We see the human in every project

We see the human in every project

Why Brand Genetics?

We’re an award-winning insight and innovation agency based in London, São Paulo & New York working around the world to help global brands identify new opportunities for growth

We launched in 1996 proclaiming “All marketing is Darwinian”, using the principles of evolutionary genetics to guide our approach to innovation. Understanding people – the DNA of what makes individuals unique – remains at the heart of our human-first insight and innovation work today

We like to think of ourselves as a “start-up with 20 years’ experience” – curious and agile but with the experience to deliver growth strategies for some of the world’s largest companies – ABInBev, Meta, Mondelez, PepsiCo., Panasonic, Reckitt and Unilever

At Brand Genetics, we believe the Future is Human. We use a human-first approach to insight and innovation to help our clients understand what people will want next. And we champion Positive Innovation as the way forward, innovating for human happiness and wellbeing

Breaking new ground

But while our principles remain the same, today’s innovators face new challenges and require new solutions, so we continue to break new ground. Despite being an established business, tackling global projects for major corporates, we maintain our start-up mentality, with a willingness to challenge innovation inertia. It’s this inherent dissatisfaction with the status quo that still motivates and inspires us today

We continue to work at the future’s edge, delivering structured strategic problem-solving and human-first insight and innovation, to help our clients answer the question “What’s next?”

What we’re NOT

We are incredibly proud of what we do, but we’re also
clear about what we don’t do.

So, don’t hire us if you want…

A BIG Agency

We’re a boutique agency but we utilise our scale to drive speed and agility.  This is a proven advantage over more corporate organisations

Pure Quant

We specialise in qualitative approaches that help us uncover unspoken needs and new opportunities, but using data and measurement where appropriate to provide added confidence and structure

Executional Detail

We’re thinkers, not makers; our specialism is front-end insight and innovation (though we recognise the importance of making our thinking ‘real’ and realistic)

A Comfortable Ride

Succeeding in the future will be challenging, so we believe we need to be as well: we will challenge your sacred cows, provoke fresh thinking and speak truth to power

From consumer insight to human truth

We seek the deeper human truths that cross cultures and markets – using scientific and empathic techniques to find the true motivations and get past the ‘can’t say, won’t say’ challenge

We use 4 distinct lenses to explore a challenge:

  1. Human Sciences (to ground our findings in evidence)
  2. Human Empathy (to understand emotional connections)
  3. Human Behaviour (to unearth the unseen and unspoken)
  4. Human Futures (to understand the direction of change).

This allows to us access those deep-rooted human truths and motivations that unite humanity, as opposed to those that divide it.  These insights are revelatory and can give fresh perspectives on old questions. They are also more predictive and are better to guide strategy in a volatile and changing world

HUMAN-FIRST INSIGHT IN ACTION

We helped the world’s biggest brewer understand the emerging needs and category dynamics of non-alcoholic beer to guide market entry, development strategy and future innovation

Our toolkit includes

01

Psychological Frameworks

Scientific and behavioural insight to get to deeper, unspoken human motivations
02

Consumer Conversations

Interviews and discussions using empathic approaches to gather rich emotional insight and reveal hidden needs
03

Digital Insight

Extract human insights from the wealth of online data, revealing real behaviour and aspirations
04

Foresight of the Future

Our 'Anticipatory Thinking' toolkit is a carefully curate selection of diverse and complementary foresight methodologies (inc. ‘Delphi’ and scenario planning) to map possible futures

From product-focused to human-first

Humans are goal-driven. For innovation that resonates more deeply with an audience, we must discover and define their real ‘jobs-to-be-done’ (the bigger goals & motivations) and then understand how your brand can enable people to achieve them

By developing more Positive Innovations – innovations designed for human happiness and wellbeing – we deliver a strong competitive advantage. And, by rooting the innovation in deep-seated human motivations they are more future-proofed against an ever-changing world

HUMAN-FIRST INNOVATION IN ACTION

We helped the world’s largest privately-owned spirits company create the next generation of luxury limited editions to meet the needs of tomorrow’s high net worth consumers

Our toolkit includes

01

Northstar Vision

Guide strategic innovation by defining brands’ 
role in addressing core human needs in a 
changing world
02

Growth Workshops

Inspiring sessions grounded in the science of creativity to help teams unlock new opportunities
03

Agile Innovation

Co-create alongside early adopters and experts to evolve innovation ideas and get further, faster
04

Innovation Blueprints & Concepts

Create clear consumer-centric briefs for successful innovation, brought to life ready to brief teams and succeed in quant

From project delivery to human engagement

To create real impact we work to engage internal audiences emotionally and rationally – telling human stories and bringing findings to life to drive empathy, moving and catalysing stakeholders to drive change with confidence

By de-averaging the data, we tell more motivating human stories that engage the emotions and grab attention, aligning teams around a clear purpose and vision

HUMAN-FIRST IMPACT IN ACTION

We helped the global leader in home care shape its future roadmap for a connected world with an immersive ‘house of the future’ experience

Our toolkit includes

01

Stakeholder Management

Working to understand, engage and influence key stakeholders from start to finish to drive alignment on outcomes
02

High-Impact Delivery

Embed outcomes with dynamic debriefs, interactive workshops, engaging documents, podcasts and documentaries
03

Consumer Closeness Experiences

Enhance understanding and engagement by getting stakeholders to walk in their consumers’ shoes
04

Human-First Training

Equip your team with the human first frameworks and tools to transform your innovation and creative abilities

Our Global CMO describes your consumer
strategy as the best strategic deck he has
ever seen.

AB InBev
Global Insights Director

You guys are my dream team!

Panasonic
Head of Insight and Innovation

Best research experience EVER! Met all my expectations! Thoroughly enlightening!

Reckitt
Global Marketing Director