TORONTO - September 30, 2008 - "When it comes to the future, there are three kinds of people: those who let it happen, those who make it happen, and those who wonder what happened," - Dr. J. M. Richardson, Jr. While marketing research is traditionally notorious for being reactive and relying on hindsight, Hotspex - described by a tier one CPG company as a "disruptive marketing research agency" - launched its Prediction Widget at the ESOMAR Congress 2008 in Montreal last week, taking the initiative to build continuous dialogue among progressive marketing researchers about the future of their industry.

The launch coincided with a presentation to over 300 ESOMAR Congress delegates in a packed room by Ted Langschmidt, executive vice president of innovation at Hotspex. Langschmidt presented highlights from his highly praised paper, Marketing Research in 2038, while playing the role of Tedinator - a 'little grey cyborg' - who was sent from the future as a warning to help marketing researchers understand what they will be faced-with in the next 30 years.

"The recently-launched Hotspex Prediction Widget has thus-far yielded interesting ideas that will at least provoke some much needed thought among marketing researchers globally," said Shane Skillen, president of Hotspex. Some of the following predictions have surfaced as the most popular ideas with current Hotspex Prediction Widget users:

• Visual enhancement of information will make research findings more meaningful;
• Convergence of technology (e.g. RFID technology in packaging and cell-phones), will result in a better understanding of consumer trends;
• As value creation becomes more important in our complicated economies, investment in brands and brand strategy research will increase;
• Technology will create a new medium that makes experiencing products much more real for online survey respondents;
• Social networks will capture personal information that is significantly deeper than surveys;
• We will create reciprocal relationships with survey respondents and provide meaningful rewards in exchange for their time and opinions in surveys;
• Marketing research will become much better at explaining the "emotional" or "soft" reasons behind behavior; and
• Companies will establish a new executive position, the Chief Research Officer, who will become the second most important person in organizational hierarchies.

To participate in the global brainstorming regarding the future of marketing research, please go to: www.hotspex.biz/PredictionWidget.

For additional information on Predicting the Future of Marketing Research, please contact Gera Nevolovich at Hotspex, +1.416.487.5439, ext.227.

About Hotspex Inc.
Hotspex constantly pushes the boundaries of what marketing research can do and how it can be done, by engaging consumers and clients to uncover the emotional and rational drivers of behavior and by delivering business insights that empower the world's leading companies to develop winning brands, strategies and innovations. For more information, please visit: www.hotspex.biz.