Brockmann and Company | Customer Insights

Having lived many years in Canada and now in the USA, I am often presented opportunities to contrast the cultures of these two great nations.

A few of my Canadian sisters are circulating an email petition to Tim Hortons inviting them to sponsor a 'buy a soldier a 'tim' program'. The petition invites the company to put change capture boxes (right next to the Tim Horton Charities summer camp for inner-city kids boxes I suppose) at the counters of their restaurants. The theory is that in this way consumers can show their support for Canadian soldiers stationed in Afghanistan where the proceeds can be used to purchase donuts and coffee for them.

Don't forget, it is a longstanding joke that the best place to find a police officer in the middle of the night is at a local Tim Horton's. As silly as this might sound, there is some solid defense to it since police officers do get coffee breaks every now and then, and the local Tim Horton's is where all the drunk drivers go to get a coffee and sober up.

LifeSize and RADvision have taken a different tack. They've donated equipment in Phoenix and Fort Lewis Washington to enable a high definition video conferencing link between US Army soldiers in Fort Lewis and NFL stars in Phoenix during Super Bowl XLII using high definition video communication systems.

The real-time video greetings are part of NFL Charities Super Bowl XLII Community Impact Program. “Even football stars have heroes, and the players have tremendous respect for our nation’s men and women in uniform, said Coach Charles Hatcher, head of Champions 4 Champions, who organized the event through NFL Charities. “This is the first time we’ll be using a high definition link to connect the players with some of their favorite fans, many of whom will soon be deploying overseas into combat zones. It’s a chance for the players to give back to the people who preserve our freedom.”

So, what is your company doing for our troops? 

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