MRIA Vue Magazine - May 2015 by MRIA

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

Commentary 4 Editor’s Vue 6

Letter from the Chair

Features 8 THE RESEARCHER’S CURSE OF INTROVERSION Michael Hoban 12 PANNING FOR QUALITATIVE INSIGHT GOLD Mark Federman 16 PUTTING THE “PUBLIC” BACK INTO PUBLIC OPINION AND MARKETING RESEARCH Keith Neuman 20 DISCOVERING YOURS TO DISCOVER David N. Kwechansky 22 VISUALS ARE THE NEW LANGUAGE OF CONSUMERS AND MARKETING RESEARCH Parry Bedi

Industry News 24 Qualitative Research Conference Summary 26 MRIA Qualitative Research Registry (QRR) 29 MRIA Research Registration System (RRS) 32 Chapter Chat

Book Review 28 Paid Attention: What You Don’t Know About Advertising Can Cost You

Columnists 30 La Belle Vue 30 Ask Dr. Ruth

Advertisers 18 9 31 33 21 31 27 25 10, 11 15, 25, 31 19 5 27 19

ACCE ASDE AstraZeneca BOND Canadian Viewpoint Dapresy Environics GfK Ipsos Market Probe Millward Brown Research Now Scotiabank TNS

ADDRESS The Marketing Research and Intelligence Association L’association de la recherche et de l’intelligence marketing

21 St. Clair Avenue East, Suite 1102, Toronto, ON M4T 1L9 Tel: (416) 642-9793 Toll Free: 1-888-602-MRIA (6742) Fax: (416) 644-9793 Email: vue@mria-arim.ca Website: www.mria-arim.ca PRODUCTION: LAYOUT/DESIGN LS Graphics Inc. Tel: (905) 743-0402, Toll Free: 1-800-400-8253 Fax: (905) 728-3931 Email: info@lsgraphics.com CONTACTS CHAIR OF PUBLICATIONS, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Annie Pettit, PhD, Chief Research Officer, Peanut Labs (416) 273-9395 annie@peanutlabs.com MANAGING EDITOR Anne Marie Gabriel, CAE, MRIA amgabriel@mria-arim.ca ASSOCIATE EDITORS Jeff Hecker jeff.hecker@athenabrand.com Paul Long, CMRP paul@paullong.ca COPY EDITOR Diane Peters diane.peters@sympatico.ca Interested in joining the Vue editorial team? Contact us at vue@mria-arim.ca 2015 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: May © 2015. 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 21 St. Clair Avenue East, Suite 1102, Toronto, ON M4T 1L9 ISSN 1488-7320

COMM E NTARY / COMME NTAIR E EDITOR’S Vue Annie Pettit

Snackable insights. Oh, they sound delicious! I’ll have three! Despite all the positive attention they’ve received at conferences and in social media, I must admit that they are currently on my hit-list of things to denounce. My issue is this. Can you fully understand the political complexities of Canada, including age, gender, region, income, education, religious, and racial differences, in a pithy insight? In fact, can you even describe the full complexities of how you noticed and chose and bought the clothing you’re wearing today in 140 characters of less? As an avid user of Twitter, I completely understand the desire and need for short. Goodness, I often find myself with 50 character spaces to fill and no words to fill them! As a consumer and social researcher, however, I can’t comprehend how the entirety of human understanding can consist of snackable insights. We know that human behaviour is complex. It’s not a funnel, it’s not a hierarchy, it’s not a flowchart. We know that we don’t understand our own behaviours, and we understand the behaviours of other people even less so. I’d like to propose that we don’t strive for snackable insights. Instead, let’s focus on precise insights. Complete insights. Relevant insights. Insights that are designed to clearly and completely address specific research objectives, even if it takes 15 pages to properly describe, even if it takes an extra hour or two to properly read and understand. The issue shouldn’t be whether the insight can be served for breakfast, lunch, dinner, or snack-time. The issue must be whether human behaviour is better understood.

Des « aperçus éclairs » s’il vous plaît (snackable insights). Trois. Ils sont beaux, non? À croquer! Oui, peut-être, mais je ne partage pas l’engouement du milieu et des médias sociaux pour ceux-ci, qui, au contraire, ont été promus à ma liste personnelle de tendances à dénoncer. Voici pourquoi. Croyez-vous qu’il soit possible de résumer la complexité politique du Canada – toutes ces différences fondées sur l’âge, le sexe, la région, le revenu, le niveau d’instruction, la religion et sa culture – en une petite bouchée facilement digestible? En fait, pourriez-vous m’expliquer en 140 caractères ou moins les complexités qui vous ont mené à acheter et, ce matin, à choisir les vêtements que vous portez en ce moment? Sachez que j’utilise beaucoup Twitter. Je comprends donc ce besoin ou désir de brévité. Il m’arrive même d’avoir 50 espaces en réserve à la fin de mon message. Mais en mes qualités de consommatrice et de chercheuse je ne vois pas comment on peut résumer la richesse et la complexité de l’expérience humaine en des aperçus éclairs. Le comportement humain est complexe; il n’est pas un entonnoir, ni une hiérarchie ou un organigramme. Comment comprendre le comportements des autres quand, souvent, nous ne comprenons même pas le nôtre. Je propose donc que nous privilégions plutôt l’aperçu précis, complet ou pertinent, l’aperçu conçu et présenté de façon à communiquer clairement et entièrement un objectif de recherche particulier, même si cela prend 15 pages ou, de la part du lecteur, une ou deux heures de lecture attentive pour en arriver à bien saisir la question. Le critère qui compte ne devrait pas être la brévité ni même la concision, mais plutôt la clarté et la prodondeur de l’aperçu dans le comportement humain. Bref, le message éclaire-t-il mieux et plus qu’un éclair.

Annie Pettit PhD, Chief Research Officer / Directrice de la recherche, Peanut Labs Editor-in-Chief, Vue / Rédactrice en chef, Vue • Email: annie@peanutlabs.com • (416) 273-9395 • t @LoveStats Please share your opinions about Vue articles and columns, or submit your cartoons and infographics to the Editor. La rédactrice vous invite à lui faire parvenir directement vos commentaires, opinions, caricatures ou infographies. 4

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COMM E NTARY / COMME NTAIR E LETTER FROM THE CHAIR Shane Skillen, CMRP

What a year. It’s been a great honor serving you as your Chair and we are in good hands with Carolyn O’Keefe coming into the role in May.

Quelle année! Je suis honoré de vous avoir servi comme Président du Conseil. Je quitte en sachant que nous sommes en bonnes mains avec Carolyn O’Keefe, qui prendra la relève au mois de mai.

Much as has been accomplished. I would like to thank Kara Mitchelmore for many of these achievements as we look to reinvigorate our MRIA. Kara overhauled the office infrastructure with new hires, technology, and office space. Our standards were completely overhauled and already this is having an impact where rogue operations are being squelched to protect the public and our industry. MRIA protected our members from being included in CASL anti-spam legislation which could have prevented many forms of online research. We have more CMRP exam writers than last year, at 14, and we expect many more in the coming months. If you haven’t already, please watch Kara’s video.

Nous avons accompli plusieurs choses cette dernière année. Je tiens d’ailleurs à remercier Kara Mitchelmore, qui a mené avec succès plusieurs dossiers qui ont permis de dynamiser l’ARIM, notamment de nouvelles embauches et un rehaussement de la technologie et de l’espace au siège social. Nous avons aussi complètement révisé nos normes, une initiative qui embête sérieusement les « irréguliers » et qui protége à la fois le public et notre secteur. L’ARIM a aussi protégé ses membres en obtenant pour ceux-ci une dérogation à la Loi canadienne anti-pourriel qui les aurait empêché de mener certains types de recherche en ligne. Le nombre de candidats à l’agrément PARM, quatorze, a grimpé par rapport à l’année précédente et nous nous attendons à encore plus de candidatures au cours des prochains mois. Je vous invite aussi à visionner la vidéo-bilan de Kara.

I am most excited about our National Conference this May in Toronto. We have over 40 client side speakers confirmed, including a world leader in storytelling. We have some amazing sponsors and exhibitors lined up. This will be a conference to remember and it will be rich with new ideas. It will also be a great venue for our industry to unite. You will be glad you joined in.

C’est toutefois le Congrès national de l’ARIM, qui aura lieu à Toronto au mois de mai, qui suscite mon plus vif enthousiasme. Nous y attendons plus de 40 conférenciers du côté client, de même qu’un conteur de réputation internationale. De nombreux commanditaires et exposants seront également au rendez-vous. Cet événement sera un terrain fertile en idées et une belle occasion de solidarité sectorielle. Vous ne regretterez d’y avoir participé!

There is still more to do and I hope you will get involved. You might already realize this, but Canada without the MRIA would result in lower research standards and decreased value for our clients. It would feel a little bit like being a taxi driver after the arrival of Uber – irrelevant. We must all rage against the dying of the light and ensure the MRIA is strong. Discuss tough issues with clients and providers at events. Volunteer for the MRIA to share your unique expertise. Write articles to better education your colleagues. Get your CMRP to become a more wellrounded researcher. Like me, be a proud MRIA member.

Mais il reste encore beaucoup à faire et j’espère que vous serez nombreux à vous impliquer dans les affaires de votre association. Sans l’ARIM les normes de recherche au Canada seraient moins exigeantes et nos clients en auraient moins pour leur argent. Comme un chauffeur de taxi après l’arrivée de Uber, nous ne serions plus pertinents. Nous devons tous unir nos voix et voir à ce que l’ARIM demeure forte. Discutez donc de questions difficiles avec vos clients et fournisseurs, portez vous bénévole et faites profiter l’ARIM de votre expertise particulière. Rédigez des articles et informez vos collègues. Obtenez votre agrément PARM et devenez du coup une chercheuse plus compétente. Bref, soyez fièr(e) d’être un membre de l’ARIM.

Shane Skillen, CMRP, CEO / PARM, PDG, Hotspex Inc. Chair, Marketing Research and Intelligence Association / Président du conseil, L’Association de la recherche et de l’intelligence marketing Email: shane.skillen@hotspex.com • 416-487-5439

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K E YN OT E SPEAK ERS Kristin Luck Serial Entrepreneur former President of Decipher

Lisa Ritchie Senior Vice President, Customer Knowledge and Insights, Scotiabank

Paul Smith Corporate Trainer in Leadership and Storytelling Techniques

Marie Wolfe Unilever Global Director of Research Innovation – Consumer & Market Insights

LOOK WHO’S COMING

F EAT UR E THE RESEARCHER’S CURSE OF INTROVERSION

Michael Hoban

If I’ve learned anything after many years in a research career, it’s that being an introvert has value, but can also be a curse. Valuable in that the research industry relies on us – as it is in our nature to be more comfortable with goofy things like being head down at our desks poring over data tables and making charts. In fact, sticking us in a back room to meticulously plan and successfully deliver on a project from beginning to end, rarely looking up and interacting with others unless we absolutely have to, can be most researchers’ nirvana. This, incidentally, is also why being an introvert is a curse.

any researchers think that if they just stay true to the data and deliver on time, their work is done. The “hit-and-run” scenario goes something like this: You check a box and move on and what some other stakeholder does with the information after the fact is not your problem. But that is exactly the problem because an opportunity is potentially missed. Several, in fact. Missed Opportunity 1: PRACTICE – Like doctors and lawyers, researchers also have their “practice” of sorts. If you agree, then by letting someone else present your work, you’re missing the best practice of all: becoming a better storyteller, orator, strategic thinker, influencer, and, ultimately, researcher. Missed Opportunity 2: THUNDER – At best, your great story was told by someone else while you moved on to the next project, and you likely received very little credit. In the short term, this might make your life easier, but longer term, this can become career limiting in that you missed the opportunity to build your research ability, credibility and personal brand. Missed Opportunity 3: THE TRUTH – Your great story, which likely took painstaking hours to think through and craft, may very well have been manipulated and lost because the presenting stakeholder didn’t think it supported his or her agenda. In the least, someone from research should have a seat at the table to keep the conversation honest. Missed Opportunity 4: PRODUCTIVITY – Though seemingly counterintuitive, think of it this way: Someone else mis-telling your story (see Missed Opportunity 3 above) could result in you being held accountable! Misused data opens the door for you and/or your entire department to be questioned, which ultimately becomes a time suck while everyone scrambles to defend the research and share the real truth. This scenario, even if it happens once, can also hurt the overall credibility of the research function. 8

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“Diagnosed” many years ago, and again recently, by MyersBriggs Type Indicator (MBTI) as an INTJ (the “I” standing for introvert), I’m now what one might call a “closet introvert.” I’m constantly visible (presenting, networking, mentoring) both outside and inside the organization, including with the C-suite, so I’m often mistaken as an extrovert. Whether presenting and championing research results – good news or bad – or expressing a point of view, it is nearly impossible for me to hide. And trust me when I say it can be exhausting as well as scary for me, but I mean it in a good way. This certainly didn’t happen overnight, so how did I do it? I consistently held (and hold) myself accountable in four ways:

FEAT URE

Telephone sampling, IVR and related services.

Michael Hoban is director, consumer marketing insights at Newell Rubbermaid. Previously, he led the marketing research function at LexisNexis Risk Solutions, led global research initiatives at IHG, and spent 10 years on the agency side. Michael can be reached at Michael.Hoban@newellco.com.

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Embracing Fear – As I alluded to above, whether it’s presenting to a big crowd, small crowd, your own team or the C-suite; whether expressing a controversial point of view, or even learning or piloting a new methodology, one has to learn to be more comfortable in uncomfortable environments, which is how we all grow and become more successful. Even us introverts.

Above all, holding myself accountable in these three ways helps me get better and stay relevant. And they can help you. Introverts, don’t miss another opportunity to impact your company and your career by continuing to play the data monkey in the back room. I attended a speaking course a few years ago (see, I’m practising!) and one of my student colleagues shared the following advice with the class, which came from his grandmother. So if you remember nothing else from this article, simply remember these three words of wisdom:

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Survival – More and more companies are beginning to understand the importance and impact of consumer research (and analytics!) and making these departments part of a centre of excellence. If you fall behind the pack on this trend, including not recognizing it on the agency side, you and/or your company are destined for irrelevance.

Gamification – Don’t misunderstand, I certainly don’t think of my career as a game – though I’m not technically saving lives, so occasionally thinking this way does take the edge off – rather, I force myself to abide by rules that help me better seek challenges. In addition, I keep score by documenting my successes (hint: this also helps if you like to keep your resume up to date, which I recommend). We are all thinking about how to use gamification in research surveys, so why not in our careers?

Self-Reflection – Before you freak out, I’m not going to recommend you see a shrink or read a bunch of self-help books – though I will offer up one book for consideration. I’m simply suggesting you honestly and continuously appraise your current situation (e.g., Are you shy? Do senior leaders intimidate you? Do you hate public speaking? Does achieving the next level in your career scare you?). Get at the root of the issue(s) potentially holding you back and slowly work on each of them. A helpful book shared by a former colleague – who, as you might guess, was also an introvert – is called The Introverted Leader: Building on Your Quiet Strength by Jennifer B. Kahnweiler, PhD.

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FEAT UR E PANNING FOR QUALITATIVE INSIGHT GOLD

How do we transform voice of the customer and social media data into actionable strategy? A case study from the hospitality industry illustrates the powerful application of “code-based theory building” Mark Federman

uring the Klondike gold rush, prospectors would sit in rivers, pan in hand, to sift through streams of rocks and pebbles to find bits of gold. Individually, the tiny nuggets weren’t of much value. Taken together in large enough volume, however, gold bits became lucrative. Voice of the customer data is not unlike that stream of rubble. Although it is relatively inexpensive to obtain, it can be voluminous, sometimes general and non-specific; sometimes overly focused on minutiae. It gives voice to both the very delighted and very dissatisfied, typically representing a small minority of customers. Because VoC is almost always non-representative, it offers contradictory points of view, with respondents emboldened by hiding behind the veil of anonymity. In other cases of this class of data – think employee satisfaction surveys and the like – response sentiments are often

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checked by the translucency of pseudo-anonymity. In today’s world, traditional VoC has been accelerated and amplified in the form of social media data – continual streams of Twitter feeds, Facebook timelines, Yelp, TripAdvisor, Google+, and a seemingly endless list of others. Primarily, both VoC and social media data are useful for responding to operational or product issues with immediate correction and acknowledgement. For a variety of reasons, they are less useful for understanding systemic issues. Sometimes, operational managers will eyeball or cherry-pick from among the data to support long-held beliefs. Increasingly, some researchers employ text analytics in an attempt to make sense of the data torrent, although it should be noted that frequency of mention of an idea is not the same as representing its conceptual significance. Nonetheless, a key question for marketing researchers remains:

FEAT URE Can we turn VoC and social media data into actionable business strategy? The Case: What Makes “The Deluxe” Deluxe? A major, global brand in the hospitality industry faced exactly this challenge. It was about to make a substantial infrastructure investment for its premium offering (which we’ll call The Deluxe). Customers pay a 30 to 50 per cent premium for The Deluxe, based on what the brand managers believed were primarily the hard and soft tangible aspects of the offering. The fact that it had less appeal to millennials was assumed to be the result of it having been designed for an older generation. A redesign of facility and amenities was to be concept-tested with a hip demographic in New York’s SoHo district. The result was a near-fail, as the focus group rejected many of the redesigned aspects. However, there was something in the total experience of the offering that suggested a more subtle appeal. The team wrote a research brief to query what was at the core of The Deluxe. Why do people pay such a premium, and what is the relative significance among the tangible and intangible components? How do we understand demographic differences (if any) in expectations? What needs to be changed to entice a greater uptake of the offering, and what needs to remain at all costs? The unique challenge of the brief lay in the fact that there was neither time nor money to collect new data. With the suggestion to analyze year-to-date customer satisfaction data – comprising over 5,200 responses globally – and a required turnaround of two weeks, three of the company’s current research suppliers declined the project. Deep Analysis Via Code-Based Theory Building I was invited to employ a technique common in the social sciences, namely code-based theory building (CBTB), to unlock deeper meaning from otherwise operationally focused data. This analysis technique uncovers deep meaning, conceptual connections and emergent insights. It begins by employing standard open coding (i.e., not a preconceived codebook) that is animated by nominal research questions. It then discovers meaning relationships among the codes that yield nuanced understandings of the situational dynamics at play, generating emergent categories to classify larger trends and phenomena. Categories are then given even greater meaning by applying appropriate theoretical frames from a variety of disciplines. This applied, extra-disciplinary knowledge contextualizes the specific findings in what is known about human behaviours and interactional dynamics. Finally, the theoretical scaffolding is removed, leaving a client-oriented story that, in this case, explains a theory or phenomenological model of The Deluxe. In general, qualitative analysis seeks to move one’s understanding from what respondents explicitly tell you to what they are really telling you. In some cases, the clientimposed time demands on qualitative marketing researchers limit their ability to reach an interpretation of deeper meaning. What this method enables is expeditious access to a deeper, more meaningful dive through contextualized interpretation that reveals rich insight and new knowledge.

CBTB techniques, such as grounded theory, begin by combining open, line-by-line coding with field notes to create research memos that capture analytic hunches throughout the analysis process. The coded data coalesce into categories, and categories interact with each other through relationships among them in the subsequent process of axial coding. By applying appropriate meaning contexts, the research teams apply their theoretical sensitivity to the research question based on past experiences, extra-disciplinary knowledge, and appropriate theoretical frames to explain the emergent phenomena. Of course, the client-provided research brief and intention round out the meaning contexts. These various empirical and explanatory components serve to transform many tiny particles of potential insight into emergent ideation – the valuable wisdom and previously unrealized knowledge that are the key to unlocking new strategy. Theoretical details are then judiciously stripped away, leaving an easily understandable and business actionable story. Naturally, one must always apply four key tests of qualitative validity: Are the analytic results credible from both the client’s and participants’ perspectives? To what degree are they transferable to other contexts? How dependable are the participants’ responses – did they have some deliberate or inadvertent reason to lead us up the proverbial garden path? And can these results be confirmed or corroborated by other research that takes a different approach? What is the Question to Which This is the Answer? In CBTB, the primary researcher(s) shape the eventual analysis by coding decisions made on the fly from the very beginning of analysis. Thus, it is beneficial for at least the lead researcher to actively participate in coding so as not to risk distilling the richness and subtlety from what is admittedly very sparse data to begin with. It is the previously mentioned hunches – theoretical sensitivity of the skilled and experienced researcher – that enable the nuggets of wisdom to later be refined into deep, meaningful and useful insights. Drawing from diverse, transdisciplinary knowledge of human motivations and behaviours enables the discovery of nuanced understandings that are more commonly associated with, for instance, in-depth ethnographic interviews. An example of the process drawn from the case of The Deluxe is on the following page. Taking the open codes from the right side of the above chart, we can begin to cluster them by considering, what are the questions to which these are the answers? Specifically, we might ask: • What is most memorable to the guest about their experience? • What is the effect on the guest of such service experiences? • What happens to the guest experience when things go wrong? • What does it take for hospitality industry service staff to act this way? These questions inform the key analytic categories, the relationships among them, and the eventual story that emerges to explain what is unique and special about The Deluxe vue | MAY 2015

FEAT UR E Coding Decisions that Shape the Analysis

Respondent says…

Researcher possibly hears…

“The staff just make this establishment exceptional. They all acknowledged my previous comments, and went out of their way to fix the situation. And they remembered me and greeted me warmly by name. They are the reason I return again and again. Kudos to the staff!”

• • • • • • • •

Good service? Fixes problems? Remembers guest’s name? Acknowledges guest’s input? Acknowledges guest as important? Warm, personable service? Reason for return? Staff performance compensates for problems?

“The establishment itself is tired but the staff make me return. Food has declined noticeably in quality, which is a concern for me. But again, the staff remember me, remember the little details, and really seem genuinely happy to see me again.”

• • • • • •

Decline in food quality? Good service? Remembers guest? Warm, genuine service? Reason for return? Staff performance compensates for problems?

“The establishment and the staff are amazing. To be an outstanding establishment, you need to hire outstanding employees to work there. The ones who appreciate the guest.”

• • • •

Good service? Satisfied guest? Feels appreciated? Hire outstanding staff?

Source: “The Deluxe” customers’ VoC data; slightly altered to preserve confidentiality

premium offering. What was found from the coded data were four major categories: • An operations vs. guest-experience POV. • The culture of the service team. • Consistency (or lack thereof ) within a given establishment, among multiple establishments, and over time. • Transformation of the guest through experiencing The Deluxe. Why Theory? At this point, a researcher might be tempted to report on these categories and call it a day. However, CBTB calls for applying theory – established models, expectations, paradigms, frameworks, and understandings drawn from diverse disciplines – to contextualize and deepen meaning and insight. Theory explains observed behaviours, predicts or anticipates future behaviours, and enables derivation of new behaviours in new circumstances. Kurt Lewin, one of the pioneers of social and organizational psychology, famously observed that “there is nothing more practical than a good theory.” As the essence of marketing is to change consumer behaviour, a powerful theory is among the most powerful of marketing tools. In the case of The Deluxe, specific theories from psychology and sociology (Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs), anthropology (Liminal Identity theory), as well as motivation (Herzberg’s Two-Factor theory) and organizational (Valence Theory) theories were all called upon to provide in-depth understanding of guest and staff interactions. Application of theory revealed clear differentiation of the offering, its competitive advantage 14

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and unique value proposition, key operational insights, and actionable plans to enable replicating the best instances of The Deluxe throughout the enterprise. The company was able to rethink its strategy and approach to the offering and, in doing so, discovered new and innovative brand positioning opportunities. The analysis insights acted as a catalyst to ignite long-desired initiatives that could not previously be justified. Moreover, they stimulated the company to transform itself from an operations-orientation into a true, guest-experience POV. Perhaps most important of all, the analytic findings were so inspiring that the project results reenergized a tired and somewhat demoralized marketing and brand team. Panning for gold was a meticulous task that often resulted in only a few valuable nuggets from a stream of otherwise useless pebbles. Beginning with a stream of operationally oriented, voice-of-the-customer data or anonymously generated and possibly not-representative social media data, the process of code-based theory building enables qualitative marketing researchers to refine these few nuggets into valuable insight gold. In the case of The Deluxe, this process quickly enabled a freshly motivated marketing team to gain new, actionable, strategic insights that were not otherwise available.

Mark Federman is a consultant who teaches advanced qualitative research and analysis, and facilitates strategic insight and innovation with leadership teams dealing with complex environments. Follow Mark on Twitter @markfederman, or connect at mark.l.federman@gmail.com.

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FEAT UR E PUTTING THE “PUBLIC” BACK INTO PUBLIC OPINION AND MARKETING RESEARCH

Keith Neuman

One often reads in these pages about the many challenges facing marketing research today, but the industry overall is clearly alive and well. The most recent estimates of economic activity in 2013 totaled $600 million in Canada and over US$40 billion worldwide. This is a significant industry by any standard, and owes its success to having demonstrated its value in supporting the marketing and promotional activities of almost any organization and institution you can name; companies selling every type of product and service, charities promoting causes, and political parties and governments pitching candidates and policies. Marketing research has indeed become an essential part of our economic and political systems, and those who work in this industry can take some pride in being part of something so important.

et there is another role for this type of research that seems to have been almost lost in the process, and especially in Canada: the application of social research and analytical tools to the broader purpose of contributing to a better society and addressing the collective problems for which solutions seem elusive. It is research with a goal to benefit all, rather than a particular company, sector or political agenda. Social research in the public interest is by no means a new or even contemporary idea. The earliest foundations of survey research can be found in mid-18th century England, when social reformers (known as the Victorian statistical movement) pioneered the systematic collection of social data on populations suffering from the impacts of emerging industrialization. This movement was concerned first and foremost with improving the social conditions of society, and focused on collecting information in a systematic way for the purpose of bettering the human condition for everyone, especially those most in need. These early researchers were advocates first, and convinced that empirical evidence on social conditions would lead the way to a better society. Fast forward to the mid-20th century when the development of probability sampling vaunted survey research into a new position of prominence as a means of measuring public opinion on important issues of the day. Dr. George Gallup actively promoted the newly emerging field of survey research as an important institution of democracy, through effectively taking the pulse of citizens in a way that was never before possible. In his 1940 seminal book The Pulse of Democracy (co-authored by Canadian Saul Rae, father of Bob Rae), Gallup made an impassioned case that “public opinion can only be of service to

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democracy if it can be heard.” This sentiment is later echoed eloquently by U.S. political scientist Sidney Verba who wrote, “Surveys produce just what democracy is supposed to produce – equal representation of all citizens.” Gallup’s lesson was not lost on others, and the power of social research was recognized and applied in an ever increasing scope for marketing and communications. But the vision of the 18th century reformers and Dr. Gallup has largely disappeared over the past few decades, and particularly in Canada. Only a small – and declining – portion of the research spending in this country is now categorized as other than commercial marketing research. In previous decades, much of what might be considered public interest research in Canada was funded by the federal government, but in the past few years this stream has dried to a trickle. Federal government spending on what it classifies as “public opinion research” dwindled to $4.9 million in 2013-14 (down from $31 million in 2006-07), a good portion of which was spent on testing awareness of government advertising campaigns. Statistics Canada does very little research on attitudes and opinions, and even this modest work has been reduced in scope through budget cuts. Provincial and municipal governments across Canada have limited budgets for public interest social research, and there are few private foundations or other non-profit organizations that invest in survey research in a sustained way. This stands in sharp contrast to such countries as the U.S. and Germany that have an established infrastructure and commitment to the development of social knowledge about public attitudes and priorities on an ongoing basis. A 2012 analysis published by the Environics Institute revealed that national government spending on public opinion research per

FEAT URE

capita was $12.88 in the U.S. compared with only 19 cents in Canada. The respected Pew Research Center in Washington, DC, conducts a comprehensive research program of national and international surveys – conducted to the highest standards and fully published – to generate important knowledge and insight about opinions and priorities of citizens on the most current and important issues of the day. The Kaiser Family Foundation performs the same public function on issues pertaining to health and health care, while a similar program of sustained research on public opinion about climate change is carried out by the Yale Climate Project at Yale University. Why is there not more public interest research being done in Canada? Part of the reason lies in the absence of nongovernmental institutions that can step up when governments choose not to do so. There are numerous foundations and charitable organizations in this country that do essential work, but their focus is directed toward bricks and mortar initiatives and program interventions aimed at specific issues or segments of the society. A different model It is this absence of public interest research that prompted Michael Adams to establish the non-profit Environics Institute for Survey Research in 2006, with the mission to survey those not usually heard from, asking questions not normally asked. The impetus came from a desire to contribute meaningfully to the emerging national dialogue about the existence of the country’s large and growing Muslim population (numbering over one million at the time). In the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks and the subsequent arrest of the so-called “Toronto Eighteen” group in Mississauga, there was heated debate about Muslims in this country, mostly by experts and media commentators and next to nothing from Muslims themselves. The institute’s initial project was the first-ever national survey of Muslims in Canada to understand their perspective and experiences in this country, coupled with a complementary survey of the general population on their views about Muslims. The results revealed a picture very different from the dominant media narrative of religious extremism and desired isolation from broader Canadian society. The CBC joined as a media partner, and the survey results were widely publicized, helping to correct misconceptions and contribute to better understanding.

Subsequent projects conducted by the institute have focused on other poorly understood parts of our society, including aboriginal peoples living in our cities, and the black community in the Greater Toronto Area. Another stream of research looks at Canadian public opinion on important issues not being addressed by anyone else, such as what it means to be a good citizen in this country. Given the absence of an existing institutional framework for independent public interest social research in Canada, a new one had to be invented. The approach developed by the institute starts with first identifying an important social issue not being addressed by other sectors, for which social research can play a meaningful role. The institute then seeks out one or more organizations that have unique knowledge about the issue to join as an equal partner in the project. The partners then seek sponsors to fund the research costs, with the understanding that sponsors do not influence the research design or analysis, but have confidence that the research will be done properly. Once the research has been completed and fully analyzed, it is publicly released for everyone’s benefit, typically in partnership with one or more media organizations prepared to invest in telling the story (rather than simply reporting on it). As with most forms of social innovation, this model of public interest research is not easy to pull off. Funding is the biggest challenge, and no more than half of the institute project concepts are able to secure the resources needed to launch. Why public interest research matters Survey research is not a solution to the many pressing challenges facing society today, but it does have a unique role to play. There are many important sources of knowledge about our social realities: our direct experience, through our friends and informal networks, through media, and through literature, art and music. Survey research is not more important than any of these, but it does offer something unique. It offers the power of collecting individual stories that, when combined, produce a collective story that is more than the sum of the parts. The power of this “technology” is threefold: • It provides a voice to individuals to express themselves privately, without the direct influence of group and normative pressures (unlike town hall meetings or focus groups). • It harnesses the power of statistics and the scientific method to

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FEAT UR E combine those individual voices into a collective voice that is credible and widely accepted as representative of the group or population covered. • It makes it possible to examine and understand how individuals within the collective are similar or different across definable subgroups, such as where they live, their particular lived experience, and their social values. This last point is particularly important because one of the most problematic distortions in how public opinion is often presented is the notion of a unified public view. That there is a singular attitude or opinion that Canadians or Torontonians all have about topic X or Y. Take for instance the headline: “Canadians express little desire to reopen abortion laws in their country.“ Does this accurately capture the opinions of all Canadians, or simply the most common among many viewpoints recorded on a survey? The media may need a simplified snapshot of public sentiment, but it is equally if not more important to understand the range of views held by citizens. As Michael Adams put it: “A representative sample of a larger population is a powerful means of giving voice to ordinary people, and, despite its imperfections, is one of the most accurate means we have of understanding our society and the subgroups that constitute it.” As well, learning about survey results helps individuals place themselves in the society in which they live, how they fit in, and how they are similar or different from others.

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Surveys provide a means of fostering introspection and empathy with others who they may not have had direct contact, and this is especially important in a country as large and diverse as Canada, which lacks a central defining character as other countries such as the U.S. and France. The trend in marketing research today is customization and ever more sophistication in targeting audience segments to discover distinct homogeneous markets, whether for media, product customization or politics. There is also a compelling need to discover what we as citizens also share in common, and for this knowledge to be communicated publicly so everyone can learn from it. The research industry is highly focused on improving the precision and efficiencies of its methods and tools to help clients and build business. Innovation is also needed to identify how to utilize the power of research for contributing to the broader collective goals such as addressing wealth disparities, ethnic tensions and social stigmas (e.g., mental illness), to name a few. There is plenty of scope for work in this area, and room for as many as want to play a part. Come join us.

Keith Neuman, PhD, is executive director of the Environics Institute f or Survey Research. He can be reached at keith.neuman@environics.ca or at 416-969-2457. For more on the Institute, see www.environicsinstitute.org and on Twitter @Environics_Inst.

Memoriam Keith Forman Bull Past President PMRS 1968-1969

At Kingston, Ontario, April 19th, 2015 in his 93rd year. Beloved husband of Primula Bull. Dear father of Catharine, Avril and Owen. Grandfather of 7, and great-grandfather of 9. Uncle of 2 nephews. Memorial Service will be held at St. George’s Cathedral, Kingston on Saturday, May 23, 2015.

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FEAT UR E DISCOVERING YOURS TO DISCOVER

The story of Ontario’s tourism slogan began in 1977 in Albany NY, with the state government deciding New York City badly needed marketing magic. Unlike today’s revitalized New York, then it was scorned as a shabby, graffiti-fouled, scary place where muggers lurked in shadows and Central Park was a no-go zone. David N. Kwechansky CMRP

he Wells Rich Greene agency created I Love New York, famously stylized I ❤ NY, and wrote an infectious song. Boldly playing up the positive, commercials featuring city attractions had people saying, “I live in (Buffalo; Rochester; Syracuse…) but I love New York!” It was a roaring success that boosted civic pride as well as tourism, helped to spark the renaissance, and spawned countless I ❤ ❤(fill in the blank) copycats. Soon an added aim was promoting upstate tourism, mainly regionally plus in the city, where people tended to overlook their own backyard. Commercials showing from the Adirondacks to Niagara had people saying, “I live in (Virginia; Ohio; Brooklyn…) but I love New York!” It caught on with Ontarians, giving the Ministry of Tourism a bad case of slogan envy. In 1979, they decided Ontario needed its own marketing magic, especially to promote vacations staying in the province. A common southern Ontario attitude was that a vacation only starts once you cross the border and now some were crossing it singing I Love New York. The job went to Camp Associates, an agency specializing in public sector campaigns. Their primary concept was Rally Round Ontario, exhorting prideful support and car trips – just what the Ministry wanted. Camp developed others too, but that one seemed a good bet to emerge from research as the winner. Although I was quite new to moderating, a client recommended me to Camp for the qualitative phases, initially 16 groups in Toronto, London, and Thunder Bay among respondents who took motor vacations outside the province. Part of the discussions included showing an array of Ontario travel brochures to observe their effect on opinions. Partway through the fieldwork, in a 6:00 Toronto group, a man quietly pored over the brochures at unusual length. When I asked what so caught his attention, he replied, “You know, I’ve lived here all my life but until now hadn’t realized my own province is still mine to discover.” Others nodded in

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accord. It wasn’t that Ontario lacked worthy attractions, but that Torontonians in particular tended to give those attractions short shrift, much like many New Yorkers treated upstate. Behind the mirror, there was a flash of inspiration. The agency rejigged what the man said into Yours to Discover and wrote it on a board. Up to then, Rally Round Ontario was being received well, if not heartily. We added Yours to Discover for the 8:00 group, and it blew Rally Round Ontario away. It embodied a rich buffet of benefits and it did so in each remaining group. Two smaller group phases followed to flesh out campaign elements and the rightness continued. A song for it was well liked too but not an earworm like the I Love New York song. At the wrap-up presentation, after I reviewed all the results, the deputy minister said, “Boy, you people sure researched this thing to death.” Before I could respond, the agency lead said, “Actually sir, we researched it to life.” Yours to Discover won wide acclaim and in 1982, it went on to license plates replacing Keep It Beautiful which exuded the warmth of a mom scolding a teen about his room. It hasn’t been topped since. Neither has its muse, I Love New York. Both slogans soldier on and, for the same reason, you can’t come any closer than hitting the bull’s-eye. David N. Kwechansky CMRP, is a Qualitative Research Consultant at Perception Research. He can be reached at david.kwechansky@gmail.com.

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FEAT UR E VISUALS ARE THE NEW LANGUAGE OF CONSUMERS AND MARKETING RESEARCH

Parry Bedi

Many articles have been written about the impending implosion of the marketing research industry, and many have questioned if the industry is still relevant in the age of big data. Compare practically nonexistent growth rates in the research industry to the meteoric growth we have seen in other data (primarily passive) collection and analysis methods, and you’ll probably find that these criticisms ring true. This article is not meant to rehash those criticisms, but to try to make sense of them and offer a perspective on a possible way forward. With that in mind, here are the common gripes about research.

It’s Overly Complex As an outsider to the industry (albeit from an engineering/ quantitative background), I was very surprised by how complicated we make the seemingly simple stuff out to be. Does a report really need to be 25-plus slides of raw numbers that only a statistician can understand? The complexity limits research effectiveness. It ensures that recommendations are never even fully read, let alone implemented. We Apply Old Methodologies to New Platforms This, by far, has been the biggest criticism of our industry. We continue to view the industry’s sweeping technical shifts solely through the prism of marketing research and therefore are content with applying old methodologies to new platforms. For example, there are many companies that gather market data by administering online surveys. The natural evolution in this space is to extend this model to enable users to respond via their smartphones. Several firms have made this transition, while others are explicitly positioning themselves as a platform for learning about customer experiences. However, what we have done is brought the hours and hours of “log-your-life diaries” to mobile ethnography. Additionally, we haven’t changed our business model when we deploy these new technologies. Even a simple study needs several analysts and project managers – all charging hefty consulting fees. The value of mobile is in the simplicity of the user experience and also the ability to reach your audience everywhere. Neither of these approaches leverage mobile’s real strengths. It’s Not Truly Representative (aka Boring) While we claim to be building customer-centric communities, the unfortunate truth is that oftentimes we view participants as an unavoidable expense. We are paying for their time after all! We put little thought into making research experiences 22

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non-intrusive, even fun, engaging and I dare say, addictive! This narrows down the segment of people who are willing to participate in research to a smaller self-selected segment of the population. Enter a Visual World One of the major secular trends of our time is that the world is increasingly becoming visual. As evidenced by the rise of visual platforms such Instagram, Pinterest and Vine, consumers across the world are abandoning text and letting pictures and videos do the talking. In fact, visuals are emerging as the predominant posting type on Facebook and Twitter as well. And why is this the case? It’s simple: visuals are often more concise and more effective units of communication. Especially on Mobile Mobile and visual together can also be a power couple for marketing researchers. Millions of millennials overwhelmingly use visual to communicate on a personal level. By not using visual and mobile, you’re missing out on reaching a demographic in their preferred language and on their preferred platform. Visual and mobile combined also offer another compelling benefit – great data at scale and speed. But, researchers are still not using either to its full benefit. For example, while there are many firms in the marketing industry that are enabling clients to understand and speak to consumers in this new, visual language, marketing research firms have, for the most part, only focused on analyzing imaged-based social data that consumers are already posting – being voyeurs, so to speak. However, there is so much more to social, especially imaged-based social, that by doing so they are missing out on a major opportunity. Marketing researchers should also use social and visual social as an opportunity to directly solicit responses to gather meaningful, in-the-moment-

FEAT URE of-truth insights, both quickly and cost effectively, while ensuring a stellar respondent experience. Gathering imaged-based data can be very valuable to your marketing research efforts. With visual, we can ask fewer questions and still gather mountains of information. Why not have them write about their experiences in a log? That way we have loads of data to digest and pick out nuggets of wisdom from. To that I would say not true – a picture is truly worth a thousand words. And when solicited and examined properly, it can enable researchers to garner vital insights in a manner that is non-intrusive, fun and very natural to consumers. Allow me to illustrate through an example. The company in this case, a pioneer in the personal care space, was looking to create a new packaging for its upcoming vaginal care cream product release. It had a hunch that the existing packaging mechanisms weren’t working for customers. As you can imagine, this is not an easy product to conduct research on – rarely do people talk about vaginal care cream in their private lives, let alone on social media. Also using imagery for such a product? That seems totally counterintuitive. But here is how it went about it: It asked a single question: “Show us what the best packaging for a vaginal cream product would be and tell us why in 140 characters or less.” The responses were varied, but after an exhaustive analysis, one clear theme started to emerge: What women wanted was something that was discreet. Here is one of those responses that illustrates what discreet meant to people:

signal positivity and diversity and you are designing a website or a campaign, you know what to do. It’s as simple as that! And it’s this simplicity that enables rapid iteration or agile research where you can learn from the insight, refine or change your next question and ultimately arrive at that elusive “aha” moment. The method illustrated in these examples is just one of the ways to exploit what I believe is one of the biggest trends of our era: Visuals have become a means of communication on par with modern languages – even one that transcends cultural and traditional linguistic boundaries. This rise of visuals also provides a great opportunity for the marketing research industry to get closer to consumers; closeness that enables brands to co-create, co-ideate and co-brand their products. Visual engagement allows brands to communicate with consumers in a manner that everyone is more accustomed to, and better yet, brands find this engagement better, faster and cheaper. Parting Thoughts

As you can see, this respondent wasn’t looking for something small, necessarily. To her, discreet meant hidden. She desired a product that could easily masquerade as something else. Imagine the cost and effort involved in getting to this insight through traditional means. In the next column, is another example of a visual study that came from a consulting group working in public policy arena. It asked: “What does diversity in America mean to you?” The group’s biggest takeaway was that a bright array of colours is often associated with social diversity. If your goal is to

These are tumultuous as well as exciting times for our industry. If we are to be relevant and prosper over the next few years, we have to continually innovate and most importantly be open to change. I know it sounds a little cliché, but oftentimes in our industry, I have seen really smart researchers resist change even when data is clearly showing it to be necessary. And it’s understandable – new techniques for gathering and analyzing data don’t fit in neatly with the models we have carefully curated and developed over the last three decades. It’s simply hard to shift the momentum of 30 years, but we have to give it a try. So the next time you hear someone in the office saying “but where are the benchmarks?” my advice would be to empathize with them. “Yes, this technique is different, and yes, it doesn’t fit in with what we used to do, but the world has changed, and so must we.” Parry Bedi, is cofounder and CEO of GlimpzIt. Follow him on Twitter at @parrybe or email him at parry@glimpzit.com. vue | MAY 2015

INDUSTRY N EW S Qualitative Research Conference Summary By Deborah Klotz, Co-chair i3 Qualitative Research Conference

On March 26 and 27 in Toronto, the MRIA and QRCA Canada jointly presented the i3 Qualitative Research Conference. The conference provided attendees with valuable takeaways across different perspectives, methodologies and formats, as well as delivering the insight, interaction and inspiration promised. All the sessions were highly interactive, making them memorable, powerful and both engaging and practical.

Hugh

iving his MacPhie, g

ntation

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Some Key Conference Learnings: Hugh MacPhie’s keynote opened day 2, as he explored how brands attract and repel their target (or tribe). He addressed how organizations and brands can be more “magnetic” to their tribe. One way magnetism is created is by asking “how is your organization helping change the world – in the minds of your tribe?” By using great story telling he also highlighted that having a strong brand story that includes rituals and/or a brand icon (e.g. the TD green chair) can increase magnetism. Afternoon keynote speaker Laurie Tema-Lyn brought to life her expertise in co-creation. She shared a variety of case studies from product development research that illustrated key elements in engaging consumers with clients to bring more winners to market. Laurie got participants involved by 24

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demonstrating a variety of creative exercises including future stretch, storytelling, love letters, virtual kitchens, and more. Jim Chastain gave an inspiring talk about how we can improve our work if we shift our perspectives to looking at our respondents as humans, instead of consumers. He also explored how we should shift our thinking from attributes and benefits, to values. Furthermore, he also noted that we should shift our inquiries to conversations, and move from asking for opinions to listening to stories. David Kwechansky moderated a panel of clients who critiqued a variety of qualitative report excerpts. The panelists answered delegate questions and provided insightful feedback on how to save clients time and effort by laying out information in a manner that allows them to quickly grasp the key takeaways. Their helpful

Participants

in Catherine

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tips included how to make the slide titles “work for you” and how to strategically use bold font to highlight key points. Isabelle Landreville ran a Mobile In Action research project with conference attendees as participants. At the end of the conference she took delegates through the project. She emphasized the importance of clear instructions, and provided practical tips for running a successful mobile project. This session brought to life the rich insights that can be garnered through mobile qualitative.

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PROPEL BUSINESS GROWTH THROUGH INTELLIGENT RESEARCH For the past three decades, Market Probe has continued to break new ground in global market research and business consulting. Leading with strategy, we continually innovate to deliver insights and perfomance results through thought leadership and strategic partnerships. We firmly believe that research is most powerful when it is applied to specific business objectives. Our strategy team focuses on value innovation and the optimization of new growth opportunities designed to address key inhibitors of sustainable growth.

Contact Market Probe today to drive growth, manage risk and enhance your brand! We look forward to working with you as you address the most pressing issues facing your customer relationships. Visit us at MRIA Booth #26! Or contact Lise Dellazizzo at l.dellazizzo@marketprobe.com

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INDUSTRY N EW S

QUALITATIVE RESEARCH REGISTRY In accordance with federal privacy laws,

MRIA’s Qualitative Research Registry (QRR), or Registre de la recherche qualitative (RRQ) in French, was created to provide an ongoing, userfriendly vehicle for tracking those who do not want to be contacted or should not be contacted for qualitative research studies.

QRR is a comprehensive do not call list of those who have recently participated in qualitative research studies, those who have asked not to be contacted further, and those felt by recruiters and moderators to be best served by not being contacted. These respondents are marked as “do not call” in accordance with established MRIA Standards.

However, the ability of the system to function effectively is directly related to the co-operation received from firms who provide recruitment services. If you are a full service research firm or field supplier that is currently participating in the Qualitative Research Registry program – thank you very much and keep up the good work!

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

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

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

THE FOLLOWING CORPORATE MEMBERS HAVE SUBMITTED NAMES TO QUALITATIVE RESEARCH REGISTRY ONTARIO

WEST

Barbara C. Campbell Recruiting Inc. (BCCR Inc.) Consumer Vision Ltd. Dawn Smith Field Management Service Decision Point Research I & S Recruiting Nexus Research Nielsen Opinion Quest Quality Response Inc. Research House Inc.

Barbara C. Campbell Recruiting Inc. (BCCR Inc.) Nielsen Opinion Quest

QUEBEC MBA Recherche Nielsen Opinion Quest (Opinion Search)

If you have any questions about or wish to submit to the QRR please send an e-mail to: qrr@mria-arim.ca Information regarding the QRR can be found at mria-arim.ca/about-mria/qualitative-research-division/qualitative-research-registry

Starting in 2015, all QRR fees are included in MRIA’s Corporate Membership Fees. To view the fee scale, visit mria-arim.ca/membership/join-mria/corporate-memberships/corporate-dues-fees Rules of Conduct and Good Practice Effective January 1 2015, MRIA announced that the Association has updated its professional Code of Conduct, to align with the fundamental principles of the International Code on Market and Social Research (the “ESOMAR Code”). ESOMAR is a worldwide association of research professionals. It promotes standards for research and professional ethics endorsed by members in over 130 countries who share and uphold the conviction that “market research depends for its success on public confidence – that is carried out honestly, objectively and without unwelcome intrusion or disadvantage to its participants.” MRIA’s Code of Conduct is self-regulatory and intended to reflect the standard of “best practice” in Canada, providing explicit assurance of consumer protection in how the industry interacts with and serves the Canadian public. MRIA’s newly introduced Code of Conduct replaces MRIA’s previous Code of Conduct and Good Practices (dated December, 2007).

vue | MAY 2015

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VUE Magazine2.indd 1

2015-05-06 9:15 AM

BOOK

REVIEW A Review of

Paid Attention: What You Don’t Know About Advertising Can Cost You Written by Faris Yakob Reviewed by Charles Franklin The book “Paid Attention: Innovative Advertising for a Digital World” challenges readers to question basic advertising assumptions to create better advertising. The biggest concern among businesses of all types is whether all of this advertising stuff still works. Advertising has never been a field where you got results with 100 percent certainty but it offered dividends to people who followed the rules. Those were the good old days. Now advertising is a little more complicated. Because of the increased pace of technology and businesses, consumers are now faced with more products and, with that, more advertisements. As the number of products and advertisements has increased, consumers have responded with a decrease. To add more fuel to the fire, consumers also express a growing distrust of the typical “Here’s why my product is better” and in-your-face advertising. They are more informed, more skeptical, and have more tools at their disposal to research and compare brands than ever before. They also have more products to choose from. In other words, advertising is not like it used to be.

Rethinking Advertising 101 With “Paid Attention” Faris Yakob, author of “Paid Attention: Innovative Advertising for a Digital World” argues that businesses need to redefine their basic assumptions about advertising if they are to survive. In his view, advertising is no longer about who pays the most money (though money helps) or who has the most viral cat video. Advertising is more about creating and maintaining a system designed to attract and grow a targeted set of customers which leads to a bigger bottom line. It takes into consideration human psychology, experimentation, and a new more collaborative approach with consumers than before. What makes “Paid Attention” different is the focus on completely re-evaluating the basic assumptions of advertising and marketing. Yakob challenges anyone who advertises to really consider the mindset behind their advertising setup. He asks readers to consider: • What is a brand? (Hint: It’s not as complicated as most people perceive it, says the author.) 28

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• What are you really measuring in market research, real opinions or “people just playing nice”? • Why are people attracted to your advertisement? • How do people shop? (Hint: It’s a lot less rational than we assume.) • Should marketing be done using a funnel? Answering these questions points readers to that paradigm shift that “Paid Attention” argues will work in a world overflowing with calls for a consumer’s attention.

Is the Perspective in ‘Paid Attention” Worth Reading? Yakob’s 200+ page book offers a challenging new outlook on advertising that confronts the realities of today’s rapidly changing marketing environment. His book (in sometimes rather snarky language) cuts straight into the heart of advertising. Most advertising advice books focus on a narrow set of topics as marketing recommendations that businesses can make to improve their advertisements, such as how to improve your Facebook impressions. “Paid Attention” asks readers to challenge the basic assumptions behind those recommendations. As an example, “Paid Attention” actually steers readers away from the chase to get more Facebook Likes and Twitter mentions. Chasing these statistics can lead businesses away from focusing on the right thing, profitability. The strength of this book lies in its ability to challenge assumptions. “Paid Attention” is an interesting book that allows any person in charge of marketing to rethink their advertising system. Faris Yakob is a consultant, writer, speaker, and owner of the company Genius Steals LLC. You can reach him on his website (http://geniussteals.co/) or on Twitter (@ faris). Paid Attention will be available on Amazon April 28, 2015. Review originally published: http://smallbiztrends. com/2015/03/paid-attention-book-review.html

IND U STRY NEWS 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.

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.

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.

All Gold Seal and 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. Starting in 2015, RRS fees are included in MRIA Corporate Membership Fees.

Questions about the Research Registration System should be addressed to Erica Klie, Manager, Member Support Services, at 1-888-602-6742 or (416) 642-9793, ext. 8727 or eklie@mria-arim.ca.

The following companies have registered research projects with the Research Registration System in 2015

GOLD SEAL CORPORATE RESEARCH AGENCIES Academica Group Advanis Inc. Advitek Inc. BBM Analytics Bond Brand Loyalty (Formerly Maritz Research Canada) Campaign Research Canadian Viewpoint Inc. Cido Research Consumer Vision Ltd. Corporate Research Associates

CRC Research EKOS Research Associates Inc. Elemental Data Collection Inc. Environics Research Group Limited GfK Canada Leger, The Research Intelligence Group Market Probe Canada MBA Recherche MD Analytics Inc. MQO Research

CORPORATE RESEARCH AGENCIES Barbara C. Campbell Recruiting Inc. (BCCR Inc.) Decision Point Research

Nanos Research Nielsen Consumer Insights Nielsen Opinion Quest NRG Research Group Numeris R.A. Malatest & Associates Ltd. Research Dimensions Research House Inc. Research Now The Logit Group Inc.

GOLD SEAL AGENCY PENDING Illumina Research Partners

Rules of Conduct and Good Practice Effective January 1 2015, MRIA announced that the Association has updated its professional Code of Conduct, to align with the fundamental principles of the International Code on Market and Social Research (the “ESOMAR Code”). ESOMAR is a worldwide association of research professionals. It promotes standards for research and professional ethics endorsed by members in over 130 countries who share and uphold the conviction that “market research depends for its success on public confidence – that is carried out honestly, objectively and without unwelcome intrusion or disadvantage to its participants.” MRIA’s Code of Conduct is self-regulatory and intended to reflect the standard of “best practice” in Canada, providing explicit assurance of consumer protection in how the industry interacts with and serves the Canadian public. MRIA’s newly introduced Code of Conduct replaces MRIA’s previous Code of Conduct and Good Practices (dated December, 2007).

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

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COLUM NIST S

La Belle Vue Stéphane Drapeau Analyste chez Ad hoc recherche Gérer la réputation, c’est bien; écouter, c’est mieux !

C’est en gravitant quotidiennement dans les sphères de la recherche qu’on réalise à quel point les approches qualitatives et quantitatives sont intimement liées. Elles offrent des promesses bien différentes et utilisent des méthodes tout autant distinctes. L’une cherche l’essence du succès (quelle émotion dois-je faire vivre à mes clients potentiels pour qu’ils achètent mon produit plutôt que celui du compétiteur?) alors que l’autre se questionne sur la réalité concrète du marché (quel aspect de notre produit récolte la faveur de la majorité de nos clients et quel autre peut être laissé de côté sans que la satisfaction de ceux-ci ne souffre?). Il arrive que par excès de pragmatisme on veuille sauter l’étape des grands questionnements qualitatifs pour se lancer immédiatement dans le vif de l’efficacité quantitative. Le danger de ne pas se poser les questions auxquelles peut répondre une démarche qualitative est bien réel et il est

Ask Dr. Ruth Ruth Corbin, CMRP CorbinPartners Inc. I’m an American researcher engaged to an MRIA member, who told me to write to you with this question. And it’s not “what’s up with your senate?” One of my international clients is making an application to the CRTC and needs market research to back it up. We’re running the research from here in the States. I see that MRIA has Canada’s new industry standards on its website, which are a lot more detailed than ours. I need MRIA to send my client a letter to say that our company’s research meets all of your standards. Then my client will attach that letter to the application to the CRTC, which should help to fend off any criticism of our company’s research. Can MRIA’s lawyer prepare letters like that? Ned from New York _____ Dear Ned from New York MRIA has just what you need. And it’s not a lawyer. A “Research Neutrals” service is available from a roster of senior-level professionals familiar with standards of research evidence used by regulators and courts. The service is available for a modest hourly fee, half of which goes to MRIA’s charitable foundation. Here is how the service works: • Y ou choose the Research Neutral you want to work with you from a roster. • Y ou and the Research Neutral agree on a mandate, which can include preparation of a letter to your client or the regulator with an objective opinion of the extent to which your firm’s research project meets best practices.

personnifié par le biais cognitif du faux consensus (Michael Ross). En bref, c’est cette manie de croire que puisqu’on est quelqu’un de bien normal, alors tout le monde doit penser à peu près comme nous (même préférence, mêmes intérêts, un consensus approximatif sur les banalités de tout et de rien !). Qu’on soit en proie à ce phénomène seul de notre côté, ça ne regarde que nous mais, quand on souhaite réaliser un projet de recherche, il faut redoubler de prudence. On peut vite penser d’emblée que nos impressions en tant que chercheur ainsi que celles de quelques collègues de travail sont suffisantes pour mettre sur pied une foulée de mesures quantitatives à même d’évaluer le succès d’un produit ou d’un service en tenant compte de tous ses aspects importants. Le fait est que sans une mesure qualitative fiable, on ne peut vraiment être certain de mesurer quantitativement chacun des aspects qui comptent vraiment aux yeux des clients. Croire le contraire, c’est accepter trop facilement le faux consensus !

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The mandate can also include an appearance before a regulatory tribunal to confirm the opinion. here is no interference with your relationship with your • T client. Your client remains your client. • Y our firm pays the fee to the Innovation Foundation. Yes, it’s Canadian dollars. Thanks for reading Vue, Ned. __________ Readers may send questions for the Ask Dr. Ruth column, or follow ups on any topic addressed in this column to rcorbin@corbinpartners. com. At your request, your identity will not be published.

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OTTAWA CHAPTER Ottawa MRIA Members Face Off at Jeopardy Night Nearly sixty MRIA members in the Ottawa region converged at the The Velvet Room in the city’s byward market on April 8th where they matched wits in a trivia event designed after the game show “Jeopardy”. Groups of four to five puzzled through multiple choice questions about sports, relationships, and the results of various lighthearted polls. While many of those in attendance came from Ottawa’s most prominent research firms, the victorious team was composed of students from the Algonquin College Marketing Research and Business Intelligence program. A networking and a social event with generous amounts food and fun, the jeopardy night gave ample evidence to the strong and tight-knit community of researchers that call Ottawa home.

T he winners of the Ottawa Chapter’s Jeopardy Night: students from Algonquin College - from left: Omar Bakr Al-Bushary, Justin Ramsay, Krista Montgomery, Kavisha Patel, Arundati Dandapani, Lauren Perron.

unner-ups at the Ottawa Chapter’s event: from left: Veronique Poulin, R Bernadette Quade, Mario Sio.

PRAIRIE CHAPTER A Prairie Crowd For Crowdsourcing On April 15th, the Prairie Chapter held entitled “Crowdsourcing: What’s in it for us?”. Scott MacKay, President and Founder of Probe Research, discussed the risks and rewards around crowd-sourced surveys, key lessons learned, and whether crowd-sourcing – as a commercial innovation – has “legs” or whether it is a one-time gimmick.

Photo left: Scott MacKay presenting live at the Prairie Chapter’s April 15th event in Winnipeg, while Chapter members in Saskatoon watched a simulcast (photo right). 32

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TORONTO CHAPTER April 21 Toronto Chapter Breakfast Event – A fabulous session! “Rethinking Customer Journey Purchase Mapping: A new perspective” and “Shopper Insights: What does it really mean and what does it need?” On a lovely, sunny, spring morning on April 21, over 50 Market Researchers gathered at St. James Cathedral Centre in downtown Toronto to hear our special guest speakers and panelists. “Special thanks goes to Manmit Shrimali from Leger; Jacqueline Chan from Kraft Foods; Susan Innes from BMO Financial; and Monica Alfonso from Unilever; all generously volunteered to

speak and be part of the panel discussion. All speakers and panelists brought their unique perspectives to the discussion around Consumer and Shopper: innovative mapping of the consumer’s path to purchase; redefining shopper insight; providing another perspective on consumer’s path in financial industry; and showcasing the marketing to the intertwined consumer/shopper. Hope to see you at the next MRIA event – the National Conference on May 24–6, 2015 at the Marriott Eaton Centre and future Toronto Chapter events!

Have any news or photos you want to share? Contact associate editor Jeff Hecker (jeff.hecker@athenabrand.com) Members and guests are welcome at all MRIA events. Check our online calendar at mria-arim.ca/events-awards/calendar for more information on all events and how to register. Members receive emails directly with event updates, so please check your inboxes for instructions on how to register for all upcoming events! MRIA Portal: www.mriaportal.ca

Opt-In to Communications. If you would like to opt-in to receive MRIA communications, click here and fill in the form.

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