Former NPD Group Leaders Join QualSights Board

In Chicago, fast-growing agency QualSights has appointed Tod Johnson and Karyn Schoenbart to its Board of Directors.

QualSights is an insights technology platform blending quant and qual consumer research and collecting off-line behavioural data with a combination of in-context video and passive IoT sensors - it also offers AI-based tools for rapid analysis of data. The firm has recently been ranked as the fastest growing company in Illinois and the fastest growing software company in the Midwest.

Johnson was Executive Chairman of the NPD Group and Schoenbart its Chief Executive, prior to its merger with IRI. Both now sit on the Board of Circana, the renamed merged company, and Johnson Chairs it. The pair have formed a company, Duo Partners, to invest in and provide counsel to 'early-stage disruptive data companies'.

Johnson has more than half a century of experience in the industry and has served as Chairman of the ARF, founding Chairman and Director of industry body CMOR (since merged into the IA), and was elected to the Market Research Council Hall of Fame in 2011.

Schoenbart played a key role in the IRI/NPD merger and serves on a number of other boards. She is also the author of Mom.B.A: Essential Business Advice from One Generation to the Next.

The QualSights Board of Directors also includes Mitch Barns, former CEO at Nielsen; Gian Fulgoni, former Chairman & CEO at Comscore and President & CEO at IRI; Sanjay Khosla, former President at Kraft Foods; Mohanbir Sawhney, Associate Dean of Innovation at Kellogg School of Management; and Rishad Tobaccowala, former Chief Growth Officer at Publicis Groupe.

QualSights founder and CEO Nihal Advani comments: 'Tod and Karyn are accomplished leaders, investors and board members. I am thankful for their investment and honored to have them join our team, further enriching our already esteemed Board. With the addition of Tod and Karyn and the guidance from our entire Board of Directors, QualSights is extremely well-positioned to further scale and strengthen its position as a leading global insights technology company, helping brands understand offline behavior more authentically and accurately than ever before'. Johnson adds: 'Since forming Duo Partners, Karyn and I have evaluated scores of companies and are investing in those that are best in class. We are excited to be working with Nihal and the other esteemed board members to help QualSights realize its unique potential in the insights and technology space'.

The company is online at www.qualsights.com .