During last year’s Grand Prix, Montreal promised the world a great experience and delivered dirty streets and construction chaos. Global media noticed. International visitors left disappointed.
Here’s why that matters to any business, not just Montreal.
We all talk about excellence. Customer service. Innovation. Quality. We build marketing around these promises. But what happens when everyone actually shows up to experience it? When the spotlight is genuinely on, and the stakes are highest, and the audience is largest — is what you’re delivering actually what you’ve been promising?
Montreal’s problem wasn’t communications. It was delivery. And here’s the compounding danger: when you’ve been proven unreliable on the small things — lineups, cleanliness, basic logistics — your credibility for everything else erodes. When a real crisis hits, your audience remembers. They know you don’t always follow through. They’re already predisposed to disbelieve what you tell them.
That’s the reputational death spiral that poor operational performance creates. You’re not just failing at the event. You’re borrowing against the trust you’ll need the next time something goes genuinely wrong.
Montreal is now spending millions to rebuild trust that should have been maintained all along. The lesson is not to spend more on marketing when the spotlight comes. The lesson is to stress-test your operations before the spotlight arrives. Find the gaps when the stakes are low. Fix the lineups and the garbage collection before the cameras show up, not after.
Reputation isn’t built on what you say. It’s built on what you deliver when everyone’s watching. Are you ready for your spotlight moment?