Paul Nesbitt, Ph.D – Research and Advanced Analytics
Paul’s career in applied research comes upon a thorough academic training. He earned several Scholarships (Woodrow Wilson, President’s Fellowship) en route to his Doctoral degree in Social Psychology in 1969 from Columbia University. He continued this bent in a variety of research projects at the Universities of California and Nevada, in areas such as attitude measurement and attitude change, non-verbal communication, inter-personal relations and the effects of environmental stimulation.
As well as Psychology, he has also taught statistics and research methods at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, including quasi-experimental and multivariate analysis. His marketing research experience has been extensive; he has supervised both large and small projects. His involvement has ranged from qualitative research (an application of “group dynamics”) to complicated research design and weighting issues for projections to universe estimates. Among his accomplishments are:
- The first study measuring literacy in Canada
- A motivational assessment of cross-border shopping
- Measurement of the total energy use in office buildings in Ontario
- Determining the extent and nature of injuries incurred by youth in minor hockey leagues in Ontario
- Evaluating different re-positioning directions for a major retailer
He has extensive experience with segmentation research (e.g., of beverage alcohol buyers, of the ‘high value’ population in Canada in terms of their financial needs, of the cellular phone market, of lottery players), and with the intricacies of factor analysis and cluster analysis (and occasionally conjoint analysis) that are often an integral part of such research. He has pioneered ‘hybrid segmentation’, which uses different kinds of measures (e.g., needs / benefits, attitudes, behaviours) to find the segmentation most relevant to a particular marketing challenge. He is a member of The Professional Marketing Research Society and a Past President of the Section on Industrial/Organizational Psychology of the Ontario Psychological Association.
Aldo Braccio – Consumer Research and Insight
Aldo Braccio has over 18 years of hands on experience in consumer research and insight. He began his career as an academic researcher in psychology and has had the privilege of sitting on different sides of the marketing table working as a moderator, quantitative researcher, client side researcher and strategic planner. Aldo has an incurable curiosity and drive to understand what makes people tick i.e., what’s inside people’s minds and hearts that make them think, feel, believe and behave the way they do. His varied background gives him the inside track in understanding the needs and aspirations of agencies, client researchers and marketers. While Aldo’s competencies are broad and deep in scope, he focuses his business on 4 key areas of marketing:
- Creative development: planning, briefing, qualitative exploration/testing
- New product development: ideation facilitation, concept development and qualitative testing
- Positioning and essence: development and qualitative testing
- Insight workshop facilitation
His passion for understanding consumers is equal to his passion for brands. He has a mix of small and large; iconic, image driven and functional brands in his portfolio. He has worked with leading companies in the past few years: Molson, Nike, Coca Cola, General Mills, Canadian Tire, Ontario Ministry of Health, Ford, Johnson + Johnson, Conagra, CIBC, Bacardi, Cadillac Fairview. Prior to joining the workforce Aldo was a professional student. He holds a BA and MA in Psychology and carries an MBA as a sidearm.
Merril Mascarenhas – Strategy and Change Management
Merril Mascarenhas is a management consultant with over 20 years of research and strategy experience. He has led strategic initiatives with senior management across industries to assess business processes, identify revenue growth opportunities and improve organizational practices. He has served clients in energy, technology, retail, consumer products, health care and financial services industries on a broad range of strategy, business building and operation issues. Merril’s experience in strategic consulting gives him a unique perspective on business challenges.
Merril is passionate about bringing fresh thinking to all business issues and challenges. He has advised senior management at leading companies like J&J,P&G, State Farm, Unilever and GlaxoSmithKline in North America, Europe and Asia. Merril has completed several Harvard Business School management programs. He also holds engineering and business degrees. Merril is a trained facilitator and frequent speaker on business strategy, brand building and competitive intelligence. He advises several non-profit organizations on management and marketing best practices. He serves on the board of Toronto East General Hospital, High Park Initiatives and BoardMatch.org. He also serves on the Branding and Strategic Planning Council of the Canadian Marketing Association and Energy and Environment Planning Committee of the Ontario Chamber of Commerce.
Grace E. Maddox – Qualitative Research
An extensive background in marketing management combined with formal moderator training ensures Grace maximizes the insights gained in each facilitation project. Her experience ensures a full understanding of the issues, and results in user-directed “next steps” oriented outcomes. For 15 years, Grace worked within the corporate environment moving through various assignments of progressive seniority. Client side experience includes assignments at Warner-Lambert, Campbell Soup and Ault Foods. In the early eighties, Grace worked at Young and Rubicam Advertising for 3 1/2 years directing activities for clients General Foods, Procter & Gamble, and Whitehall Laboratories.
In 1992, Grace launched her qualitative research and meeting facilitation consultancy after taking specialized training in meeting facilitation and focus group management. This included Moderator Training School at RIVA (Research In Values and Attitudes) in Bethesda, Maryland and Facilitator Training through The Creative Problem Solving Institute at the State University of New York.
Dr. Marianne Fedunkiw, Ph.D – Strategy and Communications
Dr. Marianne Fedunkiw has more than 20 years of consulting experience and offers clients a unique combination of communications, media and academic experience. Most recently, she was Director, Outreach and Communications at the Ontario Genomics Institute. She has served as a communications consultant for the Public Health Agency of Canada (formerly Health Canada), The Arthritis Society, and was the first Communications Director at the Arthritis Community Research and Evaluation Unit (ACREU).
In addition to the healthcare and health policy sectors, Marianne has communications experience in postsecondary education at George Brown College and University of Toronto.
She also has media experience, in newspapers, magazines and television, having worked at The Globe and Mail, The London Free Press, Maclean Hunter Ltd., and was a member of the team that launched The Discovery Channel (Canada) in 1995. Marianne’s education also combines science and communication. After receiving a BSc from University of Toronto in biology and English, she completed her MA in journalism at The University of Western Ontario in 1989. She went on to complete a doctorate in medical history at Toronto in 2000 and was subsequently awarded a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Oxford in the UK.
An award-winning writer, her own publications include a book, Rockefeller Foundation Funding of Medical Education at Toronto, Montreal and Halifax (2005), and articles in McMaster University Medical Journal, The American Journal of Public Health, The Medical Post, Proceedings of the ‘Philanthropic Foundations and the Globalization of Public Health and Scientific Medicine’ Conference, Medical Woman: Bulletin of the Medical Women’s Federation (UK), and Enhancing Communication and Community: A Proactive Healthcare Archives Assistance Policy. Marianne has been an invited speaker on healthcare, communications/media training and biotechnology issues at conferences and workshops around the world including at the Canadian High Commission in London, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine as well as throughout Canada, the U.S., Hungary, Spain, Switzerland and Italy. Marianne currently serves on the Board of The Arts and Letters Club (Toronto).
Francine Burel, Program Audit
Ms. Burel offers an operational management background combined with over 20 years of consulting and auditing experience in the Public Service of Canada. Ms. Burel was Chief of Human Resources at Revenue Canada. She managed a large number of projects requiring in-depth analysis of complex issues and creative problem solving.She has served several organizations in a consulting role, including Transport Canada (Project Manager, Audit & Advisory Services), Veterans Affairs: Chief, Veterans Allowances & Pension Payment, Labour Canada: Special Advisor to the ADM, Operations, Public Service Commission: Senior Policy Advisor, Treasury Board: Evaluation Officer, Personnel Policy Branch, Supply & Services: Management Auditor. Ms. Burel has worked in a variety of projects ranging from organizational studies to the development of performance measures for senior executives. Ms. Burel’s superior communication and presentation skills in both official languages combined with her broad experience serve to establish a climate of confidence with clients bringing parties together to develop common solutions.
Faye Perkins – Customer Engagement and Marketing Strategy
Faye Perkins is a senior level marketing and telecom consultant with over 20 years experience at global corporations. Her most recent position was as VP International Marketing at Sony BMG Music Entertainment in New York. She has extensive experience in global best practices in Product Management and strategies in high growth markets like wireless where content, culture and commerce intersect. She has led markets in their adaptation of internet and online technologies by creating new information systems and strategies to increase adoption rates, strengthen customer loyalty and grow business units. Faye directed worldwide marketing strategy for products of Sony BMG and managed emerging online initiatives were part of the corporate strategy. Her experience included all major international markets for priority artists. She advised artists and managers on promotional and publicity activities around the world. Her experience in turning around businesses with substantial consumer, cross-functional and industry knowledge will add substantial value on consulting engagements for Telecom clients with a growing wireless business in diverse customer segments.Faye has a Master of Arts Courses in Ethnomusicology, Business and Sociology from York University and an Honours Bachelor of Arts Degree in Music degree from the University of Western Ontario.