Siegel+Gale Expands Research Insights Practice

In the US, branding firm Siegel+Gale has appointed Brian Rafferty as Global Director, Customer Insights in New York, and Donna Thacher as Research Director in Los Angeles.

The Omnicom-owned agency, founded in 1969, specializes in transforming complex customer communications into plain English; helping clients create distinctive 'brand voices' across all their communications; and transferring brands onto the Internet.

Rafferty joins with more than fifteen years' experience in brand strategy and positioning. Most recently, he worked as MD of Research and Strategy at The Brand Union, before which he was Co-Principal and MD of boutique research firm Plaid. Earlier in his career, he held research and planning roles for ad agency Ferrell Calvillo and research firm Summus.

Thacher has spent the last twenty years working at Dailey & Associates Advertising, designing and managing research processes for clients. She began her career at a full-service marketing research supplier in Orange County, California, where she managed the data processing department, then moved into project management and analysis roles.

Both recruits have extensive quant and qual research experience, and will be responsible for developing and implementing research techniques to uncover customer insights and inform brand-building programs.

'Adding Donna and Brian to our research capabilities firmly positions the company as a global leader in research,' states Lisa Bertelsen, Global Director, Research Insights.

Rafferty and Thacher are the latest additions to the growing practice. Over the past year, the group has doubled in size, extending research and analytics capabilities to the firm's global offices.

Web site: www.siegelgale.com .