Angus Reid named marketing legend

Reid (pictured) founded the Angus Reid Group in the 1970s and sold it to Ipsos in 2000, who renamed it Ipsos Reid. In 2004, he joined Vision Critical, an online research agency formed by his son Andrew.

He will be inducted into the organisation, which was formed “to honour those who have dedicated themselves to the pursuit of marketing excellence”, at a ceremony in Toronto next January.

Reid said: “The first survey I did was 40 years ago this fall. Every interview was done face-to-face. That’s how you collected data: very slowly. It took about two months to complete one survey.” He noted that the development of telephone and online techniques had greatly sped up the research process, but warned that quality must remain a priority for researchers.

“We have more data than ever and we collect it much faster,” he said, “but what hasn’t changed is an understanding of the research process. The need for carefully though-out questions and a skillful analysis of data is just as important today as it was 40 years ago.”

Past inductees include Isadore Sharp, the chairman and CEO of Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, and Frank Palmer, the chairman of DDB Group Canada.