MRIA VUE Magazine, July-August 2013 - Part 2

the magazine of the Marketing Research and Intelligence Association JULY/AUGUST 2013

BRAVE NEW WORLD VOTING IN CANADA: RUMINATIONS FROM THE EAST ADVERTISING TO CANADIANS WITH BEER, JOIE DE VIVRE, AND SID LEE

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PERSPECTIVES

ON POLLING

vue JULY/AUGUST 2013

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

In this month’s features: Cover: Brian Singh (L to R) Cam Davis, Peter MacIntosh, James Debner, Catherine Yuile, Paul DesBarres

ADDRESS

SPECIAL FEATURE 10

PERSPECTIVES ON POLLING Brian Singh

FEATURES 12 BRAVE NEW WORLD Cam Davis, FMRIA, CMRP 16 VOTING IN CANADA: RUMINATIONS FROM THE EAST Peter MacIntosh, CMRP and James Debner 18 ADVERTISING TO CANADIANS WITH BEER, JOIE DE VIVRE, AND SID LEE Catherin Yuile 22 WE BRING CITIZEN ENGAGEMENT

Paul DesBarres

COMMENTARY 4 Editor’s Vue 5 Letter from the President 6 Letter from the Interim Executive Director

INSTITUTE FOR PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT 24 Core and Professional Development (PD) Courses

INDUSTRY NEWS 25 Research Registration System (RRS) 26 Chapter Chat 27 Qualitative Research Registry (QRR) 28 People and Companies in the News

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, CMRP, Vice President, GfK Custom Research NA Tel: (905) 277-2669 x 242 Mobile: (416) 358-5062 Stephen.Popiel@gfk.com EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Annie Pettit PhD, Chief Research Officer, Conversition (416) 273-9395 apettit@conversition.com MANAGING EDITOR Anne Marie Gabriel, MRIA amgabriel@mria-arim.ca ASSOCIATE EDITOR Christian Mueller, PhD, CMRP (647) 855-5088 christianmuellerphd@gmail.com COPY EDITOR Siegfried Betterman Interested in joining the Vue editorial team?

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Publishing Date: July/August © 2013.

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Editor’s Vue Annie Pettit

O Canada!

Ô Canada!

We chow down on Timbits, BeaverTails and Nanaimo bars, and we love our Mounties, maple leaves, and the Great White North.

Nous dévorons des Timbits, des queues de castor et des barres Nanaimo, et nous adorons notre Gendarmerie royale du Canada, notre feuille d’érable et notre Grand Nord.

Though our research methods, data analysis techniques, and presentation tools are the same as anywhere else in the world, our Canadianisms make us unique. We write surveys with phrases like “Please share your opinions” and “Thank you for your assistance.” We consciously consider whether our clients would like their reports to be written with spellings like colour, cheque, and calibre, or with color, check, and caliber. We ask whether a French translation would be helpful rather than assume that English will work for everyone. We’re nice that way.

Our Canadianisms mean that research results gathered in the U.S. – our nearest neighbour and arguably the country most culturally similar to our own – don’t always generalize to Canada. If that weren’t complicated enough, research results gathered from our dear Newfoundland fishermen won’t even generalize to our Vancouver fitness freaks, let alone to our prairie farmers or our Francophone friends.

Nous utilisons les mêmes méthodes de recherche, techniques d’analyse et outils de présentation utilisés partout dans le monde, malgré tout, notre canadianisme nous distingue par rapport aux autres peuples dans le monde. Nous préparons des sondages posant des questions comme « Veuillez partager vos opinions » et « Merci d’avoir participé à notre sondage ».

Nous portons une attention particulière pour nous assurer que l’orthographe des mots comme couleur, chèque et calibre utilisés dans les rapports convient à nos clients. Nous leur demandons si une traduction en français serait utile plutôt que de tenir pour acquis que la version anglaise est suffisante pour tous. Nous sommes très courtois, n’est-ce pas?

Notre canadianisme signifie que les résultats de la recherche effectuée aux États-Unis – notre plus proche voisin et, on peut soutenir, le pays le plus similaire culturellement au nôtre – ne s’appliquent pas au Canada généralement. Pour compliquer la chose, les résultats de la recherche effectuée par nos chers pêcheurs à Terre-Neuve ne s’appliquent pas aux mordus de la forme à Vancouver, sans parler des fermiers dans les Prairies et de nos amis francophones.

Stereotypes aside, our beloved Canada is diverse in geography, culture, psychographics and, consequently, research results. There is no one-size-fits-all when it comes to research in Canada.

En faisant abstraction des stéréotypes, notre Canada chéri est diversifié sur le plan géographique, culturel, psychographique et, conséquemment, les résultats de la recherche le sont tout autant. Il n’y a pas de formule unique s’appliquant partout au Canada dans le domaine de la recherche.

I know I live in one of the greatest countries in the world, especially when it comes to research, for we can freely take heated debates about transparency, ethics, and polling practices to our newspapers, blogs and magazines.

Indeed, in the last few months, Canada has seen a lot of these debates, and a lot of criticisms, about our research practices. Those conversations continue in this issue of Vue, but they certainly don’t end here. In the coming weeks, we’d love to have your reactions to the issues published in the MRIA blog. Just email me to get involved.

Je sais que je vie dans un des meilleurs pays au monde, particulièrement pour ce qui est de la recherche, parce que nous pouvons argumenter librement concernant la transparence, l’éthique et les pratiques de sondage des journaux, des blogues et des magazines. En effet, au cours des derniers mois, plusieurs débats ont eu lieu au Canada, suscitant plusieurs critiques concernant nos pratiques de recherche. Ces conversations se poursuivent dans cette édition du magazine Vue, et pour les éditions à venir sans doute. Au cours des prochaines semaines, nous solliciterons vos réactions sur les numéros publiés dans le blogue de l’ARIM. Pour participer, vous n’avez qu’à m’envoyer un courriel.

Go, Canada, eh!

Canada. De l’avant!

Annie Pettit PhD, Chief Research Officer / Directrice de la Recherche, Conversition Editor-in-Chief, Vue / Rédactrice en chef, Vue • Email: apettit@conversition.com • (416) 273-9395 • t @LoveStats

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Letter from the President Anastasia Arabia

Bridging the Gap: Making Our National Conference a ‘Must’ in the Schedule The conference team, led by Tim McCutcheon, put on an outstanding 2013 national conference. Supported by the MRIA office, conference volunteers, chapter presidents and regional boards, this conference truly was the result of amazing talent and the teamwork of a very large and diverse group of members. This conference had a record 66 speakers, many keynotes, and very elegant social events to round out our three days.

Between wine tastings and strolls by the Falls, some 380 researchers were learning how to bridge the gaps – gaps between researchers and clients, objectives and budgets, changing technologies and standards. Many diverse opinions by a variety of leading speakers made for lively and well-rounded discussions, and perhaps this was most true at the panel on political polling.

Our MRIA national conference is a yearly “must” in my schedule. I can count on getting together with colleagues from across the country, meeting new suppliers and clients, hearing from leaders in our field, and finding out where our industry is headed. I know, by the time we raise our glasses at the Gala Evening, I will be truly inspired and reinvigorated. Together, between educational talks, we carve out time for great conversations, plan times to work together in the future, and learn from each other.

As we move into conference planning mode for MRIA 2014, I would like us, together, to begin thinking about bridging another gap – the one between what members want and what your MRIA is offering. Please take a moment to share your thoughts on what would make our national conference a “must” in your schedule.

Combler les écarts : Faire de notre conférence nationale un « incontournable » à inscrire au calendrier L’équipe de la conférence, dirigée par Tim McCutcheon, a préparé une conférence nationale exceptionnelle pour 2013.

Appuyée par le bureau de l’ARIM, les bénévoles, les présidents de chapitre et les conseils régionaux, cette conférence est réellement le résultat de l’amalgame des talents et du travail d’équipe d’un grand groupe de membres très diversifié. Cette conférence a reçu le nombre inégalé de 66 orateurs, plusieurs étant des orateurs d’honneur, et offrait plusieurs événements sociaux très élégants pour conclure la conférence.

Entre les dégustations de vin et les marches près des chutes, quelque 380 chercheurs ont appris comment combler divers écarts – celui entre les chercheurs et les clients, celui entre les objectifs et les budgets, et celui entre les technologies changeantes et les normes. Une variété d’orateurs principaux ont exprimé diverses opinions, ce qui a rendu les discussions bien animées et enrichissantes, particulièrement lors des discussions du panel sur le sondage politique.

Notre conférence nationale de l’ARIM est un « incontournable » annuel à inscrire au calendrier. Je m’attends à rencontrer des collègues de partout au pays ainsi que de nouveaux fournisseurs et clients, à entendre les discours des chefs de file dans notre domaine, et à comprendre vers où se dirige notre industrie. Je sais que je sortirai de la soirée de gala revigorée et inspirée. Entre les discussions sur l’éducation, nous prenons le temps de tenir des conversations stimulantes, de planifier nos travaux futurs ensemble et de nous informer mutuellement.

En préparation à notre conférence nationale de l’ARIM pour 2014, j’aimerais que nous réfléchissions ensemble à d’autres écarts à combler – entre autres, celui entre ce que les membres veulent et l’offre de l’ARIM. Veuillez prendre un instant pour partager vos suggestions pour faire de notre conférence nationale un « incontournable » à inscrire au calendrier.

Anastasia Arabia, Partner / Partenaire, Trend Research Inc. President, Marketing Research and Intelligence Association / Présidente, L’Association de la recherche et de l’intelligence marketing Email: anastasia@trendresearch.ca • 780-485-6558 ext./poste 2003

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Message from the Interim Executive Director John Ball, CMRP

Poll Today, Vote Tomorrow

Sondage aujourd’hui, vote demain

Why did so many polls, a few from our member firms,

Pourquoi tant de sondages, certains auprès de nos entreprises membres, n’ont-ils pas permis de prédire le résultat de la récente élection provinciale en ColombieBritannique?

miss the mark in predicting the outcome of the recent BC provincial election?

Polling dates back to the early 1800s, when convenience-based, “man on the street” straw polls were being used to get a read of where public sentiment rested in relation to candidates, their platforms, news of the day that might or might not have an impact on voters’ allegiance and, importantly, how they intended to vote when it came to election day.

As the telephone became omnipresent, so too came the advent of polling results that could be projected to an entire population. Voter turnout was much higher than today and easier to rely upon. All of a sudden, politicians were being held accountable to the court of public opinion.

When media and political parties began to commission well-constructed polls, there was no shortage of publicly available information, leading up to any election, from polling firms that seemed to provide a calming semblance of trust that the sentiment of the day would likely be the same tomorrow or even the next day.

We had created a reasonable expectation that we could predict what would happen when the election actually came around. Public opinion polling was no longer limited to political outcomes and became rampant. We had found our way of demonstrating the democracy of public opinion.

These practices are still valid today but are housed in a world where the public is constantly bombarded with information that can change opinions instantly and where voter turnout is variable and unreliable. We have

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La pratique du sondage remonte au début du 19e siècle, alors que, pour des raisons de commodité, des votes d’essai auprès de « l’homme de la rue » étaient utilisés pour déterminer leur impression par rapport aux candidats, leur plate-forme électorale, les nouvelles du jour orientant ou non l’allégeance des électeurs et, plus important encore, pour qui ils ont l’intention de voter de jour de l’élection.

L’avènement de l’omniprésence des communications téléphoniques a permis de faire des projections à partir des résultats des sondages pour une population entière.

Beaucoup plus de gens participaient au scrutin que de nos jours et on pouvait se fier à cette participation électorale.

Soudainement, les politiciens devaient rendre des comptes devant la cour de l’opinion publique.

Lorsque les médias et les partis politiques ont commencé à commander des sondages bien construits, il y avait une abondance de renseignements disponibles publiquement avant toute élection, renseignements fournis par des groupes de sondage offrant une impression réconfortante que le sentiment du jour sera le même demain et le surlendemain sans doute. Nous avions créé une attente raisonnable que nous étions en mesure de prédire les résultats le jour de l’élection. Les sondages d’opinion ne se limitaient plus aux résultats politiques et se sont multipliés. Nous avions trouvé notre façon de démontrer la démocratie de l’opinion publique.

Ces pratiques demeurent valides de nos jours, mais elles s’appliquent dans un monde où l’opinion publique est constamment bombardée par de l’information pouvant modifiée les opinions du public et où la participation électorale est variable et imprévisible. La société a bien changé depuis les débuts du sondage, et les sondages ainsi

COM M E N TARY / COMMEN TAI R E

come a long way since the early days of polling, and our polls and pollsters are an important part of the “public view” that the marketing research profession enjoys.

So what could have gone wrong this time?

To begin with, it seems unlikely that the polling companies changed their approaches for this election.

Importantly, the more typical pattern of some “who got it right” and others “who were way off” didn’t occur in this case, with everyone missing the mark.

When convenience sampling–based approaches are employed, they promise the immediacy that we demand.

Polls for media consumption come from any number of sources, free of charge and very fast. If appropriate checks and balances are observed (and aligned with the MRIA standards that we have evolved in line with other globally accepted standards, such as AAPOR), the methodologies will work. With some media being less critical of the how, we have landed on a spot that is arguably just one of better, cheaper, faster – the last of these in some cases. So caveat emptor couldn’t be a more appropriate conclusion in this case.

Which brings me to my next point: With methodological trade-offs in mind, all polls work to paint a picture of outcomes at the time the polls are conducted. That is why polls are repeated with greater frequency towards voting day. With so many polling firms incorrectly predicting a different future outcome of the BC election than was observed, there is better evidence that this misalignment had more to do with something other than simply the polling methods used.

Even the politicians agree.

“In an interview with The Globe and Mail, Mr. Dix conceded that while the party may have had a large lead at the outset of the campaign, his gut always told him it was never as big as the pollsters were saying.” – The Globe and Mail, May 25, 2013 Our polls also continue to have results that nobody would reasonably expect to be predictive of any outcome. The undecided group provides no real information on its voting intentions. Many who declared an intention to vote a certain way don’t vote. Voters who were undecided at the time of polling become decided

que les sondeurs sont d’importantes sources d’information sur « l’opinion publique » qui sont très appréciées par les professionnels en recherche marketing.

Pourquoi nous sommes-nous trompés cette fois-ci?

D’abord, il est peu probable que les sondeurs aient changé leurs approches pour cette élection particulière.

Vraiment, le modèle typique où certains « ont correctement prédis les résultats » et d’autres « se sont complètement trompés » ne s’est pas appliqué dans ce cas. En fait, tout le monde s’est trompé.

L’utilisation par commodité d’approches basées sur l’échantillonnage répond à notre demande pour des résultats immédiats. Les sondages préparés pour la consommation médiatique proviennent de diverses sources, et les résultats sont disponibles gratuitement très rapidement. Si les freins et les contrepoids appropriés sont mis en application (et conformes aux normes de l’ARIM basées sur des normes internationales acceptées comme l’AAPOR), les méthodologies fonctionnent. Étant donné que certains médias se préoccupent moins du comment, on peut dire que nous sommes maintenant dans une situation où la préoccupation n’est que d’obtenir le meilleur, moins cher et plus rapidement – et seulement « plus rapidement » dans certains cas. Ainsi, caveat emptor est une conclusion tout à fait appropriée dans ce cas.

Ce qui m’amène à mon prochain point. En considérant les options de méthodologies, tous les sondages servent à peindre un portrait des résultats « au moment du sondage ».

C’est pourquoi la fréquence des sondages augmente dans les jours menant au jour du scrutin. Le fait que tant de sondeurs ont prédit un résultat différent pour la future élection en Colombie-Britannique que celui observé le jour du scrutin est une évidence que ce désalignement est causé par autre chose que les méthodes de sondage utilisées. Même les politiciens sont d’accord.

« Lors d’une entrevue pour le Globe and Mail, monsieur Dix a admis que malgré que le parti avait une grande avance au début de la campagne, ses tripes lui disaient que cet avantage n’était pas aussi considérable que l’affirmaient les sondeurs. » – The Globe and Mail, 25 mai 2013.

Nos sondages ont continué de produire des résultats ne permettant à quiconque de prédire raisonnablement un résultat quelconque. Le groupe des « indécis » n’offre aucun renseignement pertinent sur leur intention de vote.

Plusieurs répondants déclarent une intention de vote et ne votent pas le jour du scrutin. Les électeurs n’étaient pas « indécis » lorsqu’ils ont voté cette fois-ci. Plus important

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and cast their vote. More importantly, decided voters

encore, selon nos sondages, les électeurs indécis qui

who, according to our polls, have a candidate firmly in

avaient l’intention ferme de voter pour un candidat en

mind actually don’t cast a vote or change their mind at the last minute. Intentions differ from actions, and not in equal numbers across all party lines.

When forensically minded pundits ask what went

particulier ne vont pas voter le jour du scrutin ou change d’avis à la dernière minute. Les intentions diffèrent des actes, et les nombres varient parmi toutes les lignes de parti.

Lorsque les pontes spécialisés dans le domaine

wrong from polls to voting results, there is a good

judiciaire demandent pourquoi les sondages n’ont pas

reason why they turn to professional pollsters for

permis de prédire les résultats du vote, il est évident qu’ils

answers. Pollsters have developed a keen instinct for the factors – inside and outside the poll – that contribute to the actual outcome. They live and breathe this

s’adresseront aux sondeurs pour obtenir des réponses. Les sondeurs ont développé un instinct aiguisé pour déterminer les facteurs – internes et externes au sondage – ayant contribué au résultat réel. Les sondeurs sont constamment

insight, and their opinions and expertise matter. That

à l’affût de ces facteurs, et leurs opinions et leur expertise

is why many of our member firm pollsters have now

comptent. Ainsi, plusieurs de nos sondeurs membres

turned their attention to developing better models for

ont tourné leur attention vers l’élaboration d’un modèle

predicting voter turnout.

My final point is to reinforce that there is ample evidence that properly constructed quantitative research

permettant de prédire la participation électorale.

En conclusion, il existe suffisamment de preuves que la recherche quantitative bien construite est utile pour les entreprises, le secteur de l’enseignement et les

provides value to business, education and government.

gouvernements. La fonction de la recherche marketing

The business of marketing research is to inform

est d’informer les entreprises sur les meilleurs moyens

companies how to position products and deliver services

de positionner leurs produits et fournir leurs services en

with the voice of the customer as context. Most research is designed to be relevant to a very specific “point in time” and valuable for a very specific time-dependent

se fondant sur l’opinion de la clientèle. La majorité de la recherche est conçue pour être pertinente pendant une « période » très spécifique et est valable à des fins très spécifiques dans le temps, des raisons très différentes de

purpose, and precisely for reasons that are far from what

celles considérées par les sondeurs durant des élections.

pollsters are challenged to do around elections. We

Nous poursuivons la recherche, en répétant la même

continue to conduct research and even repeat research

recherche s’il le faut, parce que nous savons que les

because we expect opinions to change and vary over time in the context of changing market dynamics.

If you would like to join the conversation, please visit the MRIA LinkedIn page and join the polling discussion.

opinions changent et varient avec le temps dans le contexte des dynamiques de marché.

Pour vous joindre à la conversation, visitez la page LinkedIn de l’ARIM et inscrivez-vous à la discussion sur le sondage.

John Ball, CMRP, Interim Executive Director /Directeur général intérimaire Marketing Research and Intelligence Association / L’Association de la recherche et de l’intelligence marketing Email: jball@mria-arim.ca • (905) 602-6854 ext./poste 8724

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PERSPECTIVES ON

POLLING Brian Singh

Our industry has a problem with political polling, a problem that needs clear thought and action.

While I had done political polling before, it was a new experience doing it for a political campaign. Amidst discussion of a “surprise result” in Calgary’s 2010 municipal election, I realized that political observers and the media were ignoring some basic fundamentals in understanding and analysing polls. It was useless to consider an entire electorate when turnout was projected to be low. This latter phenomenon has driven my interest in the state of polling in Canada.

The facts presented in the full article and available on the MRIA blog – from provincial elections in Alberta and British Columbia – are clear, and I encourage readers to review the results discussed.

I reviewed numerous reports of polls in the media, reports by industry groups and associations, and compliance protocols; interviewed thought leaders on the topic; and delved into my own analysis and commentary on my blog, in The Globe and Mail, and on CBC Radio and Television.

The thought leaders interviewed included a number of luminaries: • D r. Keith Brownsey, professor of Policy Studies, Mount Royal University, Calgary • B arbara Justason, principal of Justason Marketing Intelligence, Vancouver (@barbjustason) • É ric Grenier, founder of ThreeHundredEight.com (@308dotcom) • D r. Darrell Bricker, global CEO at Ipsos Public Affairs, Toronto (@darrellbricker) • J effrey Henning, CEO of Researchscape, Norwell, MA (@ jhenning) • F rank Graves, president and founder of EKOS Research Associates, Ottawa (@VoiceofFranky) • M ichael Mokrzycki, president of Mokrzycki Survey Research Services, Massachusetts (@mikemokr).

Much of the dialogue on polling – regarding its problems, quality protocols and future – is happening on Twitter. I encourage all readers, if they have not done so already, to follow these individuals there.

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Where Do We Go from Here?

Just throwing money at the problem is not a solution. We are in a new world of low voter turnouts, multiple communication technologies, widespread use of social media platforms, and parties’ employment of geo-demographic targeting and sophisticated voter identification methods in finding supporters. These have dramatically affected the political polling business. And pollsters have been slow to adjust, or they have not been evolving their skills – or both.

The science of polling is evolving, and it has to continue to evolve. The “horse race” dimension is damaging our reputation, and we are losing the public’s trust. Corporate leaders are posing questions about the accuracy and quality of our work.

Thoughtful, more transparent polling is what is being asked of the industry.

We have numerous and emerging realities, and things are only going to get more challenging. Emerging trends will be amplified: new players will always enter the market seeking to build their reputations by giving away their findings, and aggregators (serving as third party evaluators) will likely become our spokespersons. However, I believe that this is a good time to reflect and set a firm course of action. This can also be MRIA’s time to shine and provide leadership on a very public issue.

I propose the following points for our association, and for the polling ecosystem, to consider.

Focusing on quality control. We need to focus on diligence, transparency and disclosure. While many are already diligent, we need to pay greater attention to stratified and structured samples. And we need to be transparent about how data collection and analysis are undertaken. Further, we need to post a full disclosure of data collection (including sample sources and field protocols), weighting schemes, and whether a poll was commissioned or part of an omnibus survey. Data sets should also be available for review and, ideally, subject to ongoing academic review. Integral to improving the quality of results is more nuanced polling – moving beyond the horse race and building stronger data integrity.

Media disclosure. MRIA needs, immediately, to establish more stringent reporting standards and to work with Canada’s print,

S P ECIAL F EATUR E

electronic and digital media outlets to adopt and enforce these standards. There are many examples out there – grab them, take the best ideas, and make sure the media adopt them, too.

Oversight. In times of crisis, other jurisdictions have undertaken inquiries into their polling industry. While MRIA may lack the clout to do this, we can provide leadership. It would be great to set up a Canadian Association for Public Opinion Research (CAPOR?), but it might be more realistic to become a national chapter of AAPOR. Adoption of its resources and protocols as well as its dissemination of education resources – within a Canadian context – would be a positive step.

Establishment of an online information database to inform polling. The onus is on us to collect, review and triangulate as much data as we can before we design a poll. MRIA could consider establishing a “pay to play” central database that pulls in and organizes all political data from social media platforms – including hashtags (e.g., #cdnpoli, #bcpoli, #ableg, #onvote), blogs, articles (e.g., media clipping service), and other types of commentary – that can be analysed to assess emerging issues and trends that can be used to inform polling questions.

Establishing a forum to discuss how these data are used in questionnaires and methodologies could serve as a valuable complement. A potential partnership with The Hill Times ?

Could this be an opportunity for app development? Canadian political geeks will be all over it.

A real experiment. While this may be a call to return to first principles, I think an in-depth project with real-time research on research is required. I propose that our industry look toward the 2015 federal election, and work with media and academics to collaborate and co-create an introspective, future-oriented national polling project. It can be multi-modal but, more importantly, we can build our inventory of insight and (using YouTube, Google+ Hangouts, and podcasts) dialogue on preparing for and polling during an election.

Aspects such as A/B testing, broad population versus voting populations, and analysis of swing ridings only could be conducted. Aggregators, who benefit from our work, could be brought in to provide another critical perspective. MRIA should coordinate this endeavour.

While the emergent media/pollster business model requires careful examination, the current business model of the media overrides any quick resolution of the “fast and cheap” polling problem. I have stopped short of advocating for publishing only polls that are paid for, or for labelling free poll results as “advertorial.” This project is going to take a lot of money (I am not delusional about it), but it is our reputation and public trust in our industry that are at stake.

MRIA should approach foundations, think tanks and all levels of government to seek out the funding to pursue these recommendations (including possible use of grants from Scientific Research and Experimental Development, SR&ED, and the Industrial Research Assistance Program, IRAP). The rest of the funds can come from industry, with substantial sweat equity, and finally from the media. Ultimately, the project will be transformative and will serve as a Lean review of our industry and ecosystem.

Poor polling is a symptom, not a cause, of weak voter turnout.

While voter turnout will continue to plague our elections, at least we can begin putting to rest any problems and beliefs associated with suspect polling and its subsequent reporting.

Helpful Resources American Association for Public Opinion Research – http://www.aapor.org/Home.htm Associated Press Stylebook ’s “On Polls and Surveys” – http://ralphehanson.com/blog/ap_poll.html “The New York Times Polling Standards” – http://www.nytimes.com/ref/us/politics/10_polling_standards.html BBC’s “Opinion Polls, Surveys, Questionnaires, Votes and Straw Polls: Guidance in Full” – http://www.bbc.co.uk/editorialguidelines/page/guidance-polls-surveys-full Nate Silver’s “Which Polls Fared Best (and Worst) in the 2012 Presidential Race” – http://fivethirtyeight.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/11/10/which-pollsfared-best-and-worst-in-the-2012-presidential-race/ CBC’s The Current, “The Power of Polls” (May 16 2013) – http://www.cbc.ca/thecurrent/episode/2013/05/16/the-power-of-polls/

Editor’s comment: This article is an extract of a much longer, thought-provoking article that is available on the MRIA blog. In addition, all of the thought leader interviews will be posted over the coming weeks. I strongly encourage you to visit http://mriablog. wordpress.com/?s=polling to read the full articles and exchange opinions with other thought leaders on this topic.

http://mriablog.wordpress.com/

Brian Singh is the founder and catalyst at zinc tank as well as a data scientist with a solid track record in branding, business strategy, and content marketing. He is also a regular voice in the media, notably as a weekly panellist on the CBC’s Calgary Evening News and as a columnist with The Globe and Mail.

Brian can be reached at brian@zinc-tank.com vue July/August 2013

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BRAVE NEW WORLD Cam Davis, FMRIA, CMRP

For many years, as a principal researcher for the Conference Board of Canada, I sat on a provincial-federal government committee that was mandated to survey travellers and measure tourism dollars that crisscrossed our Canadian borders. How many Canadians travelled abroad, and how much did they spend? The whole exercise created a satellite account, which became part of the total GDP picture.

Ironically, huge amounts of data cross these borders electronically every millisecond. They do not travel by car, air or bus. Data are transferred freely and seamlessly. No passport control. No Canadian security guards. No homeland security.

Yes, I know we are tracked by cookies and other means, but that is another story.

The purpose of this article is to say that much of marketing research transcends national borders. Every time we browse, data cross a border. Emails that are sent across Canada actually travel through servers located outside the country. The premise is that marketing research flourishes across borders; it is a global industry.

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In the most recent Global Market Research Report, ESOMAR estimated that the traditional world marketing research industry generated revenues of approximately US$33.5 billion, of which Canada’s share is $729 million.

Globally, we are eleventh in terms of market share turnover.

There are excellent marketing research opportunities in Canada, as evidenced by the presence of international firms that are headquartered outside of Canada. These companies would not be conducting business here unless there were a thriving market, and they likely account for a large part of the Canadian market pie. These international firms also hire many Canadians. New methods, sophisticated tools, and a client knowledge base are shared internally across the enterprise of marketing research, no matter where the firms are located geographically. In a similar way, most of the larger Canadian-owned headquarters in Canada also have a presence outside of Canada.

As with shoes, T-shirts and computers, most of our everyday software tools originate outside of Canada. In many cases, they are “technically” free. Google, Hotmail, Wordle,

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LinkedIn, OS, SurveyMonkey, and Android operating systems come to mind. These services transcend boundaries.

This open access allows a level playing field for almost anyone entering online marketing research.

There’s no need to purchase a hundred-person telephone call station anymore. VoIP practically eliminates long distance charges from any telecom service provider. Computers are pretty cheap. Cloud storage is much cheaper. Flikr now offers one terabyte of free cloud storage, and soon other services will follow suit. Virtual office space and online collaboration are giveaways compared to bricks-and-mortar and travelling.

In this brave new world, one can easily start up a company, given access to the ready availability of scalable software platforms. The new keys to technology are APIs (application programming interfaces) and apps. Some companies are moving from the browser to the app, as mobile becomes more prevalent. Most marketing research companies are building apps, as Apple and Android tablets and smartphones continue to expand. Many companies have API feeds into Twitter, Facebook or other social media sources.

Simon Chadwick of Cambiar, a speaker at Net Gain 7.0 this past January, revealed that investment in the marketing research, information and analytics areas by private equity

and venture capital in 2012 was “not just a stellar year; it was a galactic one.� Over $1.7 billion was invested in 2012.

However, only a paltry $1.5 million of that was invested specifically in traditional marketing research. The areas that are receiving the bulk of investment are big data, social media, mobile and crowdsourcing.

There are many opportunities for Canadian research to exist in this brand new world that is attracting new investment. The key question is whether we can change fast enough. Our industry has experienced accelerated change and, concomitantly, so have other industries. Neither are standing still. A firm called Outsell Inc. estimated that the new emerging industry adds $24 billion dollars over and beyond the traditional global marketing research industry, which is growing at only 0.4 per cent. The new emerging industry is growing about 8 per cent per annum. Outsell Inc. includes social media, business intelligence, analytics, marketing intelligence, and new emerging areas like neuroscience, gamification, and text analytics.

Clearly, growth of 8 per cent is a good area to be in, but is it our playing field? Many companies are already market leaders in this area. We are not alone in the analytics and insights industry. At the last Net Gain conference, we invited

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speakers from IBM and Google to show us their analytics offers. From my perspective, it looked very similar to what some research companies are doing or experimenting with, including dashboards, integration, prediction, surveys, and data analytics.

A new publicly held company called Bazaarvoice, also at Net Gain 7.0, captures the voice of the customer through its software platform. This is not a traditional marketing research company. There are also international companies such as McKinsey Global Institute, Bain & Company, Yankee Group, and Forrester, among others.

The president of Kraft Canada, in a keynote speech to MRIA, stated that her company would hire potential employees from McKinsey because they talked business and could conduct business analytics. Marketing research has been trying for years to sit in the corporate boardroom or at least present slides in the boardroom. Business analytics is the new marketing research. Kraft understands this.

This new, growing area will require data scientists and those specializing in business and predictive analytics as well as social intelligence. Marketing researchers have good basic training in these areas already. However, in order to compete at a higher level, they must develop new and evolving competencies. Data visualization, predictive analytics, gamification, facial analytics, neuroscience, behavioural economics, and consumer anthropology are a few examples.

What will Canadian marketing researchers themselves have to do to survive in this new world? Traditionally, we see companies changing to match the times, but how are individuals changing? Some of us were trained using obsolete equipment and older methods. Newcomers have a better appreciation of exciting new technologies, as they live and breathe them; but they have graduated from traditional education systems that have not kept up. Check out recent marketing research textbooks used in post-secondary institutions and discover how poorly they cover emerging areas.

As well, we have to change the antiquated culture of having someone else pay for our professional development.

Many employees expect their company to pay for professional development courses and simply won’t attend otherwise: “I can’t go to a conference because my company won’t pay for it.” Professional development should be your personal responsibility. Google’s philosophy is to allow people to use up to 20 per cent of their time to pursue a non-mandated task.

“Too busy” is not a good excuse for professional development in the new world.

Canada is truly a multicultural and multilingual country, giving us a competitive edge. Thousands of international 14

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students attend our secondary and post-secondary institutions every year. They come here to learn English, and they attempt to understand our Timmy’s and Canadian Tire culture.

Some of them return home and practise business. Some stay and work in Canada. In the end, they have an ideal basis on which to conduct international business. We understand business at both ends and can build mutual trust. SNCLavalin, Bombardier, BlackBerry, and even Cirque du Soleil understand this model.

Every week, I receive offers to partner with firms in far-off, exotic places, indicating to me that we in Canada should actively reciprocate. Some companies have already formed alliances or informal networks: WIN/GIA, The Research Alliance, Open World, GlobalNR, IRIS, and Think Global Qualitative are just a few examples.

Where do we develop these new competencies so that we can survive in this new world? We are fortunate, as we have excellent colleges that offer specialized marketing research courses and programs. They are starting to incorporate these new methods into their curriculum. We can also go online to learn from anywhere in the world. Webinars are offered by many traditional and online organizations. Some associations such as #newmr offer free global conferences and podcast interviews with industry leaders. This virtual LinkedIn group has over 5,000 members who do not pay two to three cents (sorry, zero or five cents) to belong. Another virtual group called Next Generation Market Research has over 21,000 members worldwide. Last week alone, I listened online to experts in Brazil, Vietnam and the U.K. Twitter alerts us to interesting speakers and conferences every day. Many presentations are readily available on SlideShare or YouTube.

Where does that leave us as Canadians? To survive, marketing research is evolving ever more rapidly to the next level – and so should you. The playing field is international.

The competition is daunting, especially when you enter the crowded but lucrative analytics arena. Your current skill set is quickly becoming obsolete.

On the other hand, Canadians have much to offer. We have an excellent background in insight fundamentals. Our Canadian culture is essentially a global, international culture.

The basic business tools are readily available. But we all have to step up in a fast and furious manner in order to survive in a brave and exciting new world.

Cam Davis, PhD, FMRIA, CMRP, is a snowboarder. In other news, he is also the Canadian co-chair of ESOMAR, co-chair of Net Gain, and managing director of Social Data Research.

MRIA PUBLICATIONS

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the magazine of the Marketing Research and Intelligence Association NOVEM BER 2012

Au Contraire (4) Fifty Shades of Loyalty Emerging Trends in Advertising Research

Canadian Publications Mail Agreement #40033932

IN MEMORIAM: Joseph B. Doyle, CMRP, FMRIA (1921-2012)

Bridging the Gap between Consumer and Shopper Marketing Perspectives Ten Psychological Needs That Drive Branding Strategy Trusting Your Qual Partner: L’art de la recherche marketing qualitative de haute qualité

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the magazine of the Marketing Research and Intelligence Association

MEDIA KIT WITH EDITORIAL CALENDAR AND ADVERTISING DEADLINES AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD AT

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With Vue magazine, available both in print and digital versions, you have more options and greater flexibility to read those articles that matter most to your business and to your career. View a sample of eVue (http://www.mria-arim-resources.ca/VUEonline/ May2013/May2013Flip00.html) and opt out of the print version on MRIA’s Portal http://mriaportal-arimportail.ca

JULY/AUGUST 2012

AU CONTRAIRE What Do We Really Know about Buyer Behaviour?

The Reality of a Constantly Changing World: Some Research Highlights Ann Kingman Interview Cultivating Cultural Interpretation: Sylvestre Marketing’s Roots, Stem and Blossom Canadian Publications Mail Agreement #40033932

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Canada, Keep Exploring: Enhancing Travel and Tourism in Canada through Marketing Research

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2013-14 RESEARCH BUYER’S GUIDE The only one of its kind in all of Canada, this definitive guide is a must-have for all buyers of marketing research. Production will begin in June 2013 and check your emails for proofs of your previous listings, or follow list and advertising instructions at http://mria-arim.ca/publications/researchbuyers-guide/renew-edit-buy-listings

F E ATURE

VOTING IN CANADA:

RUMINATIONS FROM THE EAST

Peter MacIntosh, CMRP and James Debner

It seems pertinent, in a Vue magazine issue devoted to matters of Canadiana, to offer thoughts concerning the health of our democracy in 2013.

For many years, Corporate Research Associates, headquartered in Canada’s “cradle of confederation” Atlantic region, has catalogued the prevailing political opinions and behaviours of citizens via regular media polls. Around our office, we often remark that these polls constitute 99 per cent of our public profile but account for only one per cent of the company’s revenue! By examining topical political matters of our times, we in the Canadian marketing research sector stand on the shoulders of our country’s path-breaking practitioners, such as Michael Adams, Martin Goldfarb, Angus Reid, and Gallup’s Clara Hatton, to name but a few.

In this submission, we wish to offer a suggestion that runs counter to the alarmist tone of many Canadian observers regarding the health of at least one aspect of our democracy, specifically, voting.

Pundits regularly opine that Canada, like many Western countries, is presently on the precipice of a catastrophic shift in our governing model, given the declining percentage of citizens who vote in elections. The argument repeatedly heard is that citizens should vote, yet nowhere has a compelling argument been made as to why. Fears have been expressed that the system could implode and, as well, we are often reminded, appropriately, of the sacrifices of thousands of 16

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soldiers who have gone to war to fight for our right to vote.

Nonetheless, we wish to posit that there actually is not a malaise within either the national or provincial party systems.

Moreover, we believe that these systems are indeed operating serviceably at present, at least based in terms of the original intent of the party and voting systems to facilitate the election of functional (if not admirable) governments.

Voter turnouts are indeed declining, a reality that clearly indicates, if nothing else, that Canada’s party and voting systems are entrenched and not threatened by these declining turnouts. For example, only 41 per cent of Albertans turned out to vote in their 2008 provincial election; a record low of 49 per cent went to the polls in Ontario’s 2011 election; and just 52 per cent voted in the recent 2013 British Columbia election, and so on. In Newfoundland and Labrador, many observers championed former premier Danny Williams as a great hope for revival and leadership, but only 61 per cent of N.L. citizens bothered to vote in Williams’ last election, in 2007.

Nationally, the picture is similar. Only 59 per cent of Canadians journeyed to the polls in 2008, the first time in the country’s history that fewer than six in ten voted federally.

It is important to note that municipal elections in Canada routinely draw turnouts considerably below those recorded for provincial or federal elections, seemingly with no negative ramifications. Montreal’s 2009 election had a 39 per cent

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turnout, while a similar percentage voted in the Halifax municipal election of 2012.

Canada’s national and provincial parties are superimposed on a social and political reality that is markedly different from the one that spawned their birth. In today’s Canada, with a population many times greater than at the time of Confederation, there is an absence of “glue” that binds the citizenry to the party system. The “stuff ” that, in large measure, engendered past party allegiances, namely patronage, no longer can or should cement commitment. No replacement for patronage has emerged, and thus it is not surprising that many Canadians simply turn their backs on politics. “What’s in it for me?” is a common refrain.

Canada’s political parties themselves seem incapable of appreciating that this is a “physician, heal thyself ” situation.

To be fair, nowhere in the Western world have parties responded successfully to the challenge of tumbling voter turnouts. Nothing strongly links citizens to parties, and today’s fragmented mass and social media reality has resulted in a communications playing field that impedes efforts to forge loyal public followings.

While many observers pine for the now long-gone brokerage party system of Canada’s first century, we instead drift toward an American political style, whereby three voting groups have apparently emerged in our federal and provincial politics: 1. There are the small clusters of enduring partisans who hold deeply entrenched party allegiances and who regularly vote.

2. There are, as well, “loose fish” voters who indeed regularly exercise their franchise and are defined as those who are “up for grabs” during elections, as they decide during the campaign which party they will support. It seems reasonable to conclude that this group is diminishing in size, as many apparently transition to a third group.

3. There are also those who sit on the sidelines, ignoring the political game altogether.

Nationally, the evolution of these voting blocs has recently favoured the governing Conservatives; so if it works, why fix it?

The Idle No More and Occupy movements, arguably the most important grassroots political movements in recent memory, largely occurred outside the realm of political parties, which were left scrambling to insert themselves into the discussion. When they did, many citizens regarded the parties as seeking political gain rather than attempting to promote a laudable cause or to improve the lot of Canadians generally. Increased cynicism towards the parties ensued.

These recent movements succeeded spectacularly, however, in one important respect: demonstrating that Canada’s political parties are strictly engines designed to curry electoral favour, and not much else. Parties are vote-seeking machines, which did, at their origin, indeed serve to forge a country, but which have evolved into instruments largely associated with private, not public, gain. The party system is a Canadian institution formed in the 19th century and ill-fitted to the needs of 21st century Canada, at least if one argues its objective should be to aggregate public interests.

While the recent ascendance of social media vehicles affords parties a new avenue of communication with voters, to date it appears that many party efforts in this domain have been limited to old-style attacks or pointedly partisan jabs, not the stuff of raising federal or provincial politics to a level that might attract a disillusioned electorate back to the voting fold. Likewise, some groups point to the prospect of online voting as the panacea of Canada’s voter turnout ills; yet, unless and until matters concerning voter security and anonymity are addressed, it appears unlikely that this evolution in the voting process will be a cure-all.

The problem, we argue here, has more to do with the parties themselves, and with their inability to present an appealing front, than it has to do with the tools of their campaigning or with the mechanics of voting.

While we conclude that the party system and the voting behaviour (or lack thereof ) it engenders are not particularly effective or meritorious, we also maintain that they are not on the verge of collapse. It is beyond the scope of this article to quantify arguments that suggest we are reaching the tipping point at which our politics will fail and civil discord or other undesirable turns of event might occur. We believe that such speculations are inflammatory and misplaced.

Indeed, a careful reading of Canadian history indicates that for decades our politics has endured, if not succeeded, with voter turnouts regularly below 80 or even 70 per cent.

Thus, it may be concluded that the recent declines in federal and provincial voter turnouts are matters of degree, rather than kind. While observers may lament the declining voter turnouts, there is little to suggest that a doomsday scenario is around the corner. And while Canadians in today’s fast-paced world are divided or driven by myriad social and economic forces, nothing indicates that elections with low turnouts are a recipe for more than sabre-rattling by the country’s chattering classes.

Peter MacIntosh, CMRP, and James Debner, PhD, respectively, are executive vice-president and director, Data and Analytics, of Corporate Research Associates Inc., in Halifax, Nova Scotia. vue July/August 2013

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ADVERTISING TO CANADIANS WITH

BEER, JOIE DE VIVRE, AND SID LEE

Catherine Yuile

Many Americans assume that, with the proliferation of crossborder pop culture, marketing to Canadians is much like marketing to Americans. This is simply not the case. For the past eight years, Ipsos ASI has done extensive transferability work in North America and around the world. Our research has revealed that 60 per cent of ads tested in the U.S. have a completely different sales effectiveness potential in Canada!

And within Canada, we see major differences between English Canada and Quebec. Even if we look only at very strong, tested ads in English Canada, just 25 per cent can be transferred to Quebec as is, and a mere 10 per cent can be transferred with some adaptations. That leaves a whopping 65 per cent of strong ads that should not be ever aired in French Canada; instead, a new creative treatment is needed!

So why are there such differences? Books like Fire and Ice,

by Michael Adams, have suggested that there is a continuing divergence in cultural values between the two nations. The book argues that, fundamentally, we are becoming less alike, not more alike.

It is interesting that Americans do not think we are different from them. But Canadians’ views on many fundamental social and values issues are in fact quite distinct from those of the Americans; and we need to take these views into account when designing communications for Canadians.

It is important to understand that Canadians are more skeptical of advertising than Americans are. Fire and Ice suggests more than four in ten Americans agree that it is very likely a product will be good if it is widely advertised. Only two in ten Canadians have this blind trust. When we look at our Ipsos ASI database across the two countries, we also see that Canadians have a harder time agreeing about the credibility of an ad’s message – particularly in French Canada.

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Figure 1 illustrates the differing percentages of American, French Canadian and English Canadian consumers who find a particular ad’s message credible.

Figure 1: Percentage of Consumers Who Find an Ad’s Message Credible

Source: Ipsos ASI North America Copy Testing Database

So while Canadians in general are a skeptical bunch, there are some interesting nuances that help marketers overcome the skepticism in each market.

For English Canadians, it is particularly important for brand stories to provide strong information value that includes real, tangible benefits. English Canadians really like to understand how a product works in resolving a problem, so having strong reasons to believe are key. This disposition holds across all consumer touchpoints, and especially in-store, as Canadians invest less time in making purchase decisions and are more impulsive, while also being more hesitant to try new products.

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For French Canadians, information is not necessarily the way to go; they react more positively to emotional benefits.

French Canadians are a more skeptical market, and they are less likely than either Americans or English Canadians to relate to advertising messaging.

Figure 2: Percentage of Consumers Who Find an Ad’s Message Relevant

Source: Ipsos ASI North America Copy Testing Database

If an ad does not feel as if it were made for French Canadians, it detracts from credibility and relevance. (See figure 2, which illustrates the differing percentages of American, French Canadian and English Canadian consumers who find a particular ad’s message relevant.) Because the French language has a sacred place in French culture, it is important to ensure that there are no obvious signs of an English connection – no English-based music, no obvious signs of a voice-over, and no improper use of language. Any of these would be a sign that an ad was not made for the Quebec market and would provide an invitation to tune out.

French Canadians respond more positively to being entertained, as they approach life with much joie de vivre: advertising should reflect that disposition. They live a more hedonistic lifestyle and prefer experiences to owning things.

A recent study by Headspace Marketing revealed that French Canadians are more likely to live for today and less likely than English Canadians to think about the future.

The firm also suggested that French Canadians are looking to simplify their lives and manage their time more efficiently, and that they will reward those who come up with simpler solutions. Thus, rallying around experiences and a simpler life in creative content will resonate much more effectively with French Canadians.

French Canadians often talk about being very socially active in a small, confined circle of those they know well – “ma petite vie,” an inner circle that is off limits to all but the closest friends and family members. They tend to be even more private than English Canadians: newcomers, strangers, new brands, and new products all fall outside the inner circle.

Cultivating friends and maintaining loyalty to those friends are very important, and Quebeckers do not “trust” outsiders.

In relation to brands, they have a resistance to change and are loyal to brands that are established. They are not likely to try new brands or products before their friends do.

French Canadian celebrity is not seen as an outsider. More than any other province, Quebec has its own celebrities.

Many of the top ten TV shows watched by Quebeckers are “made in Quebec.” Importantly, only a minority of francophones watch English network channels. Similar habits apply to books and magazines, meaning that celebrities that English Canadians think of as household names may have very little, if any, presence in Quebec, highlighting the importance of local talent.

One of the most compelling examples of advertising in Quebec is the Pepsi story. Pepsi actually lagged Coke in the Quebec market until the mid-eighties. Although Pepsi’s ad at that time – the “New Generation” campaign, featuring Michael Jackson – was a hit globally, it didn’t do much for the brand in Quebec, for the reasons we mentioned earlier.

So Pepsi turned to local celebrity Claude Meunier to launch Quebec-only ads for the first time. Pepsi used the slogan “Ici, c’est Pepsi” (“Here, it’s Pepsi”) in answer to Coca-Cola’s “Everywhere in the world, it’s Coke.”

And the impact was nearly instantaneous. The ads scored in the top percentage of all ads ever tested in Quebec.

They did a brilliant job of capturing some distinct Quebec sentiments in very relevant ways, generating strong emotional connections with, for example, Moving Day, poutine, the cold, the condition of the roads, and connections to friends.

Whereas Pepsi sales lagged those of Coke by about 15 per cent in 1984, Pepsi had a twelve-point advantage two years later, its lead growing to 20 per cent by the early 1990s. To this day, Quebec is one of the few markets in the world where Pepsi still dominates Coke.

While English Canadians may not have the same joie de vivre as French Canadians, we are an optimistic bunch.

We want to see a product solve a problem, and we want the delivery of that solution to be done in an upbeat and positive manner (though we don’t like things to get too crazy, so sounds and voices that are overly excited and energetic are much less likely to resonate in English Canada than in the U.S.). vue July/August 2013

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When it comes to advertising, we Canadians are less aspirational than our American counterparts. The implications for creative are the following: • Characters need to be diverse, relatable and relaxed.

• The ads have to have real, recognizable settings.

• Aspirations should be couched in the everyday.

• A ds should show types of modern families that challenge stereotypes.

English Canadians prefer diversity in characters. In fact, English Canadians respond positively to types of modern families that challenge stereotypes – for example, one in which dad does household chores. This preference is not the case in the U.S., where traditional types of families are embraced.

For years now, about half of Americans have believed that the father of the family should be the master of his home (see Fire and Ice).

French Canadians, more than any other North American market, love to see characters interact with each other. We’ve seen this idea of relatable characters depicted in the everyday, in real settings and with real aspirations, play out many times and across categories – whether it be in advertising for beauty products or for beer. So let’s have a closer look at these two categories.

When it comes to beauty ideals, Canadian women want to look the best they can in a natural way; that means not too much makeup, no drastic anti-aging techniques, and so on. They want to see models that represent Canadian women themselves, models they can identify with. So models that are too young, too skinny, or too “perfect” do not tend to resonate in this country the way they do in the U.S. Canadians are much more likely to tune out to an ad’s message if they think that the models don’t look the way they do because of product performance, but because they are already beautiful. It comes back to our deep-rooted skepticism.

As for beer advertising, Canadian men want to be able to see themselves in the male characters who are having a good time or experience in the ads. While they may not have issues watching beautiful models in ads, they do want to see male characters they can relate to. And when it comes to being aspirational, even young Canadian men seem to prefer contests touting smaller prizes that they have a greater chance of winning over those offering grandiose prizes with worse odds. We are a realistic bunch, indeed!

One of the most successful of Canadian-developed creative content, resonating strongly in this country, is Budweiser’s “Flash Fans” video, created by Anomaly. Debuted during the Canadian Super Bowl broadcast in 2012, the content quickly 20

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went viral, and it has now been viewed more than four million times on YouTube. In the “officially sponsored” world of sports and brand partnerships, connecting with consumers in a genuine way can be challenging – particularly when an iconic U.S. brand is trying to make a play on the sport that Canadians hold so dear.

However, Budweiser not only obtained permission to play in this space, but did so in a way that genuinely elevated that space by uncovering a unique and untapped Canadian consumer–centric passion for playing the game, and thereby transforming an everyday beer-league hockey game into a special once-in-a-lifetime event with fanfare. Further, though the brand clearly presented itself as the sponsor of these moments, doing so did not come at the cost of keeping the content true to the game and its fans – a delicate balance when trying to create branded content based on a true consumer passion. (You can watch Budweiser’s “Flash Fans” at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0qZYqdsYAg) While ideal, it is not realistic to think that we can create a homegrown ad for Canada every time. So do imported ads really resonate with Canadians? Unfortunately, more often than not, the answer is no. So if a brand imports creative content across the border into Canada, it is important to consider two fundamental principles.

First, the strategy must be big enough – it must be fresh and/or relevant enough – to effectively penetrate Canada. If the brand’s position or message is not seen to be differentiated, relevant or believable, it will fail to generate effective interest and/or persuasion.

Second, the executional idea must resonate well.

Fundamental executional elements (e.g., characters and scenario) that fail to support English or French Canadians’ cultural attitudes, habits or sentiments will leave the audience uninterested in or distracted from receiving the key message and/or recognizing the brand.

A final thought: With our diverse culture, a critical eye toward advertising, and hot homegrown agencies like Sid Lee, why not use Canada as a test market for global creative, eh?

Catherine Yuile is a senior vice-president with Ipsos ASI and heads up one of Canada’s client service teams overseeing both creative development and brand health tracking for many top Canadian and global brands. You can reach her at Catherine.Yuile@ipsos.com or follow her on Twitter (@cyuile).

We’re Different Faced with the challenge of understanding the wide ranging and rapidly changing profile of Canadians, we are more committed than ever to innovate and inspire, to take calculated risks, and continue to explore, experiment and challenge the status quo.

At Ipsos, we are different from other research firms. Our researchers specialize in key areas of research whether advertising, marketing, media, loyalty, or public opinion research.

And working collaboratively on your business challenges, allows us to bridge gaps and opportunities that drive transformational change.

Discover the difference with Ipsos.

To Find out more please visit us at www.ipsos.ca

WE BRING CITIZEN

ENGAGEMENT Paul DesBarres

After growing up in Sheffield Mills, Nova Scotia, working for a decade in New England, and then returning to Nova Scotia eight years ago, I used the vast experience I had gained to start my own firm in the Annapolis Valley. This is not a hotbed of marketing research activity, but it has been fun to talk to representatives from businesses and other organizations about the value of research and to work with many to delve into research for the first time. Maintaining my contacts and clients from the U.S. has helped subsidize this endeavour.

In starting my own firm, I had a very specific mission, which I felt was in line with the changing technology, took advantage of the experience I brought, and fit in with the local market. I wanted to make the depth of insight that could be gained through professional marketing and opinion research accessible to organizations that previously may not have been able to afford these types of services.

My previous experience had involved working for large organizations, including those in sports, media and entertainment, as well as universities and public policy firms.

These were large-budget projects, and I often worked with experienced internal staff researchers in each of them. The organizations had the resources and the background to seek the research they needed, understand the methodological options, and make use of the findings. These are great clients and an important end of the market for many in our industry.

However, at the other end of the spectrum are small businesses, non-profits, and smaller municipalities that previously have not had direct exposure to research, nor to the resources to commission projects. Many of these organizations have had only one-way communications, without the ability to receive and process reliable input and feedback.

Much has already been written about the growth of online research and the decline of the landline, so I’ll spare you that narrative. Needless to say, though, online has opened the possibilities for many smaller organizations to engage in both qualitative and quantitative research.

The twist in Atlantic Canada, however, as in many other rural parts of the continent, is that online access is not as 22

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prevalent as in urban areas. This situation means that the big-panel companies have not focused on building panels that can be representative within smaller communities. That’s not a complaint, just a reality that is understandable, based on business decisions. Therefore, we often have to get creative.

In addition to the changing communications market for our respondents, advancement in software has also made it possible for us to make powerful analytic techniques more available to our clients.

Because marketing research services have not previously been accessible, many within small organizations are not familiar with the methodologies, not to mention the benefits they could gain from the learnings, or the goodwill from increased engagement. Therefore, a first step for smaller organizations has been to hold meetings to discuss the changing market and technology, and the impact on what options open up for them to engage with customers, prospects, members and citizens. It is always rewarding to see the wheels turning in organization representatives’ minds as they imagine the possibilities that had not been there before.

Although I maintain many clients in the U.S. from past connections and current referrals, I have spent a great deal of my energies educating and designing effective and efficient methodologies to help local organizations. Many of these have been municipalities, some of which had never conducted research in the past.

Many municipalities still try to make use of the traditional planning advisory committee (PAC) as a source of local citizen input and feedback for the elected officials. A few have progressed to establishing a citizen panel. Including the perspective of local citizens in decision-making is important to the process of governing and ensuring relevant policymaking; it helps build trust in government and helps maintain transparency through increased democracy.

With the increasingly busy schedules of citizens, participation in these committees has been decreasing, and those who do participate often have specific agendas they are trying to advocate. Although such participation

F EATUR E

may have served its purpose in the past, I have met with many municipal representatives to explain how modern communication methods, sampling strategies, and analytic techniques can provide a broader and more representative citizen base and greater insight into citizens’ priorities.

Some may say that the explosion of instant communication has in itself enabled citizens to let their officials know what they think anytime they wish. This is true. However, who are the self-engaged citizens who choose to fire off an email, call from wherever they happen to be, or send a letter? They are valuable citizens with input that should be considered, but they may not represent the general population – they may be a vocal minority.

It is increasingly easy and common for some segments to be vocal and perhaps appear to be a more significant proportion of the population than they actually are. This possibility is why sampling is so important. When there has been an important and controversial topic, I have been hired to design a balanced questionnaire and collect opinions from a representative sample of citizens on a single issue and present those findings to council. Doing so helps council understand how the citizens feel – and not just those who have taken the time and effort to be vocal, or to spend money on ads.

Municipalities have the opportunity to strengthen their relationships with the communities they serve by ensuring more comprehensive and reliable input from citizens. This can include garnering opinions on possible directions or policies under consideration as well as affording opportunities for new ideas and directions to emerge. Today’s technologies and methods allow for more robust, more frequent, and more efficient opportunities for increased transparency and engagement.

Many municipalities in our region have decided to use professional research to gather input on specific policies under consideration as well as for feedback on services, infrastructure, quality of place, quality of life, environmental progress, and economic development activities. What has also been valuable is a comprehensive evaluation of citizen priorities, including a realistic trade-off between taxes and services.

Municipal leaders realize that to get reliable opinions from a truly representative sample – and not just from groups with a specific agenda – not only is the method of sample selection key, but so are quality design and the assurance of anonymity for open and honest opinions. Third party collection and protection of the data help ensure respondents that their opinions will not be linked to their identity when those opinions are reported back to the municipality. Professional researchers also have the tools and experience to design questioning, analyse the data, and interpret the findings without bias. But I guess I’m preaching to the choir here.

Many organizations, especially governments, need to make the opportunity for engagement through the research as fair as possible, not systematically excluding anyone. For these clients, I have offered surveys to a random selection of citizens – regardless of online/offline or landline/cell-only/ cell-mostly – and let the respondents choose their method of response. Because the surveys are public, I even get requests from those outside the selected sample to participate. I usually recommend allowing participation but keeping the random sample intact as the primary segment for analysis.

In the past, mixed-method studies have been frowned upon in our industry, and I understand the reasons; but I believe the inclusiveness they provide is worth the trade-off in today’s environment. When offered the choice, more than four-fifths usually choose to complete the interview online, thereby providing efficiency of data collection. In most cases, however, we would not have been able, initially, to reach these citizens electronically.

Some may argue there are segments that are less likely to participate, and their argument would be correct. We try our best to have representative participation but will weight the data to reflect any discrepancies. It is important, though, that everyone has the opportunity to participate.

Although there are still no shortages of political dysfunction, high octane rhetoric, and controversy, there is some encouragement in the fact that our industry can make positive changes in the system by providing the opportunity for representative citizen engagement to further democracy at the community level. The national and provincial governments have had these opportunities for decades.

However, we have the chance to bring this engagement to local communities. Many local politicians value the insight, and citizens value being engaged by their local officials.

Although municipal government is an important example of new access to research, I have also been involved with bringing these services to small businesses, associations, and non-profits that previously had not seen our services as accessible. I love working with these clients to help them grow, providing them with an understanding of the people they serve and how they can create the most value.

There are still many municipalities and other organizations that do not have the benefit of input from citizens, customers or members. There is still much work to be done to spread the word.

Paul DesBarres is founder and president of Nova Insights Market Research & Consulting, based in Kentville, Nova Scotia. His firm specializes in engagement research for municipalities, associations, non-profits and private organizations. Paul can be reached at pdesbarres@novainsights.ca vue July/August 2013

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MRIA Institute for Professional Development

The Marketing Research and Intelligence Association’s Institute for Professional Development (MRIA-IPD) offers courses in two main categories: Institut de développement professionnel de l’ARIM

“Core” or “Professional Development (PD)” MRIA Core courses:

Institute for Professional Development

The information andInstitute material in these 12 core courses comprise the basic knowledge of the marketing intelligence and research for Professional Development professional, proof of which is demonstrated by passing the rigorous Comprehensive Marketing Research Examination (CMRE); InstitutInstitut de développement développementprofessionnel nal Development professionnel l’ARIM once proven, the market intelligence researcher is recognized and holds the designation of the Certified Marketing Research Professional (CMRP) http://mria-arim.ca/education/in-class-learning/core-courses. These courses are available as one or two-day in-class sessions or, can also be taken online, for completion at your pace within a one-month time-frame.

A Institute for

de

de

MRIA Institute for Professional Development

• • • • • • • • • • • •

Institute for Professional Development Institut de développement professionnel

101-Introduction to Marketing Research 102-Ethical Issues and Privacy in Marketing Research 201-Marketing Research Design: An Applied Course 202-Questionnaire Design 203-Marketing Research Statistics & Data Analysis 204-Qualitative Marketing Research 301-Competitive Intelligence, Competitor Benchmarking and Mystery Shopping 302-Market Intelligence 303-Marketing Management for Researchers 401-Online Research, Best Practices and Innovations 402-Advanced Analysis Techniques 403-Advanced Qualitative Marketing Research Techniques

To support the Certified Marketing Research Professional designation, the following programs are also available: • CMRE Prep Workshop (3-days) • Comprehensive Marketing Research Exam (CMRE) can be written twice annually in February and June. Download the registration form to apply now: http://mria-arim.ca/education/cmrp-certification/applying-for-the-cmre

Professional Development (PD) courses: MRIA Institute for Professional Development

MRIA IPD also offers the following specialty courses including cutting-edge and otherwise relevant to marketing intelligence and research professionals.Institut The développement majority are one day in length; a few are two and three consecutive days in total. de

professionnel de l’ARIM

• Advancing Your Career Through Social Media • Advanced Competitive Intelligence – For Private Sector Researchers • Create MRIA Institute Winning Research Presentations and Reports that Deeply Connect with your Audience (Communicating Insights) Professional Development • Communicating Research Results with High Impact Graphs • Conjoint Analysis: Design, Analysis and Reporting that Leads to Better Marketing Strategy • Gamification: Making Marketing Research Fun and Engaging • Introduction to Market Research Semiotics • Living the Brand: Measuring Brand Equity • Market Segmentation Research • Measuring Customer Satisfaction, Loyalty and Retention / Mésure de la satisfaction et de la fidélisation de la clientèle • Measuring Customer Satisfaction: Advanced • Moderator’s Tool Box: Mapping & Projective Techniques • Moderator Training: Basic • SPSS: Analyzing Survey Data: An Introductory Workshop • SPSS: Analyzing Survey Data: An Advanced Workshop • Writing Results Workshop for

Institute for Professional Development Institut de développement professionnel

Please see the MRIA IPD website for detailed course descriptions and to register. http://mria-arim.ca/education/ipd-news-updates 24

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RRS

RESEARCH REGISTRATION SYSTEM 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.

RRS

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

Combined with other self-regulatory initiatives such as our 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.

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 ClientSide 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.

Questions about the Research Registration System should be addressed to Erica Klie, Member Services & Events Coordinator, at 1-888-602-6742 or 905602-6854, ext. 8727 or eklie@mria-arim.ca or, in her absence, Interim Executive Director, John Ball, CMRP at ext. 8724 or jball@mria-arim.ca.

Rules of Conduct and Good Practice For Members of the Marketing Research and Intelligence Association (2007):

Section A (5) Members must uphold the MRIA Charter of Respondent Rights.

THE FOLLOWING COMPANIES HAVE REGISTERED RESEARCH PROJECTS WITH THE RESEARCH REGISTRATION SYSTEM DURING FEBRUARY 2013: GOLD SEAL CORPORATE RESEARCH AGENCIES Academica Group Advanis Inc. Advitek Inc. BBM Analytics Blue Ocean Contact Centers Canadian Viewpoint Inc. Cido Research Consumer Vision Ltd. Corsential ULC Elemental Data Collection Inc. GfK Canada Harris/Decima Inc. Head Count Hotspex Inc. Ipsos Reid Maritz Research Canada MBA Recherche MD Analytics Inc. MQO Research NRG Research Group Opinion Search Inc. R.A. Malatest & Associates Ltd. Research Dimensions Tele-Surveys Plus / Télé-Sondages Plus The Logit Group Inc. TNS Canada (Canadian Facts) GOLD SEAL APPLICANT Illumina Research Partners BASIC CORPORATE RESEARCH AGENCIES Barbara C. Campbell Recruiting Inc. (BCCR Inc.)

Charter of Respondent Rights, Article 2 You can verify that the research you have been invited to participate in is legitimate in one of two ways. You can either obtain a registration number and the MRIA’s toll-free telephone number for any research registered in the MRIA’s Research Registration System or you can obtain the contact information of the research director who is conducting the study.

http://mria-arim.ca/about-mria/research-registration/research-registration-overview

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Chapter Chat …

t he plot thickens

This is the third time that Vue magazine has devoted an entire section to items of information that the individual chapters wish to share. In this third instalment there are submissions from five out of seven chapters. Our hope is to have something from all of the chapters in every issue before too long.

On May 29th, the Quebec Chapter honoured three university students currently registered in a master’s program or graduating with an MR-related bachelor’s degree during its 10th Annual Marketing Research Student Contest. Asked to propose a methodological solution to a fictitious research problem, the finalists were Ying Pan (McGill) who took home the coveted first prize of $3,000, Gabriel Jetté (Sherbrooke) who was awarded the second prize of $2,000, and Martial Pouani (UQAM) who received the third prize of $1,000. Heartfelt congratulations to all three winners who have applied creative flare and a rigorous approach to their proposed methodologies!

The BC Chapter regrets that it does not have an announcement to make regarding winners of its 2013 Student Marketing Research Competition, despite statements to the contrary in May’s Chapter Chat, since there are none for this year. The competition is undergoing a review in order to generate more interest, and entries, next time around.

On June 13th, the Ottawa Chapter was host to a presentation by newly-minted MRIA Fellow, Frank Graves, president of EKOS Research. His lunchtime talk was focused on a comparison of survey methodologies and the feasibility of continuing to apply probabilitybased research methods to public polling.

On June 20th, the Toronto Chapter was host to a presentation by Sandra Tamburino, senior director of marketing insights at Empathica. Her talk was entitled How Linkage Analysis Validates the Impact on Your Bottom Line. She used case studies to illustrate how techniques such as triangulation research may be employed to quantify $ROI on customer satisfaction programs and to determine the financial impact that making customers more satisfied can have on same store sales.

From L to R: Gabriel Jetté, 2nd place; Ying Pan, 1st place; Martial Pouani, 3rd place

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The Alberta Chapter AGM in June marked the end of the year for its board of directors. We are pleased to welcome Frank Grigel as the chapter’s new vicepresident, who will work closely with our president, Carolyn Kildare. Following the AGM was the annual board planning session, in which the board mapped out a variety of planned activities for the 2013–2014 year.

IN D UST RY N E W S

QUALITATIVE RESEARCH REGISTRY (QRR) In accordance with federal privacy laws, MRIA’s Qualitative Research Registry (QRR), or Registre de la recherche qualitative (RRQ) in French, was created to provide an ongoing, user-friendly vehicle for tracking those who do not want to be contacted or should not be contacted for qualitative research studies.

QRR is a comprehensive do not call list of those who have recently participated in qualitative research studies, those who have asked not to be contacted further, and those felt by recruiters and moderators to be best served by not being contacted.

These respondents are marked as “do not call” in accordance with established MRIA Standards.

All field and full-service companies are encouraged to submit a list of their qualitative respondents for entry into the QRR system each month, including those who do not wish to be contacted.

Participating firms will receive monthly updates of respondents to be screened from qualitative recruitment samples. QRR works effectively to increase the quality and integrity of the qualitative research process, by serving as a control to ensure respondents are not contacted more frequently than is necessary.

However, the ability of the system to function effectively is directly related to the co-operation received from firms who provide recruitment services.

If you are a full service research firm or field supplier that is currently participating in the Qualitative Research Registry program – thank you very much and keep up the good work!

If you are not currently participating, please get involved! If you are interested in submitting to QRR, please visit the MRIA website at http://mria-arim.ca/ about-mria/qualitative-research-division/qualitativeresearch-registry for further explanation and guidance on how to submit qualitative research participants’ names, along with the required electronic forms.

QUALITATIVE RESEARCH REGISTRY SUBMIS­SIONS SHOULD BE SENT TO: QRRQ@MRIA-ARIM.CA

THE FOLLOWING COMPANIES HAVE SUBMITTED NAMES TO QUALITATIVE RESEARCH REGISTRY FOR FEBRUARY 2013 ONTARIO Consumer Vision Dawn Smith Field Management Services Inc. Head Count I & S Recruiting Barbara C. Campbell Recruiting Nexus Research Opinion Search Quality Response Research House Inc.

QUEBEC Opinion Search Research House Inc. MBA Recherche

WEST Trend Research Opinion Search Research House Inc. Barbara C. Campbell Recruiting

ATLANTIC Opinion Search Head Count

Submission templates and payment forms can be found at http://mria-arim.ca/about-mria/qualitative-researchdivision/qualitative-research-registry-fees

Rules of Conduct and Good Practice for Members of the Marketing Research and Intelligence Association (2007), Section C Rules Specific to the Conduct of Qualitative Research: 20. R ecruiters should provide accurate data to the Qualitative Research Registry, where such exists, on a consistent basis and check all respondents against the Registry.

21. M oderators buying recruiting services should give primary consideration to recruiting agencies which submit to the Qualitative Research Registry, where such a service exists, on a regular and ongoing basis.

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IND USTRY N E WS

PEOPLE AND COMPANIES IN THE NEWS •T o read more news online, or to submit your “People and Companies in the News,” s imply fill out our online form at http://mria-arim.ca/news/people-and-company-news.

• The Vue editorial team reserves the right to select and edit your submission for appearance in Vue. • MRIA is neither responsible for the accuracy of this information nor liable for any false information.

Vision Critical, the leading provider of insight community technologies, today announced that Group CEO Scott Miller will be presenting at the marketing research and consumer insights event, Insight Innovation eXchange in Philadelphia taking place from June 17–19, 2013. Scott’s session, “The Role of Communities in Fueling Innovation,” will address the explosive growth that has taken place over the last several years within marketing research with the adoption of insight communities and community panels, as well as the business opportunity ahead in the future role of communities as the industry continues to shift. www.visioncritical.com Acuity4 Survey, la solution de sondage Web de Voxco a maintenant un nouveau site Internet. Le lancement coïncide avec la sortie de la nouvelle version de Acuity4 Survey qui offre maintenant un module de gestion panélistes, l’affichage intelligent pour mobile, et l’intégration avec Dapresy pour la création de tableaux de bord interactifs.

Pour en connaître davantage sur Acuity4 Survey, visitez www.acuity4survey.com SmartPoint Research is very pleased to announce Sam Rai as Vice President! Sam’s fifteen-plus years of marketing research industry experience span across a broad range of data collection services including quantitative, qualitative, online communities, mobile and specialty panels (consumer, B2B, health care, etc). A more complete bio can be found below. Given Sam’s extensive industry experience, understanding of client needs, attention to detail and creativity, we are confident in his abilities to provide you with innovative and flexible solutions that deliver results. www.smartpointresearch.com SSI, the leading provider of sample and data collection solutions for researchers, has been designated as a preferred provider in the Microsoft Preferred Supplier

Program (MPSP). The program makes it easy for Microsoft employees to work globally with a prequalified, select group of suppliers. Qualification requires a rigorous review of a company’s products, procedures and service levels.

The status that SSI now enjoys with Microsoft brings about new efficiencies for both companies and new value to the relationship they are building together. www.surveysampling.com ESOMAR, the world association for market, social and opinion research, is proud to announce the virtual launch of a new step-by-step guide for new professionals in the market research industry. Answers to Contemporary Market Research Questions provides new researchers and those who want to learn more about a research topic with a range of answers to everyday, but important, market research questions. Working in conjunction with NewMR, ESOMAR is hosting three webinar sessions, with a selection of the contributing authors. The global launch will feature three regional webinar sessions (Asia Pacific, Europe and West Asia and the Americas) that participants can sign up for via the NewMR website (www.newmr.org) www.esomar.org Yahoo! Asia Pacific and Millward Brown have announced a partnership using the latter’s AdIndex solution to help clients evaluate the brand impact of digital advertising, both in general and on Yahoo! properties. AdIndex has been used to study more than 7,000 digital campaigns globally and 300 in the AMAP region. Sonia Liang, Millward Brown Media and Digital Director for Hong Kong and Taiwan, said the Internet giant was ”taking a bold step by highlighting branding impact of digital advertising.” The global agency, part of Kantar within WPP, is online at www.millwardbrown.com

People and Companies in the News sponsored by:

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IN D USTRY N E W S

Leger Marketing Changes Name – In order to better reflect the scope and diversity of services offered by the company, Leger Marketing announces that it will now be known as Leger, The Research Intelligence Group. This decision will harmonize the brand in the wake of seven acquisitions in Canada, the United States and Europe. With 600 employees across its ten offices in Canada, the United

States and Europe, as well as its WIN network partners in more than 100 countries, Leger has not only grown to be the largest Canadian-owned company in its sector, but also an internationally recognized brand. For more information on our name change, please view our video or consult our new website, www.leger360.com

EVENTS

MARK YOUR CALENDAR MRMW July 16–18 Minneapolis QRD Day November 29 (tentative) Toronto

CSRC Social Connect + Soapbox TBD – Toronto 2014 Net Gain 8.0 January 30 Toronto

MRIA 2014 Conference

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Connections

2600 Skymark Avenue Building 4, Unit 104 Mississauga, Ontario L4W 5B2 Tel: (905) 602-6854 Toll Free: 1-888-602-MRIA (6742) Fax: (905) 602-6855 Website: www.mria-arim.ca Visit us on LinkedIn and Facebook

Marketing Research and Intelligence Association L’Association de la recherche et de l’intelligence marketing MRIA 2013-14 Board of Directors

OFFICERS PRESIDENT PRESIDENT-ELECT VICE-PRESIDENT SECRETARY-TREASURER INTERIM EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Anastasia Arabia Shane Skillen, CMRP Carolyn O’Keefe, CMRP Tricia Benn John Ball, CMRP

Trend Research Inc. Hotspex Inc. MQO Research Rogers Connect Market Research & Client Services MRIA

DIRECTORS MRIA PRESIDENT PRESIDENT-ELECT PAST-PRESIDENT (EX-OFFICIO) AT-LARGE AT-LARGE AT-LARGE AT-LARGE BUSINESS-TO-BUSINESS RESEARCH DIVISION CHAPTER COUNCIL CLIENT-SIDE RESEARCHER COUNCIL CLIENT-SIDE RESEARCHER COUNCIL QUALITATIVE RESEARCH DIVISION RESEARCH AGENCY COUNCIL RESEARCH AGENCY COUNCIL WESTERN CANADA REGION ONTARIO REGION QUEBEC REGION ATLANTIC CANADA REGION

Anastasia Arabia Shane Skillen, CMRP Sandra Janzen Fergus Gamble, CMRP Carolyn O’Keefe, CMRP Julie Sylvestre, CMRP Paul Street Tricia Benn Tracy Bowman, CMRP Joseph Chen Kamal Sharma Margaret Brigley, CMRP Adam Froman Mark Wood, CMRP Dave McVetty, CMRP Kristian Gravelle Christian Bourque, CMRP Carol Wilson, CMRP

Trend Research Inc. Hotspex Inc. Independent Consultant MQO Research Sylvestre Marketing Bell Media Rogers Connect Market Research & Client Services Protegra Unilever Canada Sobeys Inc. Corporate Research Associates AskingCanadians TNS Canada (Canadian Facts) Parks Canada Kraft Canada Inc. - Consumer Insight & Strategy Group Leger Spielo International

MRIA 2013-14 Portfolio Chairs BUSINESS-TO-BUSINESS RESEARCH DIVISION Maggie Weaver CHAPTER COUNCIL Tracy Bowman, CMRP CLIENT-SIDE RESEARCHER COUNCIL Joseph Chen DEAN OF MRIA INSTITUTE FOR PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT Stephen Popiel, CMRP PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT & CERTIFICATION Fergus Gamble, CMRP GOVERNMENT RELATIONS Don Mills, CMRP, FMRIA INTER-ASSOCIATION LIAISON Sandra Janzen LITIGATION AND REGULATORY RESOURCES COMMITTEE Ruth Corbin, CMRP MARKET INTELLIGENCE Kimberlee Niziol Jonas MARKETING AND COMMUNICATIONS Shane Skillen, CMRP MEMBERSHIP Dave McVetty, CMRP PUBLICATIONS Annie Pettit QUALITATIVE RESEARCH DIVISION Margaret Brigley, CMRP RESEARCH AGENCY COUNCIL Adam Froman STANDARDS Ruth Corbin, CMRP

Shaftesbury Associates Protegra Unilever Canada GfK Canada Corporate Research Associates Independent Consultant CorbinPartners Inc. Independent Consultant Hotspex Inc. Parks Canada Conversition Strategies Corporate Research Associates AskingCanadians CorbinPartners Inc.

MRIA 2013-14 Chapter Council/Chapter Presidents CHAPTER COUNCIL CHAIR ALBERTA ATLANTIC CANADA BRITISH COLUMBIA OTTAWA PRAIRIE QUEBEC TORONTO

Tracy Bowman, CMRP Carolyn Kildare Christina Waddy, CMRP Adam DiPaula Randa Bell, CMRP Tracy Bowman, CMRP Daniel Brousseau, CMRP Leah McTiernan, CMRP

Protegra Mercer Corporate Research Associates Sentis Market Research Inc. ASDE Survey Sampler Protegra TNS Canada (Canadian Facts) Ipsos ASI

MRIA STAFF TEAM INTERIM EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT/ACCOUNTS PAYABLE CLERK CONTROLLER MANAGER, COMMUNICATIONS & MANAGING EDITOR, VUE MANAGER, MEMBER & BOARD RELATIONS MANAGER, MEMBER SUPPORT SERVICES MEMBER SUPPORT SERVICES ASSISTANT

John Ball, CMRP Etta Wahab Lucy Pizunski Anne Marie Gabriel Grace Woo Erica Klie Lynn Forth

Ext. Ext. Ext. Ext. Ext. Ext. Ext.

8724 8721 8722 8723 8730 8727 8729

jball@mria-arim.ca ewahab@mria-arim.ca lpizunski@mria-arim.ca amgabriel@mria-arim.ca gwoo@mria-arim.ca eklie@mria-arim.ca lforth@mria-arim.ca