Lili-April Allaire-Caron, 21, designed the Montreal Formula 1 Grand Prix trophy for Protocol – Exceptional Trophies, founded by her father Jean-Philippe Caron. (Photo: JF Galipeau)
A 21-year-old university student from Saint-Lambert on the south coast created the trophy that will be presented to the winner of the Canadian Formula 1 Grand Prix this Sunday in Montreal.
Lili-April Allaire-Caron designed this object for her father’s company Protocol – Exceptional Trophies.
“He gave me free rein, even though I had certain limitations such as weight and height,” the young woman explains in a telephone interview. We picked it up three weeks ago at the Beauce factory where it was made and I was very pleased. It looks as I expected but nicer. In fact, the more I looked at it, the more beautiful it made me.
The student, who has just completed her second year in industrial design at the University of Montreal, worked on three different sketches. Just one was sent to Milan to Pirelli, the title sponsor of the Grand Prix de Montréal, who commissioned Protocol – Trophies of Exception to design and produce this award. The Italian company gave its consent without requesting any change.
“This is a great opportunity for my company and for my daughter to showcase her talent,” explains founder Jean-Philippe Caron. It’s a trophy that will be seen by hundreds of millions of people.”
However, details of this item will remain secret until the award ceremony at the end of Sunday’s Grand Prix.
Affected by the pandemic
This is the sixth time that this SME, formerly known as Arte5, has designed the award for this prestigious car race. But the last release in 2019 was almost the ultimate as the pandemic nearly killed that company.
“We had to stop our activities in 2020,” explains the boss. Being without an income for almost two years is quite difficult. At the beginning of the health crisis, I received emails every ten minutes from customers canceling their orders.
These customers are companies or organizations such as chambers of commerce that need trophies to reward their employees or members. Jean Coutu, Beneva, the SAQ, Rio Tinto, the College of Physicians of Quebec, the Toronto International Film Festival and the Alouettes are among those who order his personalized trophies.
“We make them according to the customer’s needs,” notes Jean-Philippe Caron, who designs his products. I offer custom made trophies made in Quebec. We work a lot with aluminum and maple wood, which is extracted here.”
His company typically makes items for between $125 and $500, but some larger or more complicated pieces cost $5,000. Depending on the needs, the SME can produce a few or several thousand versions.
“My competitors are the mass trophies that are made in China in the hundreds of thousands,” he says. But more and more companies are looking for exclusivity, something unique that represents them.”
Planned expansion
One of the trends is to create a distinction that resembles the customer’s logo. And luckily for Protocol – Exceptional Trophies, business has been good since the end of COVID-19.
“Over the past year, companies have allocated far more funding than before to their trophies,” remarks Jean-Philippe Caron. The planned budgets have increased by about 30%. This is mainly because they want to do more to recognize their employees.”
The SME generates 70% of its sales in Quebec but has ambitions to grow outside the province.
“The trophy market is so big that there is room for profit elsewhere,” he says. The future is super positive.”
The entrepreneur is considering doing more advertising in North America and buying the Beauce factory that makes his products for him. But to get there, he is looking for a new business partner. Note for interested parties!