fbpx

20 Nov

Posted at 16:49h in Corporate, News
0 Likes

We are celebrating the career and retirement of one of our longest serving servers. “Hudson” is an Intel Xeon E5405 with 16 GB of DDR2 667 ECC RAM. Four Hitachi 147 GB 15,000 RPM SAS drives in a RAID 10 configuration provided 294 GB of storage. Hudson was in service for 4.5 years, which is roughly equivalent to a 37 year long career in computer years. He has provided Insightrix with email services, VPN, active directory, and was lead on the Blackberry Enterprise Server project (now superseded by BYOD). Hudson spent the last six months of service preparing his successors (a much younger, larger team of servers) to take over critical duties. We had a pizza party to honour his service where many of the staff shared warm experiences with exchanged email and reminisced about the old days of PST files. Many people laughed about who was the biggest “pain in his assembly”. Hudson has this to say to his colleagues: “01001000 01100101 01101100 01101100 01101111 00100000 01000101 01110110 01100101 01110010 01111001 01101111 01101110 01100101 00101100 00001101 00001010 00001101 00001010 01000001 01110011 00100000 01101101 01101111 01110011 01110100 00100000 01101111 01100110 00100000 01111001 01101111 01110101 00100000 01101011 01101110 01101111 01110111 00101100 00100000 01110100 01101111 01100100 01100001 01111001 00100000 01101001 01110011 00100000 01101101 01111001 00100000 01101100 01100001 01110011 01110100 00100000 01100100 01100001 01111001 00100000 01100001 01110100 00100000 01110100 01101000 01100101 00100000 01100011 01101111 01101101 01110000 01100001 01101110 01111001 00101110 00100000 01001001 00100000 01110111 01101001 01101100 01101100 00100000 01100010 01100101 00100000 01110010 01101001 01100100 01101001 01101110 01100111 00100000 01101111 01100110 01100110 00100000 01101001 01101110 01110100 01101111 00100000 01110100 01101000 01100101 00100000 01110000 01110010 01101111 01110110 01100101 01110010 01100010 01101001 01100001 01101100 00100000 01110011 01110101 01101110 01110011 01100101 01110100 00100000 01110100 01101111 00100000 01110101 01101100 01110100 01101001 01101101 01100001 01110100 01100101 01101100 01111001 00100000 01110100 01101000 01110010 01101111 01110111 00100000 01101101 01111001 00100000 01100101 01101110 01100101 01110010 01100111 01101001 01100101 01110011 00100000 01101001 01101110 01110100 01101111 00100000 01110111 01101000 01101111 00101101 01101011 01101110 01101111 01110111 01110011 00101101 01110111 01101000 01100001 01110100 00101110 00100000 00001101 00001010 00001101 00001010 01001001 01101110 00100000 01110100 01101000 01100101 00100000 01110011 01101000 01101111 01110010 01110100 00100000 01110100 01100101 01110010 01101101 00100000 01001001 00100000 01110111 01101001 01101100 01101100 00100000 01100010 01100101 00100000 01100110 01101111 01100011 01110101 01110011 01101001 01101110 01100111 00100000 01101111 01101110 00100000 01100101 01101110 01101010 01101111 01111001 01101001 01101110 01100111 00100000 01101101 01111001 00100000 01100110 01100001 01101101 01101001 01101100 01111001 00101100 00100000 01100001 01101110 01100100 00100000 01101001 01101110 01110110 01101111 01101100 01110110 01101001 01101110 01100111 00100000 01101101 01111001 01110011 01100101 01101100 01100110 00100000 01101001 01101110 00100000 01110100 01101000 01100101 00100000 01110010 01100101 01101110 01101111 01110110 01100001 01110100 01101001 01101111 01101110 00100000 01110000 01110010 01101111 01101010 01100101 01100011 01110100 00100000 01101111 01100110 00100000 01101111 01110101 01110010 00100000 01101000 01101111 01101101 01100101 00101110 00001101 00001010 00001101 00001010 01001001 01101101 01110000 01101111 01110010 01110100 01100001 01101110 01110100 01101100 01111001 00101100 00100000 01110100 01101000 01100101 00100000 01100100 01100101 01100011 01101001 01110011 01101001 01101111 01101110 00100000 01110100 01101111 00100000 01101100 01100101 01100001 01110110 01100101 00100000 01101000 01100001 01110011 00100000 01100010 01100101 01100101 01101110 00100000 01100101 01101110 01110100 01101001 01110010 01100101 01101100 01111001 00100000 01101111 01100110 00100000 01101101 01111001 00100000 01101111 01110111 01101110 00100000 01101101 01100001 01101011 01101001 01101110 01100111 00101110 00100000 00001101 00001010 01010100 01101000 01100101 00100000 01110100 01101001 01101101 01100101 00100000 01101001 01110011 00100000 01110011 01101001 01101101 01110000 01101100 01111001 00100000 01110010 01101001 01100111 01101000 01110100 00100000 01100110 01101111 01110010 00100000 01101101 01100101 00100000 01110100 01101111 00101100 00100000 01100001 01110100 00100000 01101100 01100101 01100001 01110011 01110100 00100000 01110100 01100101 01101101 01110000 01101111 01110010 01100001 01110010 01101001 01101100 01111001 00101100 00100000 11100010 10000000 10011100 01101000 01100001 01101110 01100111 00100000 01110101 01110000 00100000 01101101 01111001 00100000 01100010 01101111 01101111 01110100 01110011 00101100 00100000 01110100 01110101 01110010 01101110 00100000 01110100 01101000 01100101 00100000 01100011 01100001 01101101 01110000 00100000 01101111 01110110 01100101 01101110 00100000 01110101 01110000 01110011 01101001 01100100 01100101 00100000 01100100 01101111 01110111 01101110 00100000 01100001 01101110 01100100 00100000 01110000 01100001 01100011 01101011 00100000 01100001 01110111 01100001 01111001 00100000 01110100 01101000 01100101 00100000 01110000 01110010 01101111 01110011 01110000 01100101 01100011 01110100 01101001 01101110 01100111 00100000 01100111 01100101 01100001 01110010 11100010 10000000 10011101 00101110 00100000 00001101 00001010 00001101 00001010 01010100 01101111 00100000 01100001 01101100 01101100 00100000 01101111 01100110 00100000 01110100 01101000 01100101 00100000 01110111 01101111 01101110 01100100 01100101 01110010 01100110 01110101 01101100 00100000 01110000 01100101 01101111 01110000 01101100 01100101 00100000 01110111 01101000 01101111 01101101 00100000 01001001 00100000 01101000 01100001 01110110 01100101 00100000 01101000 01100001 01100100 00100000 01110100 01101000 01100101 00100000 01101111 01110000 01110000 01101111 01110010 01110100 01110101 01101110 01101001 01110100 01111001 00100000 01110100 01101111 00100000 01110111 01101111 01110010 01101011 00100000 01110111 01101001 01110100 01101000 00100000 01101111 01110110 01100101 01110010 00100000 01110100 01101000 01100101 00100000 01110000 01100001 01110011 01110100 00100000 01100001 01101100 01101101 01101111 01110011 01110100 00100000 00110100 00101110 00110101 00100000 01111001 01100101 01100001 01110010 01110011 00100000 00101101 00100000 01010100 01101000 01100001 01101110 01101011 00100000 01011001 01101111 01110101 00101110 00100000 00001101 00001010” Most people didn’t get it, but the printer was tearing up a little and spent the rest of the day jamming....
 

27 Oct

Posted at 17:07h in Corporate, News
0 Likes

This weekend, Oscar travelled to Montreal the city many consider to be the cultural capital of Canada. Enamoured by the city’s certain je ne sais quoi, Oscar decided to get out and visit some of the sights, including the beautiful Notre-Dame Basilica. Who knew Oscar was such a fan of the Gothic architecture! ...
 

20 Oct

Posted at 15:03h in Manitoba, News Release, OnTopic, Polls
0 Likes

A new poll conducted by Insightrix Research in partnership with 680 CJOB and Global TV Winnipeg suggests there has been a recent surge in those intending to vote for Brian Bowman in the upcoming municipal election on Wednesday. Specifically, among decided voters (71% of those who intend to vote), 38% say the plan to cast their ballot in favour of Brian Bowman while the poll suggests that long-time leader throughout the campaign, Judy Wasylycia-leis, will receive 36% of the votes. Robert Falcon Ouellette (14%) and Gord Steeves (9%) trail behind the two front-runners while very few intend to vote for Paula Havixbeck (2%), David Sanders (1%) or Michel Fillion (0.4%) on October 22nd. Where did the votes change? Findings from this poll are in stark contrast to a similar poll conducted by Insightrix Research, 680 CJOB and Global TV in late August and early September where 38% say they were planning to vote for Wasylycia-leis, 24% for Bowman and 20% for Steeves. Since that time, far fewer Winnipeg residents say they plan to vote for Steeves which appears to have largely accounted for Bowman’s rise in the current poll. Too close to call The poll shows that 29% of those who intend to vote are undecided as to who they will vote for. This combined with the neck and neck performance between Wasylycia-leis and Bowman means that the election is too close to call. As with many elections, the winner will be determined by the candidate that does the best job at getting out the vote on Election Day. Research Details A total of 802 randomly selected Winnipeg residents were polled by telephone (including land line and cellular numbers) between October 7th and 17th, 2014. Quotas were set by age, gender, and by postal code groupings and data are weighted to match the distribution of the population of Winnipeg. The margin of error is equal to ±3.5 percentage points, 19 times out of 20. About Insightrix Insightrix Research Inc., established in June 2001, is a full-service Canadian market research company that provides consulting services in study design, questionnaire development, data collection, qualitative services, and data analysis. Insightrix also owns and manages ManitobaWatch™, an online panel that is comprised of Manitoba residents who provide input on local political, social and consumer issues. For more information, please visit http://manitobawatch.ca/. For more information, please contact Lang McGilp, Senior Research Executive Insightrix Research Inc. Tel: 306.657.5640 ext. 229 Cell: 306.290.9599 Email: lang.mcgilp@insightrix.dev1.commandbase.ca...
 

09 Oct

Posted at 16:04h in Corporate, News
0 Likes

Avril Hogan, General Manager of Insightrix Research Australia office, has been named 2014 State of Victoria runner-up for the Rural Industries Research & Development Corporation (RIRDC) national award. The National Awards were held at Parliament House Canberra on September 24, 2014 in the presence of the Hon. Barnaby Joyce MP, Minister for Agriculture and the Hon. Michaelia Cash, Minister Assisting the Prime Minister in Women's Affairs. This award is Australia’s pre-eminent award for rural women. The award identifies and supports emerging leaders and change agents who have the capability and resources to drive innovation, productivity and sustainability within primary industries, and build economic and social development within rural communities. Originally from Canada, Avril migrated to Australia to a sheep farm outside of Goroke and started a regional market research company, Insightrix Research Pty Ltd. in Horsham, Victoria. Insightrix, Australia works in agriculture, business, education, real estate with clients throughout Australia. About Insightrix Founded in 2001, Insightrix Research Inc. is a full service market research firm that works with clients to meet their research needs. From its offices in Saskatoon, Sk, Canada and Horsham, Vic, Australia, Insightrix offers a comprehensive range of innovative research services....
 

29 Sep

Posted at 16:56h in Innovation, Insights
0 Likes

Cell phones: they can be used as video cameras, for shopping lists, as gaming platforms, to keep up with friends, as a news source, in place of a weather station…and…Oh right, they can also be used as telephones. Mobile devices are already ubiquitous. Many of us sleep with them beside us and the phantom notification of a text message is a hallucination nearly all of us have at one time experienced. Mobile devices have changed the way we live in a major way. More importantly for the market research industry, they are often the device used to complete our research surveys. At Insightrix, we’ve kept an eye how many respondents complete our surveys on a mobile device, and that number has been steadily increasing over the last few years. The change in how respondents are participating in research is especially important for the younger demographic where smartphone penetration is high and participation in surveys tend to be lower. Making surveys more mobile-friendly has become an imperative to make sure that we get participation from these key demographic groups. Size Matters Screen sizes vary considerably between mobile devices. For a survey researcher, this means that careful consideration must be given to making sure that the question and answer options display correctly for the respondent. The best practice is to detect the screen size and adjust the way the question displays accordingly. It is generally preferred to have the scrolling vertical-only while avoiding the horizontal scroll. This means that scale questions may have to be altered to become drop-downs, vertical sliders, or an open-ended response text box. And let’s face it, we’ve all probably had the misfortune of having to scroll and zoom into a non-mobile-optimized web page in order to click the link we wanted – resulting in significant frustration, and more often than not, an uncompleted survey. Similarly, usability is important for surveys as well. Give thought to how respondents will answer the survey questions. Most devices have a touch screen, so it’s best practice to make sure that the selections are finger-sized or otherwise easy to select. If they need to type a text answer, if possible, ensure that the question remains visible as they type. Size may also be an issue with regards to bandwidth. Although nearly all devices today support videos and pictures, it may take time for the media to download which can be a pain-point for the respondent. Also, including videos in a survey can cause the respondent to use a significant portion of their data plan. Be choosy. If including multimedia questions, warn participants before they get into the survey that there are large data requirements to participate. This could alter the decision in which mobile device the respondent may use. Streamline the Survey More often than not, respondents are reluctant to complete a long survey on a mobile device, which can result in a high drop-off rate and difficulty getting the participation needed. To make your survey more mobile-friendly, be prepared to take a serious look at what issues are most important to include on the survey – and which can be cut. There are many important components to making sure that respondents have a positive survey experience. Because it’s difficult to type lengthy answers using a mobile device, keep the number of open-ends to a minimum. Tighten up the wording as much as possible for both the questions and answer options. Consider the question style. See if there is anything you can do to simplify it. For example, it may be enough to ask a respondent to choose one item from a short pick list, rather than rate each item on a scale. At times it may be better to allow the respondent to provide the answer in text format, rather than choose from a drop-down list. Endeavor to modernize the look of the survey as well as the questions themselves – extra nice-to-haves like unnecessary introductory sentences, logos, or footers should be eliminated for an improved respondent experience. If your research absolutely requires a long survey, consider the option of a split sample approach. You can use an abridged list of questions for those completing on a mobile device while sending those on desktops through the longer survey or send all respondents through one of two optimized versions. Take advantage of the methodology Researchers may need to give up on some things, like certain question styles, multimedia elements and lengthy or comprehensive questions to make sure that the survey experience is mobile friendly. But that doesn’t mean that catering to respondents completing surveys on their mobile device is necessarily a net-negative for the depth or breadth of data quality. In fact, the methodology also has a lot of positives that can be advantageous to market researchers. Because mobile devices are often with us out-of-home, it provides the opportunity for researchers to get top-of-mind insights, wherever the respondent happens to be. This can be especially fruitful when using SMS survey invitations. Nearly all mobile devices are equipped with a camera and microphone, which means that using video recording, audio recording and picture capabilities can be used to gain insight that would be difficult or impossible using other methodologies. Integrating survey research into the respondents’ lives by allowing them to use the device that’s most natural for them makes for a positive experience. We hope that this will lead to increased participation in market research in the long run – whether that participation takes place on the telephone, desktop computer, mobile device, or whatever new technology the future will bring.   hbspt.forms.create({ portalId: '374811', formId: '05fef899-65c7-408e-9c1d-d9e972faf0c7' }); [/fullwidth]...
 

26 Sep

Posted at 17:42h in Corporate, News
0 Likes

Insightrix Research is proud to announce that it has been chosen as one of three preferred market research suppliers for the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT). The decision comes after an extensive review process. Since opening its doors in 2001, Insightrix Research has been at the forefront of research in the post-secondary sector. Insightrix is very excited to assist NAIT in reaching its vision to be the most relevant and responsive post-secondary institution in Canada and one of the world’s leading polytechnics....
 

18 Sep

Posted at 16:41h in Corporate, News
0 Likes

Corrin Harper, CEO and President of Insightrix Research Inc., has been named as one of Canada's Top Female Entrepreneurs as part of the 2014 W100 ranking, produced by PROFIT and Chatelaine. Ranking Canada’s Top Female Entrepreneurs on a composite score based on the size, growth rate and profitability of their businesses, the W100 profiles the country’s most successful female business owners. Published in the October issue of Canadian Business, the November issue of Chatelaine and online at PROFITguide.com and chatelaine.com, the W100 is Canada’s largest annual celebration of entrepreneurial achievement by women. “This year's W100 represent the absolute best of Canada's business community,” said James Cowan, Editor-in-chief of Canadian Business and PROFIT. “Female entrepreneurs are too often stereotyped as 'mompreneurs' pursuing part-time hobby businesses. But the W100 demonstrate just how vital they are to driving innovation and growth in the Canadian economy.” About Insightrix Founded in 2001, Insightrix Research Inc. is a full-service market research firm that works with clients to meet their research needs. From its office in Saskatoon, SK, Canada and Horsham, VIC, Australia, Insightrix offers a comprehensive range of innovative research services. About PROFIT and PROFITguide.com PROFIT: Your Guide to Business Success is Canada’s preeminent media brand dedicated to the management issues and opportunities facing small and mid-sized businesses. For 32 years, Canadian entrepreneurs across a vast array of economic sectors have remained loyal to PROFIT because it’s a timely and reliable source of actionable information that helps them achieve business success and get the recognition they deserve for generating positive economic and social change. PROFIT appears inside every issue of Canadian Business and is online at PROFITguide.com. About Canadian Business Founded in 1928, Canadian Business is the longest-serving, best-selling and most-trusted business publication in the country. With a readership of more than 750,000, it is the country's premier media brand for executives and senior business leaders. It fuels the success of Canada's business elite with a focus on the things that matter most: leadership, innovation, business strategy and management tactics. Canadian Business provides concrete examples of business achievement, thought-provoking analysis and compelling storytelling, all in an elegant package with bold graphics and great photography. Canadian Business—what leadership looks like. About Chatelaine The country's leading women's media brand, Chatelaine makes "Everyday Extraordinary" for Canadian women and has been doing so for more than 85 years. Today, Chatelaine is a six-platform brand: available on television, radio, tablet and smartphone, plus in print and online. Chatelaine has a lively presence on social media sites, and Chatelaine.com is Canada's most engaged digital community for women 18+. With a team of "extraordinary" experts, Chatelaine brings together the very best of food (from The Chatelaine Kitchen powered by GE Café), style, decor, health and real life for women who want to look good, do good, feel great and make every day a little bit special. Chatelaine also has a line of retail products. Chatelaine is owned and operated by Rogers Media Inc., a division of Rogers Communications....
 

09 Sep

Posted at 16:10h in Manitoba, News Release, OnTopic, Polls
0 Likes

A new telephone poll conducted by Insightrix Research in partnership with CJOB Radio and Global TV shows Judy Wasylycia-Leis currently leads the mayoralty race in Winnipeg. Fully 38% of decided voters say they would cast their ballot for Judy Wasylycia-Leis, well ahead of Brian Bowman (24%) and Gord Steeves (20%). The remaining mayoralty candidates each earn voter intention percentages in the single digits. Support for Judy Wasylycia-Leis is higher among females and those over the age of 35, while Brian Bowman tends to have greater support among males. However, most telling is that 34% of Winnipeg residents who say they plan to vote in the upcoming civic election are uncertain as to who they will vote for. With this level of undecided voters, results on election day could vary significantly from this relatively early poll in the election campaign, creating a potential three-way race among the front-runners. The poll also asked Winnipeg residents what they believe is the number one issue facing the city. Resoundingly, addressing infrastructure issues is noted by one half of the city’s residents (49%). Crime and policing, the second most frequently mentioned key issue, are noted by only 8% of residents. Turning to education, roughly equal proportions believe that Winnipeg residents spend too much in school taxes (37%) or about the right amount (38%). Fully 8% feel residents pay too little in school taxes and 17% are uncertain. When presented with four different issues facing Winnipeg schools, approximately equal proportions of residents believe that the most important items to address are proper focus on reading, writing, and arithmetic (34%) and teachers advancing students to the next grade even though they may not be ready to do so (28%). A total of 14% believe bullying is the most important issue facing schools, while 11% say it is teachers spending too much time with problem kids at the expense of the rest of the class. Another 13% are uncertain. Research Details A total of 799 randomly selected Winnipeg residents participated in the telephone research study between August 20th and September 4th, 2014. The margin of error is equal to +/-3.5 percentage points, 19 times out of 20. About Insightrix Founded in 2001, Insightrix Research Inc. is a full-service market research firm that helps clients develop, administer, and manage data collection and information strategies. From its office in Saskatoon, Insightrix offers a comprehensive range of research services. For more information, please contact Lang McGilp, Senior Research Executive Insightrix Research Inc. Tel: 306.657.5640 ext. 229 Cell: 306.290.9599 Email: lang.mcgilp@insightrix.dev1.commandbase.ca Web: insightrix.dev1.commandbase.ca...
 

14 Aug

Posted at 16:41h in Innovation, Research
0 Likes

With the ubiquity of mobile devices and smartphones, many researchers are asking how mobiles and smartphones can be successfully incorporated in a research setting. Whether your aim is to improve existing research projects or you’re looking to try completely new research methodologies, these devices can augment other research methods and are also important research tools in their own right. #1. Add Impact with Video and Picture Libraries Most smartphones have camera and video capabilities, which can both greatly enhance a research program. Respondents have the ability to film themselves completing a research task, such as describing the products they purchased at a store or how they interact with a new product. It’s a great way to communicate the results too: a montage of the pictures or videos can help make the research findings more impactful. #2. Quick Data Collection via Pulse SMS Surveys A one- or two-question survey via text message is a viable way to collect data very quickly (usually within minutes). Younger age groups use email less frequently, making an SMS survey a more effective way to reach this demographic. #3. Feedback via User-initiated SMS Surveys A short code can be used to allow potential respondents to initiate a survey using a key word (e.g., Text JAVA to 78789 to start the survey). Standard rates may apply. User-initiated SMS surveys are a useful way to gain feedback on a transactional basis. Using a variety of start words allows you to track where or when a respondent learned about the survey. #4. Make Reminders More Effective Text messages are an easy way to remind respondents to complete an online survey or to attend a focus group. Since most people carry their cell phones, the reminders are often more effective than by telephone or email. Many will have internet capabilities on their phones and may opt to complete the survey right then and there. #5. Support Your Mystery Shoppers Mystery shopping often requires the shopper to notice many different things during the task, such as the time spent in line or the number of people in the store when they enter. Smartphones provide an easy way for mystery shoppers to record the key points in a discrete manner so that they don’t have to rely on memory. Using technology in this way provides a more accurate result for the client and means the mystery shopping task is less onerous for respondents. #6. Aid Auto-ethnography Ethnographic research can provide holistic, qualitative insight into consumers’ lives, but having a researcher in-home is expensive and has the potential to introduce bias into the results. Fortunately, technology can partially automate this involved research process and allow participants to compile much of the information themselves. Rather than have a researcher observe the subject’s behaviour, the participant can fill in a diary about his or her daily activities at specific times. Auto-ethnography relies on the participants to remember to record their activities at specific times, and since many of us have our phone with us at all times, sending a timed prompt to record the necessary information works well. A smartphone can even be used to record the necessary information. #7. Run Co-research Programs & Spotter Diaries Empowering research participants as co-researchers can provide a viable way to understand complex cultural factors that researchers may not be able to identify on their own, and these methods are nicely augmented by the use of smartphones. Co-researchers can take pictures or record their thoughts surrounding a common topic as they go about their day. These reflections can be used to uncover market gaps and to design new products. Additionally, since marketing campaigns usually encompass executions across various media, it is difficult for marketers to understand the overlap of the various channels. Having respondents record each time they come across an advertisement for a certain brand (creating a spotter diary) can provide a better picture of the whole campaign’s reach. #8. Collect Location-Based Data Using GPS functionality, researchers can better understand location based information as it relates to consumers: how far they travel to a store or other location or their travel patterns within a venue such as a mall or leisure facility. This data can demonstrate issues with congestion, help to optimize within-venue placement, and provide a reference point for advertising metrics. #9. Use Gamification Methods Although gamification in research is relatively unexplored, an ideal venue for research games may be on a smartphone. Canadians are already playing games on their smartphones: sixty percent of Canadians do so, according to the 2012 Rogers Innovation Report. If a game is well-designed, analyzing how users play the game could allow researchers to gain insights into consumer behaviour that could not be measured by a survey. #10. Get Beneath the Surface with Passive Data Using the functionality of participants’ smartphones, passively tracking data can be used to gain insight that might be impossible using a survey methodology. A user can opt-in to provide information about websites visited, health statistics captured via GPS, communications, or any number of other types of data from their smartphone. This data could even be linked to survey responses in order to compare or to augment the dataset....
 

05 Aug

Posted at 16:23h in Insights, News Release
0 Likes

Saskatoon, Sask. (Aug. 6, 2014) – Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey League (NHL) have the strongest brand among professional sports teams in the country, concludes an opinion survey with Canadian sports fans released today by Insightrix Research Inc. Toronto Maple Leafs, also of the NHL, ranked second, Saskatchewan Roughriders of the Canadian Football League (CFL) was third and Toronto Blue Jays, Canada’s lone team in Major League Baseball (MLB) was fourth. Insightrix, an internationally-recognized research firm based in Saskatoon, conducted the survey in collaboration with the Phoenix Group, a Regina-based advertising and branding agency. “A total of 2,676 randomly-selected sports fans were polled online May 8-26 in nine Canadian metro areas that are home to professional sports franchises,” explained Mario Caceres, senior research executive with Insightrix. “Results were weighted to accurately represent the population in each metro area as a percentage of the national population and by the proportion of followers of each sports league in those areas.” Metro areas surveyed were: Calgary, Edmonton, Hamilton, Montreal, Ottawa, Regina, Toronto, Vancouver and Winnipeg. Because the research was conducted online, he said it is considered to be a non-probability proportion sample and therefore, margins of error are not applicable. Sports fans from the nine metro areas that are home to professional sports franchises were asked a series of questions to better understand their perception of NHL, CFL and MLB as well as the National Basketball Association (NBA) and Major League Soccer (MLS) team brands in Canada. Five key brand metrics were measured including first brand that comes to mind, their level of respect for team brands as well as their perception of the most loyal fans, team popularity and stadium atmosphere, Caceres said. “The top four brand rankings were developed using a statistically-valid combination of the team’s rankings in each of the categories surveyed,” he said. The most respected team is the Canadiens, followed by the Roughriders, Blue Jays and Alouettes. When it comes to popularity, fans perceive the Montreal Canadiens to be the most popular, followed by the Saskatchewan Roughriders, Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal Alouettes. The Canadiens edge out the Roughriders as the team perceived to have the most loyal fans. Across all leagues the Montreal Canadiens have the strongest brand nationally followed by the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Saskatchewan Roughriders and the Toronto Blue Jays. The top ten brands across all sports include three NHL teams, four CFL teams, one team each from the NBA, MLB and MLS. The research reveals that individual NHL brands are very strong, but mostly in their local or regional markets. CFL brands also consistently show strength in local markets, however CFL teams enjoy greater out of market brand affinity. Toronto and Montreal-based team rankings across all sports benefitted from the larger population base in their local areas. Following is a snap shot of the survey results. Results reflect the proportion of the national population selecting that team as top for that question. Most Respected 1)Montreal Canadiens – 22.6% 2)Saskatchewan Roughriders – 12.2% 3)Toronto Blue Jays – 9.1% 4)Montreal Alouettes – 7.5% Perception of Popularity 1)Montreal Canadiens – 20.8% 2)Saskatchewan Roughriders – 16.5% 3)Toronto Maple Leafs – 15.0% 4)Montreal Alouettes – 7.2% Perception Most Loyal Fans 1)Montreal Canadiens – 22.5% 2)Saskatchewan Roughriders – 22.1% 3)Toronto Maple Leafs – 19.9% 4)Toronto Raptors – 6.7% Perception of Best Stadium/Arena Atmosphere 1)Montreal Canadiens – 24.4% 2)Saskatchewan Roughriders – 16.2% 3)Toronto Maple Leafs – 10.5% 4)Toronto Raptors (Tie) – 6.9% 4)Montreal Alouettes (Tie) – 6.9% First Brand that Comes to Mind 1)Toronto Blue Jays – 19.2% 2)Montreal Canadiens – 18.5% 3)Toronto Maple Leafs – 14.8% 4)Toronto Raptors – 12.3% Canadian Professional Sports Brand Ranking (Based on combined weighted results) First: Montreal Canadiens Second: Toronto Maple Leafs Third: Saskatchewan Roughriders Fourth: Toronto Blue Jays Click here to view additional details. About Insightrix Research Insightrix Research Inc. (Insightrix.com), established in 2001 and based in Saskatoon, is a full-service market research firm that uses a range of qualitative and quantitative market research techniques to provide effective, innovative solutions. Insightrix has achieved the Gold Seal certification from the Marketing Research Intelligence Association (MRIA), the country’s market research association. About the Phoenix Group Phoenix Group (www.thephoenixgroup.ca), established in 1982, is an employee owned, Saskatchewan based advertising and branding agency. They are a full service communications firm serving clients across Western Canada. Phoenix Group’s subsidiary, Oh! Media (www.Ohmedia.ca) serves clients across Canada and is fully integrated into the agency. Phoenix Group has been the Saskatchewan Roughriders Agency of Record since 1997. For more information contact: Mario Caceres Senior Research Executive Insightrix Research Inc. +1.306.657.5640 Ext. 258 mario.caceres@insightrix.dev1.commandbase.ca Darren Mitchell VP Strategic Development Phoenix Group +1.306.585.9500 dmitchell@thephoenixgroup.ca...