United States
We provide fresh approaches to today's marketing and insight challenges; blending Behavioral Science inspired techniques with qualitative and quantitative methods. We challenge ourselves to find new ways to unlock behavioral insight and drive action.
Sarah Davies, Founder
I have always had a fascination with understanding behavior and started my career as a qualitative researcher in 1994. In 2000, I joined HeadlightVision to set up the qualitative side of the business. In 2005, HeadlightVision merged with The Henley Centre and I became MD of the new business. In 2008 the business was rebranded as The Futures Company and I became Global MD, heading up the Qualitative & Innovation team. I also set up the Indian office.
I have worked on a number of key global clients, including Diageo, Nestle, Cadbury, Unilever & Aviva and am particularly interested in understanding emerging markets and emerging consumers. I have worked extensively in India, China & Indonesia. My focus is on using innovative research techniques to drive brand and consumer strategy, as well as exploring how new behavioral thinking can be applied to client challenges.
I am currently joint Vice-Chair of the AQR committee and have been actively involved in developing industry thinking around Behavioral Economics. BE provides fantastic opportunities to better understand consumer behavior...exciting times!
Sian Davies, Founder
I started my career in management consultancy where I gained experience in business and marketing strategy and was trained in a diverse range of research methods and marketing science techniques.
I joined The Henley Centre in 1996 as co-editor of Media Futures and went on to lead the Communications consulting team, becoming Global CEO in 2005. I oversaw two mergers, first with HeadlightVision and subsequently with Yankelovich, leading to the creation of The Futures Company.
Alongside my management responsibilities I worked with key global clients, including BT, RSA, the BBC, PepsiCo and Nestle. I focus on blending creativity and rigour to create foundational insights to drive brand and consumer strategy. I also enjoy the challenge of embracing new thinking and exploring new ways of understanding consumers. B E is exciting because it helps to explain so much about what drives and influences us. It also takes me back to my days as an undergraduate wondering how economic models could capture the complexity of human behavior. Now at last I have the answer!
Crawford Hollingworth, Founder
I have a background in Applied Social Psychology and started my career as a strategic planner in BMP DDB and subsequently worked at leading agencies including AMV BBDO and Chiat Day. In 1996 I founded HeadlightVision in London and New York, a behavioral trends research consultancy which pioneered future facing research methodologies. HeadlightVision was acquired by WPP in 2003. Following mergers with The Henley Centre and then with Yankelovich in the US, I took on the role of Global Executive Chairman of the newly branded The Futures Company.
In the early 2000s we saw an explosion of understanding coming from behavioral economics. These frameworks and concepts allow us to make more sense of human behavior than ever before. We launched The Behavioral Architects in 2011 to embrace this new learning, and it was the first UK agency with BE as its foundation. Our aim is to reinvigorate research methodologies as well as to develop new ones and to build bridges between the real world and academia. I have written and spoken widely on the subject for various institutions and publications, including the MRS, Marketing Society, Market Leader, Aura, AQR, London Business School and Impact magazine.
Sonia Misak, President
I am excited to start the new year by joining TBA to head up the New York office. For the past 5 years I have successfully run my own venture and, previous to this, I was Global Client Partner at Hall & Partners with a focus mostly on emergent markets in innovation, new product development & positioning.
I first came to New York from the UK in 2003 to open the US office of HeadlightVision which later became The Futures Company. As President, I ran a successful global trends and brand agency for 10 years.
I enjoy working in leading-edge fields (e.g. fertility and cannabis) and on ground breaking projects for Fortune 500 clients across categories such as retail, beauty, and technology.
I have a BSc from University College London and an MPhil. St Antony’s College, Oxford University
I am looking forward to applying the frameworks and rigor of BE to deepen my understanding of human (and consumer) attitudes and behavior around the globe and translate this into action for our clients.
Our Offer
Our Capabilities
We draw on a range of methods to unlock insight:
Qualitative techniques:
- Observation
- Co-creation
- Ethnography
- Digital in context
...and the usual groups, depths etc. - Quantitative research and analysis
- Analysing existing client data sources
- Cultural analysis & trends
- Semiotics
- Eye-tracking
We
also run BE training and immersion sessions and facilitate strategic
workshops.
We like to challenge and be challenged, experiment and BE BRAVE!
The Behavioral Architects' articles are always stimulating, entertaining and informative and make BE principles both engaging as well as usable for all our readersEditor Impact Magazine and Research-live.com
Our digital clubhouse which is designed to inspire, share best practice and delight would be very different without The Behavioral ArchitectsGemma Greaves Global Managing Director The Marketing society
Its client testimonials show it has made behavioral economics accessible and actionableMRS judges ‘best new agency’ award
TBA have brought behavioral science thinking to some of our challenges in a way that is accessible for colleagues from across the business and has created actionable outputsMartin Bryant, Senior Consumer Insights Manager, KFC UK and Ireland
The Behavioral Architects did a great job of understanding our needs in this multinational project. They used a behavioral-led methodology to deliver clear and actionable outputRuchika Khattar, Global Marketing Innovation Manager, PepsiCo
One of the best articulated deliveries of insight I have seen in 20 years in the research sector.Damian Stevenson, Head of Insight at the Amateur Swimming Association
The behavior change research has been the lynchpin of our entire new strategy to get more people swimmingNick Caplin, Amateur Swimming Association, Director of Participation
I’ve worked with TBA on a number of studies... all of them have allowed us to get to a depth of insight into basic behavior that has transcended borders.Catherine Moffatt, Vice President Global Shopper Planning & Customer Marketing, Diageo
The magic comes from how TBA works with us to get to simple, actionable ideas using the BE principles.Catherine Moffatt, Vice President Global Shopper Planning & Customer Marketing, Diageo
Every project has resulted in activities that have unlocked growth for Diageo but, importantly, they’re also pieces of work that we keep going back to and that continue to inform new activities long after the original studies were run.Catherine Moffatt, Vice President Global Shopper Planning & Customer Marketing, Diageo
We tasked TBA with a challenging brief on a national survey and they exceeded all our expectations throughout the processJennifer Bufton, Sport England
Their enthusiasm and relevant application of this theory alongside highly actionable and impactful insight delivery that really engages our stakeholders.Jacinda Norman, Category Insights Manager, Waitrose
The team at The Behavioral Architects Sydney have played an instrumental role in uncovering the key behavioral challenges for the Bundaberg Rum brand.Clara Lee, Senior Insights Manager, Diageo Australia
By using behavioral principles in analysing research, we’ve been able to go beyond the rational system 2 responses and tap into the deeper, subconscious system 1 responses that are often difficult to articulate.Clara Lee, Senior Insights Manager, Diageo Australia
For the first time in over a decade, we have clarity on the shift that we need to make to bring our brand back into growth.Clara Lee, Senior Insights Manager, Diageo Australia
The TBA team are a friendly, highly organised and intelligent bunch of people to work with. We consider them an extension of our internal Insights teamClara Lee, Senior Insights Manager, Diageo Australia
The behavioral science work conducted by The Behavioral Architects Sydney team has uncovered insights that we would never have uncovered by asking consumers questions directlyAlla Nock, Marketing Research, Analytics & Capability Manager, Kimberly-Clark Australia
Observing consumer behavior through a Behavioral Science lens has uncovered key nuggets that we have now used to influence behavior.Alla Nock, Marketing Research, Analytics & Capability Manager, Kimberly-Clark Australia
The Behavioral Architects Sydney are a valued business partner of the Water Corporation (Perth), who’s expertise and insights into behavior change has been instrumental in helping to shape our communications strategy and to deliver an outcome that produces results.Paul Tuffin, Customer Insights Manager, Customer Strategy & Engagement Water Corporation (Perth, Australia)