Deirdre Mitchell-MacLean, (WESTERN STANDARD) — A new billboard campaign by a local developer in Calgary is mocking Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s notorious quote about “budgets balancing themselves.”
The billboards read: “Unlike Trudeau, you can balance your budget. Own this warehouse for $0 down.”
During the 2015 election, Trudeau made the often mocked statement – now a centrepiece for a marketing campaign by Beedie, an industrial developer and realty management company.
When Alberta’s oil and gas industry began to feel the pinch in 2014, it rippled across the province but the central hit was taken in Calgary. Five years later, the city is still feeling the pain.
It was this pain that Beedie wanted to address with their zero dollars down plan and the marketing concept was borne from conversations the company was having with their clients.
“Some of the common themes we were hearing from our clients, mostly small and medium-sized businesses, was that they were focused on their balance sheets,” said Jorden Dawson, Director of Industrial Development at Beedie.
While the billboard boldly steps into the political arena, Dawson said the slogan was “topical rather than political.”
“It started with what our clients were telling us – it didn’t start by being political,” he said.
Beedie’s “zero-down” campaign launched on the heels of the federal election which saw the Liberals lose their Alberta and Saskatchewan seats. Dawson admitted the election was still fresh in everyone’s minds while they were discussing the launch.
It’s a marketing campaign that might raise some eyebrows but Dawson said the response has been very positive.
“We’ve seen a positive increase in traffic, inquiries, requests for quotes, and transactions. (The marketing campaign) got people talking and thinking about owning real estate,” he said.
Beedie is Western Canada’s largest industrial developer and Dawson says the business has always been focused on giving back. The company was started in 1954 by Keith Beedie and his son Ryan is the current president.
“As a company, of course you want to make profit but Ryan (Beedie) is very focused on charitable giving; at the end of the day, it’s about building community,” said Dawson.
Airidrie’s Highland Park development was one of Beedie’s first Calgary-area projects and it has continued adding development projects since. Dawson was hired to oversee Calgary operations in January of 2015, just as Alberta’s downturn was picking up speed. Now, he feels it’s time for the media’s negativity about Alberta’s economy to end.
“We wanted to get people investing in their businesses, but also investing in Alberta. As a company, Beedie is committed to Alberta despite the current challenges being faced.”
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