Village Gamer

OCRI’s annual Knowledge-based Industry Survey shows that as of December 31, 2010, the number of companies in Ottawa’s knowledge-based sectors has increased by 4.7 per cent while the number of employees has decreased by 4.4 per cent.

OCRI collects and verifies information provided by the companies to present the most complete picture of Ottawa’s technology industry across 12 unique industry sectors. The most current data indicates an increase of 4.7 per cent in the total number of companies to 1,944 up from 1,857 last year. The largest growth was seen in small companies with one to nine employees (up 11.4 per cent) and those with 100 to 499 employees (up 10.1 per cent). Overall, the number of employees has decreased from 78,067 to 74,611 or down 4.4 per cent. The most significant changes in employment can be seen in large companies with more than 500 employees (down 14.3 per cent).

“It is encouraging to see growth in the number of small companies. While 2010 was a successful year in many regards it wasn’t without significant challenges. Anchor companies in the knowledge-based sector look very different than they did a few short years ago,” says Claude Haw, President and CEO, OCRI. “As we begin 2011, it is critically important that we continue to focus on these key areas – developing and supporting Ottawa’s entrepreneurial culture, attracting investment, supporting the commercialization efforts of our emerging companies and aggressive promotion of Ottawa as a destination of choice for investors, entrepreneurs and multinationals.”

The biggest winner in the region is the Digital Media sector posting a 54 per cent increase in the number of companies and 50.9 per cent increase in the number of employees. Well accepted as a trend to watch in 2011, digital media, which includes mobile apps, gaming and animation, is likely to see even more activity in 2011.

For the fourth year in a row, the cleantech sector demonstrated growth. The number of companies has grown from 114 companies to 138, an increase of 21.1 per cent while the number of employees grew 22.1 per cent, up from 2,567 to 3,135. Please see the Study’s information page for more graphs.

According to the survey, IBM (including IBM Software Lab and IBM Canada) is the region’s largest knowledge-based industry employer with 4,000 employees followed closely by Bell Canada with 3,258 employees. The loss of Nortel, which posted 3,000 employees in last year’s survey, did factor into the overall loss even though Ciena, Avaya, Ericsson and GenBand did acquire most of this staff.

This initiative in Ontario is an example that should be implemented in every region of the country and around the world. Preserving our past before it disappears is an important part of remembering where we came from and how we got here. Of course, all of these digital files will be shared across what is rapidly becoming a very expensive internet. If our government fails to rein in the Canadian ISPs and the CRTC overlords, none of us will be able to afford to spend much time surfing around the museums learning about humanity and downloading files that allow us to hear the voices of our fore-bearers – never mind those of us who need to be able to download & upload large files in the course of what we do. Read the rest of this entry »

Virginia research company comScore, Inc. has released findings from comScore ARS indicating the importance of a strong upfront strategy and creative execution in driving campaign effectiveness for TV and digital advertising campaigns in Canada. Extensive research conducted by comScore ARS also shows that creative quality drives more than half of the sales changes for brands analyzed, four times higher than the impact of the specific media plan involved, highlighting the importance of optimizing creative in ad campaigns.

* Numbers represent the percent change in market share shifts explained by the corresponding factors.
**Ad Quality represents the quality of creative based on the ARS Consumer Choice Score, which measures changes in consumer preference through a simulated purchase exercise with and without exposure to the creative.
***Media Plan includes variables such as GRPs, wearout and continuity/flighting of airing.

“In the digital media industry in Canada, we tend to spend a great deal of effort on optimizing the media plan – and rightfully so, because it is extremely important,” said Brent Bernie, president of comScore Canada. “When one considers, however, the fact that the quality of the creative used in the ad can have such a significant impact on sales outcomes, we can begin to see why it is also essential to optimize creative strategy and messaging on the front end of the planning process. While front-end testing may not be second nature to digital advertisers just yet, we ignore its importance at our own peril.”

Additional comScore ARS research demonstrates the importance of getting the creative strategy (i.e. value proposition, sales message, etc.) right at the outset of a campaign. For a series of 26 campaigns conducted in Canada, comScore ARS scored the campaign’s creative strategy, using the ARS Consumer Choice Score (See definition of ARS Consumer Choice Score at bottom). The research categorized the results for each campaign into below-average, average and above-average relative to the comScore ARS Fair Share Benchmark, which provides the expected score for an average campaign taking into account marketplace factors associated with the advertised brand and category. (See definition of comScore ARS Fair Share Benchmark at bottom.) The actual creative execution was then scored, using the ARS Consumer Choice Score, again categorizing each campaign into below-average, average and above-average relative rankings.

The relationship between the creative strategy’s score and the resulting execution’s score helps to shed light on the value of a strong, upfront creative strategy. Study findings showed that of the six campaigns with an above-average creative strategy, five resulted in an above-average execution (83 percent). Similarly, among the three campaigns with a below-average creative strategy, each of them resulted in a below average execution. Additionally, none of the campaigns with a below-average creative strategy score performed above-average on creative execution.

“While it is easy to overlook, getting the creative strategy correct at the outset of a campaign is fundamental to creating campaigns that actually work,” added Mr. Bernie. “There are several phases to a campaign that must go right, while getting any one of those phases wrong significantly increases the likelihood that the campaign will not perform well in market.”

D-Box Technologies has announced its second deal in two days with the Larry H. Miller Megaplex Theatres set to feature D-BOX motion-enhanced seats at its Ogden, Utah location. The Megaplex 13 at the Junction will boast 30 D-BOX MFX Seats that move in perfect sync with the onscreen movie action. Each seat creates subtle, refined motion effects that pitch, roll and heave resulting in an incredibly immersive movie-watching experience.

“Larry Miller Megaplex Theatres are often among the top-grossing movie theatres in the United States,” said President and Chief Executive Officer of D-BOX Technologies, Claude Mc Master. “The success of D-BOX at the South Jordan location has been tremendous and we are honored to partner again, further increasing our depth in the western U.S.”

“D-BOX continues to prove its worth and exceed our expectations at our Megaplex 20 in South Jordan with moviegoers wildly excited about their experience,” said Blake Andersen, Senior Vice-President and General Manager of Megaplex Theatres. “It makes sense for us to build on the momentum and introduce it at another theatre. We’ve always been held in the highest regard when it comes to theatre technologies and incorporating D-BOX at additional theatres is a natural progression.”