About | The Sound: Exploration Strategy Innovation

Our history.

In 2006, The Sound was founded in a basement office in Vancouver, British Columbia with a simple purpose: always be smart and never be boring. We had a staff of two, a handful of clients and one wildly ambitious goal: to redefine the world of qualitative research.

This led us to integrate documentary filmmaking and editorial design into our process, and ultimately build a unique team of anthropologists, creatives and marketing professionals to ensure our work was as inventive and effective as possible.

Over the past 12 years, The Sound has grown to include six offices in four countries. We’ve sharpened our innovation and strategy services and now do exploration projects all over the world. We still have all the clients we started with, plus a whole bunch more, and we’re still always smart, and never boring.

But we have moved out of the basement.

Simon Dannatt

CEO

Simon is an experienced CEO & Corporate Strategist. He started his career with L.E.K. Consulting, became Manager & Partner with Capgemini Consulting, & then CEO with KAE, a strategic branding & marketing consulting firm based in London.

Lindsey Boyle

VP & Head of Vancouver

Lindsey is an experienced strategist and researcher with expertise in food and consumer technology for top brands including Google, AT&T, Maple Leaf Foods, and Nature’s Path Cereal.

John Broderick

VP & Head of New York

John is a globally experienced researcher, heading up the New York office. John is a skilled workshop facilitator and prides himself on delivering creative and inspiring workshops to land key insights for clients.

Stuart Knapman

Managing Director & Head of London

Stuart is a highly experienced researcher and strategist with both client and agency-side experience. His client-side roles included Head of Pan-BBC Research and Head of BBC Future Media Research.

Caroline Fletcher

VP & Head of Toronto

Caroline is a dynamic researcher and strategist with experience gained on both client and agency sides of the fence. She has held research roles at MTV, MuchMusic, and Rogers Communications before joining The Sound in 2011.

Kelli Johnson

VP & Head of Chicago

Kelli has spent her career uncovering the human stories of consumers and understanding the brands they love. Kelli sits on The Sound's management team and oversees the Chicago office.

Dave Rees

VP & Head of Film

An editor with over 16 years experience in the film industry. He has over 60 hours of network television under his belt including Showtime's 'The L Word,' USA Network's 'The Dead Zone,' and 'Andromeda.'

Brynn Harris

VP & Head of Analysis

As Head of Analysis, Brynn works with teams across our business, finding research narratives that move brands. Brynn specializes in identity formation and generational analysis (e.g. Gen Edge).

Harjot Bassra

VP & Head of Project Management

Harjot has over 10 years of experience in communications, publishing, and business management. She started her career as the publisher and editor of iStyle Magazine, a national print publication aimed at the South Asian diaspora in North America.

Our internal development

The Sound University is the name for our internal training program.
We take training and development so seriously that we are not even allowed to write this section of the website in an irreverent manner.

TSU features:

Intensive researcher training and certification (from beginner to advanced level)
Brand strategy and product innovation process development education
Guest-led presentations and workshops from some of the world’s leading branding and marketing thinkers
Off-site experiences designed to inspire us to think about the world in different ways

Just like in real university, you will try to doze off through lectures, fall in love with a fellow student, imbibe a range of things we do not endorse or approve of, and end up in massive debt (Sorry, couldn't help that...)

Some things you might want to know about us.