Our People

Brian F. Singh, Founder, Managing Director
Brian is a market researcher and economist with over 18 years of experience. He has worked as an advisor and project manager with regional, national and international private- and public-sector clients in a broad range of industry sectors, including tourism, the environment, engineering, retail, financial services, demography, health and wellness, and information technology.

Brian is a Certified Marketing Research Professional (CMRP) and a qualified Focus Group Moderator. He holds a Master of Arts degree in Economics (University of Toronto), and was a PhD candidate in Epidemiology (University of Toronto). Brian has spoken at numerous conferences and has a UNIDO methodology publication. He is a former member of the Canadian Tourism Commission’s research committee, past president of the Alberta Chapter of the Marketing Research and Intelligence Association, and a former member of Tourism Calgary’s board of directors. He currently sits as Conference Portfolio Chair for MRIA. He is an amateur chef, and can be found awake at odd hours following important cricket matches throughout around the world.

Brian is available for speaking engagements and research seminars.
brian@zincresearch.com

Colin Flint, Senior Associate
Colin is a marketing research/strategic planner with over 25 years of experience in the North American and European advertising industry, including seven years at Saatchi and Saatchi (UK) and six years at McCann-Erickson (UK); most recently he was Head of Planning at BBDO Canada. Always a researcher at heart, Colin is applying his experience and his knowledge of psychology to help solve clients’ marketing and communications problems; for example, using Myers Briggs as a form of consumer segmentation and applying learning from interpersonal relationships to customer relationship management (CRM). Previous clients include Air Canada, Ontario Tourism Marketing Partnership, RBC, Cervus Financial, Campbell’s Soup, Nestle Coffees, Unilever, DaimlerChrylser, Nissan, and Feel Good Cars.

Colin holds a PhD in Cognitive Psychology from Oxford University and is a member of the Marketing Research and Intelligence Association. His passion is playing jazz bass and he is always on the look-out for new gigs.
colin@zincresearch.com

John Larsen, Media Relations/Corpen Group
John Larsen is a 20-year communications veteran specializing in crisis and risk communications, issues management and strategic positioning, media interview and public speaking coaching, and security/emergency services communications. Prior to joining the ZINC team, John managed crisis communications and issues management for the City of Calgary. He was formerly the associate vice-president of an international public affairs and government relations consulting agency and was the director of a regional public affairs office for the federal government. He has also held senior communications positions in the corporate sector.

John has taught business communications and public relations at four Canadian colleges and universities, most recently at the University of Calgary (issues, risk and crisis management); he is also on the faculty of Mount Royal College. He holds a Masters degree in communications from the University of Calgary, with a thesis in crisis communications and media relations.
johnlarsen@corpengroup.com

Strategic alliances
ZINC Research is part of the Nanos Research Group, a national group of companies comprised of like-minded research professionals bound by a common commitment to quality research, quality service and superior research outcomes. The Nanos Research Group is anchored by Nanos Research in Ottawa and Toronto, and also includes MBA Recherché in Montreal, Justason Market Intelligence in Vancouver, and Thinkwell Research in Halifax.

Nanos Group clients get the benefit of a one-stop shop for all their research solution needs. ZINC also collaborates with a network of specialized research partners working under the ZINC Research umbrella, including Ottawa-based Dufferin Research (online and Web 2.0 research), Vancouver-based InQuest Consumer Insights and Planning Ltd. (specialized qualitative initiatives) and March Lake Yukon-based DataPath Systems (Arctic/Northern North America).