Brand & Consumer
- Research + Measurement
- Strategy + Planning
- Performance + Optimization
Hello!
We brand human health & wellness.
Research and M&A track records overwhelmingly demonstrate your brand is by far the most valuable asset your organization will ever own. We help get brands there. And keep them there.
For over 20 years, we’ve helped our clients develop and invest in their brands intelligently, manage and optimize them proactively, and nurture them into hard-working, high-performing organizational and business assets.
As a bespoke brand consultancy, we specialize in human health and wellness. Our expertise is in applied research and measurement, actionable strategy and planning, moments that matter that move the needle, and deep performance measurement at every step of the customer journey.
Our passion is helping clients and their ad agencies, interactive firms, and design studios transform brands into powerful organizational assets and tools that work hard and for everyone. Imagine any brand challenge you care to and we’ve probably been there. Scarred, humbled, and wizened.
Our clients range from pharmaceuticals like Novartis and Sanofi – to healthcare payers like Kaiser Permanente and Blue Cross Blue Shield – to med tech companies like Illumina and NxStage – to healthcare providers like Northwell Health and Seattle Children’s Hospital – to healthcare SaaS companies like Navinet and ClearCycle – to natural beverage, food & supplement companies like Thorne Research and Starbucks – all the way to humanitarian agencies and nonprofits like the World Health Organization, The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and The Nature Conservancy.
We are HIPAA compliant trained and certified and also qualified as principal investigators for clinical studies involving human subjects.
Our singular, relentless focus is optimizing the brand ecosystem that determines how successfully your most valuable audiences feel, think, and do when it comes to your offerings at every stage of their journey.
We uncover the moments that matter to those audiences, the experiences that move them, and the meaningful journeys they need when it comes to your brand.
Reach out.
We’d love to hear from you.
Dr. Anna Kern
Anna is a partner & social scientist who specializes in the interdisciplinary research
of beliefs & behaviors of consumers & the experiential contexts that shape them.
She heads up market research, consumer insights as well as brand equity, measurement & performance.
Henk Groenewald
Henk is a partner, brand strategist, & planner who specializes in consumer, journey, & experience strategy & tactics.
He heads up brand strategy, foundations, architecture, planning, & audience-centric semantic & semiotic messaging.
Where we help.
Life sciences
Gene therapy
Rare disease
Biotechnology
Bioscience
Medical devices
Natural beverages
Functional beverages
Natural foods
Nutritional supplements
Healthcare SaaS
Hospitals & providers
Health insurance
Financial services
Aid organizations
Public health
Housing health
Environmental health
& more
Who we've helped.
156+ organizations.
Novartis
Sanofi
Roche
Illumina
Eli Lilly
Ipsen
Amylyx
Vertex
Pfizer
Blue Cross Blue Shield WA
Kaiser Permanente
B&M Gates Foundation
World Health Organization
National Institute of Health
National Science Foundation
Northwell Health
Seattle Children’s
Thorne Research
Keurig Dr Pepper
Medisafe
NxStage
Unilever
Navinet
Clearcycle
The Nature Conservancy
Department of Justice
National Institute of Health
National Science Foundation
Housing & Urban Development
USDA
FEMA
& more
How we help.
Thoughtful, rigorous & passionate.
Applied research
Medical ethnography
Workshops
Focus groups
In-depth interviews
Social listening
Statistically significant surveys
Qualitative research
Quantitative research
Direct observation
Digital performance
Meta & novel analytics
Interdisciplinary research
Audience segmentation
Brand analysis
Brand positioning
Brand architectures
Brand naming
Optimization strategy
Your reason for being
Moments that matter
Experiential journeys
Emotional need states
Behavioral nudging
Semiotic messaging
Semantic messaging
Disruption methodology
Measurable performance
It’s all done here. No outsourcing, no b-team, hands on, high touch, in person, collaborative, curious, straight talking, effective, and great to work with.
When to use us.
Reach out if you need.
Deep research
Consumer insights
Brand revitalization
Fresh growth
Brand extensions
Audience connection
Words that work
Premium pricing
New revenue channels
Inspired cultures
Lowered sales costs
Organizational purpose
A stronger identity
Brand experience creation
Performance measurement
Why folks like working with us.
We're good at what we do.
28 years of deep experience.
156 clients & counting.
Over 30 healthcare industries.
Interdisciplinary expertise.
And we're like a dog with a bone.
You work directly with us.
HIPAA certified & trained.
HSR certified.
IPA members.
80% repeat-client rate.
100% word of mouth.
Strict Ai usage policies.
Plays well in the sandbox.
No handholding required.
On budget.
On time.
Every time.