Mubashshira Nur is passionate about a lot of things.
In her current full-time role as the Marketing Research Associate with Niagara College’s Business & Commercialization Innovation Centre (BCIC), Nur has been able to marry her passion for marketing, research, and branding together to help small- and medium-sized enterprises in Ontario, and across Canada, bring their businesses to the next level.
Before her current role, Mubashshira started on the BCIC team as a Business Research Assistant.
“I remember looking at the job description for the Business Research Assistant position and thinking how it perfectly aligned with my curriculum in my postgraduate program, so I thought I should go for it, and apply,” she said.
The position advertised for a candidate who was knowledgeable about qualitative and quantitative research skills, market research, target market identification, competitive analysis, marketing, and promotion plans skills, and Mubashshira felt like they were describing her.
She was learning about all these things in her program, and was getting great marks, so it was the perfect fit.
Both these roles with BCIC have allowed her to gain experience in carrying out primary, secondary, quantitative, and qualitative research for businesses.
Her primary responsibility now is to create reports with multiple deliverables that include and environmental scan, competitive analysis, target market analysis, and promotional strategies.
At times, they add on supplemental reports that focus on product packaging, distribution and/or, branding recommendations.
Mubashshira has also made social media mock-ups to help the clients visualize what the BCIC team is proposing for the social media strategies and content. This option helps because not all clients have the same level of understanding or use social media in the same way. So, it’s a good option to show the level of influence social media plays in people’s purchase decisions.
“Getting the opportunity to work with R&I really added further value to my Niagara College credential and learnings I gained academically. It basically helped start the journey of connecting the dots, from theory to reality. And what a great way to do that from where you learned the theory in the first place,” said Mubashshira.
As an NC alumnus who graduated from the International Business Management program in 2022, she’s also passionate about the College and the opportunities it has provided her.
“I am grateful for this opportunity because I don’t think I could have found another role that would give me so much exposure to industry this early in the start of my career. I get exposure to many learning and networking opportunities. I’m gaining knowledge in several aspects of business research and strategic planning, all of which are helpful in preparing me for my future opportunities in Canada,” she said.
“Getting the opportunity to work with R&I really added further value to my Niagara College credential and learnings I gained academically. It basically helped start the journey of connecting the dots, from theory to reality.”
– Mubashshira Nur, Marketing Research Associate,
Business & Commercialization Innovation Centre
Originally from Bangladesh, she completed her undergraduate degree at Monash University in Malaysia. When she graduated there, she started thinking about what to do next. She began her research and realized she knew she wanted to come to Canada, and more specifically, Ontario. There were a handful of things that drew her to Niagara. Of course, the famous Niagara Falls were appealing. She was interested in entrepreneurship and business, so the postgraduate program stood out to her, and the fact that the College promoted applied knowledge for students.
“Having my own small business when I lived in Malaysia definitely was an asset when I applied to work with BCIC because I had the first-hand experience to be able to connect on a deeper level with our clients,” she said.
In terms of projects, Mubashshira just wrapped up deliverables for Summus Hearing, a telehealth-focused hearing health company.
This project pushed her to take a deep dive into learning and understanding the telemedicine/telehealth industry:“I learned that hearing loss is an epidemic, and way more common than we think, or is accounted for. But it is neglected, or not given an importance or checked as regularly as eye health for example. Summus Hearing wants to bring more awareness to it, and make it a part of regular health checkups, and tracking,” said Mubashshira.
Another big project she worked on was for an international fast food pizza chain. “In this project, I’ve been involved in the primary research, with a big chunk of that complete, and now we’re moving into the analysis phase,” said Mubashshira.
Finally, as BCIC grows, Mubashshira is supporting an internal project that looks at strategies to keep this growth ongoing, which she has found very interesting.
In her personal time, while she knows this may sound cliché, Mubashshira enjoys conducting her own market research on skincare, superfoods, and vitamins. She’s a real fan of a pro and con list and wants to know what is in a product before she buys it.
Besides all this, she is a cat mom to three fur babies named Panda, Samosa, and Chhotimaa, which means little mother.
And being married for nine years, she likes to stay connected to her husband in Pakistan through video calls and texts. The two met in Bangladesh, got married and lived there for three years and then moved to Malaysia . In every conversation today, she notes, he wants to know how the cats are doing as well.
When it comes to her time at Niagara College, she feels like she has really come full circle, starting as a student and now an employee. “It’s all about taking advantage of the resources that are provided to you as a student. Why not make full use of those resources and leave Niagara College with all the goodness that you can gain, right?”
If someone is wondering if they should work with Research & Innovation, she says do it: “It’s like getting paid to learn and it gives you great experience and professional connections,” she said. When it comes down to it, put in the effort and you will see the results.
From Mubashshira’s perspective, what makes the BCIC unique is a few things. Firstly, the extensive knowledge on business operations in the Niagara region, is an asset.
The team provides fresh perspectives to clients, from the Research Program Manager to the Research Lead, and to students. There are diverse backgrounds not just educationally, but everyone is from different countries, cultures, and demographics, which ends up being an asset for SMEs that come to work with BCIC.
“Not to mention, projects are funded, so that is a huge support for businesses, in terms of getting thorough primary and secondary research insights at a great price,” she said.
“I don’t think really any other research institution provides the kind of business support like BCIC does,” said Mubashshira.
For more information on how to tap into the talents of the BCIC team, David DiPietro, Business Development Manager with Research & Innovation, at ddipietro@niagaracollege.ca.
