Innovation is of the utmost importance at Leger. It is one of the five corporate values that guide our daily decisions and behaviours. Therefore, our employees were ready to take on the many unexpected challenges that the year 2020 threw at us.
By constantly seeking to improve and stay on the lookout for new trends and ways of doing things, our employees were able to ensure the continued development of our business, even in times of crisis.
Our various teams’ collaboration and agility have enabled us to continue to provide our clients with new digital solutions that allow them to measure, understand, and interact with their customers, online and in real time, during the COVID-19 pandemic.
We are proud to present some of our new specialized studies and other important achievements of the year 2020.
IN 2020…
1. WE WERE THE MOST ACCURATE POLLING FIRM FOR THE NEW BRUNSWICK AND BRITISH COLUMBIA PROVINCIAL ELECTIONS
Once again, this year, we were the most accurate polling firm in Canada. For both the New Brunswick and British Columbia provincial elections, Leger presented the poll results that were closest to the official election results. This accuracy is a testament to the quality of our LEO panel and the expertise of our 600 employees across Canada and the United States.
2. WE WERE ONE OF THE MOST ACCURATE POLLING FIRMS FOR THE 2020 U.S. PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION
This year, we surveyed Americans about their presidential election voting intentions for the first time. Our final poll results for the U.S. presidential election, published on November 3, 2020, were one of the most accurate. Our polls were published in prestigious American media, including The New York Times and FiveThirtyEight.
3. WE LAUNCHED OUR NORTH AMERICAN TRACKER
On March 19, 2020, Leger launched its first-ever weekly survey to measure how the COVID-19 pandemic is impacting Canadians and Americans over time. Since then, in collaboration with the Association for Canadian Studies (ACS), we have produced and published 38 reports in The Canadian Press to help governments, businesses, and citizens better understand the attitudes and behaviours of the Canadian and American populations in the face of this global health and economic crisis.
“In times of uncertainty, decision-makers in both the private and public sectors need reliable data to make strategic decisions. At Leger, we decided to conduct one survey per week, free of charge, to better understand the evolution of public opinion in Canada and the United States. This is our contribution to helping Canada emerge from this health and economic crisis as quickly as possible.”
– Jean-Marc Léger, President
This survey has been renamed Leger’s North American Tracker, and it is conducted every two weeks. In addition to exploring perspectives about COVID-19, the survey also addresses various current events and topics of interest. To review our full reports, click here.
4. WE DEVELOPED 5 NEW SPECIALIZED STUDIES
This year, our teams developed five new specialized studies, in addition to conducting our annual Reputation, LoyalT, Youth, and WOW studies.
The Commercial Shift: Consumer Behaviour During and After the Pandemic, conducted in collaboration with lg2, identifies how the COVID-19 crisis has impacted Canadian consumers’ behaviour, mainly online. Conducted in three phases, this study followed the consumer of tomorrow: the post-crisis consumer.
Interacting with the Healthcare System During and After the Pandemic assessed the current and future impacts of COVID-19 on patients. To help with post-crisis planning, it revealed new ways that Canadians were interacting with the healthcare system.
Assessing the Impact of COVID-19 on Tourism in North America provided an in-depth understanding of travellers’ needs, behaviours, and expectations in the new normal brought on by COVID-19. This study aimed to provide the tourism industry with the insights and recommendations needed to help achieve success moving forward.
The Blue Study: Buying Local in Quebec (available in French only) is the first comprehensive study about buying local in Quebec. Linked to the current crisis and economic recovery, buying local was at the heart of discussions. This study focused on demystifying Quebecers’ perceptions of buying local and discerning how they would actually behave during the recovery.
The Brand Momentum Study revealed how to maintain and create momentum for your brand. The COVID-19 pandemic has fundamentally changed the way consumers interact with brands, both in store and online. With this in mind, the Brand Momentum Study identified which attributes companies should focus on to increase short-term purchasing intentions.
5. WE PRESENTED 32 WEBINARS
As the COVID-19 crisis forced us to rethink how we do things, we virtualized our annual events by broadcasting them as webinars. In total, we organized 32 webinars in French and English in 2020. In addition to unveiling the results of our various specialized studies, we also conducted a series of webinars about issues related to the pandemic to advise and equip our clients with tools to navigate these uncertain times.
(Re)view all our webinars here.
6. WE CONDUCTED 7,139,106 ONLINE SURVEYS AND 287,540 TELEPHONE SURVEYS
We would like to thank all our Canadian and American panelists who participated in our surveys this year, whether online or over the phone: your opinions matter now more than ever, and they help us provide our clients with reliable, quality data.
Are you interested in expressing your opinion about a variety of topics? Join our community of LEO panelists by registering here!
7. OUR LEO MOBILE APP HAS BEEN DOWNLOADED MORE THAN 150,000 TIMES
In 2019, LEO launched a new mobile app for members of our community. The app, available on Android and iOS, allows our panelists to take surveys anywhere and anytime.
In March 2020, we ran a media campaign to promote this app across Canada. With more than 150,000 downloads to date, our LEO mobile app is continuously being updated!
8. WE ACQUIRED SMARTPOINT RESEARCH
Contributing to our objective of solidifying our position as a Canadian leader in the online research industry, Leger acquired SmartPoint Research in 2020. The acquisition of this Toronto-based market research firm, which specializes in the consumer and healthcare sectors, will enable Leger to increase the size of its LEO panel. Learn more here.
9. WE SET UP OUR OWN LEGER UNIVERSITY
Towards the end of the year, we officially launched the Fall 2020 semester of Leger University by offering 4 courses to all our employees. These courses focused on enabling employees to improve their professional knowledge and continue evolving within the company, even when working remotely!
Leger also formed an academic committee by partnering with many distinguished professors. These experts in branding, marketing, public affairs, research methods, and health care will participate in knowledge sharing through a series of webinars that will be offered in the coming year.
10. WE LED TWO LEGER CARES TOURS
The COVID-19 crisis has changed the lives of many, sometimes for the better, but too often for the worse. At Leger, we wanted to take the time to talk with the majority of our employees working from home. We believe that getting in touch with our colleagues and talking to them face-to-face (online, of course) helps to maintain supportive relationships.
During our Leger Cares tours, our human resources team spent more than 5,500 minutes (nearly 92 hours) talking to all our permanent employees.
In addition to this initiative, we conducted various internal satisfaction surveys to understand our employees’ new realities and help them adjust. Based on what we learned about their daily lives during COVID-19, we have modified our teleworking policy!
