Melon and BrandHook Merge in Melbourne

In Melbourne, Australia, insight strategist BrandHook and full service online agency Melon Research have joined forces and will now trade under the BrandHook name.

BrandHook was founded by marketer Pip Stocks in 2006. Stocks was previously Brand Strategy Director at Carat, after a spell as Marketing Manager for Virgin Energy. Earlier in her career, she held account management roles at Grey Advertising and Lovell Vass Boddey.

The firm offers a series of techniques including 'Home Tribes' sessions, which are conducted and filmed in participants' own environments; and 'Product Play' which combines quant and qual methods to probe customers' views of products.

Melon was set up in Melbourne and London last year by former UK-based iD Factor/ICD Research Global MD Paul Dixon, who previously held senior roles in Australia at Roy Morgan Research and Intrepid Consultants. The firm offered qual, quant, social research and panel research capabilities across a number of sectors.

The new BrandHook will continue to work with local clients across the retail, financial, FMCG, pharmaceutical and automotive sectors, while pushing ahead with international expansion.

Dixon, who becomes a Partner of the expanded venture, says the merged firm will be able to package Melon's online methodologies and products with added insight and strategy from BrandHook.

Stocks comments: 'The merging of the companies means we're instantly an international operation, and with a growing European client base, we'll be looking in the near future to expand operations internationally as well as continue to develop our Australian base'.

Web site: www.brandhook.com .

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.