MRIA Vue Magazine

vue

the magazine of the Marketing Research and Intelligence Association

O CTO B E R 2 0 1 0

Mr. Smith Goes to Foursquare Interview with

Julien Smith Speech-making: How to Shine in the Spotlight

Reality Bytes: The New Digital Rules as Learned from Canada’s Top Digital Players

Sample Size: The Theory of Thirty

Research 3.0 Linking the Digital and Real Worlds

OCTOBER 2010

vue VUE MAGAZINE IS PUBLISHED BY THE MARKETING RESEARCH AND INTELLIGENCE ASSOCIATION ELEVEN TIMES A YEAR

COMMENTARY 4 6 7

Editor’s Vue President’s Letter Message from the Executive Director

SPECIAL FEATURE 12

INTERVIEW WITH JULIEN SMITH Podcaster and bestselling author Julien Smith talks about engagement of consumers through social media and location-based social networking.

by David Hamburg

FEATURES 16

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SPEECH-MAKING: HOW TO SHINE IN THE SPOTLIGHT A former Emmy Award–winning TV anchor and reporter provides some indispensable tips on what it takes to be a successful speaker.

by Barbara Laskin REALITY BYTES: THE NEW DIGITAL RULES AS LEARNED FROM CANADA’S TOP DIGITAL PLAYERS Ipsos ASI’s survey of 5,000 Canadians determines which digital players are doing the best job and provides some keys to success in digital space.

by Luke Stringer RESEARCH 3.0: LINKING THE DIGITAL AND REAL WORLDS Progressive, ground-breaking methodologies and technologies allow you to radically change the way you collect, analyse and interpret data, and how you engage and interact with respondents.

by Corrine Sandler SAMPLE SIZE: THE THEORY OF THIRTY Well-chosen samples of 30 are physically small but statistically mighty, serving as legitimate tools of sound research practice in a broad range of situations.

by Ruth M. Corbin

INDUSTRY NEWS 28

People & Companies in the News

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT 30

Developing Professional Development: No Simple Task

COLUMNISTS 32

RESEARCH REGISTRATION SYSTEM (RRS)

by Gary Offenberger

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NEW STANDARDS

by Donald Williams

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CI CORNER

by David Lithwick and Enrico Codogno

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THE INNOVATION ACCELERATOR

by Margaret Imai-Compton

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CLIENT-SIDE INSIGHTS

by Joseph Chen

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QUAL COL

by Mike Flanagan

ADDRESS The Marketing Research and Intelligence Association L’Association de la recherche et de l’intelligence marketing 2600 Skymark Avenue, Bldg. 4, Unit 104 Mississauga, Ontario L4W 5B2 Tel: (905) 602-6854 Toll Free: 1-888-602-MRIA (6742) Fax: (905) 602-6855 Email: vue@mria-arim.ca Website: www.mria-arim.ca PRODUCTION: LAYOUT/DESIGN LS Graphics Tel: (905) 743-0402, Toll Free: 1-800-400-8253 Fax: (905) 728-3931 Email: info@lsgraphics.com CONTACTS CHAIR, PUBLICATIONS Stephen Popiel, PhD Senior Vice-President, Synovate Motoresearch Tel: (416) 964-6262 stephen.popiel@synovate.com EDITOR-IN-CHIEF David Hamburg, Hamburg Consulting (514) 748-1827 david.hamburg@sympatico.ca MANAGING EDITOR Anne Marie Gabriel, MRIA amgabriel@mria-arim.ca COPY EDITOR Siegfried Betterman 2010 ADVERTISING RATES Frequent advertisers receive discounts. Details can be found by going to: www.mria-arim.ca Please email vue@mria-arim.ca to book your ad.

The deadline for notice of advertising is the first of the previous month.

All advertising material must be at the MRIA office on the 5th of the month.

Original articles and Letters to the Editor are welcome.

Materials will be reviewed by the Vue Editorial Team.

If accepted for publication, they may be edited for length or clarity and placed in the electronic archives on the MRIA website.

The opinions and conclusions expressed in Vue are those of the authors and are not necessarily endorsed by the Marketing Research and Intelligence Association.

Publishing Date: October, 2010 © 2010.

All rights reserved. Copyright rests with the Marketing Research and Intelligence Association or the author.

All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior written permission of the Marketing Research and Intelligence Association or the author.

All requests for permission for reproduction must be submitted to MRIA at publications@mria-arim.ca.

RETURN UNDELIVERABLE CANADIAN ADDRESSES TO The Marketing Research and Intelligence Association L’Association de la recherche et de l’intelligence marketing 2600 Skymark Avenue, Bldg 4, Unit 104, Mississauga, Ontario L4W 5B2 Canadian Publications Mail Agreement #40033932 ISSN 1488-7320

CO M M E N TARY / COMMENTAIRE

Editor’s Vue David Hamburg

We already know that social media are all the rage, yet most of us are still trying to figure it all out. And just when we think we’ve nailed it, along come location-based social networks like Foursquare and we’re back to scratching our heads. I’m betting that this month’s issue of Vue will help you make sense of it all, particularly with respect to how

Social media are all the rage…

I’m betting that this month’s issue of Vue will help you make sense of it all. location-based services can be used in research.

Corrine Sandler’s piece, “Research 3.0: Linking the Digital and Real Worlds,” extols the power of the new platforms and boldly proclaims this to be the dawning of a new age of research. Speaking of new, there may be no one more qualified to comment on the latest and greatest in social media than this month’s feature interviewee, Julien Smith, co-author of New York Times bestseller Trust Agents.

As well, there’s Luke Stringer of Ipsos ASI, who sheds light on Canada’s leading digital players and identifies the keys behind their success.

Ruth Corbin rounds out this month’s research features with her timely piece, “Sample Size: The Theory of Thirty.”

And, as an added bonus for the speakers among us, New York–based media consultant Barbara Laskin, a former, award-winning news anchor who counts among her clients the Big Apple’s business elite and a slew of celebrities, lays out the perfect game plan for wowing them on the podium.

Until next month.

Nous savons déjà que les médias sociaux font fureur et, pourtant, la plupart d’entre nous tentons toujours d’en arriver à les comprendre. Or, juste au moment où nous croyions les avoir déchiffrés, arrive un autre réseau social basé sur la localisation, tel que Foursquare, et nous voilà de nouveau à creuser nos méninges. Je gage que ce numéro de Vue vous aidera à comprendre tout cela, surtout la façon dont on peut utiliser en recherche les services basés sur la localisation.

L’article de Corrine Sandler, « Research 3.0: Linking the Digital and Real World » [Recherche 3.0 : Relier le monde numérique et réel], prône le pouvoir des nouvelles plateformes et proclame avec audace qu’il s’agit du début d’une nouvelle ère en recherche. Parlant de nouveau, il n’y a peut-être personne de plus qualifié pour commenter ce qu’il y a de plus récent et formidable en médias sociaux que Julien Smith, notre interviewé du mois et coauteur de Trust Agents, sur la liste des bestsellers du New York Times. Pour sa part, Luke Stringer d’Ipsos ASI nous éclaire sur les principaux joueurs du monde numérique au Canada et identifie les clés de leur succès.

Ruth Corbin boucle la boucle des reportages sur la recherche de ce mois-ci avec son article très opportun, « Sample Size: The Theory of Thirty » [Taille de l’échantillon : La théorie de trente]. De plus, comme boni supplémentaire pour les conférenciers dans nos rangs, Barbara Laskin, consultante en médias de New York et ancienne présentatrice de nouvelles primée qui compte parmi ses clients les élites du monde des affaires de New York et une masse de célébrités, présente la stratégie parfaite pour les impressionner sur le podium.

Au mois prochain.

David Hamburg, Market Research Consultant, Hamburg Consulting Editor-in-Chief, Vue / Rédacteur en chef, Vue Email: david.hamburg@sympatico.ca • (514) 748-1827 • david_hamburg • http://davehamburg.blogspot.com

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Letter from the President Ed Gibson, CMRP

One of the most valuable services that our association provides to members is the ability to influence government policy. This may seem to be an extravagant claim, but it is also true. Because we are the sole representative of the market research industry in Canada, because we can demonstrate that we operate according to rigorous, published standards, and because our past input to public policy issues has proven to be constructive and insightful, we are now routinely consulted by federal government

If a policy issue surfaces that adversely affects our members, we will make representations at the highest political level. departments on issues affecting our industry.

This consultation has resulted in our properly being exempt from the telemarketing do-not-call list, in our recommendations’ being (partially) accepted in a new process for awarding federal contracts to our members and, more recently, in the position taken by the Electronic Commerce Branch of Industry Canada that the regulations contained in Bill C-27 (Canada’s anti-spam legislation) do not apply to marketing research initiatives.

Another category of involvement is where MRIA opposes government policy, an area in which we are generally reluctant to become involved. This reluctance stems from the fact that we are strictly unaligned politically and because we believe that our interests are best served by taking a long-term view and not seeking short-term advantage.

However, if a policy issue surfaces that adversely affects our members, we will make representations at the highest political level and attempt to redress the situation. A recent example is the position the association took on the continues on page 8

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Un des services les plus valables que notre Association offre à ses membres est la capacité d’influencer les politiques gouvernementales. Cette assertion peut sembler extravagante, mais elle est pourtant vraie. Étant donné que nous sommes l’unique représentant de l’industrie de la recherche marketing au Canada, que nous avons démontré notre habitude de fonctionner conformément à des normes rigoureuses publiées, et que notre participation dans le passé aux questions de politiques publiques s’est avérée constructive et éclairée, les ministères gouvernementaux nous consultent régulièrement sur des questions affectant notre industrie.

Grâce à ces consultations, nous avons réussi à être exemptés adéquatement de la liste de numéros de télécommunication exclus, à faire accepter (partiellement) nos recommandations sur le nouveau processus d’attribution de contrats à nos membres et, plus récemment, à obtenir que la Direction générale du commerce électronique d’Industrie Canada juge que les règlements contenus dans le projet de loi C-27 (la loi canadienne anti-pourriel) ne s’appliquent pas aux initiatives de la recherche marketing.

L’opposition à des politiques gouvernementales représente une autre catégorie de participation de l’ARIM dans laquelle nous nous engageons avec réticence. Cette réticence découle du fait que nous demeurons strictement neutres politiquement et que nous croyons que la meilleure façon de défendre nos intérêts consiste à avoir une perspective à long terme et à ne pas chercher des avantages à court terme.

Par contre, si un enjeu politique surgit qui affecte défavorablement nos membres, nous ferons des représentations au palier politique le plus élevé et tenterons de rectifier la situation. Un exemple récent est la position que notre association a adoptée concernant la proposition d’abolir le questionnaire détaillé obligatoire du recensement. Les praticiens de la recherche marketing sont des obsédés de la qualité et de la précision et se servent considérablement des données du recensement pour effectuer des ajustements de la voir page 8

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Message from the Executive Director Brendan Wycks

The Long-Form Census Questionnaire Issue: Raising Our Single Authoritative Voice and Advocating in the Industry’s Best Interests

L’enjeu du questionnaire détaillé du recensement : Élevons notre voix unique qui fait autorité et défendons les meilleurs intérêts de notre industrie

To the surprise of many and the dismay of some, especially members of the federal government caucus, the future of Canada’s long-form census questionnaire became the hotbutton issue of the summer and the subject of much media coverage and debate.

And to the chagrin of the government – which has dug in its heels and refused to budge on its decision to kill the longform census questionnaire and replace it with a new voluntary National Household Survey for the 2011 census – this has become the issue that just won’t go away.

It’s likely that, as you read this in October, the census issue is still being hotly debated on Parliament Hill, the opposition parties seeking to force a reversal of the government’s decision on the mandatory long form, which has been sent to 20 per cent of households in previous censuses.

À la surprise d’un grand nombre de personnes et à la consternation de certains, surtout des membres du caucus du gouvernement fédéral, l’avenir du questionnaire détaillé obligatoire du recensement canadien est devenu un sujet chaud cet été et l’objet de beaucoup de couverture médiatique et de débats.

De plus, à la grande déception du gouvernement – qui s’est entêté et a refusé de revenir sur sa décision d’abolir le questionnaire détaillé obligatoire du recensement et de le remplacer par une nouvelle enquête nationale auprès des ménages à participation volontaire pour le recensement de 2011 – il s’agit d’une question qui ne veut pas disparaître.

Il est probable que lorsque vous lirez ce message en octobre, la question du recensement continuera d’être débattue vigoureusement sur la Colline du Parlement, les partis de l’opposition cherchant toujours à forcer le gouvernement à renverser sa décision sur le questionnaire détaillé qui était envoyé à 20 % des ménages lors des recensements précédents.

Lorsque cette question a surgi au début de juillet, les membres de l’ARIM ont rapidement reconnu qu’elle en était une qui touchait aux intérêts de notre association parce que l’abolition du questionnaire détaillé aurait des conséquences négatives sur notre industrie, sans parler de ses conséquences sur les prises de décisions fondées sur des preuves en matière de politiques gouvernementales.

Alors même que l’ARIM préparait une réponse à la décision du gouvernement concernant le recensement, elle a reçu une masse de lettres de ses membres nous implorant d’agir sur cette question et d’exercer notre mandat de voix unique qui fait autorité pour l’industrie de la recherche et l’intelligence marketing, des sondages et de la recherche sur l’opinion publique au Canada.

Depuis juillet, l’ARIM a pris les mesures suivantes concernant l’enjeu du questionnaire détaillé du recensement :

MRIA received a groundswell of member messages imploring us to take action on the long-form census issue.

When this issue first broke in early July, MRIA members were swift to recognize it as one that had to become an advocacy issue for our association, because the disappearance of the long-form questionnaire would have very negative consequences for our industry, to say nothing of its impact on evidence-based public policy decision-making.

While already in motion preparing a response to the government’s census decision, MRIA received a groundswell of member messages imploring us to take action on this issue and exercise our mandate as the single authoritative voice of the marketing, survey and public opinion research and market intelligence industry in Canada. continues on page 9

Le 13 juillet, l’ARIM a envoyé une lettre ouverte à l’honorable Tony Clement, ministre de l’Industrie et ministre voir page 9

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proposed dropping of the mandatory long-form census.

Market researchers are obsessive about quality and accuracy, and make extensive use of census data to make weighting adjustments to their surveys to correct for sample bias.

Accordingly, we joined the chorus of protests against the dropping of the long form and took a series of actions that are described in detail in the executive director’s message.

Such is the strength of feeling about the long-form census issue that we have been urged by many members to escalate our representations and to take an activist stance on the issue. After much deliberation, our Government Relations Committee decided that it would not be in the best interests of the association to take further direct action on this file. The representations made so far have been wellinformed and precisely targeted and, because the issue has such traction nationally, any further action by MRIA would have no practical impact on the outcome. However, we will continue to keep a watching brief on this item, and the executive director’s message in this issue of Vue provides member resources on this topic.

The association’s position on the long-form census is consistent with our policy of preserving a well-earned reputation for balanced, constructive and respectful input to government policy, and for maintaining the good relations that have served us so well in the past and are expected to continue to do so in the future.

Ed Gibson, CMRP CRC Research ed@crcresearch.com (604) 922-3502 8

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pondération afin de corriger les biais de l’échantillonnage. Par conséquent, nous nous sommes joints au chœur des protestations contre l’abolition du questionnaire détaillé et nous avons pris une série de mesures décrites en détail dans le message du directeur général.

L’intensité des émotions à l’égard de l’enjeu du questionnaire détaillé est telle qu’un grand nombre de nos membres nous ont demandé instamment d’augmenter nos représentations et de prendre une position militante à l’égard de cet enjeu. Après en avoir discuté en profondeur, notre Comité des relations gouvernementales a décidé qu’il ne serait pas dans l’intérêt de notre association de poursuivre une action directe dans ce dossier. Les représentations faites jusqu’à présent ont été bien informées et ciblées de manière précise; étant donné que cette question attire autant d’attention au pays, toute action future de l’ARIM n’aurait aucun impact pratique sur les résultats. Par contre, nous continuerons à suivre de près ce dossier, et d’ailleurs le message du directeur général dans ce numéro de Vue fournit des ressources aux membres à ce sujet.

La position de l’Association à l’égard du questionnaire détaillé du recensement est conforme à notre politique visant à préserver notre réputation bien méritée de participants équilibrés, constructifs et respectueux à l’égard des politiques gouvernementales et à maintenir les bonnes relations qui nous ont si bien servis dans le passé et devraient continuer de le faire à l’avenir.

Ed Gibson, PARM CRC Recherches ed@crcresearch.com (604) 922-3502

CO M M E N TARY / COMMENTAIRE

Message from the Executive Director, cont’d Since July, MRIA has taken the following actions on the long-form census questionnaire issue: On July 13, MRIA sent an open letter to the Honourable Tony Clement, minister of industry and minister responsible for Statistics Canada, to express grave concern and urge the federal cabinet to reverse its decision. We publicized the association’s position in a media release.

On July 28, we sent a letter to the Honourable Greg Selinger, premier of Manitoba and chair of the Council of the Federation (the council of provincial and territorial premiers), imploring council members to take a united stand and add their collective voice to those of a significant, growing and diverse group of academic, business, governmental and non-governmental organizations by urging the federal government to reinstate the mandatory long-form questionnaire for the 2011 census.

On September 2, MRIA submitted a brief to the federal Standing Committee on Industry, Natural Resources, Science and Technology, stressing that cancellation of the long-form questionnaire would adversely affect the availability, quality and reliability of essential data collected about Canadians.

Those official MRIA documents are available online at mria-arim.ca/ADVOCACY/. In them, we argue that • data generated by the long-form questionnaire census provide decision-makers with a deep and rich set of facts about Canadians, facts that are reliable at the local, regional and national levels • the robustness and reliability of the long-form data are due to the huge sample involved and because response is mandatory • data from the proposed new voluntary National Household Survey will be less robust, as the overall response rate will be lower and because hard-to-reach segments of the population are not likely to be well-represented among respondents • without robust data, it will be exceedingly difficult for governments to respond effectively to shifting patterns of need in society or to introduce changes that provide the greatest value for money continues on page 11

responsable de Statistique Canada pour exprimer notre grande inquiétude et pour demander avec instance au Cabinet fédéral de renverser sa décision. Nous avons publicisé la position de notre association au moyen d’un communiqué de presse.

Le 28 juillet, nous avons envoyé une lettre à l’honorable Greg Selinger, le premier ministre du Manitoba et président du Conseil de la fédération (le conseil des premiers ministres provinciaux et territoriaux) implorant les membres du conseil d’adopter une position unifiée et d’ajouter leur voix collective à celles d’un groupe important, grandissant et diversifié d’universitaires, de gens d’affaires et d’organismes gouvernementaux et non gouvernementaux en demandant instamment au gouvernement fédéral de rétablir le questionnaire détaillé obligatoire pour le recensement de 2011.

Le 2 septembre, l’ARIM a présenté un mémoire au Comité permanent de la Chambre des communes sur l'industrie, les ressources naturelles, les sciences et la technologie soulignant que l’abolition du questionnaire détaillé aurait une incidence défavorable sur la disponibilité, la qualité et la fiabilité des données essentielles recueillies sur les Canadiens et Canadiennes.

Ces documents officiels de l’ARIM sont accessibles en ligne à mria-arim.ca/ADVOCACY/. Dans ces documents, nous soutenons que : • les données provenant du questionnaire détaillé du recensement fournissent aux décideurs un ensemble approfondi de faits abondants sur les Canadiens et Canadiennes, des faits dignes de foi aux niveaux local, régional et national; • la robustesse et la fiabilité des données du questionnaire détaillé découlent de l’immense échantillon en question et du fait qu’on est tenu d’y répondre; • les données de la nouvelle enquête nationale auprès des ménages à participation volontaire qui est proposée seront moins robustes puisque le taux de réponse général sera moins élevé et que les segments de la population difficiles à atteindre risquent de ne pas être bien représentés parmi les répondants; • en l’absence de ces données robustes, les gouvernements auront beaucoup de difficultés à réagir efficacement aux tendances changeantes quant aux besoins de la société ou à mettre en vigueur des changements qui sauront optimiser les ressources; • les chercheurs n’auront aucune donnée fiable pour concevoir les échantillons des sondages nationaux ou pour voir page 11

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Message from the Executive Director, cont’d • researchers will have no reliable data to use in designing samples for national surveys or in adjusting for biases in survey results, and they will not be able to compare numbers from census to census and analyse trends.

I encourage you to review your association’s communications on the census issue, along with several related, thought-provoking articles just published in the journal Canadian Public Policy, which can also be accessed via our website. Some members have used MRIA’s communications as source documents in making their own views on the issue known to their member of parliament.

In that connection, I’d like to thank the Alberta chapter for its strong, proactive support of the MRIA national office on this issue. Alberta provided resources and encouraged chapter members to make their views known to their elected representatives, especially at the provincial and local levels.

Many Alberta members did just that, and some contacted chapter president, Anastasia Arabia, to thank her, noting that this initiative alone made their MRIA membership dues worthwhile.

Brendan Wycks, BA, MBA, CAE Executive Director Marketing Research and Intelligence Association bwycks@mria-arim.ca (905) 602-6854 ext. 8724

corriger les biais des résultats des sondages, et ils ne pourront plus comparer les chiffres d’un recensement avec ceux d’autres recensements pour analyser les tendances.

Je vous encourage à examiner les communications de votre association sur cet enjeu, de même que plusieurs articles connexes inspirants qui viennent d’être publiés dans le périodique Analyse de politiques auquel vous pouvez avoir accès également par l’entremise de notre site Web. Quelquesuns de nos membres ont utilisé les communications de l’ARIM comme documents sources en faisant part à leur député fédéral de leurs points de vue sur l’enjeu.

Dans cet ordre d’idées, je tiens à remercier le chapitre de l’Alberta pour l’appui solide et proactif qu’il a offert au bureau national de l’ARIM sur cet enjeu. L’Alberta nous a fourni des ressources et a encouragé les membres du chapitre à exprimer leurs points de vue aux représentants élus, surtout aux paliers provincial et local. Un grand nombre des membres de l’Alberta l’ont fait et certains ont tenu à remercier la présidente du chapitre, Anastasia Arabia, soulignant que cette initiative à elle seule faisait en sorte que leur cotisation de membre en valait la peine.

Brendan Wycks, BA, MBA, CAE Directeur général L’ Association de la recherche et de l’intelligence marketing bwycks@mria-arim.ca (905) 602-6854 poste 8724

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INTERVIEW WITH JULIEN SMITH

Julien Smith, podcaster, consultant, and co-author of the bestselling book Trust Agents, talks about engagement of consumers through social media, effective use of Twitter, and location-based social networking.

Interviewed by David Hamburg

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I’m nuts about podcasts, and you’re a character in one of my favourites, Media Hacks, which is kind of like Cheers for marketing wonks. So why aren’t more people into podcasts?

I think podcasts kind of get caught up in the middle, somewhere between television, radio and a million other Internet diversions. It’s also a medium that is amateur in the sense that there’s really no money in it.

Then how do you explain the success of Leo Laporte’s This Week In … series? – a thoroughly professional production, with hosts and guests who are in the thick of things, and mind-blowing content.

Understand that Leo Laporte has been a broadcaster for awhile, and he has a massive audience. Along with that come revenues, so he can pull it off.

Most podcasts, though, are on a much smaller scale and are done for the love of it, like Media Hacks.

Speaking of mass audiences, let’s talk about the new reality between mass media and advertising. Dollars and eyeballs are migrating to social networks. Will mass media advertising soon be relegated to the history books?

I doubt that. There will always be a time and place for it. For example, someone sees a billboard ad for a certain perfume while driving to the airport, then buys that product in the duty-free shop. The timing was right; it worked. But the real issue is that now everyone has access to all the information that’s out there. This leads to groups splintering away in every direction as they pursue their narrow channels. Consequently, those people are not following mass media outlets, meaning that advertising spend has to drop.

And move to Facebook?

Facebook is actually not a good place to advertise. It’s too contrived. Facebook is

about organically creating a community around common interests. I like to joke around and say that those communities are like cults. They draw you in deeper and deeper.

Kind of like how Lululemon has formed tight communities around wellness and fitness, naturally leading to those people buying more product.

And more and more, which is the whole point of the initiative. For example, think of buying a new luxury car. After two weeks of driving around in it, that special feeling is gone. But if the company engages the customer in a community where there is an ongoing stream of conversation and activity, then that customer never leaves.

companies should be immediately responding to me. Meanwhile they don’t do it, because they don’t seem to have the analytical know-how or they are not listening in the right way. This is kind of the same thing as a Google Alert, but it’s done on the social web and amongst your friends. It’s the same principle as when people have a problem and run a Google search, and GoDaddy is on it instantaneously.

We have to try to do the same thing when we are selling products, especially things that we cannot physically see, which are more difficult to sell online – like books. We need to reach out to people and build a certain level of trust, and move on from there.

How should a company use social media networks to gather market research?

Let’s talk about Foursquare. Some of our readers may not be familiar with it, or with location-based social networking. It seems to be picking up a lot of traction these days.

I’d do a few things, like figure out what the keywords are that people are using to buy the products – I can do this using Wordtracker or any other basic search tool. Then I’d go to Twitter and find out what conversations are happening and where they are happening. You need to find out who is already excited about the brand and how the word is spread. If those people who love the brand have blogs, then you try to reach out to them directly and find a way to connect with them in a good and authentic way.

On a local level, you incite people to come into your store by having conversations with them. This actually happens to me in my own neighbourhood with Foursquare.

People invite me to check in to a store, and I end up meeting them there and ultimately buying something. We call this “listening at the point of need.”

Say I need a pair of shoes but I’m not sure what to get. I’ve got the money in my pocket. If I put out all this information on the social web,

Services like Foursquare [foursquare.com] are interesting. It’s not really about people tweeting where they are; it’s more like locations broadcasting who is there. I find it useful because it is immensely practical in my everyday life. For example, I was at the South by Southwest (SXSW) Conferences & Festivals [sxsw.com] – which is, by the way, an amazing way to see what the future will be like in Toronto in five years; you go to SXSW and see what it’s like now. Say I am thinking of going to a restaurant there, but it is packed, so I don’t feel like going. I wonder if there will be people I know there. These are the questions we ask ourselves. Anyhow, instead, I log onto Foursquare and see that there are a few people I know and like there.

What is really happening is that the restaurant is making me aware of who is inside the location. So Foursquare makes my life better by giving me a heads-up on who is at that restaurant, and it also might give me a new experience that I otherwise would not vue October 2010

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have had. It also allows me to connect with real people in a place that is nearby.

Another example: I’m about to go into a bar, but it’s packed and looks obnoxious. Then I see the bar next door, and it looks kind of cool. I check into Foursquare and see that three acquaintances are there, something which I would not usually know about. This allows me to see those people whom I may not have seen for awhile or who are not from my neighbourhood.

Let’s be real, Julien. Is Foursquare really a tool just for hipsters like you, who are the only people using this service? What about dull normals like me?

It’s interesting that you say that, David, because I think it’s exactly the opposite.

I may have a ridiculous number of Twitter followers whom I do not know, but on Foursquare I’m only going to keep my inner circle of family and friends, the people I care about. The point is that for so-called normal people, Foursquare is a much more interesting and useful tool. On the other hand, for business, Foursquare is kind of a no man’s land. Still, more and more businesses are working on it. If you just log in to it right now, you’ll see what kind of activity is going on in your city, and it’s kind of shocking, so much stuff is happening.

Enough about Foursquare; I feel like hitting the town already. Let’s talk Twitter. Is it really just a broadcasting network for celebrities and a new age spam factory for those “follow me, I’ll follow you” types who work like mad to get several thousand followers?

That’s funny, and I’m kind of agreeing with you there. The reason Twitter is interesting for celebrities is that it allows them to reach their fans through a higher-level type of connection. So even if Brad Pitt comes down from 14

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cloud nine and tweets to one of his fans on cloud eight, all of them feel warm and tingly about that. Now this might be a little close to home, but then there’s this middle level that’s crowded with marketers. They don’t quite know what to do with this network but because they are marketers, they are trying things out, and often that can seem spammy.

Finally, there are the normal people on Twitter, who have a small number of followers, like family and friends, and they interact with them. That group actually has a great experience; they get to connect with the people they care about and occasionally meet new people who share similar interests. But the celebrities still get the best deal out of Twitter; they don’t have to commit any resources at all. It’s in the middle, though, where people get screwed.

They commit way more resources to it than the benefits they get out of it.

This is how I say one should use Twitter: Emulate it the way that the successful people do it. Create a distinction for yourself among others, which is what celebrities do. Create a buffer between yourself and the followers. Make it sort of a big deal when you talk to them. Begin like a celebrity: Carve out your unique place, then build an attraction to people, make them feel amazing, and bring that all the way down to the one-onone interaction that is personal and meaningful – and skip the marketing spammy part in the middle. So it’s best to be on Twitter on either the highfollower end or the low end, not in the middle.

Still, there’s something to be said about quantity. How do so many Twitterers get followers numbering in the thousands, many in the tens of thousands?

When technology is new, people figure out ways to exploit it. They use all kinds of apps that generate followers.

Are those people making money from Twitter? I’m thinking of Ad.ly, that new advertising company that pays top tweeters to tweet.

Love the alliteration. I guess so, for the meantime, although it’s just polluting the stream. People used to make money spamming their friends about Tony Robbins, but that only lasted for a short time. It’s just that this technology is new and we’re not entirely sure of what to make of it.

Here’s my thing: Every platform of a new technology is like an ecosystem. If you transplant a foreign organism into an ecosystem, it disrupts the whole thing. With that disruption, some species profit and others die. You just have to find a way to become one of those species that profits. Eventually, it reaches equilibrium and you can’t profit from it. You can only profit from it during the disruptive process.

So the Internet is Darwinian.

Of course it is. Everything’s Darwinian – you know that.

Indeed! So please tell me, Julien, is there something that you need to tell us that hasn’t been covered? I feel like I’ve barely scratched the surface.

Hey, there are always a million things.

What I’m really on about these days is the potential of the Internet to transform you into your ideal self. And for that, I don’t mean people – I mean companies. Everything is put under such pressure on the Internet, with the push for transparency, that that pressure transforms companies, making them improve. When a company is accountable, it’s better for people and the environment and all these things, because eventually a company is going to have to be accountable to the people.

On the Internet, a company is placed under such pressure that it absolutely has to get better to survive.

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Hammering home Darwin again: Let’s wrap with your New York Times bestseller, Trust Agents. Must be some kind of wonderful.

It’s pretty incredible. I can’t complain.

It’s great to know that you’ve helped to change people’s lives, even if it’s only in a small way. I look at it, and it just makes me want to work harder. Chris [co-author Chris Brogan; go to chrisbrogan.com] and I are working on another project, and this success has given us such a boost. We want to make sure that the next book we come out with pushes things to even higher grounds.

Speaking of high grounds, I couldn’t help noticing the stellar reviews.

I don’t know if you know this, David, but the first review that came out was

by Seth Godin, and it was a five-star review. And from that point on, the word spread like you cannot believe.

Meanwhile, I drove myself insane when the book was out, thinking that it needed to be even better. But it all seems to have worked out.

And it has, culminating in this feature piece in Vue magazine.

Julien, this has been a blast. Good luck with everything. We’ll be following your exploits through the Media Hacks podcasts. See you on Foursquare.

Julien Smith is an author, consultant, and speaker who has been involved in online communities for over fifteen years – from early BBSs and flashmobs to the social web as we know it today. He was one of the first people on the web to use podcasting and has been a professional voice actor for much of his life. Julien is co-author of Trust Agents, which was written with Chris Brogan.

Great Local Business Uses for Foursquare These examples are simple, but they prove a point.

Uses of social media have to be timely, or they lose their value.

The stuff below works and impresses me right now, but it’ll become common later. Use them before that to leave an impact, okay?

‘All these things leave an impression and help me see these businesses differently. All of them are cheap or free, and if you have a business, you can use them too.’

Fait Ici. A local shop that focuses on local, organic food. It opened next door to the cafe where I sit every day to write.

Recently, they put up the banner, and I got curious as to what store was going to open. When I checked my email a few days later, there was an invite to their opening. Jackson Wightman saw that I kept logging in nearby, saw my tweets about organic meat and eating paleo, and figured I’d be interested. I am impressed, and tell him so.

Cossette’s. A pretty huge ad marketing agency in town. There are enough employees using the service there that it keeps trending when they log in. I see this because I use Foursquare multiple times a day. This paints Cossette’s as being on the cutting edge and aware of what’s new in social software. Who would I hire if I saw this and wanted to do LBS stuff? Right.

None of these things lead to profit directly, but all of them leave an impression and help me see these businesses differently. All of them are cheap or free, and if you have a business, you can use them too.

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Speech-making: How to Shine in the Spotlight What does it take to become a successful speaker and win the hearts of your audience? A former Emmy Award–winning TV anchor and reporter provides some indispensable tips for public-speaking success.

Barbara Laskin

Here you are, sitting in the audience, waiting for the keynoter to come up and deliver her speech. You are hoping for, and expecting the best. Now let’s switch roles: It’s you who are going to speak. Your heart is pounding wildly as you somehow make it to the podium.

How well you do will depend upon how much preparation and effort you have put into this moment.

From the outset, you need to know the difference between a speech and a book. A book is something you read; a speech is something you deliver. A speech is a performance in front of a particular audience – whether you’re speaking for one minute or one hour,

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it’s a performance. Naturally, the tone depends upon the circumstances. A speech at a wedding is different than a speech at a funeral; a speech in front of the board of directors of a Fortune 100 company is different than one in front of a class of fidgety seventh graders.

But, in fact, all speeches require the same things: preparation, solid information arranged in an interesting way, good organization, and a delivery that is passionate and energetic.

And Mom was right: The more you practise, the better you get. The more time you take to prepare, the more confident you will be.

Now let’s dissect what to do. You’ve

been asked to speak on social media in the 21st century. Well, we all know it’s a lot different than it was in the last century. I’m going to assume you’re an expert on the subject – why else would you be asked to speak on this topic in the first place? One of the tenets of good speech-making is never to speak on something you don’t know. You can certainly do some research to bolster your ideas, but most of your speech should come from your own knowledge and experience.

The earlier you begin to organize your thoughts and write your speech, the better off you will be. So, just do it! Begin your speech with an

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introduction that’s arresting or thought-provoking. Your beginning should also include the following details: how long you intend to speak and whether or not you will answer questions following the presentation.

Everyone wants to know the answer to this one burning question: How long will I be here?

Then get into the body of the speech, or the meat, which supports your ideas and thesis. Your conclusion should be a brief review of what you’ve just said. Famed journalist Edward R. Murrow put it this way: “Tell ’em, tell ’em what you told ’em … and tell ’em again!”

Personal stories are best, especially when they illustrate your ideas.

Statistics should be minimal. No audience likes to sit and listen to a laundry list of stats. If the audience supports your theory, then find a novel way in which to disclose it. The key to successful speech-making is how you string those ideas, stories and statistical analyses together in one gorgeous presentation.

If you think about it, a speech is a moment in time – with a clearly defined thesis. It’s not about exhausting a topic; it’s about defining it. (So don’t tell the whole story; write a book instead.) Your presentation should be easy to follow, easy to listen to, informative and entertaining.

So how do you accomplish that? Try to recall the best speeches you’ve ever heard – and the worst. I bet the best are linear; they unfold simply, in an easy-to-understand manner. But they often start dramatically, unexpectedly.

The information is presented in a new way, and it awakens the senses. In contrast, the worst speeches are disjointed, predictable and boring.

Think of it this way: As an audience member, you are giving your time – and sometimes money – to learn something new and to be entertained.

As a presenter, you had better deliver on those expectations.

I always tell my clients that a speech or presentation is like a gift to a particular audience. It is a gift of wisdom, experience, entertainment, passion, energy and lasting value. Most of all, it is words. And the words need to be right. Right for your audience.

Right for you. Even if you have a bevy of speech writers, make sure the words reflect your own speaking voice. Don’t sound like someone you are not.

Practise until you are familiar with the words, until you can anticipate what comes next. Never memorize.

The more familiar you are with a script, the more risks you will take with it. For example, you might say, “Bless you!” if someone sneezes, confident that you will not be thrown off course, because you have your words – your familiar words – with you. While practising can be tedious, it’s the only way I know of working out the kinks and learning to “live” the speech.

Practice is the path to success.

Finally, there’s personal delivery style. Every person is unique, but there are standards that must be met. Your delivery should be energetic – so your audience doesn’t fall asleep. In practical terms, that means you want to have a rhythmic voice that’s easy on the ears.

(You can record your own voice on your answering machine and listen to it. If it’s pleasing to you, it will be pleasing to others.) Make sure you emphasize certain words and phrases that are critical to you … and pause … for dramatic effect.

You also want to use your body language effectively, gesturing to help bring your words to life and sometimes stepping away from the podium to make a point. You also want to connect with your audience by looking at them. But don’t stare at one person or one group. Instead, embrace the entire audience by looking at all the different areas at different times. If appropriate, you want to smile, too.

Nothing is more effective in warming an audience’s heart than a smile.

Always remember that whatever format you use, legal size paper or note cards, the people out in your audience don’t have your script, so they have no idea if you’ve made a mistake or not. In fact, there is no such thing as a mistake: there is only lack of preparation.

So, let’s recap. The top ten speechmaking tips are these: • Prepare weeks in advance.

• Write a coherent, organized, but lively speech.

• Keep it brief and focused.

• Make your voice rhythmic, audible and interesting.

• Use your body language for maximum impact.

• Pause for dramatic effect.

• Smile when appropriate.

• Remember that there is no such thing as a mistake.

• Never speak longer than you’re supposed to.

• Remember that your audience wants you to succeed. That should build your confidence.

These two final tips are important truisms. All audiences, big or small, want you to succeed and give a great speech. That’s why they came to hear you in the first place. But they don’t want you to talk forever. So don’t disappoint. And if you prepare and practise, you never will.

Barbara Laskin is a former Emmy Award–winning TV anchor and reporter, and the founder of Laskin Media Inc. (www.laskinmedia.com), a full-service communication training company. The company prepares people for media interviews and all public speaking assignments. Its client list includes key executives from Pfizer, The History Channel, IBM, American Express, Polo Ralph Lauren, Land’s End, Holland and Knight, as well as actors, actresses, company and celebrity spokespeople, athletes, authors and business owners. Barbara can be reached at (212) 777-9092.

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Reality Bytes: The New Digital Rules as Learned from Canada’s Top Digital Players Ipsos ASI’s LeanIN study interviewed 5,000 Canadians to determine which of Canada’s leading digital players are doing the best job, to understand how marketers can optimize their digital investment, and to identify the keys to success in digital space.

Luke Stringer

Digital media have transformed the marketing and advertising industry. But how big a game changer are they, and what can we learn from those using them best?

The digital space has fundamentally changed where and how consumers seek information and entertainment, and brand managers are trying their best to reach and engage these consumers through digital channels – leading to what some experts claim are elemental changes in how brands should look in order to build media strategies and communicate with their consumers. And while there is no doubt that evolution is necessary in order to optimize digital media, is the degree to which the buzz of digital has consumed marketers really warranted?

What Is the Current State of Digital Affairs?

There is no question that digital media are of growing importance and have an increased role within the tool kit of Canadian marketers. Ipsos ASI views all marketing touchpoints as part of a greater whole, in that all communication channels can and do work for various goals, strategies and budgets. Digital is much the same. And like other touchpoints, its potential impact is not boundless.

In-market tracking research consistently shows that digital initiatives are often recalled by less than 10 per cent 18

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of target consumers – notably less than in other media.

However, it is the impact and nature of digital engagement that must also be considered when speaking to its power. As a recent client stated, digital media are about the “quality of discussion, not the quantity of people that may hear you.”

This is where our exploratory research begins.

The Digital Shift Is from Monologue to Dialogue

Recall aside, what digital media have done is change the dynamic of the conversational possibilities between marketers and their target consumers. Though digital media may not allow brands to speak to as many consumers, they allow the conversation to be much richer and deeper, causing communication to shift from a one-way monologue to a two-way dialogue with consumers – a dialogue in which brands often participate.

This shift was the genesis of Ipsos ASI’s landmark work in the area of digital media – to understand how marketers can optimize their digital investment. Like traditional media, each possible digital touchpoint has its own unique cost and reach, and can have its own role in driving overall success. But given the vast number of touchpoints available, there is a need for marketers to gain a better understanding of which digital touchpoints can deliver the strongest

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returns for their business. It was this desire for greater understanding of how these touchpoints work individually that drove Ipsos ASI to initiate the LeanIN syndicated study.

Make Them LeanIN, Not Lean Back

In order to be successful, marketing communications need to be recalled by the intended target, linked back to the supporting brand, and deliver a response that benefits the business. Digital is no different. In order to succeed online, brands must captivate their audience and engage audience members in a way that makes them leanIN, not lean back.

The LeanIN study set out to determine who, within the Canadian brand landscape, is doing the best job with digital.

To achieve this, we devised a proprietary composite measure that assesses brand presence across a broad list of eighteen touchpoints (see Table 1) weighted by the engagement factor of each touchpoint in driving purchase interest.

Our study comprises 5,000 Canadians, aged 14 years and over. Each of these respondents was defined as being “digitally active,” with a high likelihood of searching online for information about products and services. We created a benchmark list of fifty brands selected from among the top digital spenders in Canada, with most spending over $500,000 annually on digital communication. These brands covered a wide range of categories and sectors, including technology and telecommunications, financial services, automobiles, and retail and consumer packaged goods.

Who Is Leading the Charge?

Of the fifty brands measured, three clearly broke away from the pack and took the top-ranked positions in the study: Microsoft, Dell and Apple. Beyond these three brands, the top fifteen brands (see Table 2) are from a wide variety of categories, and each of them uses multiple digital touchpoints to engage consumers. From TELUS to Toyota and from BlackBerry to Best Buy, these are the brands that are clearly having success in speaking to their Canadian consumers through digital avenues.

What Did We Learn from Canada’s Top ‘Digital’ Brands?

The LeanIN study published a dozen key learnings. In what follows, we share a few of these lessons and best practices, which are key for marketers to keep in mind as they go forward and build future digital media strategies.

Don’t ignore the basics. Content is king. One of the things revealed by this study was that websites are strong drivers for a brand. Considering all eighteen touchpoints measured, brand web pages and microsites were the strongest drivers of consumer engagement, supporting the idea of using many on- and offline activities to push consumers to

Table 1: Digital Touchpoints Assessed • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Ads embedded in emails Banner ads Blogs Brand- or product-specific Classified ads (on sites such as Craigslist and Kijiji) Corporate or overall company website Customer reviews and product information on retail sites Email newsletters that you have subscribed to receive Forums Mobile phone ads Placement in video games Podcasts Pop-up ads Promotion- or sponsorship-specific websites Search engines and portals (Yahoo, Google, Bing, etc.)

Social network websites (Facebook, Twitter, etc.)

Video streaming sites (YouTube, etc.)

Virtual worlds (Second Life, etc.)

Table 2: Digital Presence Ranking 1. Microsoft 2. Dell 3. Apple 4. WestJet 5. Future Shop 6. Bell 7. BlackBerry 8. Rogers Wireless 9. Best Buy 10. TELUS 11. Hewlett-Packard 12. Visa 13. Air Miles 14. Sony 15. Toyota These are the top fifteen brands using digital media in Canada, as defined by the LeanIN composite score.

content-rich spaces where they can interact with a brand.

Consistent with this finding, Canadians who thought of a brand as a “go-to resource for information and advice” also had stronger interest in purchasing it. This highlights the importance of building and maintaining a brand’s online space (i.e., web pages and microsites) with relevant information and advice before undertaking an online campaign in hopes of extending it to the rest of the web.

Microsoft does a particularly good job at this approach.

The consumer-perceived strength of Microsoft’s corporate website is one of the drivers behind the corporation’s number-one ranked digital position. This site offers consumers an all-in-one space in which to interact with the brand and to search for product information, advice and support; it even extends access to Microsoft’s Bing search engine.

The personal touch(point) is key. Another key learning surrounds the importance of one-to-one digital touchpoints. While brand websites are key to building engagement, when looking for ways to expand beyond their vue October 2010

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web page, brands should look to doing it in a relevant and personal way.

Of the various digital touchpoints measured, the LeanIN study found that search engine presence was a strong driver of brand engagement and subsequent consumer impact.

This finding highlights the importance of having a brand present at the point of search – when and where consumers are exploring content that surrounds the brand and its position.

Email newsletters are another strong (and personal) driver of brand success in digital space. Where possible, brands should use customer-relations management initiatives to reach out to consumers with one-to-one personalized communication. A great example of success in this arena is Air Miles, a brand that consumers recognize for delivering content to them in a one-to-one way. Its strength in this area helps the program to garner a high position within the LeanIN ranking of digital success.

Be real; be genuine. The idea of authenticity online is very important for brands in driving purchase consideration.

When developing digital strategies, marketers need to stay true to their brand’s essence, just as they would (should) offline. Making digital strategy part of a brand’s overall strategy will help ensure that all communication stays true to the brand’s overall essence, and it will subsequently help drive a brand’s success online.

Brands should use digital media to reinforce who they are. Online communities can be very quick to notice when a brand’s online efforts are “illegitimate.” Brands shouldn’t assume that simply putting content on YouTube will help them connect with these groups – particularly if these efforts are not consistent with how consumers already view the brand itself!

These findings also tie in to recent learnings from the Ipsos Trend Observer study, where it was found that staying “authentic, true and sincere” inherently reassures consumers in their brand choices and better positions brands to compete in the long run.

Within the LeanIN study, Apple was one of the brands that performed very well on delivering the idea of authenticity online. One has to go no further than Apple’s website to understand why. Extension of the simplistic elegance of its brand/product design onto its website and online communications makes it difficult to see where the products end and the touchpoints begin. To quote Steve Jobs, “In most people’s vocabularies, design means veneer.

It’s interior decorating. It’s the fabric of the curtains or the sofa. But to me, nothing could be further from the meaning of design. Design is the fundamental soul of a human-made creation that ends up expressing itself in successive outer layers of the product or service.”

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Engage younger consumers. Another interesting learning is that, as with all touchpoints, marketers need to fine-tune their digital strategies when trying to engage specific consumer demographics. Perhaps as expected, younger consumers have different needs online, requiring brands to tailor efforts when trying to engage them. For example, among those 18 to 25 years old, being thought of as a “goto resource for information and advice” was a more important driver; in other words, for this age group content really is king.

At the same time, helping consumers feel “connected to something special” was a much stronger driver among this demographic (perhaps not surprisingly, given how those in this age group have started to define their social lives through digital communication channels). However, marketers should not think of this driver as pertaining to the use of social media to connect only with these consumers. User forums, site memberships, and other channels that give these consumers a sense of belonging and connectivity should also be brought into the mix. Though not only targeting younger consumers, Best Buy’s reward program and BlackBerry’s “MyBlackBerry” community are good examples of how brands can design initiatives that connect with consumers and provide them with benefits for membership.

Even Google Advertises on TV

Digital media are powerful. They let marketers interact with and speak to consumers in ways not possible with one-way communication channels. The LeanIN syndicated study explores this burgeoning realm of marketing in a unique and fresh way. The study ranks fifty of Canada’s leading digital players and identifies the keys behind their success.

While the LeanIN study provides us with new learning and insight to help develop a brand’s digital strategy, like all things in advertising, there are no guaranteed rules for success. What this study does show us, however, is that there are certain strategies that tilt the playing field in a brand’s favour.

Beyond this, though, marketers need to continue thinking of the role that digital can play within the greater media environment. While these new learnings provide insights into how marketers can optimize their digital investment, always remember that even Google, a brand that receives over two billion visits per day, advertises on TV.

Luke Stringer is a senior research manager at Ipsos ASI and currently manages the LeanIN research program across North America. He can be reached at lukestringer@ipsos.com or (647) 259-9713.

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Research 3.0: Linking the Digital and Real Worlds Modern, progressive, forward-thinking and ground-breaking methodologies and technologies allow you to radically change the way you collect, analyse and interpret data – and, most importantly, how you engage and interact with respondents.

Corrine Sandler

We call it “proximity research” – collecting data that is delivered in real time according to consumers’ presence, based on the technology they are carrying, wearing or have embedded.

Many companies are investing more and more in location-based campaigns, which can offer valuable insights and even some decent ROI for the small business owner. There are many location-based services (LBSs) popping up these days, including Yelp, Whrll, Brightkite, Loopt, and of course Foursquare, one of the fastest-growing LBSs. According to a March 2010, report on Mashable, Foursquare’s growth shows no signs of slowing 22

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down, with over 725,000 users and 22 million check-ins. Yes, Twitter has over 50 million tweets a day, but for a new LBS 725,000 is an impressive number.

Location-based service users are likely to be 19- to 35-year-old university-educated males who have a high discretionary income and are extremely connected to the Internet and to social applications via their mobile devices. They are quite influential and generally do a lot of mobile-based web research. They are a tough demographic to find, and it’s not easy to get them to respond to survey requests, as they tend to be very distrustful and unwilling to disclose

information. But when it comes to connecting with each other based on similar interests, they are very accommodating – hence those big fans of social networking sites.

So how does Foursquare aid in proximity research? It is simply location data, which can measure foot traffic to a store and provide quantifiable ROI for an advertiser. It can provide an incredibly compelling data set for anyone interested in consumer behaviour.

Being able to connect web advertising, recommendations, and social media buzz to a real person walking into your store is incredible.

Foursquare is the missing link, enabling you to come full circle from a review or recommendation to an inperson visit from a real customer.

The type of intelligence you can get on these kinds of consumers includes identification of advocates – how many times each user has visited, the duration of each visit, locations each user has visited before and after coming to a particular venue, the number of other visitors that user is friends with, and the reach each visitor has. When evaluating Foursquare in this way, the potential of the platform is limited only by your imagination.

These behavioural data can empower businesses, enabling them to focus on

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Figure 1: An Online Discussion Group by Fresh Intelligence

A typical screen shot of what researchers can observe: moderators’ probing of online respondents, respondents’ interactions and discussions, as well as uploading of different stimuli and capture of immediate sentiment.

new or repeat customers, target customers with heavy influence and reach, and reward users who bring a large number of other users with them.

And businesses can check real-time

communications programs. Research insights and accountability planning tools that are robust yet simplified can provide agencies with critical direction in co-creation and negotiation of

research simply allows the marketer to gain a greater understanding of something hypothetical, and it is used principally to gain a deeper understanding of something. The design is far more flexible and dynamic than that of any descriptive research.

Different techniques and tools are used, including qualitative online discussion groups (see Figure 1) so that you can discover, probe and obtain over 600 pages of transcripts and conversations over five days – not just learning about but creating immense content.

There is a need to evolve the conventional research methods that just gather facts and to focus more on exploring consumer behaviour.

Blurring the lines between traditional quantitative and qualitative worlds, and developing creative insight by eliminating the caveats and the barriers that exist between them – this is creative research.

Take an exercise commonly used in focus groups: the “product sort” exercise. In a focus group setting, participants are asked to build subgroups or identify themes that are

Blurring the lines between traditional quantitative and qualitative worlds, and developing creative insight by eliminating the caveats and the barriers that exist between them – this is creative research. stats, including most recent visitors, the time of day people check in, unique visitors, and gender breakdown of customers.

With the ever increasing popularity of social networks, the volume of personalized user data is a virtual gold mine for Internet businesses.

Curiosity and Creation

Unprecedented complexity and change exist in the planning and research methods used to expedite marketers’

increased effectiveness in cross-media communications planning, including measuring and optimizing results. It is critical to understand influence, rather than reach, by examining how consumers’ response to different media stimuli can steer campaign practice and enhance campaign strategy. This understanding challenges media neutrality and is integral to the economy today.

Research in any field starts with curiosity and creation. This genre of

built off of consumer perception/ understanding of a variety of categories, products or brands.

Consumers engage and discuss their reasons for creating themes and groups around the products and brands provided, allowing marketers and researchers to view categories through the eyes of the consumer. The insights gained have been effectively used to inform marketing planning and strategy, specifically in relation to merchandising plans, competitive

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Figure 2: Quantitative ‘Product Sort’ Exercise by Fresh Intelligence

influence, positioning definition, market structure, and decision tree analysis. The only caveat is that these exercises are deemed qualitative in nature and may not be representative of the entire population. Depth of insight is achieved, but the ability to confidently action against it is confined: Not anymore!

Now … take the product sort exercise and translate that into a quantitative exercise that captures the same category/product insight from a sample that is large enough to represent the Canadian population or its demographic patterns. In a virtual workspace with the required stimulus, respondents are instructed to create the sub-groups or themes based on their impression of or experience with a category or group of products. Figure 2 presents a demonstration of the product sort exercise for the hair care category: respondents can click and drag images into the workspace to create sub-groups of brands.

Once a group has been established, respondents go through a descriptive writing exercise to help explain the theme or reasoning they used for the specific sub-group. They can be as creative or as rational as they want, bringing forth a new level of engagement and depth of understanding to a quantitative research setting. What was once a creative exercise in a focus group can now be transformed into an innovative quantitative research tool used to gather actionable insight in marketing planning.

Corrine Sandler is the founder and president of Fresh Intelligence Research Corp., an intelligence gathering company that provides a real-time window into consumer and shopper insights through customer advisory panels and ad hoc survey research. Over the past fifteen years, she has established a reputation for unparalleled consumer understanding and insight development.

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Sample Size: The Theory of Thirty Well-chosen samples of 30 are physically small but statistically mighty, serving as legitimate tools of sound research practice in a broad range of situations. With the same qualitative property of statistical reliability as large samples, they provide the magic of statistical inference at affordable prices.

Ruth M. Corbin, CMRP

Question: How big a sample size is needed for statistical reliability?

Answer: Whatever you can afford, starting at 30 …

Subtext: … assuming an approximation to random probability sampling.

This article explains the origins of the number 30 as a minimal sample size for certain types of surveys. It acknowledges the psychological resistance that some decisionmakers may have to relying on samples of size 30, and offers guidelines about suitable circumstances for using them.

The objective is to estimate a population parameter from a single sample

Establishing knowledge through social science depends on generalizing from research samples to a broader population.

A survey sample produces an estimate of a population parameter. The most common parameters that surveys estimate are the population mean and particular proportions in the population – such as the proportion of people likely to be confused by an infringing trade-mark. For example, if a luggage company were to be sued for producing a line of luggage bearing the brand name LEXUS, a court would want to know what proportion of purchasers were likely to be confused into believing the luggage originated with the makers of the famous brand of cars.

You buy the level of accuracy you can afford

You want an estimate to be statistically reliable. Statistical reliability refers to the legitimacy of generalizing results from a sample to an overall population, and it varies with sample size. Larger samples, properly collected, are more reliable than smaller samples; they have a narrower margin

of error. Put another way, a margin of error may be calculated for any given sample size (assuming certain basic sampling conditions), telling you how close the sample results are likely to come in predicting the true value of the parameter in the overall population. By investing in larger sample sizes, you essentially buy the level of accuracy you desire. As observed by the World Health Organization, “The appropriate sample size is usually a compromise between what is statistically desirable and what is feasible.”1 The Central Limit Theorem is your insurance policy

As found in the book Trial by Survey,2 the formula for the 95 per cent confidence interval derived in standard statistical texts is ±1.96 times the square root of (p)(1–p)/n.

The variable p refers to an observed proportion in a sample whose accuracy (with respect to the overall population) you are trying to estimate. The variable n refers to the sample size. Generally speaking, the exact size of the population can be disregarded when you set out to choose an appropriate sample size; the margin of error will be the same for any very large population.

The formula for calculating the margin of error originates with the Central Limit Theorem, which describes what happens to the distribution of results (the “sampling distribution”) when you conduct the sample study again and again. It demonstrates that the sampling distribution will look more and more like a “normal distribution” as the sample size increases. A normal distribution has known statistical characteristics that can be quantified for purposes of estimating the likely deviation of any given sample from the true population parameter.

It turns out that the sampling distribution stabilizes into a bell curve at about the point where the sample size is 30. vue October 2010

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F E AT U R E

This stabilizing trend occurs in a diverse range of underlying populations, even ones which seem haphazard or highly variable. This is just a fact; whether or not it is intuitively satisfying is beside the point. Many principles of statistical inference are non-intuitive. For example, it may be counterintuitive – but it is still true – that the margin of error of a 1,000-person political poll would be approximately the same for Ontario as it would be for all of Canada.

The figure below3 shows a skewed population (the first graph), followed by a series of sampling distributions from that population for sample sizes of 2, 5, and 30. As readers will see for themselves, the distribution for the sample of 30 starts to look normal (i.e., like the standard bell curve).

Sample Distributions for Three Different Sample Sizes Parent Population

N=2

N=5

N = 30

From D.L. Harnett and L.L. Murphy, p. 344.3

For a diverse range of circumstances, a properly drawn survey of 30 is reliable

A proportion obtained from a well-chosen sample of 30 is, therefore, a statistically reliable predictor of an overall population parameter. True enough, the estimate obtained from a sample of 30 has a large margin of error – as much as 18 per cent. But within that constraint on interpretation, the sample proportion is statistically reliable. Whatever its margin of error, the proportion estimated by the sample remains the single best predictor of the overall population proportion.

Foundational texts dating back forty years or more, which have guided social scientists and business people on statistical applications, have consistently cited the cut-off of 30 as being one of general application for the estimate of proportions. As observed in one such text, “Samples of 30 or more items are frequently considered large for statistical purposes.”4 As long as there is no systematic bias in how the 30 people are chosen, and assuming no well-defined and widely disparate strata within the population, the estimate of a population average or population proportion is likely to be pretty good, where “pretty good” is defined by the margin of error.

Greater comfort in the estimate may be sought from other available evidence. For example, a measure of brand confusion obtained from a survey may be validated by the percentage of consumers who have called in to a company’s complaints department and ended up complaining about the wrong product.

Even as textbooks and statistical authorities move to Internet distribution, credible sites continue to advocate for 26

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the 30-minimum rule of thumb. For example, StatSoft’s website confirms that “as the sample size (of samples used to create the sampling distribution of the mean) increases, the shape of the sampling distribution becomes normal. Note that for n = 30, the shape of that distribution is ‘almost’ perfectly normal.”5 Connexions, an educational sharing website, contains the same message from a team of statistics professors.6 The World Health Organization has also endorsed the 30-minimum as a general rule of thumb.7 Selective use of small samples may improve accessibility of survey evidence

Phyllis Welter, both a lawyer and survey expert, conducted an extensive search of American trade-mark law and concluded that the emphasis on large samples was unnecessary in many cases, and hindered small companies from presenting their best case before a court.8 Few corporations, she observed, could afford the trade-mark survey, presented by Gallo Winery, involving 3,455 personal interviews conducted in 35 shopping malls. She cites another case, in which a court agreed to accept a 40-person survey “done in a manner consistent with industry standards for pilot study investigations, [that] market researchers would rely on … as an indicator of the outcome of more elaborate testing.” The court accepted it as an indicator, not of confusion, but of likelihood of confusion.

Welter concedes that “the larger the sample size the better the approximation, but an n of thirty is generally sufficient to invoke the [Central Limit] Theorem and permit statistical analysis. … It is a puzzle as to why there are no trademark opinions addressing the substantive issue of sample size. Courts assign large samples an aura of authenticity denied the smaller sample, even though small samples can support a statistical analysis. Is it due to surveyors promoting larger samples to inflate business or make it easier to withstand cross-examination? Is it due to a lack of statistical knowledge on the part of lawyers such that they cannot effectively guide … cross-examination on the issue of sample size? Is it due to a lack of statistical knowledge on the part of judges such that they cannot effectively evaluate the evidence?” Absent any good rationale, Welter finds it a fruitful area of further study for a lawyer (or, implicitly, their experts) who want to advance the law, provide better service to clients, and “contribute, in at least a small way, to the economy.”

Summary and advice notes

A well-chosen sample of 30 is physically small but statistically mighty. When is it appropriate to wield its might? There are no set do’s and don’ts regarding the use of small samples; rather, there are circumstances inviting the exercise of professional judgment. One or more circumstances you may want to consider, for taking comfort in a small sample size, include the following:

F E AT U R E

• When the quality controls of the research process justify confidence that other types of errors have been minimized.

Non-sampling error should not be allowed to overwhelm and compromise the integrity of a small sample. MRIA’s Gold Seal standards provide guidance on best practice quality controls.

Endnotes

• When a client’s budget is very limited and the client accepts the risk of the decision-maker’s skepticism.

1. World Health Organization. WHO Archives. http://archives.who.int/PRDUC2004/RDUCD/ Session_Guides/ sampling _to_study_drug_use.htm

• When a small sample size focused on estimating a proportion yields an extreme result (such as a proportion close to 0% or 100%), thereby generating a smaller margin of error.

• When the sample is used for a pilot test, undertaken to test the survey instrument, or for a pilot test undertaken to obtain a reasonable prediction of what would happen if the survey were expanded.

• When the sample is a sub-component of a larger sample to be aggregated later (like a single-city sample to be aggregated with other cities).

• When potentially relevant demographic variations (such as age and gender) are controlled in other ways, through quota setting or otherwise.

• For control conditions, whose main purpose is establishing a benchmark for interpretation of a larger test sample. The calculation of a statistically significant difference between test and control already takes sample size into account.

Small samples are a legitimate tool of sound research practice for many applications. Properly selected, they can have the same qualitative property of statistical reliability as large samples. What differs is their quantitative margin of error. Whether a margin of error is “high” or “low” is a

matter of personal judgment on the part of the ultimate user. Suffice it to say that, in a broad range of situations, samples of 30 permit the enjoyment of the magic of statistical inference at affordable prices.

2. R.M. Corbin & A.K. Gill. Trial by Survey. Toronto: Carswell, 2000, p. 27.

3. D.L. Harnett & J.L. Murphy. Statistical Analysis for Business and Economics (3rd ed.). Reading, Massachusetts: Addison-Wesley, 1985, p. 344.

4. C.T. Clark & L.L. Shkade. Statistical Analysis for Administrative Decisions, Cincinnati: South-Western, 1974, p. 242.

5. StatSoft Inc. StatSoft Electronic Statistics Textbook. (2010). http://www.statsoft.com/textbook/elementary-concepts-in-statistics/ 6. S. Dean & B. Illowsky. “Hypothetical Testing of Single Mean and Single Proportions: Assumptions.” Connexions. (2009, Feb. 7). http://cnx.org/content/m17002/latest/ 7. World Health Organization. WHO Archives. http://archives.who.int/PRDUC2004/RDUCD/Session_Guides/ sampling_to_study_drug_use.htm 8. Quotes in this and the subsequent paragraph are taken from P.J. Welter’s Trademark Surveys (New York: Thomson, 1997, pp. 5-13 – 5-15).

Dr. Ruth M. Corbin, CMRP, is the current chair of the Litigation and Regulatory Resource Committee, a member of the board of the Research Agency Council, and a member of the board of directors of MRIA. Ruth is managing partner of CorbinPartners Inc., a Gold Seal member of MRIA, and also an adjunct professor at Osgoode Hall Law School, teaching courses in intellectual property and cognitive science evidence. She is co-author of two books on survey evidence in the Canadian court system: Trial by Survey and Survey Evidence and the Law Worldwide.

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I N D U ST RY N E W S

PEOPLE AND COMPANIES IN THE NEWS Bruce Jones, MRIA’s Marketing and Communications Portfolio Chair, has started up his own firm and is open for business, providing consulting services in marketing strategy, marketing research, group facilitation and moderation. The new venture, Bruce Jones and Associates, will tap Bruce’s 30 years of experience – with breadth and depth on both agency and client sides in both marketing and in research, most recently with Atlantic Lottery Corporation – and utilize his rich experience in group facilitation. In addition to his current volunteer leadership role as Marketing Communications Chair, Bruce is a former MRIA National Board Member, past Chair of the Client-Side Researcher Council and a regular contributor to Vue magazine. He’d also love to hear from fellow MRIA members with words of wisdom to share about the adventure of becoming an independent consultant. Contact Bruce at 506-532-1262 or email at brucejonesandassociates@live.com Harris Interactive has introduced the Body Mass Index (BMI) Speciality Panel, to provide clients with information about underweight, normal weight, overweight, and obese US adults.

BMI, which is a statistical measure to estimate a healthy body weight based on a person's height, is the most widely used diagnostic tool to identify weight problems. Website: www.harrisinteractive.com

Penny Darbyshire

Evette Cordy

James Redden

Three former TNS execs - Evette Cordy, Penny Darbyshire and James Redden - have teamed up to launch a new firm based in Melbourne, Australia and rejoicing in the name of Raspberry Innovation Research + Strategy. Most recently, Cordy worked for TNS as Regional Director of Technology, responsible for providing leadership across 32 countries in Asia-Pacific, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa. Redden has been based in San Francisco for the last four years, helping to set up and lead 2CV’s first fullservice office outside of Europe. Prior to this, he worked at TNS in San Francisco and Melbourne. Before co-founding Raspberry, Darbyshire spent nine years working at TNS, most recently focusing on designing, managing and executing choice modeling studies across the Asia-Pacific region. Website: www.raspberryresearch.com WPP-owned Kantar Media - which specializes in providing TV, Internet and radio audience measurement services - has hired veteran media analyst Jeffrey Boehme to drive the development of new products and applications for set-top box (STB) data. Boehme joins from Nielsen, where as SVP for Advanced TV he led the development of directions and insights from return path data (RPD) and

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• In this section of Vue, preference will be given to newsworthy items including appointments, promotions and personal news (births, deaths) over product and industry developments.

• To read more news online, or to submit your news, simply fill out our online form at mria-arim.ca/PEOPLE/People.asp.

• The Vue editorial team reserves the right to select and edit your submission for appearance in Vue. The content displayed on this page was submitted by MRIA Members. MRIA is neither responsible for the accuracy of this information nor liable for any false information.

clickstream data, and represented the ratings company through membership of various industry organizations including the Coalition for Innovative Media Measurement, Cabletelevision Advertising Bureau, and ARF. Website: www.kantarmedia.com CASRO’s Career Development Committee is pleased to announce the formation of an Internship/Co-op Program, which seeks to match qualified, motivated college students with research companies offering rewarding internship opportunities.

Participating companies will be provided with helpful templates and guidelines. The inclusion of an evaluation mechanism for both employers and interns will help gauge the overall success of the program and determine areas for improvement. Best of all, companies will have access to a nationwide pool of talented workers. Learn more at www.casro.org AMA Marketing Researchers Newsletter: A Common-Sense Primer on Usability Testing (August 2010) Usability testing lets marketers and product developers explore how well the audience understands the product. QRCA member Kay Corry Aubrey offers some How-to tips for conducting a successful usability test. Read More … www.qrca.org The Advertising Research Foundation (ARF) has announced that William A. Cook, PhD has returned full time to the ARF as EVP Research and Standards after completing his sabbatical. The ARF also announced its intention to evolve its Online Research Quality Council into a Research Quality Council, focusing on other areas of research that need some examination of quality standards. The first new initiative of the Research Quality Council will be the ARF Neurotrial Project that will study the fast emerging world of biometric research. This project will be launched officially in September 2010. Contact Simone Moyle at 646-465-5711 or simone@thearf.org MRA/IMRO volunteers have completed a case study that compares and contrasts traditional focus group research against several social media platforms, including both public and private media and communities. The case study represents an important contribution to the still-new area of social media research. For more info go to www.mra-net.org/rq/documents/ SocialMediaResearchQualCaseStudySeptember2010.pdf Western Wats, leading provider of managed online research panels, announced today that it has opened a new service bureau in Toronto. The new service bureau increases local access to the firm’s research panels, including one of the largest in Canada – representing the country’s rich heritage, diversity and culture.

Dipesh Shah will lead the bureau and joins Western Wats with seven years of Marketing Research experience. He is an active member of Canada’s Marketing Research and Intelligence Association (MRIA), the Canadian Advertising Research Foundation (CARF), and the Toronto Board of Trade. Contact: 416-283-8719 dshah@westernwats.com

I N D U ST RY N E W S

Enjoy this issue of Vue? You can enjoy it even more by visiting our online library and archived database, with over 2,000 articles searchable by key word, author or date. Visit www.mria-arim.ca/PUBLICATIONS/LibraryIntro.asp

At the ESOMAR Congress in Greece, Kees de Jong, CEO of Survey Sampling International, announced the winners of the first SSI QUEST™ Awards, honoring companies that created outstanding research experiences for respondents. SSI QUEST Awards are based on respondents' self-reported satisfaction scores, as well as drop-out rates and median completion times, each appropriately weighted within the QUEST formula. View press release at www.surveysamplinginternational.com

worst-affected region in 2009 suffering a substantial decline of 4.8% year-to-year and 5.9% after inflation, with turnover dropping to US $13.3 billion. The North American research sector faced a second year of net declines in 2009 with turnover falling to US $9,188 million after a year-to-year decline of 3.8% and a net decline of 3.5% after deflation in the US (of -0.3%) and inflation in Canada was taken into account. To order the report go to www.esomar.org/gmr2010

James Conrad joins Hotspex as Chief Operating Officer. James leaves his position as President of Millward Brown Canada to join Hotspex and is bringing with him experience and leadership stemming from over a decade of senior-level positions. James' responsibilities include leading the company’s sales efforts and driving global growth. This announcement comes on the heels of a 47% increase in year-todate sales for Hotspex. www.hotspex.biz/newsstory.asp?id=109

QRD board member Marc-Andre Leduc has lots on his plate! In June 2009 he and his fiancée bought a house in Montreal and did some serious renovating. In January 2010 – after close to a decade as Vice President of Sylvestre Marketing, he started his own company: M. Leduc & Co. and has not looked back while enjoying his work as much as ever. He is now looking at hiring staff to help grow the business and to continue to provide clients with personalized moderating services in French and English – in Quebec and across Canada. To top off this year of positive changes, in March 2010, his fiancée announced that she is due on December 1st! We wish Marc-Andre all the best in his “new life”. He can be reached at marc@mleduc.com or Mobile: 514-808-6626, Office: 514-257-0184, Upcoming website: www.mleduc.com

Léger Marketing a le plaisir d’annoncer la nomination de Dr Chuck Chakrapani au poste de viceprésident exécutif de Léger Marketing et le président du bureau de Toronto. Chuck est un Fellow de la Royal Statistical Society et de l'ARIM. Il est l’éditeur de Marketing Research (AMA) et enseigne la méthodologie de recherche et de méthodes statistiques avancées pour l’ARIM Canada et pour l’AMA aux États-Unis. Visitez le site web: www.legermarketing.com Leger Marketing has appointed Dr. Chuck Chakrapani to the position of Executive Vice-President of Leger Marketing and President of the Toronto office. Chuck is a Fellow of the Royal Statistical Society and of MRIA. He edits Marketing Research (AMA) and teaches research methodology and advanced statistical methods for MRIA Canada and for the AMA in the U.S. Website: www.legermarketing.com Dr. Ruth M. Corbin has been appointed to the Board of Directors of the Traffic Injury Research Foundation (TIRF). Based in Ottawa, TIRF is an international leader in the development of scientific research and evidence-based practices for preventing injuries and loss of life on roads and highways due to road user behaviours. In addition to its staff of prominent research scientists and administrative personnel, TIRF has research associates in Canadian and U.S. universities and strategic partnerships with international research agencies.

Website: www.corbinpartners.com ESOMAR, the world organization for market research, officially launched its latest industry study Global Market Research 2010 at the ESOMAR Congress in Athens last month, revealing the first decline in worldwide research turnover since ESOMAR began measuring the global market in 1988. The ESOMAR Global Market Research 2010 report shows global turnover falling to US $28.9 billion in 2009, representing a year-on-year decline of 3.7% and 4.6% after adjustment for inflation; a significant drop albeit in line with expectations given the economic downturn. Europe was the

Founded a quarter century ago by Lanny Scholes, CMRP, CTI is pleased to mark its 25th year in business by announcing the grand opening of its new facility in greater Montreal, allowing our clients to better tap into the French Canadian market. This new field site makes CTI the only sensory company in Canada that manages and runs its own studies from coast to coast. Contact Andrew Scholes at 905-456-0783 ext. 233 or andrew.scholes@contracttesting.com MRIA is pleased to announce that Etta Wahab has joined the MRIA staff team, effective September 7, 2010, as Administrative Assistant/Accounts Payable Clerk. A Certified Bookkeeper, Etta comes to MRIA from the Ontario Safety League, a not-for-profit organization focused on road safety and driver education, where she worked for the past 10 years, most recently as membership coordinator/bookkeeper. Before coming to Canada, Etta worked for a certified public accounting firm in Hong Kong in an administrative capacity. She is fluent in English, Cantonese and Mandarin. Etta can be reached at ewahab@mria-arim.ca or at 905-602-6854 ext. 8721.

University of Toronto Press is offering four articles on the longform census issue, that are about to be published in Canadian Public Policy. Go to: toutpjournals.metapress.com/content. Further information is also available on MRIA’s website at www.mriaarim.ca/NEWS

sponsored by

Uthink Online and Studentawards Inc. congratulates the MRIA on 50 years!

Studentawards Inc. 18-24 Weekly Omnibus 800,000 member online community: 16-64 years www.uthinkonline.com / Richard Choi: 416.322.3210 x250

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P RO F E SS I O NAL D E VE LO P M E N T

Professional Development in Marketing Research Rick Hobbs, CMRP Institute for Professional Development Institut de développement professionnel

Developing Professional Development: No Simple Task A designation such as the CMRP (Certified Marketing Research Professional) goes a long way in providing evidence that you have a certain level of knowledge. But how does it prove you are an expert?

What makes an expert? Sometimes, it is a lifetime of knowledge and experience. At other times, it is a very little bit of knowledge. If a one-eyed man is king in the land of the blind, is a researcher who has done one study an expert in a world that has no studies? One study is rarely definitive.

What about two? How many times does the same result need to be replicated before the answer is fairly reliable? I am not sure the industry is there yet with respect to social media and marketing research.

The usefulness of social media is immediately apparent for the communicators and marketers out there; however, it is a bit of a sticky wicket for researchers. Yes, there is a ton of data out there and conversations are easy to start, but where is the structure? There are bots and crawlers and other devices out there that scrape, troll and grab data from social media: is it reliable data?

And if it isn’t reliable now, will it be better in the future?

Should MRIA be offering training in conducting research with social media? If so, what does that training look like, and who does it? It took

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years to agree that the Internet and panels were actually an accurate methodology. At the rate things change with the Internet and social media, two years from now there may be no such thing as Facebook.

As the Institute for Professional Development and the CMRP evolve, we certainly need to keep track of new developing technologies, and we need to prepare for the inevitability that new paradigms and methodologies will be developed. On top of that, as of 2011 there will be a requirement for (do I really need to remind everyone of this yet again?) maintenance of certification. So it does behoove MRIA to offer courses that are new and exciting and, yes, somewhat the flavour of the day. That is where you, gentle readers, come in.

Let us know. Send us emails, give us suggestions, or send proposals. We are open. Keep in mind, however, that we have a fairly standard model for professional development course delivery: we pay everyone the same; we ask you to deliver a short 45minute educational webinar as part of the course offering; and of course we do not allow you to be overly commercial in terms of marketing other products and services to our students. These are a few simple rules some people can’t live with; but if you can, let us know.

And who will be making the decision on what goes ahead and what doesn’t? I am proud to announce and welcome the elected members of the newly formed Certification Advisory Committee: • Christian Bourque, CMRP • Margaret Brigley, CMRP • David MacDonald, CMRP • Stephen Popiel, CMRP With their sage advice, we will continue to improve the quality educational offerings you have come to expect from MRIA. Rick Hobbs, CMRP, is chair of the Education Portfolio and vice-president of Leger Marketing’s Ottawa office. In his spare time, he constructs structural equation models and facilitates virtual focus groups. He uses his CMRP to defeat the most heinous research problems in public opinion polling. If you have any questions regarding the CMRE, please contact him at rhobbs@Legermarketing.com or (613) 728-0296.

P RO F E SS I O NAL D E VE LO P M E N T

2010-2011 EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM

MRIA Institute for

Professional Development

CANADA’S LEADING PROVIDER OF MARKETING RESEARCH EDUCATION FOR PROFESSIONALS

REGISTER FOR THESE COURSES NOW AND GET TO THE FINISH LINE FASTER! Bundle up for di$count$ when registering for more than one course in the same transaction!

2 courses = 10% off, 3 to 5 courses = 15% off, 6 or more courses = 20% off COURSE TITLE

Conjoint Analysis

CITY

FINAL REGISTRATION

COURSE DATE

VANCOUVER

October 6

October 20

301-Competitive Intelligence, Competitor Benchmarking and Mystery Shopping

TORONTO

October 7

October 21

Whether you need competitive intelligence to counter a competitive threat, benchmark industry leaders to learn about their best practices, or conduct a mystery shop to identify gaps in your sales and service, this fast paced workshop will provide you with the tools and templates to do so.

CALGARY

October 26

November 9

102-Ethical Issues and Privacy in Marketing Research

OTTAWA

October 8

October 22

HALIFAX

October 13

October 27-28

ONLINE

October 29

November 3, 10, 16 12-2 pm daily

CITY

EARLY BIRD REGISTRATION

Conjoint analysis is a highly effective means for better understanding the preferences of consumers for products and services. The day will expose participants to the sequence of tasks involved in a conjoint study, from design through presentation.

(Early Bird – October 12)

Learn about the responsibility of researchers to the public, users of marketing research, clients, and suppliers. In addition, you will learn about the impact of recent privacy legislation on marketing research, both in Canada and abroad.

402-Advanced Analysis Techniques Powerful techniques are available to solve complex marketing problems. This course will take you beyond conventional crosstabs and show you how to get the most out of your research.

Measuring Brand Equity Course is delivered as a webinar!

This informative and applied course teaches participants the fundamentals of brand equity and techniques based on consumer attitudes to measure it.

COURSE TITLE

COURSE DATE

SAVE $100/COURSE!

201-Marketing Research Design: An Applied Course

TORONTO

October 8

November 5

VANCOUVER

October 13

November 10

This course examines the key research designs used in marketing research and provides criteria for selecting the best design to meet the client needs.

302-Market Intelligence Market intelligence, done well, plays a key role in corporate decision making.

This course will provide a managerial level understanding of the basics of MI, and the tools and techniques to undertake it effectively.

For more details or to review the complete 2010-2011 Educational Program and to register online at the MRIA Portal, visit our website at www.mria-arim.ca

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CO LU M N I ST S

Research Registration System (RRS) Gary Offenberger

What is the RRS? MRIA’s Research Registration System (RRS) is a cornerstone self-regulatory mechanism for the marketing, survey and public opinion research and market intelligence industry in Canada.

Since 1994, the RRS has allowed respondents to verify the legitimacy of a research project; helped legislators and regulators differentiate between legitimate survey researchers and unscrupulous telemarketers, phishers, and scammers; and protected the industry from unnecessary and unwanted regulation.

Combined with other self-regulatory initiatives such as MRIA’s Code of Conduct and Good Practice and our Charter of Respondent Rights, the RRS has paid huge dividends in protecting the industry’s positive reputation and good name with Canadians.

Member Requirements

All Gold Seal and Basic Corporate Research Agency members of the association are obligated to register all of their research projects with the RRS, and Client-Side Corporate members are encouraged to require their agency suppliers to do so.

MRIA’s Research Agency Council provides strategic, policy-level oversight of the Research Registration System and receives aggregate data – only on the system’s performance.

Contact

Questions about the Research Registration System should be addressed

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to Sylvie Corbeil-Peloquin, Manager, Member Services, at 1 (888) 602-6742, at (905) 602-6854 ext. 8726, or at scorbeil@mria-arim.ca. In her absence, contact Executive Director Brendan Wycks at (905) 602-6854 ext. 8724 or bwycks@mria-arim.ca.

Registered Companies

POLLARA R.A. Malatest & Associates Ltd. Research Dimensions Research House Inc. Research Now Synovate Ltd. The Logit Group Inc. TNS Canadian Facts Trend Research Inc.

The following companies have registered Gold Seal Corporate Research Agencies research projects with the Research (Pending) Registration System during July and August 2010.

Fresh Squeezed Ideas Gold Seal Corporate Research Agencies

Basic Corporate Research Agencies

Academica Group Advanis Inc. BBM Analytics BBM Canada Bristol Omnifacts Research Campaign Research Consumer Contact Consumer Vision Ltd. Corbin Partners Inc. Corporate Research Associates CRC Research Environics Research Group Ltd. Harris/Decima Inc. Ipsos Reid Corporation Maritz Research Canada Market Probe Canada MarketQuest Research Group Inc. Matrix Research Ltd. MBA Recherche MD Analytics Inc. Nanos Research NRG Research Group Opinion Search Inc. Phase 5 Consulting Group Inc.

Ideaspace Research Justason Market Intelligence Nexus Market Research Inc. Prophis Research & Consulting Inc. Quality Response Inc. Individual Member Organizations

Burak Jacobson Research Partners Inc. R.I.S. Christie SOM Inc.

Gary Offenberger is executive vicepresident at Advanis Inc. He designs and directs quantitative research engagements within the telecommunications, information technology, and financial services industries, among others. He has led complex bundling, line-up, pricing, and product design studies, as well as large and intricate customer loyalty tracking projects. Contact Gary at gary_offenberger@advanis.ca.

CO LU M N I ST S

New Standards updates on MRIA’s code of conduct and other standards issues Donald Williams

Developing Marketing Research Standards for Social Media: Are We There Yet? Over the past two years, social media has become one of the most popular buzz terms in various marketing research forums. Its impact on how data are collected, analysed and processed is discussed at marketing research conferences, in meeting rooms, and in professional journals. For the most part, the conversation has been dominated by technology professionals eager to promote their latest innovations.

Recently, however, part of the discussion on social media and their integration into the marketing research process has shifted to the incorporation of best practices and standards. Organizations such as ESOMAR (European Society for Opinion and Marketing Research), ASC UK Ltd. (Association for Survey Computing) and MRIA have been actively reviewing issues related to the integration of social media in the marketing research process.

One of the questions most frequently asked by fellow marketing researchers is when organizations like MRIA will develop standards and best practices that apply to the use of social media in marketing research. The answer is that we are partially there !

The current MRIA Code of Conduct and Good Practice covers aspects of standards and good practices that are applicable to social media. In this article, I will highlight various aspects of the code that can be applied.

The starting point for any form of marketing research begins with the ten core principles as set out in the MRIA Code of Conduct and Good Practice. All ten principles apply to social media, all

ten are important, and should be applied with equal weights.

Abiding by professional responsibilities.

Marketing researchers are expected to abide by professional standards of marketing research and to follow general ethical principles. I highlight two areas below.

With respect to reporting in general, the code states, “When reporting on the results of a marketing research project, the Researcher must make a clear distinction between the findings as such, the Researcher’s interpretation of these and any recommendations based on them.”

Regarding the integrity of reporting, the code states, “Researchers must not knowingly allow the dissemination of conclusions from a marketing research project which are not adequately supported by the data. They must always be prepared to make available the technical information necessary to assess the validity of any published findings.”

(See also section 9-c of the code.)

Applying social media in a qualitative framework. Current standards for qualitative research apply in situations where social media tools have been integrated into the qualitative tool box.

For example, under the current MRIA Code of Conduct and Good Practice, the following items are applicable to the use of social media tools in marketing research.

With respect to publishing results to a wider audience, the code states, “Where any of the findings of a research project

are published by the Client, the Client has a responsibility to ensure that these are not misleading. The Researcher must be consulted and agree in advance to the form and content of publication. If the Client does not consult with the Researcher in advance and the former makes misleading statements about the research and its findings, the latter has the right to correct the misleading statements publicly.”

With regard to the inclusion of a statement of non-projectability, the code states, “Each qualitative report must include a standard statement emphasizing that the results of the research are not statistically projectable. This caution should be included in the summary and the body of the report. Reports should not include percentages or precise proportions. Expressions such as some, most, or a few, may be used.”

The way forward. Are we there yet?

How close is the marketing research industry to having comprehensive standard guidelines? Several associations are working diligently on providing at least draft guidelines. At this stage, we are partially there, but we have a long road ahead before we get to that final place where marketing research standards reflect the social media environment.

Donald Williams is vice-president and research director at NADbank, the principal research arm of the Canadian newspaper industry. He has worked in market research, telecom pricing strategy, and business forecasting. He can be reached at dwilliams@nadbank.com.

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CI Corner a monthly column that answers questions related to competitive intelligence David Lithwick & Enrico Codogno

Taking Advantage of Social Media to Capture CI There is a wealth of CI within the social media landscape. Customers talk about their needs and experiences on Twitter, Facebook and blogs, so why not take advantage of this information when you need to create a strategy built on leveraging the weaknesses of your competitor?

Dear CI Corner: I have been checking out some blogs where people have been commenting on my competitor’s products. Can you provide some tips on how to take greater advantage of using social media to capture CI? CI Blogger Dear CI Blogger: Here are the tips you ask for.

Identify promising social networks.

Communities and demographics shift in social media venues. Your challenge is to survey continually and make sure you are tuned in to the most appropriate social networks for your objective.

Monitor popular keywords within your industry. For loyalty point providers, it could be “loyalty points,” “travel rewards,” or “Air Miles.”

Focus on blogs where your competitor’s customers complain about the product, price, or customer service.

Look for conversations about trends within your industry. For example, it

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could be chatter about new programs, new players, or new alliances. Then participate in the conversations by providing some insights, ideas or recommendations.

Be an active participant. Create your own profile. It is important to gain credibility in environments you monitor. This means creating and maturing your own social media profiles.

Track important people, that is, the influencers. Start to recognize them so you can better focus and prune your social media monitoring – bringing you better competitive intelligence.

Once you have social network targets and persons to engage with, you need to turn on the firehose. In online circles, this is often referred to as a “river.” It is most often a flow of messages from blogging and Twitter platforms in the form of RSS feeds.

Continually fine-tune your monitoring. Who are the best sources of information? Who tends to break news first? Are there people and websites that do the best analysis? Are there websites that are already doing a good job aggregating social media, saving you a step or two?

Be patient. Building an effective CI monitoring system takes time and effort. You need to constantly observe where competitors and their

communities are communicating. Keep in mind that social media and social networks are constantly in fluctuation.

So there needs to be an ongoing commitment to keeping your listening posts dialed in to your competitor.

Finally, broaden your perspective.

Whatever we think social media are, they are more. Social media are more than blogs, more than Twitter or Facebook or MySpace. Why? Because news and information have gone social. So arguably most, if not all, media are now social media.

THIS MONTH’S THOUGHT CI is first and foremost about understanding your competitors’ strategies, strengths and weaknesses. To do this you need to gain insight into their products, services, tactics, partners and customers. Using blogs is relatively easy and can pay back big dividends when you need to uncover critical weaknesses about your competitors’ product offerings.

“CI Corner” is written by David Lithwick and Enrico Codogno. David is a senior partner at Market Alert and can be reached at david@marketalert.ca or (416) 932-9820. Enrico is with the Customer Foresight Group Limited; he can be reached at enrico@customerforesight.com or (416) 651-0143.

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The Innovation Accelerator monthly perspectives on innovation and creativity Margaret Imai-Compton, CMRP

Trash Your Job! It may be slightly startling and counterintuitive, but the first thing I do in innovation workshops is to get all the participants to trash their jobs. And for what purpose? you may ask.

As long as we hold on to our assigned job roles and responsibilities, we’ll never be entirely free to wander into uncharted territory. On many levels, we’re still working the angles from the perspective of what we “should” or “could” do within the parameters of what we’re compensated to do.

Let me share with you a recent example of an innovation workshop I conducted with senior managers of a service company. The objective of the workshop was to generate new ideas around a service offering.

The participants were all internal stakeholders from a number of different functional departments, from director to senior VP level. Understandably, all were accustomed to having a voice and an audience, and were recognized for their expertise in their fields. The rationale for having this calibre of senior management talent was twofold: leverage the accumulated expertise in each of the functional departments, and harness individual creativity and ingenuity.

But as long as these participants operated within their assigned job titles, it was understandable that their ideas

and contributions would come with the lens of their department and responsibility.

“From the perspective of HR, we’d have to look at next year’s head count.”

“The customer call centre tried something similar, with disastrous results.”

“Corporate affairs tried to do that in the past, but we got shut down.”

What if, instead, the workshop were conducted from a place of possibility, rather than from a place of responsibility?

How could we maximize possibility from participants?

By trashing their jobs! And this is how it’s done.

At the outset of the workshop, participants are asked for their business card (or job title and department, written on a piece of paper). The facilitator then walks around to each participant and instructs him or her to deposit business card or job title in a garbage bag. Once all the cards are collected, the bag is tied up and tossed into the wastepaper basket.

“You’ve just trashed your job! So for the duration of the workshop, you’re free to contribute your ideas as an individual.

You’re not constrained by what you can or cannot do within your job or your department. I’ll give you back your jobs at the end of the workshop.”

Initially, there is nervous chatter and confused silence. But within moments, the mood among the participants changes.

“That feels good, subtle but clever.” “ I can do that. I can totally do that.”

“Do I have to take my job back at the end of the day?”

“Trash Your Job” gives tangible permission to go beyond the fence around a job and contribute creatively from a place of curiosity and imagination. It is easy, requires no elaborate props or set-up, and can be used effectively in any situation or meeting that requires broad, boundless thinking.

Having used this simple exercise in dozens of workshops and meetings, I’ve never had anyone come back and ask for his or her job back!

Margaret Imai-Compton, MLIS, CMRP, CUG, is principal of Imai-Compton Consulting Inc. She has been a focus group moderator and innovation facilitator in Canada and the U.S. for over 25 years. Contact Margaret at margaret@imaicompton.com or (416) 221-7661.

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Client-Side Insights an update from the Client-Side Researcher Council Joseph Chen

How to Be an Authentic Ethnographer Have you ever asked whether the ethnographic projects you are running within your organization reflect true ethnographic methodology?

The term ethnography has been overused in market research practice in so many different ways. Most of the socalled ethnographic projects that I ran in the past were two hours long, including a 1.5 hour one-on-one indepth interview and a thirty-minute house or grocery shopping tour. Sound familiar? If you recall ethnography from your academic days, it is a technique that is unobtrusive and based on pure observation, where the researcher becomes immersed within the culture that he or she is studying and draws data from totally natural observations.

It is obvious that in our fast-paced market research industry, spending months immersed in consumer cultures is not possible, as our research projects normally need to be completed in one or two months in order to impact our business decisionmaking. However, when I learned about the “authentic ethnography” approach developed by Ava Lindberg of SunResearch, I discovered that nothing is impossible when you want to bring “purity” to ethnography in the market research industry.

Ava has written a few articles and conducted various industry presentations on her world of authentic ethnography. She suggests that authentic ethnography is optimally defined as a distinct process guided by seven principles: 36

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1. Each ethnographic study involves between twelve and twenty individual ethnographies, each around four hours in length.

2. All ethnographic observations are ideally conducted only during the time that consumers’ natural behaviour is or might actually be observed.

I have been following Ava’s principles on a few internal projects that I have led along with my business partners at Unilever. These are excellent principles to leverage internally on your own if you are hosting a few global senior leaders who want to learn about Canadian consumers. As well, these principles can help in getting agency

As social ecologist Peter Drucker observed, ‘I never predict. I just look out the window and see what is visible – but not yet seen.’

3. A core client team is trained in authentic ethnography, and then selected team members accompany the lead ethnographer inside every ethnography. Client observers focus on an auditory or visual role in datagathering observations.

4. The inside process emphasizes quiet, spontaneous observation using “soft eyes” as the technique’s crown jewel.

5. Staging of respondent behaviour is eliminated or minimized.

6. A prescreening qualitative mechanism is used to choose the optimal set of ethnographic respondents.

7. The ethnographer and the client team take part in an ideation and debriefing process after each ethnography.

partners engaged with consumers prior to your marketing planning sessions, or in small core-team projects that involve understanding consumers.

The reality is that there are a lot of opportunities for client-side researchers to challenge our qualitative research partners by bringing more purity to the ethnographic work that we do. It is not always going to be perfect, but these small steps will certainly help us uncover the deeper consumer insights that we are constantly looking for.

These principles have certainly worked their magic for me.

Joseph Chen is a consumer and market insights manager and leads consumer insights on spreads, dressings, tea, ice cream and ethnic businesses at Unilever Canada. Joseph teaches research methods at the University of Guelph and currently serves on the board of the CSRC. He can be reached at joseph.chen@unilever.com.

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Qual Col directional, not definitive – but connected nonetheless Mike Flanagan

Social Media: One Piece of the Digital Puzzle The emergence of the digital world has caused a significant shift for both marketers and consumers alike over the past years. The Internet has opened up new modes of communication, increasing the reach of information around the world and fostering a new era in forming and maintaining relationships. As this new realm continues to grow and evolve, marketers are looking for the newest trends with a constant eye out for new opportunities on which to capitalize.

In recent years, our industry has been buzzing about the emergence of social media. The growth and usage of social networking sites such as Facebook, microblogs like Twitter, and location-based platforms like Foursquare promise yet another digital revolution. Consumers can now connect with others in ways never before possible, linking themselves with other people, brands and companies at a global scale. But while these relationships grow, consumers also have new expectations for them; many consumers do not want to be “simply marketed to” anymore.

Aware of these powerful new tools, companies are, increasingly, looking for ways to get involved, anxious to be part of the social media landscape.

However, though marketers know they need to transition into the digital world, many do not know how to take advantage of the opportunities.

While social media provide marketers with valuable tools to help

spark relationships with their consumers, creating deeper bonds and stronger brand affinity, it is important not to focus too intently on this area of the digital environment.

Relationships with the technology are increasingly complex and multifaceted and, in order to achieve success with their online marketing efforts (including social media), marketers need to embrace a holistic view of their consumers’ digital world, learning how all the pieces fit together.

For example, searching for product information often begins not with a company’s website but with a search engine. The information with which consumers are provided is often determined by Google or Bing, not by a carefully crafted digital marketing effort. Because of this fact, it is important for marketers to gain a deeper understanding of their customers’ experience of the digital world, learning how they engage with everything: professional and amateur websites, YouTube, smartphones, social networks, blogs, microblogs, and discussion forums. The interplay between all these variables is incredibly complex and, to many consumers, no single element is more important than any other.

Because qualitative research is, in essence, a methodology built around exploring the interplay of attitude, perception and behaviour, it is ideal for reading the complexity of the consumer’s digital world. It is not enough simply to put your product or service on Facebook or Twitter; if your customer is not visiting your profile or following you, the effort is wasted.

Qualitative research can be used to gather in-depth intelligence about the subtle behavioural cues leading consumers to navigate all forms of technology. It can help you to understand what inspires trust in online sources, what strengthens bonds with brands on social networks, and what the barriers to connecting you to your consumers online are. In this era of digital content, new qualitative approaches are continually being created in order to gather deeper insights and uncover the nuanced drivers of this new digital world.

Mike Flanagan is a qualitative researcher with Ipsos Camelford Graham. Coming from a psychology background, he applies his deep intellectual curiosity about human nature to his research. He can be reached at Mike.Flanagan@Ipsos.com.

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