Author: Meghan Bottomley

Here’s a common conundrum: say you have a product that you’re trying to sell — a milk chocolate bar, for instance — and you want to sell it at a price that will make it an attractive option to the general public. How would you go about determining that price? In 1976, Dutch economist Peter Van Westendorp unveiled his Price Sensitivity Meter (PSM) to do just that, and in the following decades, it has become a common tool in the market researcher’s arsenal for determining consumer price preferences.

On August 10th, a Times/Siena poll found that Kamala Harris was leading Donald Trump in three key “swing states” for the presidency, generating significant attention online. However, as polling becomes a centrepiece of political discussions, it's essential to think critically about the elements of a survey to understand how reliable its results – and reporting – really are. To help us navigate this complex landscape, DS Account Manager Gabriel Helfant sat down with Rosalie Nadeau, our VP of Insights at DS. Rosalie has run hundreds of research polls in over 50 countries, including during elections at multiple levels of government. She shared her expertise on how we can better understand and interpret polls during this high-stakes election year.

As a part of their winning mobilization efforts, UK Labour harnessed the distribution machine of Canada-based company Data Sciences Inc. (DS), to deliver their message for change with innovative targeting and outreach across digital channels, to over 7 million voters on Facebook and Instagram alone. Labour enlisted DS tools, including AdMarshal, to maximize the effect of their content and messaging in both sweeping parliamentary and municipal election victories. AdMarshal automated the bulk of the ad-buying process so thousands of Labour ads could be immediately produced and media budgets could be adjusted by region in response to any shifts in performance or polls.

At Data Sciences, when we interview, we want to get to know the real you, who you genuinely are with all your quirks and talents. Our interview process can be long but we don’t want to make it hard, which is why we’ve built this guide to help you know what to expect and how to prepare – so that you can put your best foot forward!  Interviews at Data Sciences typically span 30 days from application to signed offer but could be longer for leadership roles. This guide is focused on individual contributor roles. While we've highlighted the usual interview formats, it's worth noting that the process may shift based on the specific role, time of year, and team you're applying to join.

The 2023 wildfire season in Canada was the worst in recorded history, with all provinces and territories affected and the wildfire smoke drifting as far as Western Europe, garnering widespread attention from both national and international media outlets. Last year’s wildfire season in Canada resulted in more than double the area burned this year compared to the last 40 years. Between May and August, authorities had to issue multiple evacuation orders due to wildfires across the country. Heat waves were also a challenge in 2023, feeding wildfires and posing risks to vulnerable groups. After Canada grappled with such an intense wildfire and heat wave season, we conducted a national study among 1,000 Canadians in October 2023 to track their opinions about these extreme weather events, our level of preparedness, and the future impact of these events on local communities.

It started with Sean and Tom meeting outside some event for the Liberal party of Canada; a grad student in genetics, and a serial entrepreneur with a Masters in Political Philosophy.  “You know, we’re collecting a decent amount of data here, I bet we can optimize this stuff,” said Sean. “Funny you should say that,” said Tom, “I was thinking the same thing, and I happen to know the riding president.” Both, thinking: “I don’t know why, but I have a good feeling about this”...

As a data scientist, I’m often collaborating with a team of digital marketers at DS, notably on designing custom audiences, automating the deployment of ads, and analyzing digital marketing performance. This collaboration is what prompted my idea to send my parents and sister targeted ads on Meta hoping to get their RSVP to my dog's birthday.

As of November 2023, the behavioural advertising ban originally issued by the Norwegian Data Protection Authority originally applied to Norway and the data of Norwegians, has been extended to the 30+ countries included in the entire EEA. The decision has also now been made permanent. This is currently an issue primarily between Meta and the data protection agencies. However, it leaves organizations currently using Meta to reach their target audiences contending with a new set of considerations on the biggest digital advertising platform in Europe and wondering how they may need to adapt their targeting efforts to ensure they meet their goals. DS has been following the process closely and has developed a set of initial recommendations accounting for the ever-shifting landscape of international data protection regulation.

In the first part of our two-part series on big tech and AI, we found that while Canadians recognize the positive economic and employment contributions of big tech companies, their trust in big tech companies remains precarious. As we conclude our series on big tech and AI, our attention turns to how Canadians engage with AI tools. This final part presents 6 top findings about AI, its uses, and its future!