Former TNS Colleagues Launch Raspberry

Three former TNS execs - Evette Cordy, Penny Darbyshire and James Redden - have teamed up to launch a new firm based in Melbourne, Australia and rejoicing in the name of Raspberry Innovation Research + Strategy.

Most recently, Cordy worked for TNS as Regional Director of Technology, responsible for providing leadership across 32 countries in Asia-Pacific, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa.

Redden has been based in San Francisco for the last four years, helping to set up and lead 2CV's first full-service office outside of Europe. Prior to this, he worked at TNS in San Francisco and Melbourne.

Before co-founding Raspberry, Darbyshire spent nine years working at TNS, most recently focusing on designing, managing and executing choice modelling studies across the Asia-Pacific region. She has extensive experience working across FMCG, technology, banking and finance, and social and government sectors.

The trio say they became 'tired of being 'hands-off' in large global companies', and that their new agency will help clients create and develop ideas, observe and understand consumers, combine right-brain creativity with left-brain rationality, and design thinking and technology.

'Don't expect us to run focus groups in uninspiring rooms or track numbers just for the hell of it,' says Cordy. 'The team is single-minded about making a difference for our clients and we're not going to be afraid to say 'you don't need to do this research' if we don't believe it will add value to their business.'

Website: www.raspberryresearch.com .