Dig In

With inflation hitting a 30-40 year high, consumers, brands, and everyone in between wonder how it impacts our daily lives. Marcie Connan, Executive Vice President at Dig Insights, fueled by an insatiable curiosity, led a study to find out the ins and outs of how inflation is actually impacting consumers. Ian sat down with Marcie to go over some of the top highlights we discovered as a result of this inflation study. Tune in to learn:A high-level overview of the studyConsumers’ emotional and behavioral responses to inflationThe three primary segments we discoveredSome of the most impacted and resilient product categoriesThe silver lining some consumers have taken from this inflationary periodA big thanks to Marcie and her team for putting this study together. If you want to learn more about the study or dive into how inflation has affected more than 40 different product categories, you can find the full report at https://diginsights.com/the-great-inflation-report/.--------------Subscribe to our podcast on your favourite platforms:Apple PodcastsSpotifyGoogle PodcastsAmazon MusicOther platformsHave ideas for our next episodes? Connect with Meagan, our Senior Marketing Director on LinkedIn.Enjoying our podcast? Leave us a review!Connect with us here:LinkedInWebsite

“Perfection shouldn’t be the enemy of progress.”At least, that’s the mantra this week’s guest lives by. Marat Fleytlikh, Associate Director, Consumer Insights at The Kraft Heinz Company, is an industry legend. He is a seasoned consultant who delivers insights through visualization and storytelling and is obsessed with the consumer.Meagan sat down with Marat to discuss how Kraft Heinz is “walking the talk,” the art and science behind insights, and being an enabler versus a barrier.Tune in to learn:Why it’s ok to try something different that doesn’t pay offHow you need to nurture some ideas before they become successfulThat, in insights, agile and democratization are more than buzzwordsThe importance of sharing knowledge between different generations of insights professionalsWe had a blast chatting with Marat. And stick around to the very end for a great book recommendation from Marat.--------------Subscribe to our podcast on your favourite platforms:Apple PodcastsSpotifyGoogle PodcastsAmazon MusicOther platformsHave ideas for our next episodes? Connect with Meagan, our Senior Marketing Director on LinkedIn.Enjoying our podcast? Leave us a review!Connect with us here:LinkedInWebsite

A little detour this week as Dig Insights’ founders Paul Gaudette (CEO, Dig Insights), Michael Edwards (Chief Growth Officer), Ian Ash (President, Upsiide), and Dominic Atkinson (President, Dig Insights) are in the hot seat this week. Meagan sits down with them to discuss the recent refresh of Dig Insights and Upsiide. The four founders look back at some fond memories from the last 12 years, and each one shares meaningful moments and lessons learned from starting a market research agency. Tune in to learn:The Dig Insights’ origin storyHow they leveraged technology and made use of analytics and modelling to visualize data in a more business-focused wayAbout the most meaningful moments in Dig’s historyThe importance of listening to your customersEach founder’s predictions for the future of the market research industryThese four have come a long way since starting in Michael’s basement. Now that we’ve revamped Dig’s and Upsiide’s visual looks, we can’t wait to see what comes next for our brands.--------------Subscribe to our podcast on your favourite platforms:Apple PodcastsSpotifyGoogle PodcastsAmazon MusicOther platformsHave ideas for our next episodes? Connect with Meagan, our Senior Marketing Director on LinkedIn.Enjoying our podcast? Leave us a review!Connect with us here:LinkedInWebsite

Let’s make some noise for our newest guest of this week’s episode of Dig In. Richard Ng is probably one of the smartest guys we know, who also happens to be an expert in marketing, PR and market research. As a Marketing Director at Advanced GG, a performance supplement brand for gamers, business professionals and beyond, Richard leverages his market research experience to lead Advanced’s marketing strategy. Ian sat down with Richard to talk about all things marketing and insight within the CPG and supplements landscape, as well as discuss the project Advanced did with Dig and Upsiide.Tune in to learn:How Richard joined Advanced and whyNootropic supplements, bio-hacking, and other key trends in the energy and supplement spacesHow Advanced leverages its unique selling points (USPs) and data to stand out from the competitionHow Advanced worked with Upsiide to find a winning package design for their new RTD product and the key insights they discoveredRichard’s predictions for the future of Advanced and where he sees the company go nextLinks mentioned in today’s episode:Advanced's websiteAdvanced on Twitter Subscribe to our podcast on your favourite platforms:Apple PodcastsSpotifyGoogle PodcastsAmazon MusicOther platformsHave ideas for our next episodes? Connect with Meagan, our Senior Marketing Director on LinkedIn.Enjoying our podcast? Leave us a review!Connect with us here:LinkedInWebsite

We’ve brought Ed, Category & Business Insights Manager @ Olipop, back on the pod this week. Last time we covered hot topics for a growing CPG business like flavor innovation, gathering insights, and building teams. This time, we go team into omnichannel distribution and why it makes up the backbone of their business strategy. Tune in to learn:What ‘omnichannel’ means at Olipop and why it’s a core tenet of their strategy as a businessThe benefits of committing to an omnichannel distribution approachWhy retail data is a bit of a “mastered science” and what types of data absolutely aren’t mastered just yetWhat Ed and his team has discovered about how retail sales impact DTC sales, and vice versa?How Olipop structures their business insights function to drive alignment and lots of learningThe new flavor Olipop is about to launch :)Show Ed some love and give this episode a listen! And if you’re in the states, feel free to use his promo code ‘EDTWENTY’ to get 20% off an order at drinkolipop.com.--------------We hope you like this week’s chat! Don’t forget to subscribe for a weekly dose of Dig In content straight to your streaming platform of choice.Transistor Apple PodcastsSpotifyGoogle PodcastsVisit our website to learn more about Dig Insights and follow us on LinkedIn!

Tune it to learn:- What it was like to join Wealthsimple, and how that’s changed in the last 8 months- The key challenges and opportunities that Paul is wrestling with in Wealthsimple’s category- How Paul and his team approach recruitment and keeping employees happy and fulfilled- How Paul would boil down the lessons he learned at Eloqua and Nudge- What Paul learned from a ‘failed’ startup (not quite a failure, in our eyes, very much his words!)- How Paul uses his previous experiences at Nudge and Eloqua to be a better leader at WealthsimpleIf you’re keen to understand how someone like Paul thinks about business growth, starting a business, and perhaps most important, retaining high-functioning teams, tune into this episode!Subscribe to our podcast on your favourite platforms:- Apple Podcasts- Spotify - Google Podcasts- Amazon Music - Other platformsHave ideas for our next episodes? Connect with Meagan, our Senior Marketing Director on LinkedIn.Enjoying our podcast? Leave us a review on a platform of your preference!Connect with us here:- LinkedIn- Website

Will works in conversion rate optimization (CRO) for some well-known DTC brands, and having him on the podcast this week was fascinating. If you’ve ever wondered how you can optimize your website to drive more conversions (and bring in more sales!) this episode is for you.Tune in to this week’s episode to learn:How Will uses a particular framework to address common conversion rate issuesThe types of research tools and methodologies Will employs to better understand consumersWhich DTC companies are slaying the conversion gameThe specific trends in DTC that mean his line of work is particularly important right nowWe hope you like this week’s chat! Don’t forget to subscribe for a weekly dose of Dig In content straight to your streaming platform of choice.Transistor Apple PodcastsSpotifyGoogle PodcastsVisit our website to learn more about Dig Insights and follow us on LinkedIn!

This week, Meagan got chatting to Ruth Fittock, the Marketing Director at Simply Roasted Crisps. Ruth joined Simply Roasted after a decade in crisps/chips marketing at the likes of Pop Chips...so she’s got a whole host of knowledge to share about how to do marketing well within the ‘better for you’ category. Tune in to this episode to learn:How Simply Roasted hopes to capture market share in the ‘better for you’ categoryHow to build a messaging hierarchy for on-pack claims in a category like crisps/chipsHow marketing in this category has changed over the last 10 yearsSome valuable marketing lessons Ruth carried over from her time at Pop Chips to her role at Simply RoastedWhat’s happening in this category right now that means it’s an interesting place to be as a marketerSimply Roasted is currently available in the UK. If you’d like to grab yourself a bag (or several) use the code Ruth’s team have set up for us - DIG30 - at checkout https://simplyroastedcrisps.co.uk/

In his role as Head of Canada Research at Cushman & Wakefield, Adam Jacobs explores trends in commercial real estate by leveraging research. That is to say that he knows * a lot * about the economy and how things might change and shift in the next little while.Tune in to this episode to get details about:- How downtown vacancy rates, warehouse development, and migration away from cities affect the real estate industry- What Adam expects to see when things go back to “normal”- What Adam has to say about big picture stuff like the Canadian economy and the impact of inflation on the real estate market, labour market, unemployment rates, and innovation in Canada

Adam Faulkner is a pretty interesting guy; whether it’s his background as a creative at agencies, his biketrip from London to Tokyo, or the seemingly endless catalogue of music references he can speak to at the drop of a hat. This week, we brought him onto Dig In to talk about his company, CreativeAF, and the power of sonic branding. CreativeAF builds music videos for brands of all shapes and sizes, like Amnesty International and Sipsmith’s Gin. On this episode, he chats to Meagan about:- Why sound so important to him- How CreativeAF handles sound different than other production companies- Why sonic branding is a bit of an afterthought, and why it shouldn’t be anymore- How to structure the campaign development process in a way that prioritizes sound and music- Which brands are doing a great job with sonic branding (and why)Tune in to learn about how Adam created this thiriving business at the outset of the pandemic and why it’s making [sound] waves.