Simplified Understanding

A p r i l 2 0 1 4

ASSOCIATION AND AWARENESS PERCEPTION STUDY

Western focus – we eat, breath, sleep and live the west and know the market, the brands and the consumers

Senior level team – credibility in the market, broad range and depth of research expertise and specific experience

Insights West: A Brief Introduction

Progressive, full-service market research company offering insights-driven research solutions and interpretative analysis

through leading-edge tools, normative databases and senior level expertise.

2

Insights West: A Brief Introduction (cont.)

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Tools and normative databases: proven approaches and context for your results

Great value: lower costs for very high calibre work

Strong Partnerships: allows us to conduct national and international studies easily

Technology enabled: mobile engaged panel and expertise with social media, digital and online

Strong industry expertise: across a variety of sectors

Size: small enough to be nimble, flexible and innovative but big enough to handle large, complex projects

Our own consumer panel: over 13,000 in BC and AB and growing

Some of Our Tools

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Brand Digital Insights

Brand reputation, ad tracking and digital reputation together

in one tool

Creative Test Insights

Quantitative, reliable measurement of effectiveness of

creative against a normative database

Video Insights Adds qualitative insights to online

surveys through use of video captured by

panellists

Employee Satisfaction

Insights Straightforward and

insightful tool for measuring employee satisfaction against

regional and national benchmarks

God

Angels

Heaven

UFOs do exist

Ghosts

Cure for Cancer has been found but is being withheld

Satan

John F. Kennedy assassination

Death of Princess Diana was an assassination

Human being has been cloned

9/11 US government conspiracy

Lottery is rigged

Lunar landings were a hoax

Dinosaurs never existed

36%

28%

30%

19%

16%

16%

21%

10%

10%

8%

8%

6%

6%

3%

58%

53%

52%

52%

48%

38%

37%

34%

29%

29%

25%

20%

10%

4%

Base: British Columbia Adults (n=867)Q. How much do you, personally, believe or disbelieve each of the following conspiracy theories that some people believe?

What People Say and Believe is Quite Amazing…

5

Believe completely Believe somewhat

Top 10 Findings

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1) Awareness/Familiarity of IABC is low: only half of business leaders are aware of IABC, and familiarity is even lower.

6) That being said, 53% of marketing decision-makers feel there is some value that IABC brings.

2) However, other more well-known, organizations (BCAMA,CPRS, SME,AIM, etc.) also struggle with the same issues.

7) Decision-makers divided on value of professional communicators overall, and the value of the designation.

3) Overall ratings of IABC among those familiar are about the same as other organizations that struggle with low familiarity.

8) Although perceptions are tough to gauge, IABC is seen to be professional, intelligent, honest and in-touch, but also seen as boring, exclusive, and not too inspiring.

4) Familiarity of the ABC designation among marketing decision-makers is strikingly low-48% never heard of, and a further 27% not at all familiar.

9) When hiring, perception is that IABC membership doesn’t matter.

5) Not surprising, value of designation seen as low as well—only a third as high as CMA/CPA/CGA.

10)All being said, marketing functions are seen to be very important—websites, employee communications, social media and advertising are tops.

Simplified Understanding

DETAILED FINDINGS

Simplified Understanding

Perception and Familiarity

The Vancouver Board of Trade has the highest familiarity of the professional associations.

Professional Association Familiarity

9

Base: All respondents (n=200)A1. How aware and familiar are you with each of the following professional organizations?

Never Heard Of

The Vancouver Board of Trade 4%

Your Local Chamber of Commerce 3%

Certified General Accountants of British Columbia (CGA) 4%

Chartered Accountants of Canada (CA) 5%

Chartered Professional Accountants

of Canada (CPA)8%

The Canadian Bar Association (CBA) 6%

Certified Management Accountants

of British Columbia (CMA)12%

Sales & Marketing Executives (SME) 43%

Very familiar Somewhat familiarNot very familiar Not at all familiar

34%

32%

24%

22%

20%

16%

16%

6%

70%

68%

68%

64%

62%

60%

51%

20%

Familiar

Not Familiar

6%

6%

6%

8%

8%

8%

14%

22%

26%

28%

28%

30%

30%

34%

38%

38%

Just over half of business leaders in BC are aware of IABC. However, relatively few are familiar with what the association does.

Professional Association Familiarity (cont.)

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Base: All respondents (n=200)A1. How aware and familiar are you with each of the following professional organizations?

Never Heard Of

BC Chapter of the American Marketing Association (BCAMA) 46%

Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO) 42%

Canadian Public Relations Society(CPRS) 44%

International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) 46%

Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO) 50%

Association of Integrated Marketers (AIM) 48%

Canadian Business for Social Responsibility (CBSR) 46%

Board of Change 61%

Very familiar Somewhat familiarNot very familiar Not at all familiar

Familiar

Not Familiar

6%

5%

7%

5%

3%

2%

2%

1%

18%

18%

16%

15%

11%

10%

8%

6%

20%

22%

25%

24%

24%

26%

27%

22%

36%

40%

40%

39%

39%

42%

47%

34%

Almost one quarter of those familiar with IABC give the association a good overall rating. However, there is a higher percentage of those familiar who are unable to provide an overall rating.

Overall Perception of Professional Association

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*Small base size, interpret with caution; **Very small base size, interpret with extreme caution. Base: All respondents familiar with brand (n=varies)A2. How would you rate each of these professional associations overall on a scale of 1 to 10 where 1 is poor, and 10 is excellent?

Don’t Know

Top-3-Box

(Excluding Don’t Know)

Certified General Accountants of British Columbia (CGA) 30% 62%

The Vancouver Board of Trade 21% 65%**

Chartered Accountants of Canada (CA) 31% 73%**

Chartered Professional Accountants of Canada (CPA) 35% 72%

Your Local Chamber of Commerce 22% 48%

The Canadian Bar Association (CBA) 37% 57%

Certified Management Accountants of British

Columbia (CMA)31% 58%

Canadian Public Relations Society(CPRS) 41% 59%

International Association of Business Communicators

(IABC)38% 35%**

14%

11%

12%

10%

10%

6%

8%

5%

5%

10%

16%

16%

14%

12%

10%

10%

11%

5%

23%

20%

18%

19%

15%

17%

12%

14%

12%

47%

47%

46%

43%

37%

33%

30%

30%*

22%*

10 – Excellent 9 8

Though only about a quarter of those familiar give IABC a good rating overall, IABC received similar ratings to other communication associations such as the CPRS, BCAMA and AIM.

Overall Perception of Professional Association (cont.)

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*Small base size, interpret with caution; **Very small base size, interpret with extreme caution. Base: All respondents familiar with brand (n=varies)A2. How would you rate each of these professional associations overall on a scale of 1 to 10 where 1 is poor, and 10 is excellent?

Don’t Know

Top-3-Box

(Excluding Don’t Know)

Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO) 43% 51%**

Sales & Marketing Executives (SME) 31% 39%**

BC Chapter of the American Marketing Association

(BCAMA)36% 37%

Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO) 48% 44%**

Board of Change 59% 37%**

Association of Integrated Marketers (AIM) 46% 16%*

Canadian Business for Social Responsibility (CBSR) 58% 20%**

10 – Excellent 9 8

4%

3%

4%

2%

5%

4%

3%

9%

5%

7%

5%

3%

2%

2%

11%

16%

10%

12%

10%

5%

5%

24%*

24%*

21%*

19%*

18%**

11%*

10%*

There is relatively lower membership with IABC.

Membership in Professional Associations

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Base: All respondents (n=200)A3. Are you currently a paying member of any of the following associations?

Your Local Chamber of Commerce

The Vancouver Board of Trade

Chartered Professional Accountants of Canada (CPA)

Chartered Accountants of Canada (CA)

Canadian Public Relations Society(CPRS)

Certified General Accountants of British Columbia (CGA)

BC Chapter of the American Marketing Association (BCAMA)

International Association of Business Communicators (IABC)

Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO)

Board of Change

None

20%

8%

4%

2%

2%

2%

2%

1%

<1%

<1%

70%

Yes

And relatively few have participated in an event put on by IABC.

Professional Association Event Participation

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Base: All respondents (n=200)A4. In the past two years, have you participated in any events (conferences, speeches, luncheons, educational or networking events etc.) put on by any of the following associations?

Your Local Chamber of Commerce

The Vancouver Board of Trade

Certified General Accountants of

British Columbia (CGA)

Chartered Professional

Accountants of Canada (CPA)

Chartered Accountants of

Canada (CA)BC Chapter of the

American Marketing Association

(BCAMA)Association of

Integrated Marketers (AIM)Canadian Public

Relations Society(CPRS)

30%

26%

6%

5%

4%

4%

2%

2%

Yes

The Canadian Bar Association (CBA)

Certified Management

Accountants of British Columbia

(CMA)

Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO)

International Association of

Business Communicators

(IABC)

Sales & Marketing Executives (SME)

Board of Change

Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO)

None

2%

2%

2%

2%

2%

2%

2%

47%

Simplified Understanding

Designation Perception and Familiarity(Among Marketing Decision Makers)

Just over half of marketing decisions makers are aware of the ABC designation. However, less than one in ten are familiar with it.

Professional Designation Familiarity

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Base: Marketing Decision Makers (n=162)B1. How aware and familiar are you with each of the following professional designations?

Never Heard Of

CA – Charted Accountant –

CGA – Certified General Accountant 2%

CPA – Charted Professional Accountant 2%

LL.B. – Bachelor of Laws degree 4%

CMA – Certified Management Accountant 9%

APR – Accredited in Public Relations 40%

ABC – Accredited Business Communicator 48%

Professional Certified Marketer TM 46%

Very familiar Somewhat familiarNot very familiar Not at all familiar

44%

40%

32%

38%

27%

5%

4%

85%

83%

79%

71%

60%

10%

7%

5%

Familiar

Not Familiar

5%

4%

6%

9%

15%

28%

27%

15%

16%

19%

24%

30%

50%

45%

49%

There is less value placed on having an ABC designation than for accounting or law.

Value of Professional Designations

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Don’t Know

CA – Charted Accountant 6%

LL.B. – Bachelor of Laws degree 8%

CGA – Certified General Accountant 7%

CPA – Charted Professional Accountant 7%

CMA – Certified Management Accountant 10%

APR – Accredited in Public Relations 21%

ABC – Accredited Business Communicator 21%

Professional Certified Marketer TM 23%

36%

39%

31%

31%

24%

6%

7%

3%

22%

18%

20%

21%

23%

4%

7%

10%

16%

16%

22%

19%

19%

11%

5%

5%

74%

73%

73%

71%

66%

21%

19%

18%

10 – Very valuable 9 8

Base: Marketing Decision Makers (n=162)B2. How would you rate the value of each of these designations overall?

Over half of decision makers believe it would be valuable to have an association like IABC.

IABC Importance and Value

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Very valuable

Somewhat valuable

Not very valuable

Not at all valuable

Not applicable

19%

34%

9%

7%

32%

Base: Marketing Decision Makers (n=162)B4. Thinking generally, how valuable do you think it is for professional communicators to have an association like the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) that they can belong to?

Base: Marketing Decision Makers (n=162)B3. Thinking about professional communicators in general, how

important are they to your organization?

Valuable

53%

Not Valuable

16%

Value of IABC

Very important

Somewhat important

Not very important

Not at all important

Not applicable

14%

20%

19%

12%

35%

Important

34%

Not Important

31%

Importance of Professional Communicators

Hiring decision makers are split on whether a professional designation is valuable for a candidate to have.

Hiring Professional Communicators

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Base: Marketing Decision Makers (n=162)B4. Please think about when you hire for individuals that are communicators – whether for an employee from your organization, a contractor or a firm you are hiring that has team members that will be acting as communicators in the work they do for you. How much value do you place on a candidate/firm having the professional designation for communicators – Accredited Business Communicator (ABC)

Don’t Know

Hiring a contractor to work for your organization

17%

Hiring a firm to work as a subcontractor

19%

Hiring someone for yourorganization

18%

Very valuable Somewhat valuableNot very valuable Not at all valuable

13%

11%

14%

43%

42%

41%

Valuable

Not Valuable

24%

22%

25%

40%

40%

41%

Yes1%

No99%

Few have placed an ad with IABC due to low awareness and a lack of need.

IABC Importance and Value

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Base: Marketing Decision Makers (n=162)B5. Have you ever placed an ad with the IABC for a communications/marketing job posting?B5b. Why did you not place an ad with the IABC for a job posting? Please write your response in the box below.

Placed Ad with IABC

Reason for not Placing Ad with IABC

“I needed to find a place where communications people specifically look for jobs. I needed to make sure the right

target audience saw my posting.”

“I was looking to fill a "Communications Manager" position.”

Among those familiar with IABC, intelligent, professional and honest are the top attributes associated with IABC.

Attributes Associated with IABC

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Base: Familiar with IABC (n=58)**Small base size, interpret with caution.B6. Below are a series of contrasting attributes that could be used to describe an organization. For each of the attributes, please choose a dot closer towards the word that you believe best describes IABC. The closer the dot is to the word, the more you believe it describes IABC.

Intelligent Foolish

Professional Unprofessional

Honest Dishonest

In touch Out of touch

Friendly Intimidating

Efficient Inefficient

Down to earth Arrogant

Open Secretive

Fresh Stagnant

Inspiring Uninspiring

Compassionate Uncaring

Inclusive Exclusive

Exciting Boring

12%

9%

5%

12%

7%

9%

9%

10%

10%

7%

7%

10%

12%

38%

31%

34%

38%

40%

40%

40%

41%

41%

48%

48%

48%

60%

17%

24%

21%

10%

14%

10%

10%

14%

10%

7%

7%

7%

9%

70%

69%

66%

62%

61%

60%

60%

59%

58%

52%

52%

52%

40%

Strongly SomewhatSomewhat Strongly

Currently, many decision makers do not find it important to hire communications professionals that are members of IABC.

IABC/Accreditation Importance and Value

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Very important

Somewhat important

Not very important

Not at all important

Not sure

2%

14%

20%

38%

27%

Base: Marketing Decision Makers (n=162)B7. All things considered, how important is it for you to hire communications professionals that are members of the IABC?

Base: Marketing Decision Makers (n=162)B8. When choosing between two communications candidates of similar experience, would professional certification/accreditation

play a role in your final decision?

Value of IABC

Definitely

Probably

Probably not

Definitely not

Not sure

12%

37%

27%

7%

18%

Important

16%

Not Important

58%

Importance of Professional Communicators

Part of Decisio

nProcess

49%

No Part of

DecisionProcess

34%

Nearly a quarter of decision makers say they would be more likely to hire a candidate that is ISO certified in communications.

ISO Certification

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Base: Marketing Decision Makers (n=162)B9. If a communications professional was ISO certified in communications, would you be more likely, just as likely, or less likely to hire them over a professional who was not ISO certified in communications?

More likely to hire

22%

Just as likely to

hire48%

Less likely to hire

4%

Not sure27%

A strong website is deemed to be the most important marketing communications activity within a company, followed by strong employee communications.

Importance of Marketing Communications

24

Base: All respondents (n=200)A5. On a 5 point scale where 5 means “very important” and 1 means “not important at all,” how would you rate the importance of the following marketing communications activities within your company?

Don’t Know

Website 2%

Employee communications 4%

Social media 2%

Advertising 2%

Corporate communications 4%

Email marketing 2%

Issues management 4%

Stakeholder relations 10%

Media relations 4%

Brochures/printed materials 1%

Press releases 4%

Hiring communications professionals

7%

46%

32%

18%

18%

16%

17%

18%

16%

16%

13%

14%

8%

16%

16%

15%

12%

11%

13%

11%

10%

8%

10%

8%

6%

12%

11%

15%

13%

16%

12%

12%

14%

14%

12%

12%

8%

74%

59%

48%

43%

43%

42%

41%

40%

38%

35%

34%

22%

10 – Very important 9 8Not at all important – 1 23

7%

17%

12%

16%

22%

15%

18%

24%

16%

17%

20%

32%

10%

20%

20%

25%

25%

21%

25%

29%

23%

31%

28%

41%

6%

4%

4%

5%

10%

6%

6%

5%

5%

3%

4%

3%

Top Implications/Recommendations

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2) xxx

7) xxx

4) xxx

5) xxx

6) xxx

3) xxx

1) xxx