Echo MR Welcomes Five New Hires

California-based Echo MR has recruited five new team members to help its expansion in the US and abroad: Karen Manne as Strategist and Quantitative Lead, plus Marylin Knapp, Kelly Barnard, Sierra Bretz and Kelsey Thompson.

The firm was launched only in 2017 as Echo Qualitative Project Support, but rebranded just the following year to reflect client demand for a broader range of services, supplementing its field management offer with discussion guide and screener development, moderation and report writing.

Manne (pictured) bring more than twenty years of experience, more than sixteen of them from Disney/ABC where she rose to VP, Research. More recently she worked at The CW and the NFL. Her achievements include developing a pioneering online community for ABC Studios; and helping drive renewals for a number of television series, with off-net sales of $1bn plus.

Knapp also brings more than two decades of experience, taking the role of Account Director. She worked previously in ad agencies including Grey Global Group and Kaplan Thaler Group managing strategic planning, creative development, production, media planning and buying. Barnard joins after eighteen months travelling the world, and earlier clocked up sixteen years in client service at B2C and B2B marketing and ad agencies, leading cross-functional teams of up to 30 people as a Client Service Director on LinkedIn, eBay and Maytag.

Bretz joins as an Analyst and holds a Master of Science in Applied Psychology with a focus in Consumer Psychology. She previously worked on both qual and quant studies of the CPG, food and beverage, retail, fashion and beauty industries. Thompson, who joins as a social media specialist, has more than three years of agency experience in social media ad management, content creation and strategy.

Founder and CEO Kerry Hecht says of the news: 'We're thrilled to be expanding the team. Echo's mission has been and will continue to be seamlessly solving our clients' recruitment and research challenges, offering custom, unique research and recruitment solutions through technology'.

Web site: www.echo-mr.com .

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