With over 20+ years of experience in marketing research, advertising and strategic planning, Anik Karimjee has established himself as one of Canada’s premier marketing research consultants. Since 2005 he has applied his craft at Rank Research Group (RRG) a consultancy that he founded with the explicit directive of “making research better”.

Throughout his career Anik has worked in several different areas of the industry giving him a unique perspective on the marketing function and the role research must play in order to best drive a company’s profitability. Anik’s positions have included: Senior Research Executive at Millward Brown Canada, responsible for American Express and Hiram Walker accounts, Vice President – Director, Strategic Planning at Vickers and Benson, responsible for the McDonald’s account and Partner at Commins Wingrove where he was part of the teams that launched Xbox, Dove Campaign for Real Beauty, Axe Body Spray and Smirnoff Ice. The launch of these products fundamentally changed their categories and the experience gained through these landmark product introductions continues to impact Anik’s consulting to this day.

Currently at RRG Anik works with companies such as The Home Depot Canada, MasterCard and Ferrero; helping them manage their research resources and engage with their consumers. In addition to the day-to-day management and consulting, Anik has led the development of two key tools at RRG. The first is a planning model that helps companies use best practices, leverage past learning and ensure that research ROI is realized. The second is an Enterprise Dashboard used by upper management to quickly gain an understanding of the key metrics that are impacting the company’s performance.

Anik’s clients know him for his passion and drive, character traits he maintains outside of the boardroom as well. He is a competitive sailor having crewed on Spirit of Canada in the 2010 Route Halifax St. Pierre in which they completed the race with the fastest time in the race’s history and was also recipient of the Joe Fernandes trophy for winning the Lake Ontario 300 circumnavigation race in 2005.

Anik is a trained facilitator, professional member of the Marketing Research and Intelligence Association and a Past-President of their Toronto Chapter. He has a Certified Marketing Research Professional designation from the MRIA and has served the marketing research community by chairing conferences and working on numerous committees. Anik lives in Toronto with his wife and two adorable and slightly crazy kids.

Greg began his market research career thanks to well-placed billboard advertising. Since that fateful day, he has worked for some of Canada’s most respected research organizations and thought leaders.  He brought this experience to Rank over 5 years ago in the role of Research Director.

Over his 15 year career, Greg has conducted primary and secondary research for a wide range of clients across numerous industries such as retail, insurance, automotive, media, technology, finance and telecommunications.  From large national tracking studies to smaller more customized projects, Greg has extensive experience in both quantitative and qualitative methodologies. For clients of all sizes, Greg uncovers the views of consumers and individuals as they relate to the key issues.

He has extensive experience with syndicated retail studies such as TraQline and has applied his expertise in creating and deciphering deep dive analyses for a variety of categories.  One of his strengths is in mining through a vast array of data and understanding the key points of data that helps to move businesses forward.

Greg has a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology and is a past board member of the Toronto Chapter of the Market Research and Intelligence Association (MRIA).  During his spare time, Greg loves travel, photography, spending time with his family and improving his knowledge of pop culture for future trivia contests.

Carole, who has a PHD in Industrial Psychology, began her career in Human Resources at Culinar before joining their Marketing Group. As Project Manager responsible for the launch of Vachon Snack Cakes in the USA, Carole handled every aspect of the new business venture, from package design and product reformulation to consumer research, market testing, marketing planning and advertising development. Four years later she came back as Brand Manager for the Canadian market.

In 1983, Carole joined MacLaren Advertising as Account Director for Molson, GM and Via Rail. She then moved on to Léveillé Vickers & Benson in 1987, as Director of Client Services for Multi-Marques, the Dairy Bureau of Canada, Loto Québec and Bell Canada. In 1991, Carole was appointed Strategic Planner for Vickers & Benson and worked for clients such as Quaker Oats, Old South, Ontario Tourism, Mutual Life and HBC.

Carole started a consulting business in 1993 as the ‘Eyes, Ears & Heart’ of Quebec marketing. She is particularly proud of her 10 year long association with Gatorade, which was a period of significant growth for the brand in Quebec, as well as her 12 years with Bureau en Gros, a retail chain now enjoying iconic status in the province.

After working on many projects with Anik Karimjee over the years, Carole joined forces with Rank Research Group in 2006 as their Quebec Strategist. Unlike other Ranksters, her outdoor involvement has more to do with oil painting and astrophysics than sports.

The phrase Christy hears most often upon meeting new people is ‘you don’t look like an accountant’. And it’s true. She’s a lot more dynamic than your typical accountant. Having been raised in an entrepreneurial family, Christy armed herself with an English literature degree, three years of additional schooling from two of Canada’s top business schools and a CMA (Certified Management Accountant) designation to prepare her for absolutely anything that came her way.

Christy began her finance career in public accounting where she worked with a diverse set of clients from both the public and the private sector. She soon moved client side to Canada’s largest retailer where she was involved in many high profile projects touching on areas such as technology, loyalty programs, credit and e enterprise.

She brings her service sector expertise to Rank after heading up finance groups in the ad business and in franchising.

When she’s not at the office Christy likes to be traveling. She is a CYA (Canadian Yachting Association) certified sailor, a yacht racer and an advanced level scuba diver with plans to become a dive master.

In his 30-year marketing research career, Philip has had experience with just about every aspect of the industry. Among his roles, he has been a leader on both the supplier and client side, one of the first employees of a data collection start-up, and a member of one of the largest consumer insights teams in Canada. He has experience conducting and leading research of all types in a multitude of categories with a specialization in the areas of brand strategy, equity measurement, and tracking, as well as marketing communications evaluation. He brings to his clients a blend of technical expertise with a strategic mindset.

Throughout his career, he has witnessed the power of consumer research to identify issues that need addressing and its ability to guide the development of solutions. Philip is an advocate for the importance of consistent long-term brand building activities and their compounding benefits.

His positions include Vice President at Millward Brown Canada (now Kantar) where he led a team serving clients such as Unilever, Canadian Tire, LG, and McCain’s. He has been a member of the consumer insights teams at Hershey Canada, Molson Coors, McDonald’s and, most recently, TD Bank. At McDonald’s he contributed to the launch of McCafé. At TD, he consolidated and brought consistency to the internal brand tracking and communications measurement tools to allow for more direct comparisons between categories and Canadian and US businesses.

Philip grew up in the Montreal area and is bilingual. At various times he has served on the local and national executives of the national marketing research industry association.

He is known for his ability to work collaboratively across teams, to foster openness and transparency. In strategic discussions, he is prepared to call out the elephant in the room, in the belief that challenging conventional thinking will lead to better outcomes.

Philip is an avid bridge and fantasy baseball player. He is treasurer at his church, a husband, and a proud baseball parent and chauffeur to his talented son.

Linda has spent 30+ years in the market research and insight industry in Canada for leading corporations and ad agencies. Her thought leadership in a diverse range of categories has created consumer insights that strongly influence strategic and tactical decisions resulting in both competitive advantage and business building results. Core areas of her expertise include:
brand building advertising development; strengthening/development of strategic positioning and brand equity; innovation for growth; strong qualitative/quantitative and ethnography skills; strong communicator with all management levels, function leads, and partner teams; wide variety of category knowledge.

Linda started her career on the advertising agency side, working with both large and small clients delivering strong strategic and creative results. She played a key role in bringing to life many award winning creative campaigns by ensuring the consumer was front and centre as part of the development plan. Clients included P&G, Visa, Coca Cola, Kraft Foods Canada. In addition, Linda filled the role of the research function for clients who did not have an internal insights lead. This allowed an even stronger understanding of both the business issues and the consumer needs.

Linda then decided she wanted to be more involved in many aspects of the business and made the shift to client side, joining Cadbury. In her roles with Cadbury/Kraft, Nestle, and most recently Post Consumer Brands, Linda has worked on all aspects of product development – from innovation concept development and testing to product testing, packaging options, optimal store placement, and communication plans.

Her positions have included: Senior Insights and Shopper Marketing lead for Post Consumer brands, Director of Consumer Insight and Strategy, Confectionery at Kraft Canada; North America Insights Team Lead for Cadbury North America; Research Director at Leo Burnett Advertising.

With designations including CMRP (Canadian Market Research Professional) and CAAP (Canadian Advertising Agency Practitioner) she is an integral part of the community, ensuring best practices and strong consumer learning across everything she does.

On the personal side, Linda is a true Torontonian – born and raised in this great city. But she does love to spend her time traveling the world, ensuring visits to animal sanctuaries are a highlight of the trip.