Foreword
Arun Menon
Director, Ipsos Loyalty
The year 2016 can be best summarised by the quote: “The moment we want to believe something, we suddenly see all arguments for it, and become blind to the arguments against it.” It was a year where emotions and perception has won over rational thinking on many fronts, and the most talked about outcomes were Brexit and the US Presidential Elections.
Ipsos Business Consulting draws on their experts globally and in emerging markets, to cut through the initial turbulence and uncertainties, to present opportunities that await post Brexit Britain and its trading partners.
Just a year ago, few could foresee Donald Trump’s presidency this year. Clifford Young, from Ipsos Public Affairs, employ the power of data analytics to construct ‘Nativism: Drivers of Trump’s Popular Support’.
As is customary of the season, we start this issue with one of the largest event of the calendar year in Singapore and Malaysia, Chinese New Year. Jacob Hardboard, reflects on key themes in this year’s CNY communications in ‘New Year, New Opportunities’.
Apart from welcoming the new year, we at Ipsos SiMa are ecstatic about our newest launch, Ipsos Public Affairs. Our teams around the world conduct research on public policy issues and on the attitudes and behaviours of citizens and consumers. Our goal is to help our clients manage issues, advance reputations, determine and pinpoint shifts in attitude and opinion. Ipsos Public Affairs team shares their insights on ‘How wrong we can be on issues that affect us’ through ‘Perils of Perception’. We are often incorrect on factors that are widely discussed and we tend to over-estimate what we worry about. This issue of newsletter has a heavy emphasis on how wrong we can be in our perception and how it has shaped our reality in 2017.
We hope you enjoy these thought provoking articles, and are eager to hear from you. Please do share your views with the authors or the Ipsos SiMa team.