the magazine of the Marketing Research and Intelligence Association
MARCH 2011
Rose Reisman Serves Up a Lesson in Trend Spotting Career Building in Marketing Research at Algonquin College: Putting Theory into Practice
Career Development ‌ in Search of Happiness An Hour with Headhunters: Advice You Should Follow Interview with Tom Anderson
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MARCH 2011
vue VUE MAGAZINE IS PUBLISHED BY THE MARKETING RESEARCH AND INTELLIGENCE ASSOCIATION TEN TIMES A YEAR
COMMENTARY 4 6 8
Editor’s Vue President’s Letter Message from the Executive Director
SPECIAL FEATURE 10
CAREER DEVELOPMENT … IN SEARCH OF HAPPINESS Conversations with successful graduates of the Research Analyst Program at Georgian College reveal some recurring themes in the search for happiness in research careers. by Robert A. G. Wong
FEATURES 14
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AN HOUR WITH HEADHUNTERS: ADVICE YOU SHOULD FOLLOW From their unique perspective on the market research industry, two prominent Bay Street headhunters offer some sound guidance for a successful career. by Michelle Stephenson and Vanessa Killeen CAREER BUILDING IN MARKETING RESEARCH AT ALGONQUIN COLLEGE: PUTTING THEORY INTO PRACTICE Algonquin College gives students hands-on training that will allow them to conduct marketing and opinion research in the public and private sectors and on the international scene. by Martin Taller INTERVIEW WITH TOM ANDERSON The author of the most trafficked personal blog dedicated to market research talks about his experiences in and his insights into market research blogging. by Claire Bazley ROSE REISMAN SERVES UP A LESSON IN TREND SPOTTING Author, entrepreneur and TV personality Rose Reisman talks about her motivation and her approach in bringing nutrition awareness and healthy food choices to Canadians. by Kevin Hare
INDUSTRY NEWS 22 25 28
People & Companies in the News What I Learned from Net Gain 5.0 Research Registration System (RRS)
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT 29 30
Education Courses How Do You Feel about the New Maintenance of Certification Requirement?
COLUMNISTS 31
CI CORNER by David Lithwick and Enrico Codogno
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STANDARDS by Donald Williams
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QUAL COL by Kelly Adams
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INNOVATION ACCELERATOR by Margaret Imai-Compton
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THE COURT OF PUBLIC OPINION by Ruth M. Corbin
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B2B REPORTER by Ruth Lukaweski
ADDRESS The Marketing Research and Intelligence Association L’Association de la recherche et de l’intelligence marketing 2600 Skymark Avenue, Bldg. 4, Unit 104 Mississauga, Ontario L4W 5B2 Tel: (905) 602-6854 Toll Free: 1-888-602-MRIA (6742) Fax: (905) 602-6855 Email: vue@mria-arim.ca Website: www.mria-arim.ca PRODUCTION: LAYOUT/DESIGN LS Graphics Tel: (905) 743-0402, Toll Free: 1-800-400-8253 Fax: (905) 728-3931 Email: info@lsgraphics.com CONTACTS CHAIR, PUBLICATIONS Stephen Popiel, PhD, CMRP Senior Vice-President, Synovate Motoresearch Tel: (416) 964-6262 stephen.popiel@synovate.com EDITOR-IN-CHIEF David Hamburg, Hamburg Consulting (514) 748-1827 david.hamburg@sympatico.ca MANAGING EDITOR Anne Marie Gabriel, MRIA amgabriel@mria-arim.ca ASSOCIATE EDITORS Kevin Hare kevin.hare@rci.rogers.com Claire Bazley cbazley@indigo.ca COPY EDITOR Siegfried Betterman 2011 ADVERTISING RATES Frequent advertisers receive discounts. Details can be found by going to: www.mria-arim.ca/advertising/vue.asp Please email vue@mria-arim.ca to book your ad. The deadline for notice of advertising is the first of the previous month. All advertising material must be at the MRIA office on the 5th of the month. Original articles and Letters to the Editor are welcome. Materials will be reviewed by the Vue Editorial Team. If accepted for publication, they may be edited for length or clarity and placed in the electronic archives on the MRIA website. The opinions and conclusions expressed in Vue are those of the authors and are not necessarily endorsed by the Marketing Research and Intelligence Association. Publishing Date: March, 2011 © 2011. All rights reserved. Copyright rests with the Marketing Research and Intelligence Association or the author. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior written permission of the Marketing Research and Intelligence Association or the author. All requests for permission for reproduction must be submitted to MRIA at publications@mria-arim.ca. RETURN UNDELIVERABLE CANADIAN ADDRESSES TO The Marketing Research and Intelligence Association L’Association de la recherche et de l’intelligence marketing 2600 Skymark Avenue, Bldg 4, Unit 104, Mississauga, Ontario L4W 5B2 Canadian Publications Mail Agreement #40033932 ISSN 1488-7320
CO M M E N TARY / COMMENTAIRE
Editor’s Vue David Hamburg
A couple more weeks till spring and we’re home free. And what a winter it’s been this year for many of us; I can hardly wait to mothball the parka and boots. Hope springs eternal with the new season, as does this month’s theme of career development. Vue hits the road running with the integral role that education plays in furthering one’s career, opening with an article by Algonquin College professor Martin Taller, who talks about putting theory into practice for career building in market research. Another tried-and-true way to advance a career is via the headhunter route: Georgian College students Michelle Stephenson and Vanessa Killeen report from the field with some valuable career tips from a couple of headhunters, very accomplished in their own right – Wayne Percy, senior partner at Derhak Ireland, and Frank Edelberg, president of Management One Consultants. Of course there’s more to career development than just the work articles. Robert Wong explores the balance between career and happiness in his piece on the alumni of the Research Analyst Program at Georgian College. Wrapping up our coverage on this month’s theme is Rick Hobbs, MRIA chair of the Professional Development & Certification Portfolio, who presents us with his key findings on what the CMRPs think about the maintenance of certification requirement. And now for something completely different: this month’s feature interview with well-known cookbook author and prepared food entrepreneur Rose Reisman, who discusses how she uses market research to support her diverse business activities. And Claire Bazley speaks with Tom Anderson about his experiences in market research blogging. But enough career talk; let’s look forward to an early spring. Catch you next month.
Plus que quelques semaines avant le printemps et notre libération. Quel hiver ce fut cette année pour un grand nombre d’entre nous! Je ne peux plus attendre de ranger mon parka et mes bottes dans des boules à mites. L’espoir revit toujours avec la nouvelle saison, comme il le fait en développement professionnel, notre thème ce mois-ci. Vue démarre à toute allure sur la piste du rôle essentiel de l’éducation dans l’avancement d’une carrière dans l’article de Martin Taller, professeur à Algonquin College, qui parle de mettre la théorie en pratique dans le développement des carrières en recherche marketing. La piste du chasseur de têtes est une autre manière éprouvée de développer une carrière : Michelle Stephenson et Vanessa Killeen, étudiantes au Georgian College, nous offrent un compte rendu sur place qui contient des conseils précieux provenant de deux chasseurs de têtes chevronnés – Wayne Percy, associé principal chez Derhak Ireland, et Frank Edelberg, président de Management One Consultants. Il va sans dire que le développement d’une carrière déborde des articles axés uniquement sur le travail. Robert Wong explore l’équilibre entre carrière et bonheur dans son article sur les anciens du programme d'analyse de recherche du Georgian College. Rick Hobbs, directeur du Portefeuille du développement professionnel et de l'accréditation de l’ARIM, boucle la boucle de la couverture du thème de ce mois avec les principaux résultats sur ce que les PARM pensent de l’exigence de maintenir leur accréditation. Et maintenant, quelque chose de totalement différent : l’entrevue de fond ce mois-ci est avec Rose Reisman, auteure renommée d’un livre de recettes et entrepreneur spécialisé en aliment prêt-à-servir, qui présente sa façon d’utiliser la recherche marketing pour appuyer ses diverses activités commerciales. Et Claire Bazley parle à Tom Anderson de son expérience en blogage sur la recherche marketing. Mais, en voilà assez sur la carrière. Soyons sur le qui-vive pour l’arrivée du printemps. Je vous retrouve le mois prochain.
David
David
David Hamburg, Market Research Consultant, Hamburg Consulting Editor-in-Chief, Vue / Rédacteur en chef, Vue Email: david.hamburg@sympatico.ca • (514) 748-1827 • david_hamburg
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CO M M E N TARY / COMMENTAIRE
Letter from the President Ed Gibson, CMRP
The continued support that our large research agencies offer to the association – be it in the form of cash sponsorships or as volunteer hours provided to our committees and boards – is a testimony to the value that MRIA brings to those agencies. A recent example of this value is the exemption that MRIA secured for the industry from inclusion in the recently enacted Fighting Internet and Wireless Spam Act (FISA). As a result, our Internet communications, conducted according to MRIA standards, are outside the scope of the Act, and a potential threat to our conducting business in this growing area has been eliminated. But MRIA can also provide value to every member – to students, to field providers, to individual practitioners. One of the most commonly used services is the association’s Adviceline (info@mria-arim.com). If you have a question about the correct interpretation of MRIA’s code of conduct, or if you are unsure whether a client request is appropriate (and how to handle this situation), then make the most of this important service. One of the advantages of MRIA membership is that the individual can benefit from the credibility and capacity of the organization as a whole. Recently, a member, wishing to bid on a government project, was faced with a mandatory request to supply actual examples of comparable studies. For reasons of confidentiality and by the nature of such comparable studies, the request could not be fulfilled and there was seemingly no way out. Through our good relations with senior public servants who more fully understand the constrictions of our industry, we were able to make representations to the contracting department and are confident that a satisfactory solution can be achieved. Others have been given advice on the correct procedures for addressing government RFPs and on the rigorous standards that government contracts prescribe for marketing research projects. So, if you have any government issues – from small contracting frustrations to suggestions for major legislative changes – MRIA is willing, and able to be of assistance. Education is also a common topic on which members seek advice. In addition to the CMRE curriculum, our staff can 6
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L’appui constant que les grandes sociétés de recherche offrent à notre association – soit sous forme de parrainage monétaire ou par des heures de bénévolat auprès de comités et de conseils d’administration – témoigne de la valeur que l’ARIM représente pour ces sociétés. Un exemple récent de cette valeur est l’exemption que l’ARIM a obtenue pour notre industrie au moment de la promulgation de la Loi visant l’élimination des pourriels sur les réseaux Internet et sans fil (LEPI). Il en découle que nos communications par Internet menées selon les normes de l’ARIM seront exclues de la portée de la loi, et que la menace qui planait sur notre capacité de poursuivre nos affaires dans ce domaine grandissant a été écartée. L’ARIM offre aussi de la valeur à chacun de ses membres – étudiants, fournisseurs sur le terrain, praticiens individuels. Le Service conseil est un des services utilisé le plus couramment. Si vous avez des questions sur la bonne interprétation du Code de déontologie de l’ARIM, ou si vous n’êtes pas certain si la demande d’un client est appropriée (et de quelle façon traiter la situation), profitez au maximum de cet important service en écrivant à info@mria-arim.ca Le fait que les membres individuels peuvent bénéficier de la crédibilité et de la capacité de l’ensemble de l’organisation est un des avantages d’adhérer à l’ARIM. Récemment, un membre voulant présenter une offre pour un projet gouvernemental faisait face à l’obligation de fournir des exemples concrets d’études comparables. Pour des raisons de confidentialité et à cause de la nature de telles études comparatives, il ne pouvait satisfaire à l’exigence et n’avait aucune porte de sortie. Grâce à nos bonnes relations avec des cadres au sein de la fonction publique qui comprennent mieux les contraintes de notre industrie, nous avons pu présenter nos observations au ministère demandeur et nous sommes confiants qu’on y trouvera une solution satisfaisante. D’autres ont reçu des conseils sur les bonnes procédures à suivre en répondant à des appels d’offres du gouvernement et sur les normes rigoureuses que le gouvernement impose aux contrats de recherche marketing. Donc, si vous avez des questions relatives au gouvernement – des petites frustrations concernant les contrats aux changements législatifs majeurs – l’ARIM veut et peut vous aider. La formation est un autre sujet sur lequel les membres désirent souvent des conseils. Au-delà du programme de
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direct individuals toward the most appropriate courses to fit their general needs and, for our corporate members, we can customize courses and present them in whatever format or location that is desired. All of us in the industry celebrate our colleagues’ successes – large or small. And MRIA can offer support to members who wish to expand into foreign markets. Your association was a founding member of ARIA (Americas Research Industry Alliance) and through ARIA we have credible contacts in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Uruguay and Venezuela. We enjoy close relations with ESOMAR (European Society for Opinion and Market Research) and, through this organization, to practically any marketing research organization in the world. So, if you need advice on the opportunities and constraints applicable to any particular country, the MRIA staff can at the very least point you in the right direction. For the future – and with the individual member in mind – MRIA will be introducing a mentorship program. Senior members of the industry will register themselves to meet periodically with those who are new to the industry to provide help and guidance in their careers. And the coming months will see an increased emphasis on chapter activities so that all our members can participate in the association, make their own contributions and, in turn, benefit from all that the association has to offer. All the services mentioned are available at no cost through the talented and accommodating staff at our Mississauga offices. And as I will be stepping down as president at the end of the month, I would like to take this opportunity to thank the staff, not only for the support they give on a daily basis to our members, but also for making it possible for volunteers such as myself to make a productive contribution to our industry. And thank you all for making my term of office such an enjoyable and rewarding experience.
Ed Gibson, CMRP CRC Research ed@crcresearch.com (604) 922-3502
l’examen d'accréditation en recherche marketing, notre personnel peut guider les membres individuels vers les cours les plus appropriés à leurs besoins généraux et personnaliser les cours et les présenter dans le format et à l’endroit voulus pour nos membres corporatifs. Nous célébrons tous dans l’industrie les succès petits et grands de nos collègues. L’ARIM peut offrir de l’appui aux membres qui désirent s’étendre dans des marchés étrangers. Votre association est un membre fondateur de l’ARIA (Americas Research Industry Alliance) et, grâce à elle, nous avons des contacts crédibles en Argentine, au Brésil, au Chili, en Colombie, en Équateur, au Mexique, en Uruguay et au Venezuela. Nous bénéficions de relations étroites avec l’ESOMAR (l’Association européenne pour les études d’opinion et de marketing) et, par l’entremise de cet organisme, avec pratiquement tous les organismes de recherche marketing au monde. Alors, si vous avez besoin de conseils sur les possibilités et les contraintes dans un pays en particulier, le personnel de l’ARIM peut à tout le moins vous guider dans la bonne direction. Dans un proche avenir – en gardant ses membres individuels à l’esprit – l’ARIM lancera un programme de mentorat. Des membres séniors de notre industrie s’inscriront pour participer à des rencontres périodiques avec les nouveaux membres de l’industrie afin de les aider et de les guider dans leur carrière. Au cours des prochains mois, nous mettrons davantage l’accent sur les activités des chapitres pour que tous les membres puissent participer à leur association, faire leurs propres contributions et, en retour, bénéficier de tout ce que l’association peut offrir. Tous les services mentionnés sont accessibles sans frais par l’entremise du personnel talentueux et accommodant à nos bureaux à Mississauga. D’ailleurs, puisque je vais quitter mon poste de président à la fin du mois, je profite de cette occasion pour remercier le personnel, non seulement pour l’appui qu’il offre quotidiennement à nos membres, mais aussi parce qu’il permet à des bénévoles comme moi d’offrir une contribution productive à notre industrie. Merci à tous d'avoir fait de mon mandat une expérience si agréable et enrichissante.
Ed Gibson, PARM CRC Recherches ed@crcresearch.com (604) 922-3502
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Message from the Executive Director Brendan Wycks
Acting on Survey Insights to Increase Member Value and Retention (Part II)
Perspectives pour accroître notre valeur et la fidélisation des membres (Partie II)
Last month, I highlighted the valuable insights we gained from the recent Member Value and Benefits Survey, and indicated that MRIA has begun to take action on several of them to enhance the value of membership. I noted that probably the most compelling of all the survey findings is that the key to satisfied members – who will continue to renew their membership, year after year – is greater personal engagement in the programs and activities of the association. This month, I want to update you on what MRIA has already done and will be doing to stimulate members’ greater personal involvement in the affairs of the association and to deliver greater value, leading to higher levels of member satisfaction and retention. First, we’ve just launched a new class of membership called the “New Practitioner Membership.” Under this class of membership, recent entrants to the industry can join and belong to the association for two years at reduced dues – allowing them an extended period of time in which to become involved, get engaged, and experience the range of benefits that our association offers – before they have to renew at full individual membership dues. In 2011, we’ve already secured quite a number of New Practitioner Members, who we’re told would not otherwise have been in a position to join. Second, we’re focusing on offering more educational and networking opportunities at no or low cost, through webinars and one-day conferences. As a start in this area, on March 2, MRIA will be staging a complimentary webinar titled “Go beyond Google: Gathering Intelligence from the Internet,” presented by online marketing and competitive intelligence experts Sean Campbell and Scott Swigart, of Cascade Insights (Portland, Oregon).
Le mois dernier, j’ai souligné des perspectives importantes découlant du sondage auprès des membres sur la valeur et les bénéfices de leur adhésion et le fait que l’ARIM prenait des mesures par rapport à plusieurs d’entre elles afin d’améliorer la valeur de l’adhésion. J’ai noté que la révélation la plus concluante du sondage est que la clé de la satisfaction des membres – ceux et celles qui continueront de renouveler leur adhésion d’année en année – se trouve dans un plus grand engagement personnel dans les programmes et les activités de l’association. Ce mois-ci, je vais faire le point sur ce que l’ARIM a déjà accompli et sur ce que nous ferons pour stimuler une plus grande participation des membres et pour leur offrir une valeur accrue afin d’augmenter leur niveau de satisfaction et de fidélisation. Premièrement, nous avons lancé une nouvelle catégorie d’adhésion appelée « Nouveau membre praticien ». Grâce à cette nouvelle catégorie, les nouveaux arrivants dans l’industrie peuvent adhérer à l’association et y participer pendant deux ans à prix réduit – prolongeant ainsi la période où ils s’impliquent, s’engagent et profitent de l’éventail d’avantages offerts par notre association – avant de renouveler leur adhésion au plein tarif de la cotisation. Depuis le début de 2011, nous avons déjà recruté un bon nombre de nouveaux praticiens qui nous ont avoué qu’ils n’auraient pas pu adhérer autrement. Deuxièmement, nous mettons l’accent sur l’augmentation des possibilités de formation et de réseautage sans frais ou à peu de frais grâce à des webinaires et des conférences d’une journée. Pour commencer, le 2 mars, l’ARIM offrira un webinaire gratuit intitulé « Go Beyond Google: Gathering Intelligence from the Internet » [Au-delà de Google : La collecte de renseignements dans Internet] qui sera présenté par les experts du marketing en ligne et de la veille concurrentielle Sean Campbell et Scott Swigart de Cascade Insights (Portland, Oregon). Ensuite, dans le domaine des publications, les membres recevront bientôt mensuellement un aperçu préliminaire en
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Next, in the area of publications, members will soon be receiving, each month, an electronic preview of Vue magazine, including the issue’s cover and table of contents, as well as links to the major articles. Close to 200 members have already opted to receive their Vue magazine in environmentally friendly, electronic-only form, which means that they’ll receive their leading-edge content about a week earlier than those of us who still prefer to receive a hard copy of the magazine via snail mail. As well, our e-newsletter, Pulse, is being redesigned into a more readable and user-friendly format. Finally, returning to those younger industry professionals whom we want to attract, engage and retain, we’re investigating options and possibilities in the area of a formal MRIA industry mentoring program. This includes both the mentoring of young practitioners by senior industry professionals and peer-to-peer mentoring, in which young professionals get together to advise, assist and inspire each other. In response to my column on the Member Value and Benefits Survey in the January-February issue of Vue, a member wrote to me with an interesting suggestion. He noted that he had recently attended a marketing industry–related event that was totally organized by a group of people in their twenties, who decided on the topic (social media!) and invited the panellists (a cross-section of clients and suppliers) to a funky location for a $45 registration fee, with one drink-coupon to start. The event was a great success and well-attended. Perhaps, suggested the writer, MRIA’s chapters might consider encouraging young people to organize similar events. The potential groundswell might improve involvement. What are your thoughts on this member’s suggestion? I’d love to hear from you, especially if you are a younger, under-35, member or you have a perspective on this suggestion related to one of our chapters across the country.
Brendan Wycks, BA, MBA, CAE Executive Director Marketing Research and Intelligence Association bwycks@mria-arim.ca (905) 602-6854 ext. 8724
ligne du magazine Vue comprenant la page couverture et la table des matières du numéro, de même que des liens aux principaux articles. Près de 200 membres ont déjà opté pour recevoir le magazine Vue uniquement en format électronique et écologique, ce qui signifie qu’ils recevront le contenu de pointe environ une semaine avant ceux d’entre nous qui préfèrent encore recevoir la copie imprimée par courrier ordinaire. De plus, nous restructurons notre bulletin électronique Pulse pour l’offrir dans un format plus convivial et facile à lire. Enfin, pour en revenir aux professionnels plus jeunes de l’industrie que nous voulons attirer, faire participer et conserver, nous examinons des options et des possibilités pour un programme de mentorat officiel de l’ARIM pour l’industrie. Il comprendra des services de mentorat offerts aux jeunes praticiens par des professionnels chevronnés et du mentorat entre pairs permettant à des jeunes professionnels de se réunir pour se conseiller, s’appuyer et s’inspirer mutuellement. En réponse à ma chronique sur le sondage auprès des membres sur la valeur et les bénéfices de leur adhésion dans le numéro de janvier-février de Vue, un membre m’a envoyé une suggestion intéressante. Il m’a raconté qu’il avait assisté récemment à un événement relatif à l’industrie du marketing organisé entièrement par un groupe de personnes dans la vingtaine qui ont choisi le sujet (les médias sociaux!), invité les panélistes (un échantillon représentatif de clients et de fournisseurs) à un endroit funky, et fixé les frais d’inscription à 45 $ incluant un coupon pour une boisson. L’événement a été un grand succès et a attiré beaucoup de participants. Peut-être que les chapitres de l’ARIM pourraient songer à encourager les jeunes à organiser des événements similaires. Cela pourrait créer une vague de fond qui améliorera l’engagement. Que pensez-vous de la suggestion de ce membre? J’aimerais beaucoup recevoir vos commentaires, en particulier si vous êtes un membre plus jeune, de moins de 35 ans, ou que vous avez le point de vue d’un de nos chapitres au pays sur cette suggestion.
Brendan Wycks, BA, MBA, CAE Directeur général L’ Association de la recherche et de l’intelligence marketing bwycks@mria-arim.ca (905) 602-6854 poste 8724
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Career Development ‌
in Search of Happiness Drawing on the reflections of successful graduates, the former coordinator of the Research Analyst Program at Georgian College tells us about the dominant themes that recur in alumni’s conversations about the search for happiness in their research careers. Robert A. G. Wong, MCIP, CMRP, FMRIA
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In the fall of 2008, just before the economic recession, Peggy (my life and work partner) and I were fortunate to be on professional development leave from Georgian College, where I was the coordinator of the post-graduate Research Analyst Program (RAP). Our goal during this leave was to explore the practice of research globally; and our three months of travel abroad – to Thailand, Australia, South Africa, Germany and Trinidad – provided a wonderful perspective. Our biggest
conclusions were that the research profession is universal and that the skills used are transferable, no matter the country, the language, or the people. In Thailand, we were tasked by the senior management of an international research supplier to examine three issues for its office: how the supplier could build stronger teams, stimulate employee engagement, and improve the working environment. After interviewing thirteen of the supplier’s fifteen staff, conducting training workshops, and sharing many conversations over culinary delights, we offered our perspective. Specific suggestions were made by the staff, but it was the broader observation that was most interesting: We are all in search of happiness, and our careers play an important component in our happiness. To add to this global peek into the practice of research, as a retired professor with 23 years of experience, I have a unique perspective from which to
contemplate career development. I also canvassed a small qualitative sample of ten out of the 400 RAP alumni who are working in the research industry. The first great news was that RAP alumni, whom I have followed over the years, have found rewarding and enriching careers in research. Some have earned fulfilling careers in the social research sector in health, education, and public service, and some are advancing their careers on the marketing research side, both as suppliers and buyers.
Among those I canvassed were recent graduates in the early and critical years of the profession. In Search of Happiness
Five themes recurred in the alumni’s conversations about career satisfaction, career development, and the pursuit of happiness in their careers. What follows are summaries of the recurring themes in their search for happiness – in their research careers and in what they are doing to further develop themselves and their chosen profession. Build comfort: it’s a two-way conversation. When a new cohort of students arrived at the college doorstep, the first thing we did was make them feel comfortable. Because they had to be comfortable – with their decision to attend RAP at Georgian College and as a class – before we could teach them the fundamentals of research. The same reality exists in the
workplace. In fact, a comfort level works both ways: the employee has to come prepared, and the employer has to offer mentorship. One alumna, MM, says that what she brings to her job is “a positive attitude and willingness to try new things.” It is this fresh and eager approach to work that brings energy to the workplace. In the other direction, employers need to offer employees opportunities – to be challenged, to be given the responsibility to dig into projects, and to be appreciated. As one alumnus, AB, remarks, “Knowing my opinion is sought and valued really boosts my confidence.” So when the conversation goes two ways, there is a sense of satisfaction. An alumnus who took a career change and entered this new profession only ten months ago says, “The experience so far has assured me I have made a great career choice.” Find your passion and know what makes you tick. “Finding your passion” is a phrase I have used for years when counselling students about career choices. Of course, that is easier said than finding the elusive passion. For some, passion comes from working in a specific sector, such as public affairs or health; for others, it derives from the nature of the work environment. In a Vue article of May 2005, a colleague at Erin Research, Kasia Seydegart, shared her passion for research eloquently: “People are what make me tick, what fascinate me. So work that centres on human behaviour and advances the human condition is what propels me, what brings a deep sense of meaning and purpose.” It was a pleasure to hear that recent RAP alumni have caught the same infectious bug. As VF observes, “The most important thing for me and what really gets me going in to work every day is the thrill of digging through information to find an important piece of information for a client. Driving those insights, and knowing that the work my team and I have done has potentially grown my client’s business, is worth all of the hard work and long hours.” Some have found that their passion is sharing knowledge. AM reflects, “I love vue March 2011
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the educational side of my work. Part of my job is to help other staff who’ve had limited experience with research. So I help in educating them about the ins and outs of actually doing the work. I also have a number of research assistants that I help. What I have realized over the past six years is that you never really stop learning.” Build relationships and help connect the dots. Career satisfaction may be measured by the application of our research skills and by the analytical somersaults we perform, but the social and work relationships also bring happiness to a career. EN remarks, “I honestly think that if you want to find happiness in your career, it’s not enough to do what you love – that’s only half of it. You really need to combine what you love to do with people you really enjoy being around. A personality fit should not be underestimated.” But again, how does this play out in the workplace? DR shares this: “I work in a very social environment, and for anyone that knows me, I am a very social person. I do many things with coworkers outside of work, including playing on an ultimate Frisbee team. This certainly helps in workplace happiness. Imagine coming to work every day and seeing your friends!” At the Thailand office, we observed opportunities to better align teams strategically in order to recognize and capitalize on the strengths of individual members within a team. In fact at Georgian College, we introduced personality/decision preference tools such as True Colors (by True Colors International) and 4Di (by OneSmartWorld) to help students understand and apply their strengths while improving on areas outside of their comfort zone. Take calculated risks and be open to opportunities. For some alumni of RAP, career development involved the taking of calculated risks in broadening horizons, stretching the mind, and expanding opportunities. For these alumni, what was important was learning, learning and learning. GD, who works on a continuous quality 12
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improvement (CQI) team, notes, “I have had to work on some very challenging projects since I started. I see the way to develop my career is to continuously improve. Since starting, I have improved on a lot of the knowledge and skills I got from the RAP program, and have also picked up a lot of new skills. I attend training and courses to keep improving myself.” Several RAP alumni have also earned their CMRP as a way to demonstrate their value to the industry. Although it was a risk to prepare for and write the seven-hour exam, success brought personal satisfaction and opened up future career opportunities. For alumni AS, EN and ES, the CMRP was a career development move that captured recognition from peers and management, and also built confidence in themselves as research professionals. EN, who has just returned from a three-month exchange with an affiliated company in Germany, frames her thoughts this way: “I’m trying to get as much experience as possible. I think the more versatile you are, the more likely you are to go places and to grow.” Not all employees will have the chance to work internationally, but if you are open to such opportunities, they are more likely to come your way. Balance work and life. Finally, happiness in your career can also be about a worklife balance. Deadlines, tighter budgets, and increased client demands can result in pressures that drive great research talent out of the industry. On the other hand, research companies are acting on their own research and assessing employee engagement, and they have built more employee-centred initiatives such as company socials, professional development leaves, team lunches, and flex hours. One alumna, JV, explains her work-life balance goal: “This is something that is so important to me – to be able to pursue passions outside of work. My senior-level management understand that life does go on outside of the office and have shown an interest in getting to know what else we do. It’s the ‘so tell me about your weekend’ conversations and the genuine interest in getting to know
each member of the team that promotes a sense of self-worth.” Seeking happiness in your career takes effort on your part. It is understanding who you are and finding your passion. It is bringing to the table openness and positive attitudes in order to build comfort with your peers and your mentors. It is the relationships you build and nurture every day – just imagine going to work to see your friends! Finally, happiness in your career is finding that elusive work-life balance. What Johanna Skibrub, author and 2010 Scotiabank Giller Prize winner, said about wealth is a personal, not an absolute, observation. It applies to happiness as well: “Its attainment is a matter of prioritizing according to your own values” (“The Payoff,” in the February-March issue of MoneySense magazine). The Canadian research industry has a unique opportunity to apply the insights from our own employee engagement and loyalty research – research that we conduct for other industry sectors – and to build the most innovative and creative practices, in order to attract the best minds and whole bodies, and to nurture loyalty to research careers. Special thanks go to the Georgian RAP alumni, who continue to connect with me and share their career stories and opinions. Great research talent can be found for internships or career positions at www.georgianc.on.ca/rap. Or contact Dan Phillips, RAP program coordinator at dphillips@georgianc.on.ca Robert Wong, MCIP, CMRP, FMRIA, is a loyal partner with his own firm, RMCG, in Barrie, Ontario. He has recently retired as coordinator of the Research Analyst Program at Georgian College, where he bridged the crevasses between academia and the applied world of social and marketing research. Robert can be reached at robert@rmcg.ca
Opinionology formerly
Verity速
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An Hour with Headhunters: Advice You Should Follow From their unique perspective on the market research industry, two prominent Bay Street headhunters offer some sound guidance for a successful career – whether you’re just starting out or a seasoned veteran.
Michelle Stephenson and Vanessa Killeen
Curiosity overtook us as we walked into the lobby of an office building on Bay Street: we were about to sit down with two successful headhunters in the market research industry. Only three days before, we were sitting in our advanced statistics class, when this opportunity was presented to us. Busy students in the Research Analyst Program at Georgian College, we cleared our schedules and jumped at the opportunity to gain exposure and establish industry contacts. We must have had a fresh look to us, because Wayne identified us right away. Wayne Percy, senior partner at Derhak Ireland, became a headhunter after a career in brand management and corporate turnaround. “But I don’t want to be a headhunter!” was Wayne’s initial reaction. Nevertheless, he decided to take the position until he found a better job. As it turns out, there was no better job that could have come along; he loves being a headhunter. After meeting Wayne, we made our way up to Frank Edelberg’s office. Frank is the president of Management One Consultants. He’s always had a passion for marketing and came into the headhunting business after a career in brand management and advertising. Headhunters have a unique perspective on the market research industry. Our conversation with Wayne and Frank provided us with rich and detailed information, a guide to a successful career. Here is career advice you should follow, from the point of view of a headhunter. Know Your Career Strategy
A clear-cut strategy for your career is the ultimate path to success. Whether you are a junior looking to break into the industry or a seasoned veteran looking for your next upward move, a networking strategy is crucial. According to Wayne, there are two strategies for networking at MRIA events, depending on where you are in your career: If you’re a junior, he suggests, “Develop a shallow relationship with 14
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most in attendance.” Get as many business cards as possible, and always follow up. If you are more established in the industry, Wayne advises you to develop a strategy for each event. “Meet four people at the event and build relationships that are meaningful to your career. Interview the people who have the job that you want three to five years down the road.” Frank provided an additional way to get yourself noticed: “Write and suggest articles for Vue magazine.” Don’t Come to a Headhunter Desperate
If you come to a headhunter desperate, it is already too late. The headhunter’s job is to facilitate opportunities for longterm career success. Both Wayne and Frank have seen anxious candidates that need to transform their careers but, as Wayne puts it, “It’s hard to put your best foot forward when you’re unemployed and unhappy.” It is imperative to continue adding to your skill set; and never forget to network, even when you’re happy in your job. Use LinkedIn as a Radio Broadcast Tool
LinkedIn isn’t just another social networking site; it’s an opportunity to stand out in the industry. Wayne describes LinkedIn as a “radio broadcast tool” for your career. From the headhunter’s perspective, it is all about standing out and getting yourself noticed. It can seamlessly air your professional accomplishments to those active in the industry. The important nugget is your participation. Join discussion groups and share meaningful experiences or information. Wayne says it’s not enough just to have a profile on LinkedIn; if you’re not posting on the site, he doesn’t know you exist. The more your name is present to those who subscribe to the site, the more you will become recognized, and curiosity will get the better of those who see it.
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Don’t Be Afraid to Go ‘Sideways’
In terms of career success, a lot of weight is placed on constantly moving up. However, the headhunters suggest that a “sideways” move might be exactly what your career needs in order to broaden the scope of your opportunities. According to Frank, “The number one reason why people leave is because of underappreciation.” There are many reasons for feeling underappreciated. As he notes, it could be too little money, the want of a pat on the back, or working sixty hours a week for the last six months without any acknowledgment from your boss. The headhunters agree that the motivation to leave a position is often much deeper than just money. In Wayne’s experience, “Ten per cent of the people I move is for a step back in money, but it is about that right career move.” Training, coaching, improved life balance, exposure to better brands and sophisticated techniques are some of the many reasons mentioned for leaving a company. Frank also talked about how difficult it can be, especially for a junior on the client side, to move up the corporate ladder. In these cases, it can be particularly beneficial to move sideways. For the newcomers to the industry, take
note: Both headhunters warn that, in general, it is more difficult to move from the client side to the supplier side than vice versa. Find Your Spark
Frank and Wayne are looking for candidates with spark. However, that doesn’t always mean they’re looking for the most outgoing person or the life of the party. Spark is passion. It is drive. It is the determination to do something better than anyone else. Where’s your spark?
Michelle Stephenson is a recent graduate of McMaster University, with an honours bachelor of arts in communication studies. She is currently studying at Georgian College in the postgraduate Research Analyst Program. Vanessa Killeen is also a current student in the Research Analyst Program at Georgian College. She has an honours bachelor in political science from the University of Waterloo and a bachelor of education from the University of Western Ontario.
VUE MAGAZINE
TIMELESS PAPERLESS
VIRTUALLY 2011 MEDIA KIT AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD AT
HTTP://WWW.MRIA-ARIM.CA/ADVERTISING/PDF/VUE-ADGUIDEENG.PDF
With Vue magazine now available both in print and online 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 at http://mria-arim.ca/VUEonline/Nov2010/Nov2010BroadcastR.html There is no added cost for MRIA members to opt out of the print version and receive the online version - simply go to MRIA Portal, under Membership. http://www.mriaportal-arimportail.ca
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Career Building in Marketing Research at Algonquin College
Putting Theory into Practice The Marketing and Business Intelligence Research program at Algonquin College provides students with hands-on training in the skills that will allow them to conduct marketing and opinion research in the public and private sectors and on the international scene.
Martin Taller
Career week at Algonquin College occurs annually in February, with a networking fair that attracts more than fifty employers in various public, private and not-for-profit sectors from across Ontario and Canada. Students meet and greet potential employers, not only to present themselves, but also to learn about potential job opportunities. Students in the Marketing and Business Intelligence Research (MBIR) graduate program have been focused on entering the marketing research industry from the first week of joining the program. These students have joined the MBIR program to gain the skills that will help them secure employment opportunities in research. This is achieved by hard work in learning the theory and the applied skills of the marketing research trade. Each semester, and especially in the second semester, there is a tremendous amount of group work that requires the students to conduct both secondary and primary research for real clients in real time. There is no time to waste, as each semester is very busy, with six 45-hour courses. In the second semester this year, the program curriculum and field work activities integrate primary research for seven different organizations and businesses. For example, they include the analysis of public opinion for AmericasBarometer, which is an initiative of the Latin American Public Opinion Project (LAPOP) at Vanderbilt University. It aims to measure democracy in Latin American nations using public opinion polls of voting-age adults. Algonquin’s MBIR students learn how people think and what motivates people to behave the way they do. The program provides students with employable skills that will allow them to conduct marketing and opinion research in the public and private sectors and on the international scene. The curriculum emphasizes the marketing research 16
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process, including research design, questionnaire construction, moderator’s guide construction, data collection, database construction, basic and intermediate statistical analysis and interpretation, and report-writing skills. In addition, students become familiar with the scientific method of hypothesis testing and solving business problems through competitive intelligence. Courses may be offered in the classroom or lab, entirely online, or in a hybrid mode that combines classroom sessions with online learning activities. Who are the students who join our program? In many ways, the MBIR program and its students reflect the changing face of the Canadian landscape. English is one among more than fifty languages spoken on campus at Algonquin College. The MBIR program attracts both Canadian and international students, who bring unique perspectives to the marketing research field. Our students arrive from across Canada and from countries such as Nigeria, China, India and Egypt. The overarching goal of the MBIR program and its instructors is to provide hands-on training in a supportive environment that is designed to provide our students with the confidence they need to enter the working world. Algonquin College and the Marketing and Business Intelligence Research program welcome questions from prospective applicants and business professionals. We also welcome the private and public sectors, as well as businesses and organizations that require or are able to provide student field placement. Contact Martin Taller, MBIR coordinator and professor, at tallerm@algonquincollege.com or (613) 727-4723 ext. 6139. Find us on Facebook under “Marketing and Business Intelligence Research.”
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F E AT U R E
Interview with Tom Anderson The founder of Next Gen Market Research, and the author of the most trafficked personal blog dedicated to market research, talks about his experiences in and his insights into MR blogging. For aspiring market research bloggers, he offers a top-ten list of do’s and don’ts.
Claire Bazley, CMRP
What do running a successful market research business and maintaining one of the Internet’s most visited market research (MR) blogs have in common? If you’re Tom H. C. Anderson, you know the answer: Everything. Tom’s firm, Anderson Analytics, uses text analytics capabilities in social media to analyse public online communities and digital word of mouth. But he doesn’t stop there: Tom insists on practising what he preaches. His blog (tomhcanderson.com) is the most trafficked personal blog dedicated to market research – in terms of both overall traffic and unique monthly visitors. He tweets under three accounts: Under @InfoAdvantage, he shares news regarding Anderson Analytics. Under @OffshoreTrans, he shares news related to the Foundation for Transparency in Offshoring, which he founded in 2009. Under his personal account @TomHCAnderson, he shares information on market research in general. In social networking, Tom has been very active founding and moderating the market research networking group, Next Gen Market Research (NGMR). Coinciding with his appearance at Net Gain 5.0 this past January, Tom welcomed the opportunity to connect with Vue readers and share his experience gaining influence online. He also offers ten tips for any aspiring market research bloggers. What came first: the blog or the business? When did you make the decision to commit to blogging?
I founded Anderson Analytics in 2005 but didn’t start blogging until late 2007. I actually didn’t have any plans to be a blogger when I started. I didn’t think I had anything to write about and didn’t think anyone would want to read it. Because I had founded Anderson Analytics to leverage NLP (natural language processing, a type of text analytics) in traditional market research, by 2006 we had moved on from analysing survey open ends to also indexing and conducting in-depth content analysis of online discussion 18
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boards and blogs. I felt my view of blogging would be lopsided if I didn’t give it a try and see it from the blogger’s perspective. So, initially, it was really more for me – to simply understand the mechanics, etcetera. In a very short period of time, though, I noticed the blog (tomhcanderson.com) was getting more than twice the web traffic that our company site (andersonanalytics.com) was getting. The company site had been around for three years longer and had paid advertising! So I decided I had better continue to blog. What have been the main benefits to maintaining your MR blog? Have there been any surprising or unintended consequences?
Sure, all kinds. The main and initial benefit was that it generated excellent SEO (search engine optimization) and traffic for our site in Google, etcetera. We started getting calls from clients who had read a blog entry about something I had written on customer segmentation or text analytics. And of course these calls ended up leading to business from clients. I still recall the first project that we landed because someone had read one of my blog posts; it was a segmentation study for Babson College. Anyway, beyond that, it’s been a great way to help me network and build relationships. I’ve met and had the chance to talk to interesting people like Seth Godin and Guy Kawasaki as a result. With the possible exception of my industry speaking gigs, I find a good social media strategy can save me time and money, because it allows me to get to know customers without having to travel all over the country and the world. How do you typically choose topics and plan content?
I don’t really do much planning. The blog, while important, is only one small part of the overall social media strategy, so
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I really can’t devote as much time to the blog as I’d actually like. Sometimes, I’ll have an idea about a blog post, but I’ll end up discussing the idea in the NGMR group I moderate on LinkedIn, instead. Not that I couldn’t post about the topic on the blog after that as well, but by that time I often feel I’ve used up the time I’ve allocated to social media for the day. If you’re not careful, social media can eat up a lot of your time. It’s fun, but I have to remind myself that it’s just one small part of the business. But it certainly is a very effective marketing and PR tool.
4. Write as inspiration hits. Blogging is supposed to be off the cuff. If you take it too seriously, like work, it won’t happen. Don’t worry about what others think.
How do you personally measure the success of a post? Is it by traffic, number of comments, or the potential to generate a business lead?
7. It’s all about search engine optimization in the end. Just like the saying that one luxury product goes well with other luxury products, so one social medium goes well with other social media. Expect to cross-promote your posts via other channels, such as Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. It’s very much about traffic, followers, etcetera. Anyone who tells you otherwise is being dishonest.
I would say all of the above, but mainly traffic. According to services like Compete.com, Alexa, etcetera, I believe it’s still the most trafficked personal blog related to market research. It’s sometimes hard to tell ahead of time what kind of post will generate interest. Some posts, while generating a lot of traffic, don’t generate a lot of comments. This is the case if the post is more informational. Controversial posts usually do a good job of doing both. Often, the ones that generate business will be more specific and sometimes not generate much traffic or comment. So it’s a mix, with traffic being most important. If you get a lot of traffic, the blog overall performs better in Google, etcetera. And even those posts that aren’t very popular, but which might be interesting to the client looking for specific info, are also more likely to be found. What advice would you give to aspiring MR bloggers? Do you have a top-ten list?
Great idea. Any top-ten or top-five list usually generates a lot of traffic. Here are a few top-of-mind that, hopefully, someone will find useful.
5. Try to commit to posting about once a week. But don’t feel you need to stick to any rigid schedule. 6. Expect to share. You need to share more than you probably feel comfortable with initially. If you’re not willing to open up and take chances, your stuff is likely to be very boring, both for you and your reader.
8. Purpose and repurpose. Don’t worry too much about duplication of content. There will be a certain amount of unique reach on each social media channel you use – your website, Twitter, Facebook, etcetera – and there’s something to be said for frequency as well, right? So don’t be afraid to use and re-use items. For instance, if you send an e-card to your customers via email, consider posting it on your blog as well. News releases over the wire? Why not put them up on the blog as well? 9. Collaborate. Blogging is a great way to network and collaborate with others. Interviews are one of many great ways to do this. Interviewing another blogger usually will mean that blogger will back-link and help drive additional eyeballs to your blog. Interviews are fun, and easier to do than you think.
Tom’s NGMR Top-Ten Blogging Tips
1. Just Do It! If you’ve thought about it, force yourself to try blogging. Blogging is a great way to build your individual brand or to help your companies in branding (our blog regularly receives twice to four times the amount of traffic that our website does). It gets easier as you go. Give yourself eight weeks. If you don’t like it, at least you tried. 2. Don’t worry too much about topic or content. After a few posts, you’ll probably naturally start finding your voice, and your topics will eventually become more focused. 3. Try or experiment with different topics and titles. It’s hard to know ahead of time what kinds of posts will generate a lot of traffic.
10. Don’t take it too seriously. A surefire way to guarantee that your blogging effort will fail is to take it too seriously. Agonizing and editing posts not only makes blogging more difficult, but it ensures that whatever you blog about will be boring as hell. Just have fun! Tom Anderson, MBA, MEcon, is the founder of Anderson Analytics and Next Gen Market Research. In 2010, the American Marketing Association named him one of the industry’s “Four under 40” market research leaders. A recognized authority on social media, Tom lectures regularly at universities and industry conferences, and is published widely in trade journals and decision science publications. You can contact him at toma@andersonanalytics.com vue March 2011
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Rose Reisman Serves Up a Lesson in Trend Spotting Author, TV personality, entrepreneur, educator, and health consultant Rose Reisman talks about her motivation and her approach in bringing nutrition awareness and healthy food choices to Canadians – at home, in restaurants, and in schools. by Kevin Hare Recently named one of the 100 most powerful Canadian women, Rose Reisman is an entrepreneur who knows how to stay on top of emerging trends. An active blogger, author, caterer, public speaker, and media personality, Rose has launched numerous ventures. She shares with us some of the ways she has turned keeping up with the latest trends into successful business endeavours. Rose first began her foray into the health and wellness industry in 1993 with the cookbook Rose Reisman Brings Home Light Cooking, which went on to sell over 400,000 copies. Spurred by the realization that she had to change her own approach to wellness, Rose describes her early motivation for getting started.
I was known first as an author, and I did that for my own health. My own family has diabetes type 2, obesity, heart disease, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol. I needed to educate Canadians in how to prevent these chronic diseases. At this time, I also partnered with the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation. I have now authored 17 books. 20
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Rose has also, in the process, been able to raise more than $1 million in support of breast cancer awareness. Her success has been, in large part, due to her focus on education and awareness. Whether through her initial cookbook or her later move into catering, keeping a focus on sharing knowledge and providing people with real choices are part of Rose’s success.
Educating people that healthy eating isn’t about deprivation was something that was important. We started knocking on doors and said, “Let us feed your clients.” That was when we started Rose Reisman Catering. It seemed to work: we have about 400 corporate clients now. And then, from there, that branched out to event catering. We really thought there is no reason you can’t have a Christmas party or a wedding meal that is healthier. That is the key: to enjoy the meal with no sacrifice for flavour. Since Rose entered the wellness industry, there have been numerous changes in diets and trends, and she remains able to keep her eye on what could be the next big focus. Certain types of foods fall in and out of favour, yet Rose has insight into what could be next.
Sodium awareness is something that I believe is here to stay. Sodium will be looked at similar to smoking in the future. For a while, there was concern around carbs, what with the Atkins Diet. However, eating too much protein also has implications for kidney disease, so there will always be diets that are popular, that come and go. Where we’re going now is moving towards more attention on sodium levels, and I think this is something that will become increasingly important. As Rose continues to expand her endeavours, she has found great success in a partnership with the Pickle Barrel chain of restaurants. Peter Higley, president of Pickle Barrel, caught wind of what Rose was doing, and the two have made significant changes to the restaurant’s menu.
Peter approached me about six years ago, and he asked whether we could get together to take a look at something he had done with a Heart Smart menu but he wasn’t too happy with it. He asked if I could work with him, so we developed about 25 items and started to feature a seasonal menu. At that time, there were only eight Pickle Barrels. But we started with that
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first seasonal menu, which went well, and now every six months we do a new theme menu. We did “Mediterranean,” “Spring,” and we’ve just launched our “Comfort” menu in all our Pickle Barrels. I make up a series of recipes, and when you come in you get a separate menu of mine. The process of selecting menu items is something with which Rose remains intimately involved. Whether it’s for her Personal Gourmet (her daily food delivery service) or for the Pickle Barrel, Rose is at the forefront of the meals she develops.
I normally start with forty ideas, and then I email them to Peter. I used to make them all, and then he’d say no to some of them. So now I try them and then send him the ideas, and he chooses the ten or twelve that make the most sense. I then go back to testing; and I test and test and test. At the Pickle Barrel, they are masters in the kitchen in terms of garnishing: they’ll come in the kitchen with me, and we sample as a team, and then they have to get it right. And that’s the challenge: they have to virtually get it going, and it’s always hard. I’m checking for consistency. From start to finish, the process takes about three months before we can launch in the restaurants themselves. I’ll be given the heads-up a few months out, and I give it a lot of thought before I come up with the ideas. Rose’s approach to keeping up with trends is one of the ways in which the menu at Pickle Barrel is unique. As they’ve worked closely, they are now preparing to launch a first in the Canadian restaurant business: a separate healthy menu exclusively for children.
I’ve had the idea for a while, as I’ve watched the obesity rate of kids growing over time. I’ve really watched what the trends are. I look to see what restaurants both here and in the United
States are doing, to see what kinds of ideas I can adapt. I said to Peter, “You really should do something as an alternative, because the parents who are worried about their kids today need better options.” So in three weeks we’ll be the first chain to launch a children’s menu that is healthy. Until now, there’s been the regular kids menu with chicken fingers, but they’re now adding in a menu I’ve designed. It will be the only chain in the country that has a separate healthy menu for kids. Rose’s numerous business activities include catering, weight care, Personal Gourmet, corporate partnerships, a restaurant, and countless appearances on media outlets. Despite branching out into so many different areas, there are still opportunities that Rose has decided not to follow just yet.
Getting into the mass production area is something that I’ve not done, and one of the main reasons for this is that I’ve always felt the quality suffers. I’ve been in discussion with a supermarket chain for a period of time, but I’m not sure where that is going to go yet. Again, I’ve said that when you get into mass production, you can’t always deliver on quality. Aside from her own business endeavours, Rose is also active in her work within communities. She has recently embarked on a partnership with the faculty of health at her alma mater, York University, where she has been given the title of adjunct professor. Together, they aim to help make the eating choices of students more educated. She’s also found a creative way to encourage this through her “Swap It” program, which appears in the National Post and on Citytv.
I was approached by the dean of the faculty of health, as he had seen some of the different things I’d been doing. He was trying to improve the health of people, not only at York University,
but also in the neighborhood of Jane and Finch. What we’ve done is have me come on campus and deal with the little city there, of 50,000 students. We take a look at the fast food restaurants on campus and try to come up with a way to inform students about the choices they make. We tried to do something like I do on TV – my “Swap It” program – which teaches them to pick something like a Big Mac, which has fewer calories than an Angus burger. We can’t take away all the unhealthy choices or expect outlets not to sell those options, but if you can show them a comparison, hopefully most people will end up making better choices. Reflecting on her accomplishments, Rose also has a vision for the future. She continues to see opportunities to constantly evolve her brand.
What I want to do is grow the Personal Gourmet business. Also, the brand I’m developing is a little all over the map, even though there is a central theme. I am talking to branding experts, and it’s tough. I’d like to bring this brand under one roof: when they hear my name, they’ll think good food, healthy food. But I’ve got so many things going on that it can be confusing. How do I keep all those balls in the air and let people really understand what I do? But I have to tell you, I really thoroughly enjoy my days, and I never think that I am working; I really enjoy what I do. It’s a challenge to work out, to eat well every day. The payoff is huge. Rose Reisman is one of this country’s leading authorities on the art of eating and living well. She has authored 17 books and has been active as a caterer, restaurant consultant, TV/radio personality, public speaker, and teacher, as well as corporate health and wellness consultant. She can be reached at info@rosereisman.com or www.artoflivingwell.ca/blog/ vue March 2011
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PEOPLE AND COMPANIES IN THE NEWS David Parker Named as a Finalist for Puget Sound Business Journal’s 2011 CFO of the Year. GMI (Global Market Insite, Inc.), a provider of technology enabled solutions for global market research, announces that David Parker, the company's chief financial officer, has been selected as a finalist for the 2011 "CFO of the Year" award presented by the Puget Sound Business Journal. The CFO of the Year Awards are given to financial professionals in Washington for outstanding performance in their roles as corporate financial stewards, going above and beyond their regular duties, providing leadership within their companies, within their industries and in their communities. For more information, please visit us online at www.gmi-mr.com Half of Britons Wary about Paying with Their Mobile Phone. New research highlights consumer skepticism, especially among women. Read more here: http://bit.ly/fRJ1mH Download the survey here: http://bit.ly/flcG28 View all of our press releases at www.visioncritical.com/category/newsroom/releases/ Kinesis Survey Technologies Unveils a Custom Mobile Research App with Advanced Barcode Scanner Functionality. Kinesis MobileScan™ is a downloadable app that can be licensed to market research firms. It provides a built-in mobile barcode scanner that captures purchase data for point-of-sale diaries and other purchase-reporting research. All barcode information (product brand, type, size) plus geolocation and timestamp information is collected. Additional details about KinesisMobileScan™ are available on the Kinesis website (www.kinesissurvey.com) CASRO Institute for Research Quality Announces First ISO Certification to Access Panel Standard. Port Jefferson, NY – The CASRO Institute for Research Quality (CIRQ) has awarded its first certification for the ISO 26362:2009 standard Access Panels in Market, Opinion and Social Research to M3 USA. ISO 26362 specifies the terms and definitions, as well as the service requirements, for organizations and professionals who own and/or use access panels for market, opinion and social research. To read more visit www.cirq.org Corrine Sandler, CEO of Fresh Intelligence and Research Director Olga Churkina will unveil the world’s first glocalization score™ at the MRIA 2011 conference in Kelowna. Fresh Intelligence developed a “Glocalization Score” to measure the closeness of brand values to country values. It is a brilliant and actionable tool that will change the field of global brand tracking and communication
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• To read more news online, or to submit your news, simply fill out our online form at mria-arim.ca/PEOPLE/People.asp. • The Vue editorial team reserves the right to select and edit your submission for appearance in Vue. • MRIA is neither responsible for the accuracy of this information nor liable for any false information. • Interested in sponsoring People and Companies in the News? Contact amgabriel@mria-arim.ca
research. The results from the top 15 brands in the world measured in five countries around the world will be unveiled in May 2011. Visit www.freshintelligence.com Vision Critical Chosen as One of British Columbia’s Top Employers. For the third year in a row, global research and technology firm Vision Critical® has been named as one of the Top 55 Employers in British Columbia. Now entering its seventh year, BC’s Top Employers is an annual competition organized by the editors of Canada’s Top 100 Employers. This special designation recognizes the British Columbia employers that lead their industries in offering exceptional places to work. Download the Press Release (PDF) here: http://bit.ly/goKmRw MRSI Welcomes One New Hire and Promotes Five Employees. Rebecca Hunter joins MRSI as a senior project director. Aaron Gulley has been promoted to senior account executive. Betty Berling has been promoted to analytical research manager. Kristen Hungerford has been promoted to a senior analyst. Tina Price has been promoted to senior project director. Keri Glad has been promoted to associate analyst. Visit www.mrsi.com Delvinia Announces Internal Promotions, New Hires. Raj Manocha joins Delvinia's data collection team as Director of Sales for AskingCanadians™ and Julianne Smola has been appointed to the role of Vice President of Panel Experience for AskingCanadians™, where she is now responsible for building and ensuring the data integrity of the online panel. Chris Andaya is now Director of Data Collection for AskingCanadians™ and Typhaine Le Corvec has been named Acquisition Manager for AskingCanadians™. Susan O’Neill joins Delvinia as Public Relations Manager. Visit www.delvinia.com Voxco annonce l’expansion de ses activités au RoyaumeUni. Afin de mieux répondre à la demande du marché britannique, Voxco, un fournisseur de solutions de collecte et de traitement de données pour les entreprises, les instituts d’études de marché et les centres d’appels, accélère sa croissance européenne en ouvrant des bureaux au cœur de la capitale anglaise et en renforçant ses équipes avec l’arrivée de Richard Owen au poste de directeur général UK. Voxco Announces the Expansion of its Activities in the UK. Voxco, a leading software provider for data collection and processing for corporations, market research institutes and call centres, is accelerating its European growth plans by opening an office in the heart of the UK capital to better serve the British market. Richard Owen’s arrival as
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Managing Director adds experience to the existing team. Visit www.voxco.com Research Now Announces Promotion of Adam Portner to Senior Vice President of Client Development. The former Peanut Labs client development team will now be part of Adam's client development team at Research Now. The operations team will report to Wendy McNutt, Director of Operations – Western Region, also based in San Francisco. Visit www.researchnow.com Derhak Ireland has partnered with Georgian College to facilitate their 6th National Salary Survey of: Marketing Research, Consumer Insights, CI and Web-Analytics. Invitations for the 2011 Salary Survey will be sent out in March and the survey will be in field in early April. Derhak Ireland is providing the funding for the project and three students from Georgian will be show-casing their talents by managing and analyzing the survey with an in-depth final report. For more information contact Wayne Percy at Wayne@Derhak.com or 416-675-7601. GfK Names Angelina Villarreal, Ph.D., as Vice President, Multicultural Research. In this new role, she will partner with other multicultural experts from each of the company's business units to develop, implement, and measure forwardthinking marketing research strategies for the fast-growing Hispanic, Asian-American and African-American consumer segments. To read the full release, www.gfkamerica.com Ipsos U.S. Telephone Omnibus Leads the Way in Quality and continues its commitment to offering clients the most representative survey on the market with the addition of cell phone dialing to their telephone omnibus. The digital world is transforming American households as the dependence on wireless technology grows steadily, while the use of traditional landlines declines. To read the full press release, www.ipsos-na.com Rank Research Group is excited to announce the addition of Greg Parker to the company's dynamic team in the role of Research Director. With over 15 years of experience in the industry, Greg will be actively involved across Rank’s diverse client base. Prior to joining Rank, Greg worked for some of the most respected research organizations in Canada and is proud to bring this experience to the company. Visit www.rankresearchgroup.com The management of Matrix Research Limited wishes to congratulate Anton Nicolaides, Director of Sales & Client Service, on successfully completing his first full year of employment with the company. Anton has been the main driving force behind expanding our services to offer surveys in many regions of the world, all conducted in-language from our Toronto area Call Centre. The service is aimed at clients who need a survey conducted by native speakers in many countries. Thank you, Anton, for your hard work and we wish you continuous success! Anton can be reached at (905) 707-1300 or anicolaides@matrixresearch.ca
Amsterdam, February 16, 2011 - ESOMAR is proud to announce the launch Research World Connect. A new online platform for sharing the new and sometimes radical trends in market research, RW Connect will offer a podium for open debate and discussion from ESOMAR members and will provide the global research community with access to some of the best in research thinking by those at the forefront of the industry. Visit www.rwconnect.esomar.org/ Qualvu Smartphone App Allows Consumers to Share Candid Video Feedback. Taking Qualitative Research Out of the Focus Group and Into Consumers’ Lives. Online video research leader Qualvu has launched a new app enabling brands to take advantage of mobile phones to reach consumers during those “moments of truth” when they are interacting with products and services anywhere and anytime. “Mobile video-based connectivity gives companies insights and depths of understanding from consumers at the very moment a consumer is shopping" To read the press releases go to www.qualvu.com/press-releases Higher Education Strategy Associates have released their latest publication, Tuition Fees and Student Financial Assistance: 2010 Global Year in Review. The report offers an overview of trends in higher education financing in the “G-40” countries that account for over 90% of global enrolment and research production. The global situation for tuition and student financial aid policies did not change drastically in 2010, though major changes to the affordability and accessibility of higher education around the world are on their way. To read the report, which provides country-bycountry breakdowns of trends in tuition and student aid in the G-40, visit our website at the following address: www.higheredstrategy.com/publications/2011/ Year_in_Review_2010.pdf
MARK YOUR CALENDARS ESOMAR ASIA PACIFIC 2011 March 20-22, 2011 - Melbourne, Australia MRIA AGM March 28, 2011 - Toronto, ON AAPOR 66th Annual Conference May 12 - 15, 2011 - Phoenix, AZ 2011 MRIA National Conference May 29 - 31, 2011 - Kelowna, BC 2011 Excellence in Research Awards Gala Dinner May 29 - 31, 2011 - Kelowna, BC CASRO Technology Conference June 2 - 3, 2011 - New York City, NY MRA Annual Conference June 6 - 8, 2011 - Washington, DC
Interested in sponsoring People and Companies in the News in 2011? Contact amgabriel@mria-arim.ca
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In Memoriam JEREMY RICHARD LIGHTSTONE SEPT. 3, 1975 - JAN. 29, 2011 ‘A LIFE TOO SHORT’
It is with profound sadness that Jeremy’s family announces his passing at all too young an age. Beloved son of Margaret and Ian Lightstone, adored soul mate and husband to Jennifer Thung and an unimaginable loss for their 17 month old son Lee William Thung Lightstone. Also loved by his inlaws, Kiem and Hoeng Thung, as well as a host of great friends and relatives. A graduate of Brown School, Toronto French School and the University of Western Ontario, Jeremy will always brighten our lives with his artistic talent, his unbound imagination for computer applications, his entrepreneurial and successful business, his gregarious inquisitiveness and his passion for languages. In addition to English and French, Jeremy mastered Spanish and was working on Mandarin with his mother-in-law and Portuguese and Hindi with his caregivers. A hockey goalie in his youth, a traveller throughout his life, Jeremy’s 35 years were a gift to all who knew him. Jeremy was exposed to the market research industry at a very early age providing frequent ‘qualitative judgement’ to his father on many a new product and ad test during the founding and growth of Thompson Lightstone & Company. Before starting his own online advertising solutions and technology company in 2003, Jeremy worked at Thompson Lightstone where he was involved on several packaged goods, banking, and technology product assignments. If desired, donations in Jeremy’s honour may be made to the Jeremy Lightstone Fund at Bridgepoint Health Foundation, 14 St. Matthews Road, Toronto, Ont. M4M 2B5 www.bridgepointhealth.ca
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What I Learned from Net Gain 5.0 Cam Davis, CMRP, FMRIA
For those who were not present, here are some major points that I picked up at Net Gain 5.0, held in Toronto on January 26. From Ray Poynter, I learned that there will be serious turf wars over who can best listen to clients. Words like collaboration, representative and engagement will decline in usage. Oh yes, he says most surveys are “rubbish.” Brian Singh revealed how an unknown, gay, Muslim politician with a difficult-to-pronounce name and no money could get elected in redneck Calgary using social media. The traditional political polling method is being replaced by sentiment analysis, web analytics, media and social media monitoring, geodemographic targeting, and volunteer feedback. Ignatieff, McGuinty, Christy Clark, and May, are you listening? Annie Pettit nailed home the point that social media are not permissionbased. Watch what you say online, as your descendants will be reading everything you poured out on the web. You may be very, very sorry for what you said in the passion of the moment (Annie drove this point home with an uncomfortable example). On the other hand, social media constitute a goldmine for market researchers who love to hear your honest but sometimes brutal thoughts.
Monique Morden explained that market research online communities (MROCs) are to be treated as people, not simply as samples. An online community, once created, needs to be nourished and well-managed to be successful. People still love surveys, but they like to make videos, send letters to CEOs, create stories about situations, reveal their personality, highlight keywords, and participate in ideation exercises. Market research can be both fun and informative at the same time. Will Goodhand insisted that he was Juicy Evangelist, BrainJuicer, not a comedian. One may argue that he was extremely witty. He referenced Donald Rumsfeld’s theoretical framework to explain “DigiViduals.” “There are known knowns. These are things we know that we know. There are known unknowns. That is to say, there are things that we know we don’t know. But there are also unknown unknowns. There are things we don’t know we don’t know.” As Will suggests, we must embrace new methods to pursue the unknown unknowns. Sean Conry demonstrated that a mobile phone can be an ideal technological tool to capture a day in the life of participants. We know what they bought, what they ate, how they spent their leisure time, and where they travelled. (Dear Diary: I can now
throw away my daily written commentary of what I think I selectively thought I did today.) Voyeurs will love observing with this insightful methodology. Brian Levine explained that sensory technology can be correlated to a person’s behaviour. Sensors can take key biomeasures such as respiration, heart rate, and skin conductance. Thus, it is a more powerful tool than eye tracking and EEG. In essence, respondents will react differently to stimuli such as ads and Jersey Shore (whether they find it funny or not). Tom Anderson revealed that 85 per cent of all data stored on the Internet are unstructured and that 7 million pages are added to the web every day. Text analytics, in its many forms, including web scraping, are next gen tools that researchers need to adopt. Mark your calendars for Net Gain 6.0, to be held in Toronto in the last week of January 2012. Cam Davis, PhD, CMRP, FMRIA, is a former PMRS president and former dean of the Institute for Professional Development for MRIA. He is managing director of SDR in Vancouver and a co-chair for the Net Gain social media research conferences held annually in Toronto. Cam can be reached at camdavis@sdrsurvey.com
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NOTICE OF ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING Toronto, Ontario, January 5, 2011
Notice is hereby given that the Annual General meeting of Members of the Marketing Research and Intelligence Association (MRIA) will be held as follows:
Monday, March 28, 2011 6:30 p.m. (local time) Intercontinental Toronto Yorkville Hotel 220 Bloor St. West Toronto, Ontario All members-in-good-standing of the Association are encouraged to attend the AGM. An Agenda for the meeting will be communicated to members in the near future. Visit www.mria-arim.ca for more information.
By order of the Board of Directors Carol Wilson, CMRP Secretary-Treasurer
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AVIS D’ASSEMBLÉE GÉNERALE ANNUELLE Toronto, Ontario, le 5 janvier 2011
Avis est par la présente donné que l’Assemblée générale annuelle des membres de l’Association de la recherche et de l’intelligence marketing (ARIM) se tiendra comme suit :
Le lundi 28 mars 2011 18 h 30 (heure locale) Intercontinental Toronto Yorkville Hotel 220, rue Bloor ouest Toronto, Ontario On encourage tous les membres en règle de l’Association d’assister à l’AGA. L’ordre du jour de la réunion sera communiqué aux membres sous peu. Visitez www.mria-arim.ca pour obtenir de plus amples renseignements. Par ordre du conseil d’administration Carol Wilson, PARM Secrétaire-trésorière
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AWA R D S A N D R E C O G N I T I O N Marketing Research and Intelligence Association L’Association de la recherche et de l’intelligence marketing
2011 FELLOWSHIP ELECTION Fellowship is the highest honor that MRIA can bestow upon one of its members, and our association is conducting its fourth fellowship election under its own auspices in 2011. This pinnacle designation is conferred through a rigorous nomination and election process, requiring a two-thirds vote of an electoral body comprised of the MRIA board of directors and the past presidents of MRIA and its predecessor associations who remain members of the association. The honor and exclusivity of the FMRIA designation gives rise to the dues-exempt status in MRIA for life. For more information and to complete a nominations form, go to www.mria-arim.ca/AWARDS/FellowDefinition.asp The deadline for Fellowship nominations is Friday, April 15.
2011 EXCELLENCE IN RESEARCH AWARDS GENEROUSLY SPONSORED BY
Celebrate excellence in marketing research and intelligence, communications and advertising research, public opinion research, competitive intelligence and data mining! Nominations are open in eleven categories. For more information and to nominate, go to www.mria-arim.ca/AWARDS/ExcelAwards01.asp
2011
New Fellow(s) and Excellence in Research Awards winners will be announced and celebrated at the 2011 Excellence in Research Awards Gala Dinner, to be held in Kelowna, BC on Monday May 30th. For more information and to register for the national conference go to http://www.mria-arim.ca/Conference2011 A bientôt !
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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.
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.
THE FOLLOWING COMPANIES HAVE REGISTERED RESEARCH PROJECTS WITH THE RESEARCH REGISTRATION SYSTEM DURING OCTOBER 2010:
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.
GOLD SEAL CORPORATE RESEARCH AGENCIES
RRS
All Gold Seal and Basic Corporate Research Agency members of the Association are obligated to register all of their research projects with the RRS, and Client-Side Corporate members are encouraged to require their agency suppliers to do so. MRIA’s Research Agency Council provides strategic, policy-level oversight of the Research Registration System, and receives aggregate data-only on the System’s performance. Questions about the Research Registration System should be addressed to Sylvie Corbeil-Peloquin, Manager, Member Services, at 1-888-602-6742 or 905-602-6854, ext. 8726 or scorbeil@mria-arim.ca or, in her absence, Executive Director Brendan Wycks at ext. 8724 or bwycks@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.
BASIC CORPORATE RESEARCH AGENCIES
Acrobat Research Ltd. concerto research inc. Advanis Inc Goss Gilroy Inc. Advitek Inc. Quality Response Inc. BBM Analytics Campaign Research INDIVIDUAL MEMBER COMPAS Inc. ORGANIZATIONS Consumer Contact IMP Customer Care - Market Research Consumer Vision Ltd. Division Corporate Research Associates Elemental Data Collection Inc. GfK Research Dynamics Harris/Decima Inc. Hay Research International Ipsos Reid Corporation Leger Marketing Maritz Research Canada MarketQuest-Omnifacts Research MBA Recherche MD Analytics Inc. MPI Research Nanos Research NRG Research Group Opinion Search Inc. Phase 5 Consulting Group Inc. POLLARA PRA Inc. R.A. Malatest & Associates Ltd. Research Dimensions Research House Inc. Synovate Ltd. Tele-Surveys Plus / Télé-Sondages Plus The Logit Group Inc. TNS Canadian Facts Trend Research 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 that is conducting the study.
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mria-arim.ca/RRS
P RO F E SS I O NAL D E VE LO P M E N T
2011 EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM
CANADA’S LEADING PROVIDER OF MARKETING RESEARCH EDUCATION FOR PROFESSIONALS
MRIA Institute for
Professional Development
COURSE TITLE
CITY
Moderator Training: Basic
MCP 60
Selling Marketing Research: Sharpen Your Business Development Skills
MCP 20
COURSE TITLE
FINAL REGISTRATION
COURSE DATE
TORONTO
March 9
March 23-25
CALGARY
March 10
March 24
CITY
EARLY BIRD REGISTRATION
COURSE DATE
402-Advanced Analysis Techniques
MCP 40
TORONTO
March 2
March 30-31
303-Marketing Management for Researchers
MCP 40
EDMONTON TORONTO OTTAWA
March 14 March 16 April 13
April 11-12 April 13-14 May 11-12
403-Advanced Qualitative Marketing Research Techniques
MCP 20
OTTAWA HALIFAX
March 31 April 7
April 28 May 5
102-Ethical Issues and Privacy in Marketing Research
MCP 20
TORONTO
April 15
May 13
MCP = Maintenance of Certification Program
Advance Your Career Through Online Education Offerings! MCP 5
Measuring Brand Equity – recorded webinar is now available for purchase!
Complete these Core courses at the time convenient for you, without having to leave your desk! • • • •
102-Ethical Issues and Privacy in Marketing Research 201-Marketing Research Design: An Applied Course 202-Questionnaire Design 204-Qualitative Marketing Research
“I know it, so don’t want to take the course” – Now you can prove it! Pass an online challenge test for any of these Core courses and earn credit towards your CMRP designation: • 101-Introduction to Marketing Research • 201-Marketing Research Design: An Applied Course • 202-Questionnaire Design Register today at the MRIA Portal!
For more details or to register online at the MRIA Portal, visit our website at www.mria-arim.ca
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How Do You Feel about the New Maintenance of Certification Requirement?
Institute for Professional Development Institut de développement professionnel
Rick Hobbs, CMRP
Good question. First of all, it isn’t really new. Although the program officially started January 1 of this year, many CMRPs already acquired points in 2010, and the program was approved by the MRIA’s board of directors back in 2008. The 2010 Member Satisfaction Survey has yielded some interesting (at least to me) results regarding the Maintenance of Certification Program (MCP), and I would like to share these results with you. Special thanks, by the way, go to Jeannette Bellerose for the coding and analysis. As a quick methodological background, I will point out that we asked all active as well as lapsed members how they feel about the MCP (an open-ended question). The coding sorted out positive, negative and neutral comments. There is, of course, some subjectivity involved in any coding exercise. The most important finding was that there is a lot of positive opinion about the MCP. Overall, 38 per cent of the respondents have a positive reaction to the MCP, and a similar percentage (35%) are either neutral or ambivalent about it. But people are less interested in the positive, so let’s jump to the negative. One in four respondents has a negative reaction to the MCP. Coincidentally, many of the negative comments concern a misunderstanding of the purpose or goal of the MCP. The largest group of negative responses (5.5%) comes from those who feel that the MCP is a money
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grab. It is not. There is absolutely no requirement to take MRIA courses or go to MRIA events. For the most part, courses and events offered by nonMRIA institutions are allocated the same number of points. In cases where they are not, it is usually because we cannot audit non-MRIA institutions to ensure that the quality is at an acceptable level. If you want, you can get a considerable number of points by doing volunteer or pro bono work. While the Institute for Professional Development plans on increasing the number of professional development courses as a service to members, we repeat, you do not have to take MRIA courses to get MCP points. The second largest group of negative comments comes from those who feel it is an unnecessary burden and not worth the effort. Those in this group, accounting for 4.7 per cent of respondents, think they have already done enough, or already do enough, and shouldn’t be required to do anything more. Most professionals are already doing enough professional development to meet the requirements easily. In fact, we will document the activities for you if you do take an MRIA course or go to an MRIA event and register through the portal. The MCP points will be automatically credited to you. The third category of negative comments is “non-specific” – the 3.9 per cent of respondents who can’t articulate why they are opposed to it or dislike it.
So let’s move on to the positive and neutral comments, the largest category of responses. By far the number one comment is that people are concerned about the process. Overall, this concern accounts for more responses (25%) than all the negative comments combined. To be clear: Points for MRIA events and courses will automatically be registered for you. All we ask for non-MRIA events is that you keep a receipt and/or proof of attendance in case we ask to see them (just as Revenue Canada does). After all, as CMRPs you have agreed to the MRIA code of conduct, and this requirement covers principle five of ethical practice. I have saved the best for last: Fully 41 per cent of CMRPs feel positive about the MCP. And even 36 per cent of those who are not CMRPs think the Maintenance of Certification Program is a good idea.
Rick Hobbs, CMRP, is chair of MRIA’s Professional Development & Certification Portfolio and vice-president of Leger Marketing’s Ottawa office. In his spare time, he constructs structural equation models and facilitates virtual focus groups. He uses his CMRP to defeat the most heinous research problems in public opinion polling. If you have any questions regarding the CMRE, please contact him at rhobbs@Legermarketing.com or (613) 728-0296.
CO LU M N I ST S
CO L U M N IST S
CI CORNER
monkey traps the company has set for itself.
David Lithwick & Enrico Codogno
Dear CI Corner: My CEO likes to match the strong points of our company against those of our competitors. What do you think? CI Professional Dear CI Professional: The objective of any strategy is to align one’s strengths against the opponent’s weaknesses. Doing so means being aware of vulnerabilities, of assumptions about reality. And competitive intelligence helps to challenge business assumptions and to make key decision makers face reality. By challenging assumptions, competitive intelligence helps expose the “monkey traps.” In some tropical areas, hunters use a heavy pot with a hole in it large enough for a monkey to put in an open hand but too small for it to pull out a clenched fist. The monkey reaches in to grab food inside the pot but refuses to let go of it, even when the hunters approach. That is a perfect description of how executives behave when they refuse to drop set assumptions, myths and taboos about their company’s place in the competitive environment. CI professionals who conduct internal interviews of company personnel will find numerous monkey traps sustained by assumptions, myths and taboos making up the company’s view of the competitive arena. One area to be questioned is the company’s knowledge of its competitive environment. The main competitors may be known, but what about nontraditional competitors, developing technologies, and so on? Answers to such questions reveal numerous
Tip: Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored. – Aldous Huxley
STANDARDS Revisiting the Issue of Respondent Burden Donald Williams
In December 2008, my column in this space was titled “It’s Time to Pay Attention to Respondent Burden.” I think it is important to revisit the issue of respondent burden at this time. Today, this issue has become more prevalent and, in some cases, has been tied directly to deterioration in the quality of data. However, it is also true that respondent burden has been ignored by some market researchers, at least partially. Researchers have posited alternative models of respondent burden. One of these models, proposed by Sylvia Fisher and Leda Kydoniefs in 2001, suggests the problem has three components. The first component is respondent burden as such: Respondents’ behavioural and attitudinal attributes can have an impact on surveys. Some researchers suggest that belief in the usefulness of surveys and the privacyinvading character of survey questions produce respondent burden. Design burden is another component: Survey designs, including data collection mode and survey topics, can produce psychological distress for certain demographic groups. Survey length and frequency of contact are potential drivers of respondent burden. Third is interaction burden: This is the combination of respondent and design burden. For example, the level of effort that is required and
respondents’ familiarity with the content of the survey can produce high levels of don’t knows on certain questions. MRIA’s Code of Conduct and Good Practice provides general guidelines for overly long questionnaires, but there are some additional, basic guidelines that may help to reduce respondent burden: • Keep questions and content as simple as possible. • For paper or online questionnaires, design an optimal layout based on question type and questionnaire length. • The survey instrument (e.g., questionnaire, interview) should be determined by the data collection mode (i.e., it should be designed for the survey environment). • Always be aware of privacy issues that may arise with certain types of questions, and ensure that confidentiality measures or proper privacy protection protocols are in place.
QUAL COL Blogs: Research beyond the Existing Content Kelly Adams
Those of us who work predominantly on the “directional” side of research came to our careers as qualitative practitioners not so much through the back door as by suddenly finding ourselves in the middle of the house, with the mortgage in our name. You see, for a long time qualitative research didn’t really have a front door, let alone a back one. No one ever said, “When I grow up, I want to moderate focus groups for a living.” Nope, we were quantitative researchers or agency planners or ex-academics or whatever, who found
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An appeal court found reasonable grounds to allow the trial to proceed. Yet one of the appeal court judges gave a partially dissenting opinion, cautioning as follows: “Allowing this claim to march along sends the message to would-be expert witnesses: Be wary – very wary – of changing your mind, even when doing so might be consistent with, or compelled by, the standards of your profession. … In our legal system, demanding that experts ‘deliver’ a specified opinion, as opposed to their honest judgment, is supposed to be ethically out-of-bounds – not the basis for [legal] action. “Parties already exert substantial influence over expert witnesses, often paying them handsomely for their time, and expert witnesses are, unfortunately and all too frequently, already regarded in some quarters as little more than hired guns. When expert witnesses can be forced to defend themselves in federal court … simply for changing their opinions – with no [reason] other than an honest change in view based on a review of new information – we add fuel to this fire. ... The loser in all this is, of course, the truth-finding function and cause of justice our legal system is designed to THE COURT OF serve.” PUBLIC OPINION Readers who want to know more about the complications of this case – What If You Want to Change including how the expert comported Your Mind? himself – will find the write-up at Ruth M. Corbin, CMRP, PhD, LLM http://www.ca10.uscourts.gov/opinions THE INNOVATION Appearing as an expert witness before a /06/06-4157.pdf. Do you have an initial opinion about this case? See if ACCELERATOR judge or regulator involves giving a the fuller set of facts changes your well-supported, thoughtful, objective Curiosity Killed the Cat … mind. and independent opinion. Can expert Margaret Imai-Compton, CMRP witnesses change their minds? Is it ever B2B REPORTER too late? … But it didn’t kill creativity. When A recent U.S. court decision showed 2012 B2B Marketing Trends and B2B you think about it, curiosity is a Research: Is Research Part of the defining characteristic of geniuses over how thorny an issue it can be. In the Equation? case of Pace v. Swerdlow, an expert the ages, and it is highly valued and changed his opinion on the very eve of encouraged in the creative process. Ruth Lukaweski, CMRP trial, faxed his revised opinion to For one thing, curiosity encourages opposing counsel with no advance Ralph Oliva, executive director of the you to be mentally active and agile. warning to the attorney who had Institute for the Study of Business Rather than passively receiving information, when you ask questions and engaged him, and ended up being sued Markets (ISBM) has been surveying B2B thought leaders around the world seek answers, you are growing your mind. by his own clients. that we learned when we listened and that we were good at getting people to talk. So now that we’re here, what do we do to grow, develop and really take ownership of this house? Continue on in our apprenticeships. Learn by doing, by changing it up, by being open to asking the questions differently, and asking them differently to see what happens – in short, become innovators. Get ourselves some official training. MRIA offers moderating courses to help us hone our skills (as do other places, if necessary). Put our ears to the ground. Listen where people are talking these days. Figure out where to put social media in the communication mix. When we’re being consumers, we should pay attention to the other consumers out there. Listen – I mean really listen – to our clients. What are their business concerns over and above “the project”? What are they most curious about? What can and can’t they do with the results? Develop our knowledge of the “other side.” Hang out with and learn from our quantitative buddies. Attend the conferences. Get our CMRP. Share our knowledge. Stay fresh and current by sharing skills, by mentoring the next generation of enthusiastic qualitative researchers, and by giving them opportunities to shine.
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Curiosity makes your world larger. You see things that normally are taken for granted or go unnoticed. It also adds a dimension of adventure and excitement to your life, as you are unwilling to accept the normal and boring. Here are three ways to engage curiosity instantly, without any special training or tools. Be open minded, and be unwilling to accept situations or decisions just because they’re the norm. Ask the “what if ” questions, just to see where they take you. Ask questions, lots of questions. Be childlike and ask, “What is that? Why is it so? Who made it? How does it work?” The five Ws (who, what, when, where and why) and how are valuable tools for curious people. Embrace learning as fun. Having a playful attitude and applying curiosity to learning will inevitably lead you to other worlds that may open up original and unexpected perspectives. At the end of the day, curiosity may have killed the cat, but it is invaluable in the skill set of creative people.
CO LU M N I ST S
since 1997 in order to compile his biennial and sometimes triennial trends survey. The latest study identifies seven trends impacting B2B marketing and, by default, B2B research. But two themes dominate: The first is the need for organizations to identify opportunities for growth, a dominant theme everywhere in the industrialized world. The second is understanding and communicating effectively with customers. This theme has been a recurring one in the past few trend studies and basically reflects some frustration with the lack of advancement in B2B research to address this area. In this regard, the ISBM group states that “most voice of
customer work (read ‘research’) has room for improvement.” ISBM’s full list of 2012 business-tobusiness marketing trends is as follows: • the need to effectively quantify and communicate “value” • developing approaches to better understand what customers really need • finding, sensing and identifying new opportunities for growth • developing closer ties with customers, suppliers and channel partners • capitalizing on new growth/emerging markets • balancing short-term requirements and long-term opportunities
• segmentation, especially selecting the right set of customers for your business. There are some important messages for B2B researchers in the most recent analysis. Ralph Oliva sprinkles his presentation with references to books and readings in order to support his main conclusions. These references are excellent but are mostly comprised of marketing professionals and academics. B2B marketing researchers have no profile with the B2B marketing community; and there is little recognition of how researchers can contribute to insightful understanding of customer needs and requirements.
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vue March 2011
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MRIA 2010-11 Board of Directors OFFICERS PRESIDENT PRESIDENT-ELECT VICE-PRESIDENT SECRETARY-TREASURER EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Ed Gibson, CMRP Kimberlee Niziol Jonas Sandra Janzen Carol Wilson, CMRP Brendan Wycks, CAE
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Ed Gibson, CMRP Kimberlee Niziol Jonas David W. Stark, CIPP Sandra Janzen Shane Skillen C. Gail Tibbo, CMRP Tricia Benn Tammy Power Rick Frank Ron Silverton, CMRP John Tabone Alana Richman Ruth Corbin, CMRP TBD Anastasia Arabia Janine Keogh Jean-Marc Léger Carol Wilson, CMRP
CRC Research GlaxoSmithKline GfK Research Dynamics Ipsos Reid Corporation Hotspex Inc. Incisive Marketing Inc. Rogers Connect Market Research & Client Services Unilever Canada Dufferin Research Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants re:search re:sources Corbin Partners Inc. Trend Research Inc. Kraft Canada Inc. Léger Marketing Spielo
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Rick Frank Anastasia Arabia Carolyn O'Keefe, CMRP Edward van Dam Rick Frank Nicholas Borodenko Michel Saulnier, CMRP Tammy Power
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