Geography is crucial in our analytics, serving as the foundation for linking data sources and modelling behaviours across different regions.
Adding geographic data to databases makes analyzing trends at various geographic scales possible. You can make the most of our products by linking data about target customers to geographic areas, modelling local behaviours and preferences, and predicting or inferring consumer behaviour at a small spatial scale.
Knowing what goes where can help you choose better locations for stores or businesses, plan strategies, decide on merchandising approaches, and understand what competitors are doing. We can look at big trends in small places!
EA's Geographic Systems
Canada, with its large size and diverse geography, is characterized by its many regions and local identities. These can grow from factors such as shared experience, regional pride, or economic interdependence. However, these are not always universally defined or recognized, which can make it a challenge for analysts to understand the definition of a given area.
At Environics Analytics, we use two well-known and long-established geographic systems: Postal and Census. Both offer national coverage and structure, rich data and, in the case of the postal system, near-universal recognition by Canadians. These systems weren't designed to work together, but at EA we know how to combine them to get the best out of both.
We’ll show you how we neatly combine the two from our key sources – Canada Post for postal geography and Statistics Canada for Census geography. All the other geographies are custom.
Let's move on to Canada Post's Postal Geography.