The Wonderful Co. has formed its new marketing and insights team, part of Wonderful Agency, the company’s in-house, full-service advertising and marketing agency. The department is led by industry veteran Amy Snow, who serves as head of market research and consumer insights and reports to Wonderful Agency President Michael Perdigao.

A first of its kind, the truly hybrid research team will comprise respected researchers with both client-side and vendor-side experience across a wide range of categories. The team will collect and deliver creative and empirically sound consumer insights that influence decisions, drive change, and inspire The Wonderful Co.’s brands and campaigns to be among the most appealing in the world.

The Insights team will serve as the foundation of critical business strategies supporting Wonderful Agency success, brand development for a portfolio of leading and iconic brands, and macro business objectives for the company, including the important work undertaken in education, health and wellness, and philanthropy.

Snow will be charged with gathering and socializing the voice of the consumer, identifying and interpreting points of resonance, illuminating current and potential customer truths, anticipating consumer needs, and helping create culturally relevant and authentically compelling products and strategies.

“The Wonderful Company has had an amazing history of success with its impressive portfolio of brands,” said Snow. “What’s happening here matters from a branding, research and business standpoint to drive positive impact on our consumers’ healthy lifestyles and within the communities we operate. Our motto, ‘doing well by doing good’, goes beyond corporate social responsibility and authenticity and speaks to the heart of who we are as a company.”

Snow brings 25 years of experience creating insights-driven branding and strategy for some of the world’s biggest brands, including Google, Amazon, Uber, Disney, Facebook, Visa, Nike, Starbucks, and Microsoft, among others. Her humanistic philosophy is based on creating consumer-centric brands with strong empirical approaches, as well as a focus on building brand love. She has worked on several seminal brand launches and turnarounds, one of which won an Ogilvy Gold Award in 2015.

Joining Snow’s team will be professionals with cross-disciplinary backgrounds, for a truly holistic approach to answering strategic objectives. The team will be highly collaborative, focus practical cross-disciplinary knowledge across areas, and conduct research that’s truly forward-facing.

New team members include the following:

• Kate Hartzell, director of research and consumer insights, most recently served as senior vice president at Basis Research, running the U.S. office. Over the past decade, Hartzell has led global strategic research initiatives for a number of leading companies, including Starbucks, Disney, Toyota, Gap Inc., Sonos and Fitbit.
• Alec Bardzik, senior manager of strategic insights, brings integration to larger strategic initiatives, which will help define what differentiates The Wonderful Company and its brands from both an economic and a consumer standpoint. His background in agriculture and applied economics, and as a consultant at Deloitte, make him uniquely suited for the team’s new hybrid model. Bardzik joined Wonderful from Deloitte’s Strategy and Operations Consulting practice, where he worked on initiatives in the CPG and agribusiness space related to market expansion, growth strategy, supply chain optimization and corporate social responsibility.
• Erin Harumi Lee, manager of consumer insights, facilitates a more holistic understanding of consumers and brands through rigorous and empirically sound research gained from her time at Disney. She integrates that experience with knowledge gleaned through category insights from her tenure at Nielsen. Lee joins Wonderful from Disney ABC Television Group, where she was most recently a research manager. An experienced and trusted researcher, bringing both vendor-side and client-side experience in quantitative and qualitative research methods, Lee has particular experience in entertainment, technology, kids and family, and CPG.