NSB Logo John Wright John Wright

John Wright

Speaker

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Premier Pollster & Public Affairs Expert

John Wright is one of Canada’s most renowned pollsters with an expertise on Canadian and Global opinions, demographics, issues, and strategic communications. An author of three Canadian bestselling books on what Canadians think about everything, he was the lead media spokesperson for the Angus Reid Group and Ipsos for 26 years before opening his own consulting company.

Keynote Speeches

The Silver Tsunami Cometh

There is tidal wave of aging soon to be upon us that will affect everything we produce or purchase—from auto’s to packaging, from food to home renovation. It will have a massive effect on policy & more. Our workforce will go through a complete restructuring as older workers leave the employment ranks and new immigrants to Canada are needed to backfill roles left behind, particularly in the service sector.

This presentation is a thought provoking wake-up call for any business, public sector, or not-for-profit entity. Entertaining and eye-opening it combines demography and public opinion as well as examples from other countries and cultures as to how they are addressing this very issue. It can identify the retirement segments and sketch out a trail ahead for opportunity. And there’s a separate module within the presentation that will address your sector, department, or group with a customized takeaway.

 

DemandShift: Leading Canadian Business in the 21st Century

DemandShift is simple and compelling: it’s about the shift in the citizen-consumer demand dynamic in the New Canada and what it means for businesses supplying that new marketplace. Canada’s merchant class—ranging from the CEOs of our biggest banks to the small town dollar stores—supply the goods and services that Canadians demand, and mostly based on well-worn expectations. Demand is about people—the citizen-consumer marketplace – who they are and what they think they need or want. Now, what happens if the make-up of the people in the traditional marketplace changes—a lot, and quickly—and as a business decision maker you have no real clue as to what future market demand looks like?  It means that, as a supplier, you find out and adapt—or you don’t and you perish. Canadians are changing massively and rapidly and this is causing a growing DemandShift. And it’s creating a gap—and soon a gulf—between the new demand and the old supply.

 

Economic Clarity: Is the Sky Falling?

This is proving to be a memorable time with unique economic challenges at levels not seen since the depression. How severely is Canada’s situation impacted by the US and global events? Wright has his mind on the pulse of what is really going on, up to the minute, and he cuts through the clutter and combines the facts with what they mean for Canadians.

 

What Canadians Think: About Practically Everything

Learn why Canadians think the way they do about things, and how these facts apply to you. What should your organization be thinking about?

 

Canadian Corporate Climate: The View from the Boardroom

What are the captains of Canadian industry thinking – and worrying about – post recession and into the breach of global competition?

Audience reviews:

  • Your professional approach and relevance of the information you shared with is really impressed the audience. Moreover you quickly and most generously responded to our many requests with patience and good humour. Your superb performance set the tone for the rest of the day and was greatly appreciated by all participants.

    - Bell Canada
  • Your presentation...was of great benefit to the entire group. Thank you so much for taking time from your busy schedule to prepare and present to McDonald's field marketing team. We appreciate your support.

    - McDonald's Restaurants of Canada
  • The result of your comprehensive survey of Canadian's attitudes about the family was an excellent kick-off to our conference...it provided all the special services staff with current, informative and positive information. Comments included, "excellent, timely and appropriate", "would have liked to hear more", "engaging style", and "excellent research made sense.

    - Halton Board of Education
  • Thank you for participating at the recent Future Forces Roundtable…Our participants thoroughly enjoyed your “Biotechnology/Nutrition” presentation and gave you an outstanding 4.8 rating out of 5!

    - Food & Consumer Products Manufacturers of Canada

Speaker Biography

John is an experienced, dynamic, entertaining, provocative, and engaging speaker—used to working with large audiences and in intimate settings. His passion is to deliver the “so what?” answers to the topics he addresses and takes great care in constructing his presentation takeaways. With a unique perspective on world issues and trends, John brings forward real-life examples on how to deal with pressing issues of our time. John’s presentations zero in on the issues affecting audiences. He shows audiences how they can start addressing some of the critical challenges and opportunities right now.

John is passionate about using public opinion and market research to truly understand what citizen consumers really think. He believes that this is critical more than ever nowadays with the seeming death of truth, the distrust of elites and media and the backlash against globalization. Corporations and institutions are in shark infested waters these days and having not just a read of what the opinions are but what they mean has never mattered more.

John’s an acknowledged master of public opinion, demographics, and strategic communications. Few rival his experience on such a wide array of topics and issues both domestically and internationally. From studies about Online adaptation to regime and institutional stability to creating the only Primary Consumer Sentiment Index simultaneously released in 24 countries each month by Reuters, he’s covered almost every field that matters in a turbulent global marketplace today. His creativity makes all of that for good, plain storytelling that make it easy for audiences to digest and to connect with, often at a very personal level.

John also takes his volunteer work seriously. He’s an Honorary Colonel in the Royal Canadian Air Force with three commendations and he is on the Air Council that is appointed to advice the RCAF Commander. He’s also served on numerous charitable organizations and foundations as a Board member including the Canada Institute at the Woodrow Wilson Center for Scholars in Washington, Cancer Care Ontario, the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Studies (Vice Chair), the Hincks Dellcrest Children’s Mental Health Centre, the Alzheimer Association of Canada, Heart & Stroke Ontario, the Global Business and Economic Roundtable on Addiction and Mental Health, the Defense of the Wrongly Convicted, Wounded Warriors (Chair), the Historica-Dominion Institute Canada, the Canadian Vimy Foundation, the Natasha Woods Foundation, the Canadian Journalism Foundation and the Empire Club of Canada. All of these contributions are a two-way street for him as he learns about issues that can be applied to his insights.

One of the most defining moments in his career was conducting one of the very first international polls (16 countries) with CNN International in 1992. It gave way to similar polls with the Economist and other international media. It was the advent of hearing from people around the globe on collective issues and seeing how the conscience of the world could be put on display.

John has been known in the industry for creating the Angus Reid Group and Ipsos brand in Canada as the gold standard—and championing transparency and accountability for the industry as a founding Director of the Canadian Association of Public Opinion Research (CAPOR).