Market Research Agency Vancouver

Canada's Pacific gateway. Kadence delivers rigorous market research from Vancouver to help brands understand audiences and grow. We bring over 30 years of global research experience to one of North America's most diverse and Asia-connected cities.

Download our agency credentials

Vancouver sits at the crossroads of North America and Asia-Pacific, giving it a commercial and cultural character distinct from any other Canadian city. For brands looking to understand this market or use it as a bridge between continents, Kadence provides research that is locally grounded and globally informed.

Understanding Vancouver's market

Kadence is well placed to research brands operating in and from Vancouver, across the sectors and audience behaviors that make the city commercially distinctive. The emphasis is on insight that moves a decision along, not on research that ends with the debrief.

Vancouver projects typically draw on areas like customer and category understanding, product and proposition work, brand and communications testing and strategic framing, alongside the full breadth of Kadence's research capability. What any brief looks like in practice depends on where the decision lands, whether that sits inside Vancouver itself, across wider British Columbia or in a cross-border or Asia-Pacific program.

Our Vancouver work supports clients across sectors ranging from tech and gaming through to film and TV production tied to the Hollywood North cluster, natural resources and mining, real estate, tourism, hospitality and clean energy, with full-service projects and specialist fieldwork designed around how each category actually buys. Fieldwork extends naturally into Burnaby, Richmond, Surrey, North Vancouver and the wider British Columbia footprint, and regularly stretches across the border into Seattle and Portland for brands treating the Pacific Northwest as a connected commercial region.

With over 30 years of research experience behind the work, Kadence has partnered with some of the world's most recognizable brands. In Vancouver that experience translates into a grounded read on how a West Coast gateway city behaves, from the pull of Asia-Pacific trade and migration through to the way housing costs shape day-to-day category choices across the metro area.

Our Global Expertise for Vancouver

Kadence operates from offices across Asia, Europe and the Americas, with teams in New York, San Francisco, London, Shanghai, Tokyo, New Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Jakarta, Manila, Singapore, Bangkok and Ho Chi Minh City. For Vancouver-based organizations, our Asia-Pacific network is particularly relevant given the city's strong commercial and cultural ties to the region.

Our global footprint means every Vancouver project benefits from cross-market perspective and proven methodology. Whether the research is focused solely on British Columbia or spans multiple international markets, we deliver consistent, comparable insight.

We’re consistently recognised as a leading market research agency across multiple markets.

AURA Innovation of the Year award

Innovation of the Year

Finalist

— The AURAs, 2021
Agency of the Year Awards, 2021

Market Research Agency of the Year

Winner – Gold

— Agency of the Year Awards, 2021
Marketing Interactive Agency of the Year, Winner - Gold, 2021

Consultant of the Year

Winner – Gold

— Agency of the Year Awards, 2021
Kadence team collecting Agency of the Year award

Consultant of the Year

Winner

— Agency of the Year Awards, 2020
Agency of the Year Awards, 2020

Market Research Agency of the Year

Finalist

— Agency of the Year Awards, 2020
Quirks Supplier of the Year Kadence International

Market Research Supplier of the Year

Winner

— Marketing Research & Insight Excellence Awards – 2019
Kadence International Market Research Agency of the Year Singapore

Market Research Agency of the Year

Winner

— Agency of the Year Awards, 2019
Kadence International is Highly Commended for Global Agency of The Year

Global Agency of the Year

Highly Commended

— Market Research Society Awards, 2019
Market Research Society's Operations Awards, 2019

Best Data Collection (face-to-face)

Finalist

— Market Research Society's Operations Awards – 2019
Best Data Collection, Finalist — Market Research Society's Operations Awards, 2019

Best Data Collection (telephone)

Finalist

— Market Research Society's Operations Awards, 2019
MRS Opperations Awards Trophy

Best Training and Development

Highly Commended

— Market Research Society's Operations Awards, 2019
MRS Young Researcher of the Year

MRS Young Researcher of the Year

Finalist

— MRS, 2023
ESOMAR Best Congress Paper

ESOMAR Best Congress Paper

Winner

— ESOMAR, 2023

Vancouver Market Research

Our team delivers end-to-end market research for brands operating in Vancouver and across British Columbia. Studies run the length of the research lifecycle, from early category and audience exploration through concept and product development, brand and communications work, and into launch tracking and longer-term measurement. Some projects run as tight sprints built around a single call; others are multi-wave programs that follow a category over several years. What ties them together is a preference for insight that actually gets used, delivered in the format teams need rather than a standard deck.

FAQs

How diverse is Asia Pacific culturally?

The short answer is that Asia is incredibly rich and nuanced from a cultural standpoint: the multitude of religious beliefs, histories, languages, and other cultural markers means that each market is more different than similar. This can make Asia Pacific market research challenging without the right partner to help you understand the intricacies of each country. That said, though, the ‘urban Asia’ experience is similar to some extent, and popular culture does form the basis to link up a couple of the Asian markets, so there can be ways to seek out common threads amidst the vibrancy of difference.

Do I need to do all my market research in Asia in local / vernacular languages?

As a rule yes. By conducting research in the local language, consumers will have the capability and confidence to express their thoughts and feelings toward the brands, products or services in question. Unlike some market research agencies in Asia, Kadence has a range of languages in-house thanks to our network of Asian offices, so local language moderation is a service we can provide. That said, it is possible to carry out research in English in some markets (e.g. Singapore, India, Philippines), depending on the subject matter and education level of the respondents you want to reach.

For large Asian markets like China and India, how many cities do we need to cover with our research?

We recommend at least a combination of 1st tier and 2nd tier cities, as well as 3rd tier and rural locations, if possible. On top of getting a read on geographic and demographic differences in the reactions to your products and services, lifestyle / intra-market attitudinal variations exist, so the wider you are able to carry out your research, the more comprehensive your resulting understanding of the market will be.

Are there certain research approaches or methodologies that work better in one Asian market, compared to another?

Yes. Cultural differences between Asian markets mean that you need to carefully consider your methodology. For instance, we find that in-depth interviews, rather than group-based discussions, can work better for some topics in markets like Japan, where there can be a tendency to ‘self-censor’. In contrast, the one-on-one format lends itself better to building trust and establishing bonds between interviewer and respondent, often leading to more productive conversations. 

You’ll also need to consider the technological infrastructure of the markets you’re researching. In India, for instance, you’ll need to take a mobile first approach for reaching those outside metros and tier 1 cities. This is also true of mobile-first markets like Indonesia and China. Whilst cultural considerations can be diverse and numerous, we’re on hand to help, based on our long history of conducting market research in Asia.

Does the sequence of which markets I do my research first in Asia matter?

Unless there are specific roll-out plans that have strategic importance for your product or service across markets, our experience has taught us that any order comes back down to organizational preference. Your internal stakeholders may want to start the research in a market that is a stronghold for the brand to establish ground understanding, then venture into unfamiliar grounds to gather ‘new news’, or vice versa. Ultimately, Kadence is flexible in terms of how / when / where to start a piece of research, and in the absence of real preference, is willing to provide our suggestions and justifications for any arrangements.

FAQs

Can Kadence run fieldwork across Metro Vancouver and wider British Columbia?

Yes. Recruitment and fieldwork regularly reach into Burnaby, Richmond, Surrey, North Vancouver and out across the wider province, with sample design shaped around the differences between the central metro, the suburban municipalities and the rest of British Columbia rather than treating them as one uniform market.

Can Kadence support Vancouver brands expanding into Asia?

Yes. With offices across Asia including Shanghai, Tokyo, Singapore, Jakarta, Mumbai and Bangkok, Kadence provides seamless coordination for Vancouver-based organizations entering Asian markets. The city's strong Asia-Pacific connections make this a common research pathway, and our regional presence ensures genuine local expertise in each market.

What industries does Kadence research in Vancouver?

We work with brands across Vancouver's key sectors, including technology, film and media, real estate, natural resources, tourism and retail. Our researchers understand the competitive dynamics and consumer behavior patterns specific to the British Columbia market.

Please select the type of enquiry