Ngaia Calder

Research Manager - Focus Research

Ngaia Calder BCom(Hons)

I always wanted to study marketing, even from an early age there was something about brands and advertising that captured my attention. Studying Marketing at Otago did not disappoint – it reinforced my passion.

The variety of papers available kept me interested and enthusiastic, but it wasn’t until my honours year whilst completing my dissertation that I fell in love with research.

If someone had told me I would end up working in market research and loving it, I would have laughed. But my dissertation reminded me to appreciate that it is people, the consumers who are at the centre of everything we do as marketers.
After I graduated I began working as a Qualitative Research Executive at Focus Research, in Auckland. At Focus we utilise a solutions framework called NeedScope. Managing emotion, at every step of the marketing process, is critical. This means understanding the emotive dynamics in your category and your brand, and learning to speak the language of emotion with your consumers. NeedScope was developed specifically for this purpose – to ensure research at every stage of the marketing process addresses not just the rational side of consumers and brands, but also the emotive. The most rewarding part of my job is bringing the research to life, working with and alongside clients to activate the research – to make things happen.

The various research papers completed as part of my degree provided a strong foundation to develop my research instincts. In the Marketing department I felt like I belonged from day one. The wonderful staff provided all the inspiration and insight you need to carve your niche in the marketing world. I developed the ability to work as part of a team and use strong presentation skills with lots of opportunities to practise. This was a blessing in disguise as presenting compelling and insightful research to clients is a large part of what I do, what anyone in the industry must do. But the best thing about studying Marketing at Otago, the real cherry on top, is that I made life-long friends and created a strong and powerful network of up and coming marketers – who could ask for more…