people

• Andy Crysell
  Managing Director

  Crowd DNA's founder, Andy has headed up a raft of noteworthy projects in media, strategy, PR and, of course, research. Before Crowd DNA, he founded Ramp Industry (acquired by St Luke's, whose board he sat on), one of the first agencies to get to grips with online communities and advocacy, and even more previous still he worked as a journalist/editor. If you want to get really previous, he once sold tickets to lots of acid house parties. Given half a chance, he will talk too much about stuff like interviewing Wu-Tang Clan, Ken Kesey and, uh, John Inman. These days, professionally, he gets to talk to the media and at conferences on subjects like word of mouth, media/social media and research innovation - and not so much about Wu-Tang Clan. He is a Full Member of the Market Research Society.

• Sarah Brierley
  Associate Director

  Sarah is driven by an enduring fascination with people’s motivations and behaviours. She’s experienced in consumer and B2B projects crossing multiple sectors, but particularly media, retail and youth. Sarah’s work at Crowd DNA has taken in energy drinks, superfans, fashion retail, supermarket shopping habits and men's mags, just to scratch the surface. A psychology graduate, she previously worked in the brand strategy team of international research consultancy Illuminas. Before that: two years as a media planner/buyer and a stint in the editorial department of an academic publisher. All this has been interspersed with two years of travelling, mainly around South America and Southeast Asia. When she’s out to play, Sarah likes music, playing pool badly and thinking about where her next trip will take her.

• Kelvin Amos
  Client Services

  Kelvin plays a lead role at Crowd DNA in developing relations with clients both old and new, ensuring we deliver on objectives and maintain high levels of quality control at all times. Just to keep things nice and diverse, he also drops in on projects occasionally, particularly when it's topics he's passionate about such as gaming, sport, music and media. Previously he worked in a number of agencies creating business development programmes from scratch across marketing, advertising and PR. In his spare time, he studies social science with the Open University, listens to lots of music and takes weekly Japanese lessons. When not stressing over his Kanji, he remains too keen on videogames and tries to visit his dad in Spain as often as he can, though not quite as often as he'd like.

• Paul Allen
  Research Manager

  Paul heads up the quantitative side of things at Crowd DNA, working on commissions for Global Radio, Channel 4, Oakley, ITV and River Island, among several billion others. Before joining us lot, he spent three years at the Newspaper Society, the trade organisation for local media, where his work included overseeing the Wanted Ads and Local Matters research projects. He has a degree in Social Policy with Politics from the LSE, which he managed to complete while working as a chef at department store Selfridges. His first job was in a traditional east end pie and mash shop; he remains involved in the world of food, running a pop-up restaurant with a friend. Paul is also a keen triathlete and without question is the fastest runner at Crowd DNA.

• Jenny Winfield
  Research Manager

  Jenny started her career with a grounding in communications planning at Naked Comms, working with clients including the COI, Nokia, Mars and Coca Cola. Realising that research should be at the heart of all communications solutions, she has pursued a career that matches this with her skills gained from a Psychology BSc, a keen interest in cultural anthropology and a great grasp of brand strategy. Her strong points include providing trend analysis in the competitive context and writing that exposes brand-related insight into human behaviour. She likes cycling, ice cream, continually discovering London and British camping. On the flipside, she hates enforced fancy dress.

• Jessica Street
  Research Manager

  Combining qualitative and quantitative techniques, managing communities and creating content from research, Jessica has worked across projects for Kiss, Channel 4, The Body Shop, Dorothy Perkins, Global Radio, River Island, Spotify and Sony PlayStation. Her attention to detail and precise project management skills are almost frighteningly good. She graduated from Bournemouth University, where she studied advertising and marketing communications. Previous experience included working as an account executive at direct marketing agency Tullo Marshall Warren. When free of the office, Jessica enjoys scuba diving and has so far submerged in Turkey, Fiji and the Great Barrier Reef.

• Stuart Malcolm
  Research Manager

  After a stint working in the music industry, Stuart moved into research (previous to Crowd DNA, he worked at ICM, Sparkler and RDSi), driven by an interest in understanding the role of brands in consumer’s lives. A marketing graduate, he has worked across a number of sectors, the non-exhaustive list including retail, finance, media, technology and youth. Not one for labeling, he has combined qualitative and quantitative approaches, also maintaining a keen interest in online ethnography and research communities. This has seen him conducting quant studies in Russia, online communities with music enthusiasts and focus groups in Grimsby. Away from the office you’ll either find him listening to music while cycling, hunting for more records or making steak tartar.

• Chris Kebbell
  Research Manager

  Chris is primarily focused on the quantitative side of things and has a keen interest in digital and social media. Prior to relocating to Shoreditch, he spent five years working on the client side for international broadcaster CNBC, where he focused on understanding niche audiences and delivering actionable insights to the business. Keenly aware of the pressures that face media owners and a firm believer in the power of effective research to change organisations for the better, Chris is the newest addition to the team here at Crowd DNA. Chris also speaks fluent Russian and has a keen interest in Soviet and Cold War history. So much so that in 2011 he completed a 5,000 mile cycle tour of the Iron Curtain from the Norwegian Arctic to Istanbul.

• Liz Cheesbrough
  Senior Research Executive

  Liz started her career as a researcher at Care Matters Partnership, a social enterprise in the children’s care sector (memorable work included discussing empowerment with asylum-seeking Afghan teens and the notion of legal rights with under 7s). With a degree in Social Policy with Politics from the LSE, Liz is passionate about youth culture and loves research as a means of understanding the voices that aren't always heard. As well as being a published author, she once received an award for her pictures of drag queens in club toilets. Her work to date at Crowd DNA has been similarly diverse, though she's been particularly focused on creating lively, animated online research communities. Off duty she lives for the beach and loves scuba diving, cooking and stand-up - although not at the same time.

• Helen Tang
  Research Executive

  Helen provides support on projects for the likes of Peroni, Channel 4, Bauer Media and MTV. Inquisitive by nature, she has found that research is the perfect career for her as she gets to ask questions all day, every day. Working at Crowd DNA has seen her help set up a 48 participant-strong video blogging community, interview teenage metal fans and analyse responses to an exhibition on Italian style in cinema. A Hispanic Studies graduate from Bristol University, Helen spent a year abroad where she observed the quirks of fellow Erasmus students in Portugal, as well as Catalans (actually, everyone) rip up the city following Barcelona’s Champions League victory. When out of the office, she likes to dream about eating her way around the world.

• Charlie Potter
  Research Executive

  With experience in digital distribution and PR, and having studied sound engineering and commercial music, a job in research perhaps wasn’t the obvious choice for Charlie. However, having always taken an interest in sub-cultures and understanding what makes people tick, qualitative research quickly felt like second nature. In his time here he’s been involved with work for, among others, Dr Martens, MTV, Channel 4 and Peroni. When not working at Crowd DNA, he’s in the studio making a name for himself in the London bass music scene - already gaining support from some of the UK's most influential names. In any spare time left over you’ll find him in the garden trying his hardest to grow some vegetables.

• Sunita Bhabra
  Consultant

  Sunita has been a researcher for over ten years, retaining a children/young people theme throughout. She's worked on projects for PepsiCo, GSK, Marvel Entertainment, Electronic Arts, Sega, Eidos, Disney, Hilton Hotels, Vodaphone, Tesco, BBC Trust, Kellogg’s, Masterfoods and the COI. An expert in a wide range of qualitative and quantitative methodologies, and a Full Member of the Market Research Society, Sunita believes it is time for a change, especially when conducting research with young people. They respond better to innovative and creative methodologies. For Sunita research is about creating an experience for clients and participants alike that lead to actionable insights.

• Kevin Braddock
  Consultant

  Kevin has collaborated with Crowd DNA on research and planning projects for Orange, Sony PlayStation, BMW and Topman, among others. He works across journalism, consultancy and digital. His extensive experience includes reportage for GQ magazine, where he is Contributing Editor, and he has been published on social trends, health and fitness, business, technology, youth culture, relationships, music and travel in all leading British magazines and newspapers. Brand-wise, he has consulted for the likes of Absolut Vodka, Nike, Grolsch, Johnny Walker and Motorola. Kevin graduated with a First Class degree in European Languages from Goldsmiths College and was nominated as PPA Writer Of The Year in 2007. He enjoys triathlon, cyclosportive events and mountaineering. His resting heart rate is 47bpm.

• David Passey
  Consultant

  With experience on (deep breath) brands like Nike, Absolut, Sony PlayStation, Channel 4, The Guardian, Puma, Penguin, Innocent, River Island, Lacoste, Diesel and Sony Music, David has joined us to consult on social communications. He began his career in fashion, working across departments such as marketing, PR, retail and buying. Next, he moved agency side (Ramp Industry, Soup, The Fish Can Sing) working in Europe and North America in areas such as media planning, events, PR, trend forecasting, research and marketing initiatives. Most recently, David was at Sony Music, overseeing activity across Columbia Records digital department.

• Grace Jacobson
  Consultant

  Grace Jacobson works on research and planning, with Kiss and River Island among the Crowd DNA clients she's lent her insightful skills to. In previous lives she's been a journalist, a radio plugger and a promoter. She's coordinated press campaigns for clothing labels and she once danced in her underwear for an MTV channel launch in the window of HMV on Oxford Street. Money was tight that month… Grace loves three-inch heels, riding on the back of a Ducati and singing Fleetwood Mac songs at Japanese Karaoke bars (though not all at the same time.)

• Samina Virani
  Consultant

  Samina travels the world, investigating street culture and unearthing fresh creative behaviours. Graduating from Georgetown's School of Foreign Service with a degree in culture and politics, as well as for Crowd DNA, she has consulted for WGSN, Sky TV, Youth Intelligence, Anomaly and Lowe, and has been published by Wallpaper, British Airways High Life, BPM, Remix and Time Out (she served as the editor-in-chief of Time Out Istanbul). Born in London, now based in New York, she’s also lived in Madrid, Istanbul, Washington DC and Houston, and has worked regularly in South America and Asia. She consumes copious amounts of salmon and is obsessed with following an elusive white rabbit wherever she travels.

• David Holly
  Consultant

  David works with us on digital strategy and online analytics/tracking. With years of experience consulting within businesses, agencies and brands, his knowledge encompasses a wide playing field. He's a Jedi of online research techniques and has helped big brands such as EA and BT target their online audiences using his own data analysis method, called ViaSearch. He's researched peoples' attitudes to nuclear power for EDF, helped RSPCA, Lazy Town, Lexus Hybrid and the Green Party enter social media, and has worked on a number of huge e-commerce solutions including DICE's Battlefield 3 and Levi's EMEA.

• Gavin Renz
  Film content

  Gavin works with Crowd DNA on film content for brands like Sony PlayStation, Channel 4, Christian Aid, Bauer Media and River Island, bringing insights to life and putting research findings into sharp context. He made the switch from graphic/motion design to film seven years ago, forming Frizbee Films. 2011 will see Gavin moving further into the realm of broadcast projects. Also, he's based in our office which is pretty handy.