Prior to joining Verve, James spent four years at Breaking Blue, was strategy director and behavioural science lead at Hall & Partners, and was most recently at the Irrational Agency. At Verve she will lead a behavioural science specialism, working with client teams across the business to bring a deeper understanding of consumers’ behaviour into the insight mix.
James comments: “I’m thrilled to be joining Verve and have already been seriously impressed by the research team, their incredible capabilities and bold approach. I can’t wait to start working closely with them to help their clients understand what’s truly underpinning behaviour.”
James is joined by digital anthropologist Lily Echanis who will specialise in social intelligence. She brings with her more than four years of experience as senior cultural analyst at Karmarama. Also moving into the expanding team is Jodie Holland, a long-time digital qual expert at Verve, who assumes a lead UX role.
Verve’s growing capabilities are focused around uncovering why consumers behave the way they do, and what brands need to do about it to deliver sustainable behaviour change. With new work already underway, live client projects include fuelling future-proofed innovation for a global outdoor cooking manufacturer and exploring how to create impactful messaging around water conservation for a utilities provider.
Kelly McKnight, executive director, comments: “I’m energised by the broad range of talent we have in the business. Our ever-growing in-house capabilities in behavioural science, UX and social intelligence build on the best-in-class research we’re already famous for at Verve. They demonstrate our commitment to offering the smartest solutions to clients’ complex business challenges to get to the best answers imaginable. We are truly creating the research agency of the future.”
