Since her college days, Tammy has been fascinated by the theater of everyday life. She founded Sachs Insights 20+ years ago; analyzing focus groups, ethnography and user experience research and creating documentaries that illuminate the insights and reality of everyday people for the marketers who seek to connect with them.

Fast forward to present: Sachs Insights has grown into a community of eclectic researchers, ethnographers and documentary makers who are passionate about uncovering the thoughts, feelings, aspirations and experiences of all kinds of people. We view qualitative research as an art. Each project provides an opportunity to reach into our toolkit and design innovative approaches to answer our clients’ marketing, design and development challenges.

Prior to founding Sachs Insights, Tammy was a product developer at Citicorp, collaborating on the research and design of online banking. Having worked with pioneers in interactive design, Tammy was inspired to build the first independent Customer Experience Lab at Sachs Insights — where participants assess the appeal and usability of websites, mobile applications, kiosks and games. Tammy co-authored a book capturing her philosophy toward user experience (Back to the User, 2002, New Rider Press) with Gary McClain, Ph.D. Prior to Citibank, Tammy worked at Ogilvy & Mather as a Planning and Research Supervisor.

Tammy graduated from Wesleyan University, magna cum laude, with a BA in Theater and Psychology and from NYU with an MBA in Marketing.

Prior to joining Sachs Insights, Robert worked at NBC, coordinating nationwide news election service research and results-reporting teams. Through his years at NBC and in the years that followed, Robert was a producer, director and writer for numerous independent theater, film and video productions. He also worked as a instructor of art and theater.

Joining Sachs Insights in 1994, Robert co-created an environment where he could utilize his interest and experience in research, media, contemporary culture and the creative arts. He has overseen the development of marketplace leading practices in User Experience (usability), Innovation & Design Research and Creative Engagement Research (to identify the key metaphor of client brands).

Robert is the chief architect of study design, develops new methodologies to address client challenges and consults on projects to guide the development of insights and recommendations.

Paris has experience across a wide range of industries. Clients include: ABC News, Ameritrade, BET, CNBC, The Dallas Morning News, Ernst & Young, JP Morgan Chase, Humana, Kenneth Cole Productions, Levi’s, NASDAQ, MetLife, Pfizer, R/GA Interactive, T Rowe Price and VH1.

Whether brainstorming brand extensions with high-end shoppers or assessing fixed-income information portals with investment bankers, Paris drives creativity in his research approach. He believes that research must look outside of traditional boundaries and structures projects in a way that provides deeper insights into the lives of consumers.

This philosophy was evident in the design of an 18-month longitudinal ethnographic study designed to better understand how consumers make health care decisions. Paris led a team that tracked 36 families across the country as they navigated the unfamiliar world of consumer directed health plans. Findings led to innovation within several divisions in the client firm. (The project was the subject of an April 2006 Wall Street Journal article.)

Paris received his BA from Loyola University of New Orleans.

How do your users respond to product recommendations? Which personalization features are important to your customers? How can you design interactive tools that people love to use? These are just a few of the questions Jean examines every day.

Jean spent six years as an editor for Internet and Direct Commerce at Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia. She has a keen understanding of the challenges of integrating content and commerce online — as well as strategies for marketing across media channels.

Jean draws on her background in media-effects research and human-computer interaction to explore how people respond to media. When moderating usability studies and focus groups, she enjoys unearthing the story of the user’s experience and translating that into actionable recommendations.

Jean’s academic research focused on the psychology of web-based customization and its implications for designers and marketers. Her favorite projects are those that allow her to use her background to develop innovative studies for media clients on emerging technologies.

She consults with corporate, academic, and nonprofit organizations to help clients define their online presence, assess the usability and appeal of their websites, and provide users with a truly engaging online experience.

Jean earned an MA in Media Effects from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a BA from the College of William and Mary.

Leslie started out behind the camera, filming ethnographic interviews and focus groups. However, she soon became intrigued with exploring the attitudes and behaviors of consumers and wanted to play a larger role in telling their stories. These days, Leslie can still be found behind the camera, but now she is involved in all aspects of the research process.

With her background in film, Leslie has brought her eye for storytelling to the art of research — using engaging, visual methods to bring the research to life. Whether identifying consumer beliefs or determining the ideal positioning for a client’s brand, she uses the voice of the consumer to relay to clients the story of their consumers, products, and companies in an inspiring and actionable manner.

Leslie conducts research across a wide range of consumers — from children in grade school to senior citizens — about topics as diverse as media entertainment and health care. Some recent clients include: Cablevision, KFC, Taco Bell, PepsiCo, Nissan, Best Buy, HBO, and Country Music Television.

Leslie received her BA in English and Film Studies from Wesleyan University in Middletown, CT.

As both a seasoned researcher and project manager, Scott has helped to shape and execute projects for such clients as Taco Bell, KFC, Nokia, Verizon, The Partnership for a Drug Free America, Coach and Kenneth Cole Productions.

Scott approaches recruiting with a total “collaborative” mentality. He believes that the best recruits are achieved when all parties — the client, the researchers, and the field — work together exchanging ideas and formulating solutions to ensure that the best and most qualified respondents are targeted.

Scott translates his collaborative approach to field work into his role as a researcher and ethnographer. His accessible disposition allows him to immediately connect with all kinds of consumers in traditional and non-traditional research settings, whether shopping along with customers or discussing sensitive topics — like crystal meth usage in the gay community. Scott takes these insights to inform communications, marketing messages and multiple platforms.

Prior to joining the Sachs Insights team, Scott was the Facility and Recruiting Manager at The Home Arts Guild Research Center in Chicago. He received his BA in Psychology from Temple University in Philadelphia.

While Sarah’s career path began in the legal world as a contracts administrator and assistant to the General Counsel & CAO of The Oxygen Network, her interest in the booming Interactive media realm led to a position as Oxygen’s Online Research Analyst. As the online researcher, Sarah not only helped to support and facilitate Oxygen’s multi-platform strategy, she simultaneously served as the research liaison for Marketing, Online Ad-Sales and Business Strategy senior-level management. With this experience in her pocket, Sarah can offer an understanding of consumer marketing challenges and opportunities from a larger business, legal and financial perspective.

Sarah’s analytical and inquisitive nature fuels her desire to learn consumers’ motivations and their perceptions of the world they interact with. Whether studying consumer input for product development or website branding and usability, Sarah seeks to understand all aspects of both the consumers’ and businesses’ needs. Recent clients include: Qualcomm, Time Inc., Best Buy, Prudential and Digitas.

Sarah graduated from Rollins College, where she majored in Psychology and received a BA in Liberal Arts.

Jessica takes a holistic approach to every research undertaking. From her years of experience interviewing consumers in their homes, stores, local hangouts, and the lab, Jessica enjoys applying and combining techniques across the various methodologies in ways that elicit the deepest and richest insights.

Getting close to the consumer does not end with the research. Jessica works closely with clients and video editors to continue to bring the voices of research participants to life. Such video presentations have powerfully guided the evolution of media websites into incorporating user-generated content, and have lead retailer sites to construct innovative ways to make multi-channel shopping a more seamless and effective experience.

Jessica conducts research across a wide variety of industries and audiences. Clients include: Assurant Health, Best Buy, Comedy Central, LEGO, Nickelodeon, Nissan, Princeton Review, Sirius Radio, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Time Inc., and Virgin Mobile.

Jessica graduated from the University of Rochester, where she received her BA degrees in Psychology and English.

Prior to joining the Sachs Insights team, Katie worked at Oxygen Media as the coordinator of programming and market research. In that role, she helped manage a broad range of research projects for the television network, including an annual trend study that took a close look at consumers’ attitudes about media. Katie enjoys applying a variety of methodologies to understand what drives consumer behavior.

Katie’s background in Anthropology and Sociology allow her to be a well-rounded researcher who can adapt to various industries. Whether helping clients create effective online spaces or develop their brand identity, Katie is a strategic thinker who enjoys observing and analyzing consumer attitudes.

She has worked with a variety of clients ranging from toy manufacturers to healthcare providers. Recent clients include: R/GA Interactive, Hasbro, Medco Health Solutions, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc., and Blue Cross Blue Shield Association.

Katie graduated with a BA in Sociology and Anthropology, with a minor in Spanish from Colgate University in Hamilton, NY.

Communicating effectively is an art, whether the message is transmitted through word, music, image, or another medium. In the same way that a captivating story has certain elements that resonate with the audience, brands, products and services can be presented in a certain way in order to resonate with a consumer. Excited by the power of an effectively told story, Chris is driven to weave elements which might at first glance appear disparate into a tapestry that both clearly communicates the voice of the speaker and connects with the audience.

This pursuit first drew him to earn a degree in electronic media production at Syracuse University’s Newhouse School of Public Communications. For several years in New York, Chris applied his know-how in the fields of television and film. Continually looking to expand his horizons, he then accepted a position as an editor and marketing communications consultant at the Asia City Publishing Group in Bangkok, Thailand. For three years he lived and worked abroad, providing magazine content and shaping corporate communications across Southeast Asia. His work brought him into contact with numerous creative and business gurus throughout the rapidly expanding region.

Chris’ adaptable and open minded nature makes him perfectly suited to the spectrum of industries that he operates with at Sachs Insights. His experience makes him an effective communicator across a diverse spectrum of cultures, language, industries, and platforms.

Emily brings a “human” perspective to understanding people and their motivations. As a researcher, she strives to transcend the potential confines of a research setting to unearth key emotional drivers. Whether conducting ethnographic interviews with families over breakfast, or optimizing the shopping experience on a fashion website, Emily is always interested in getting at the heart of respondents’ thoughts and feelings.

Clients include: HBO Broadband, The McKinsey Quarterly, Medtronic, Scientific American, Sunglass Hut, Tropicana, WileyPlus, and NBC — digphilly.com. Before Sachs Insights, she worked as a Market Research Analyst at Houghton Mifflin Company. In that role she worked with the product development, marketing, and advertising teams to create and market educational materials.

Emily has a BA in Psychology from Skidmore College and is currently pursuing her MA in Psychology at NYU. Additionally, she received certification in Moderating from RIVA Training Institute and has completed market research professional development from the Burke Institute.

Mardi views research as a means for discovering the deep motivations behind consumer preferences. Her candid and open-minded stance with respondents allows her to create collaborative spaces to engage people on an emotional and behavioral level. With her keen sense for identifying and addressing both strategic and tactical issues, Mardi delivers insights that are both inspirational and actionable.

Mardi’s clients include: Forest Laboratories, Best Buy, Barnes and Noble, Starwood Hotels, Verizon Wireless, CondeNast/CondeNet, Comedy Central, Office Depot Inc., Perdue Farms, Hilton Hotels Corporation, iVillage.com, and Virgin Mobile USA.

Mardi received her BA in psychology from New York University and has completed coursework at NYU towards her MA in psychology.

Whether it be designing three dimensional data landscapes, translating complex investment speak into consumer friendly language, building a knowledge-management system or conducting interactive research, Jessica has spend her career exploring the many facets of information design. She brings to her work a passion for understanding how real people interpret and respond to information in a variety of different contexts.

Jessica’s career spans both consumer marketing (banking and publishing) and technology – in Geographic Information Systems, web-development, 3D information displays, information architecture and enterprise system development. Her clients include Starwood Westin Hotels; Hasbro; Trane; Verizon; Nike; and Lumber Liquidators.

Prior to joining Sachs Insights, she was SVP for application development at Marsh USA. She graduated from Wesleyan University, magna cum laude, with a BA in Government, and received her MBA from Harvard.

Prior to Marsh, Jessica held positions at Unified Field, Citibank, and Time Inc. She also founded a GPS applications development company.

It has always been Joe’s philosophy that great content and solid story coupled with a quality medium is the key to a successful media project. As someone who works behind the camera as well as in the edit bay it has been his goal to effectively capture and deliver a message which is compelling and informative.

With a BA in Information Technology from Mount Saint Mary College (NY) and a MA in Television/Radio/Film from The Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University, Joe has been able to complete a broad range of freelance Video/Web and IT work for both small and large business. A few of his clients include: Ottovonmo Productions, OneMedPlace.com, Lemoyne College, Lumina Films, Procter and Gamble Productions, Presentation Concepts Corporation and Raymour and Flanagan.

At Sachs Joe, is able to mix his intensely technical IT and A/V backgrounds with his passion of all things video. If you’re looking for Joe you can find him in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn where he frequents the eclectic local eateries and keeps active with any number of side video and web projects.