Finkle to Lead New Finch Communities Offer

Philadelphia-based branding agency Finch brands has launched a communities division, FinchSight Research Communities, to be led by Chief Innovation Officer Tom Finkle, former CEO of Passenger.

The firm says FinchSight will use cutting edge digital research tools, providing instant audience feedback for a cost 30-40% lower than traditional custom projects

Before Passenger (now known as FUEL CYCLE), Finkle held leadership positions at GfK, where he was US Chief Client Services Officer; as MD of the Global Technology Practice at TNS; and as MD of the New York office of Goldfarb Consultant. He holds a Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of Southern California.

The proprietary platform will offer a wide range ofquant surveys among representative samples; Ideation Sessions where members can post and react to ideas; Live Chats with pre-loaded questions and on-the-fly engagement; Focus Groups; and Journals, where 'brands send customers out on assignments in the real world, and then collect data in the form of images, texts, surveys, or video'.

Finkle (pictured) says of the launch: 'Communities provide a level of engagement that other market research methodologies can't match, Members see themselves as consultants to the brand, which provides a level of insight unavailable in traditional research or through social listening alone'.

Finch President Bill Gullan says mid-sized companies will benefit from the new offering, having 'just as much [as larger firms] to gain from consumer insights, sometimes more'. He comments: 'FinchSight is optimized at a price point that removes the barrier to entry and, due to Finch Brands' research and strategy expertise, does not require an extensive or dedicated employee infrastructure'.

Finch Brands was founded in 1998 and is online at www.finchbrands.com .