 160 acres of land as gift, so that even American newspapers advertised “Free Land” in Canada. The situation at that time favoured Canada also due to “the widespread belief after 1890 that the United States was finally running out of good free land” (Knowles, V. p.83). There was an opportunity for Canada to meet the demand for more land at the same time that Canada needed more immigrants to cultivate land and bring some capital. And looking back further into the economics of civilizing the wilderness, long after the French and the British were engaged in fur trade with the Indians, Minister Sifton was himself “a publisher of the Manitoba Free Press” (p.51) where he showed how he was aware of the value of advertising. He went to the extent of utilizing political strategy to encourage the newspapers to help the government promote its agenda, one of which was the needed increase in immigrants. This was done by making public a list of newspapers that the Canadian government patronized. It obviously implied only those newspapers which supported government agenda received the attention and a business contract from the government. And so, newspapers aimed to paint a beautiful image of Canada to potential settlers in line with the program of the Canadian government. A copy of the Canadian government budget for advertising is shown below to point out the difference that patronage had on the newspaper business. The Globe newspaper was found friendly to Liberals, while The Mail criticized the Liberals and sided Conservatives. Thus, a great disparity in the advertising budget of government favoured The Globe. The message relayed by many Ads portrayed Canada as part of the Western trend of prosperity. To clarify that idea, one publication showed the picture of a cabin made of logs and labelled it as the first year. Another picture followed. It was a larger house reflecting material prosperity. The newspaper labelled it the 5th year. Although the major attraction was free land (or almost free), Minister Clifford Sifton also promoted the notion of prosperity in Canada for people interested in materialistic progress. (Rose, J.W. 2000. P.53) And to provide a realistic background of what could have been considered as exaggerations in advertising, pamphlets contained the letters of actual immigrants to their relatives. To make those letters look authentic, they were published in the handwriting of immigrants. Communication materials that portrayed Canada as land of great opportunities were intentionally about the positive side. While the summer of the prairies was warm and delightful more often than not, the reality experienced by many was a freezing temperature. Prices of wheat in the world market were very attractive to entrepreneurs and farmers until 1929, wherein the years 1896 to 1914 saw the government advertising for immigrants to result in rapid growth in number of farmers to develop the agricultural businesses of Canada. Danysk, C. ( 1995, p.10) described Canada at that time to be transforming from the Indian hunting to supply fur for Europeans and self-reliant farming, into dealing with the agricultural products to supply the world market. The advertising for more immigrants therefore appealed to the idea of gaining not just economic progress for the individual settlers but also greater freedom and equality with masters, as described by George Becker in the 1890s. New settlers were told their effort “would lead to independent land ownership and to a life free from social constraints and economic uncertainties left behind (p.9).” Becker was one of those who believed that being a farm worker was the best alternative to securing a bright future for himself. And tens of thousands followed such a belief by immigrating to Canadian prairies. A table of Canada’s population change was lifted and included in this research to show how the immigration advertisement increased total population by over 50% from 1896 to 1914. That would be an average population growth rate per year of 2,78% or over 250% of the 2012 world’s population growth rate which is only 1.096% (Indexmundi.com 2012). (Also lifted from Rose, Jonathan W. (2000). Making Picture in Our Heads: Government Advertising in Canada, p. 52) [Source: Weaver, John C. (2010). Shaping the Canadian City: Essays on Urban Politics and Policy, 1890-1920. p.7] (Source: The Applied History Research Group (1997). The Peopling of Canada: 1891 – 1921. The University of Calgary) V. Conclusion The organization of people who initiated advertising for Canadian potential immigrants was actually the government then under the Liberals and directly under the Minister of Interior, Clifford Sifton. Given the opportunity whereby USA farm lands were becoming fully occupied and other lands within USA became expensive, Canada attracted Americans into the Canadian prairies by offering free or almost free lands. From the viewpoint of the Liberals, there was a need to convert the lands into agricultural rather than hunting grounds, Demand for wheat was rising in the world market. Railway transport was open to fetch the harvest. Canada would earn from the exports of agricultural products. The prairie lands had to be developed to justify creation of schools so far away. Schools were needed to assimilate the natives into the urban culture which was greatly British influenced. Advertising to potential immigrants offered free lands, available schools, controlled peace and order, ready buyers for the agricultural products produced. In return, the Canadian government needed new settlers who had skills and/or capital to contribute for the development of the prairie lands. Government offered a bright future for potential immigrants. And this was communicated in concrete terms (through pictured humble beginnings to a prosperous future). Although the main product advertised was land for the farmers, advertisements offered a bright future ahead with the rising prices of wheat in the world market and the low cost of land or free land use. This vision of a bright future in terms of material prosperity, freedom, and land ownership captivated tens of thousands yearly coming from USA and European countries. Statistics of the population growth proved the advertising to be a success. And it was because the advertisements appealed to target market who actually needed what was being advertised. The Canadian identity was one who will be free, progressive, abundant, and well cared for by the government in terms of education and business support. The advertising implemented met the needs and wants of those who actually responded by migrating to the Canadian prairies. As a result, the campaign became a well known success. References Allen, Gene and Robinson, Daniel (2009) Communicating in Canada’s Past Essays in Media History. University of Toronto Press. Axelrod, Paul (1997). The Promise of Schooling: Education in Canada, 1800-1914. University of Toronto Press Buckner, Philip Alfred (2006). Canada and the British World. Migration, and Identity. Canada: UBC Press. Butterfield, Leslie Ed.(2012). Excellence in Advertising. UK & USA: Routledge Careless, J.M.S.(2012). Canada: A Story of Challenge. Cambridge University Press. CBC Archives(2004). Some Dates from Canadian Broadcasting. Hammond Museum of Radio. Viewed January 29, 2013 @ http://www.hammondmuseumofradio.org/dates.html Danysk, Cecilia (1995). Hired Hands: Labour and the Development of Prairies Agriculture, 1880 – 1930. University of Toronto Emery, George (2001). Methodist Church on the Prairies, 1896 – 1914. Canada: McGill Queen’s Press Francis, Douglas R. and Palmer, Howard (1992). The Prairie West: Historical Readings. Canada: University of Alberta Francis, Douglas R.; Jones, Richard; Smith, Donald B.; Francis, R.D.; Jones, Richard (2009). Journeys: A History of Canad, 6th Edition.. USA: Cengage Learning. Jenness, Diamond (1932). The Indians of Canada. Canada: University of Toronto Press. Jones, John Philip Ed.( 1998). How Advertising Works: The Role of Research. USA, UK, India: SAGE Publications. Indexmundi.com (2012). World Population Growth Rate. Viewed January 29, 2013 @ http://www.indexmundi.com/world/population_growth_rate.html Kelley, Ninette and Trebilcock, Michael J. (2010). The Making of the Mosaid: A History of Canadian Immigration Policy, 2nd Edition. University of Toronto Press Knowles, Valerie (2007). Strangers at Our Gates: Canadian Immigration and Immigration Policy, 1540-2006. Canada: Dondurn Press. Lee, Monle and Johnson, Carla (2005). Principles of Advertising: A Global Perspective. USA: the Haworth Press. Magocsi, Paul R. Ed.(1999). Encyclopedia of Canada’s Peoples. Multicultural History Society of Ontario, Canada: University of Toronto Press. Marchildon, Gregory P. (2009). Immigration and Settlement (1870 – 1939). Canadian Plains Research Center. Potter, Evan H. (2008). Branding Canada: Projecting Canada’s Soft Power Through Public Diplomacy. McGill-Queen’s Press. Rose, Jonathan W. (2000).Making Pictures in Our Heads: Government Advertising in Canada. USA: Greenwood Publishing Group. Walker, Barrington (2008). The History of Immigration and Racism in Canada: Essential Readings. Canadian Scholars’ Press. Weaver, John C. (1977). Shaping the Canadian City: Essays on Urban Politics and policy, 1890-1920. Institute of Public Administration of Canada. Read More