Thigh Society's founder Marnie Rabinovitch Consky is sort of obsessed with thighs. And over the last decade or so, she's made it her mission to perfect a breathable, comfortable, anti-chafing shorts line. Not for nothing: Thigh Society was recognized as one of Canada's fastest growing companies by the Globe & Mail this year, and they've got a cult-like customer base that can't get enough of what they're doing. We love to spotlight customer-obsessed founders doing something different in their...
Oct 28, 2021•32 min•Ep. 24
Risa Duesing is the VP of Consumer Insights, Analytics, and Sensory at Tyson Foods. Tune in to learn: why getting an MBA helped her be a better research the ways in which Risa fosters creative and strategic thinking in her team members how she trains her team to be better storytellers how to effectively choose a research methodology through risk assessment the ways she's attempting to 'predict' the future for her customer, in a world that's entirely unpredictable...
Oct 19, 2021•32 min•Ep. 23
John, Co-Founder of Civil Pours, is back again to update us on his entrepreneurial journey. Tune in to learn: - how he's leveraging Upsiide to build a strong business case for distributors - how they're leveraging the Civil Liberties brand in their new venture - the way he and his partner are differentiating amongst a crowded market - what next steps look like for the brand
Oct 14, 2021•21 min•Ep. 22
Clodagh Forde, Senior Manager of Human Insights at Coca-Cola was a delight to have on the podcast. Meagan chats to Clodagh about: How she ended up in research, and then innovation, and then research again Why she's a better researcher because of her time spent working in creativity and innovation How she brought design thinking to her research practices The impact of a few key mentors on her career trajectory The rationale behind Coca-Cola's consolidation of 450 global brands to 180 How she and ...
Oct 06, 2021•30 min•Ep. 21
Mike Stevens joins our CEO Paul to chat about the trends their seeing across the research, analytics, and data industries (or is it 'industry'?). They'll discuss key acquisitions and what they signal, how buyers are becoming suppliers (and why that might be), and the importance of behavioural research right now. Ipsos acquires InfoTools and elects a new CEO (congrats Ben Page!). Pepsi launches PepViz, a brand new revenue stream for the consumer brand. Behavioural research is fast-expanding in de...
Sep 30, 2021•22 min•Ep. 20
In today's episode you'll learn: How Walid is planning for success in 2022 The importance of integrating observational data into research strategy Why Coca-Cola rebranded their research function to 'human insights' why Walid believes we're seeing a resurrection of retail, and what other industries can learn from it His predictions for the future of in-store shopping
Sep 22, 2021•41 min•Ep. 19
In this week's episode, you'll learn: why Ron believes brands need to operate like media properties the challenge of futureproofing the name of your agency when it makes sense to fire a client, and how to share that news with your team how perspective on governance can shift when you're responsible for the bottom line why agencies should operate like teams, not families
Sep 15, 2021•19 min•Ep. 18
Joe chats to our Marketing Director, Meagan, about how he's leveraged his 2-decades of experience in CPG research to build his own coaching business. You'll learn how he's approaching coaching in a unique way, the social enterprise that sits at the backbone of his company, and the trends impacting CPG.
Sep 08, 2021•22 min•Ep. 17
This week we've brought Liza Amlani in, Founder at Retail Strategy Group, to chat all things sustainability in retail fashion. Liza has two decades of experience in retail, bringing experience from Ralph Lauren and Accenture to her practice. Amongst her impressive roster of accomplishments is the fact that she's a regular contributor to RetailWire and an industry contributor for Forbes. Needless to say, she's the perfect person to join us to chat about how apparel brands can and should make chan...
Aug 23, 2021•26 min•Ep. 16
We've got another industry news episode this week. Our CEO Paul chats to Tom, EVP & Managing Director Americas @ Dynata. The two cover all things high quality research, how Dynata is working with their partners and clients to consistently deliver high quality insights, and what other research companies need to do to keep pace in an industry who’s addressable market seems ever-expanding.
Aug 23, 2021•24 min•Ep. 15
This week we're joined by Ed, Category & Business Insights Manager @ Olipop, about what it's like to work at a fast-growing brand that's pioneering a brand new category. We discuss how Olipop is approaching distribution strategically, the way they select the next great flavour innovation, who they're stealing market share from and how, along with much more.
Aug 11, 2021•27 min•Ep. 14
A truly relevant throwback from 2020. Hilton Barbour, Vice President of Marketing @ Kognitiv, chats to Ian about how to keep employees happy and motivated during a time of crisis. They touch on what transparency means in this context, which brands business leaders should draw inspiration from, the real reason that tone deaf communications arise, and more.
Aug 04, 2021•23 min•Ep. 13
In this week's episode of Dig In, we go deep with Justin Pray, Senior Consumer Insights Manager @ Aurora Cannabis . Justin chats all things cannabis, walking us through his approach to consumer insights in a category with limited 'sources of truth', the challenges of building brand affinity and equity within the space, building the right research tech stack, and more. Enjoy!
Jul 29, 2021•22 min•Ep. 12
In this week's episode of Dig In, John Williamson and Nick Kennedy talk to Ian about how they're taking the concept behind iconic cocktail bar Civil Liberties and creating a brand new ready-to-drink (RTD) cocktail category. Tune in to hear these two entrepreneurs discuss the importance of trust and chemistry when founding a business, the unique approach they're bringing to branding and packaging for Civil Pours, and how research is helping them raise capital....
Jul 20, 2021•34 min•Ep. 11
In this week's Episode of Dig In, Upsiide 's President Ian Ash chats with Inkblot 's VP of Clinical Services Rachel Toledano about how the pandemic has impacted Canadians' mental health. They touch on stigma associated with vaccinations, the impact of being consistently anxious for a year, the fallout of pandemic life across generations, and more. It is, quite possibly, the most of-the-moment interview we've ever done....
Jul 13, 2021•45 min•Ep. 10
Dig's CEO Paul chats to Sima, Founder of Infinity Squared Ventures and Lexia, Director at Cannacord Genuity. Both Sima and Lexia are insanely knowledgeable about product and investment trends in the insight & analytics space. Tune in to learn about current market dynamics and what that means for research and technology providers, predictions for the next 12-24 months, and honest opinions on recent mergers and acquisitions.
Jun 23, 2021•29 min•Ep. 9
Dig's Marketing Director Meagan is joined by Focus Lab 's Chief Growth Officer & Partner Will Straughn to talk all things building a brand that lasts. They discuss why the best brands are consistent, which brands are doing brand marketing incredibly well, and why the hardest part of re-branding is managing change within the organization (and how to do it!).
Jun 23, 2021•40 min•Ep. 8
In our first monthly industry news episode, Dig Insights' CEO Paul Gaudette is joined by Mike Stevens, Founder of What Next Strategy & Planning and Editor of Insight Platforms. They talk through major news in the research and technology landscape.
May 25, 2021•26 min•Ep. 7
In this episode, Ian interviews Zoltan Lorantffy, Chief Marketing Officer at TalentWorldGroup, a native cloud, tech enabled organization with a 100% work from home (WFH) culture. Some of the things we'll cover in this interview: How TalentWorldGroup built a culture based on a fully remote model Lessons businesses can use to embrace the WFH model in the pandemic How the pandemic changed the nature of WFH in general
May 19, 2021•21 min•Ep. 6
Ian is joined by Elizabeth Charles, an educator, writer and founder of EHC solutions, an organization focused on building inclusive leadership through innovation, transformation and education. In this interview we will cover: - The ideas and fears associated with talking about racism and white supremacy - How the language and terminology around the topic of racism evolved over the years - How to address systemic racism in a workplace environment
May 18, 2021•30 min•Ep. 5
Ian interviews Dig’s resident Crypto expert and Analytics Manager, Eric Ferreira. In this interview we will cover: - Big news in Crypto including: the latest Bull Run, Dogecoin, Visa & USDC and the SEC vs. Ripple - We share the results of our proprietary Cryptocurrencies study that we conducted with 500 Canadians Make sure to visit https://app.upsiide.com/studies to find more results of the Cryptocurrencies study.
May 12, 2021•34 min•Ep. 4
Sustainability is a highly complex and debatable topic today. In today's episode, our Director of Marketing & Communications Meagan Healey speaks to Mark Barden, a partner and co-founder of brand consultancy eatbigfish. In this lively conversation, they discuss: - how to approach the conversation about sustainability in branding - how to build sustainability into marketing and what brands did well in telling a compelling sustainability story - how to market sustainability as a challenger bra...
May 06, 2021•48 min•Ep. 3
In this second episode, Ian is joined by Virtually the Same, a comedy group comprised of Rayhan, Leo, and Tristan. The friends share their experience: - writing and directing for The Bob Comedy Revue - how they adapt their performances to the virtual environment - hosting online company events and parties
May 04, 2021•16 min•Ep. 2
In this episode, Steve Schlesinger, the CEO of the Schlesinger Group, joins one of our co-founders Ian Ash to discuss: - How his business has grown while staying true to its mission despite challenges posed by the pandemic - What his vision of the future of insights looks like - What he thinks about the need for automation in the insights platform market
May 04, 2021•15 min•Ep. 1
