The future is bright for market research in Australia. Close to two years after the acquisition of Direction First, our Australian alliance now fully rebrands to InSites Consulting Australia. So, locally ignited, globally fueled, we’re excited to brand the next chapter of growth.

From a one-woman consultancy founded by Erica van Lieven in 1997 to a powerful Sydney team in a global network. InSites Consulting Australia has built a strong reputation of delivering consumer insights with impact to brands down under.

“We started with a passion for insights, a symbol meaning bigger than 1 and a focus on the future. Direction. We grew up working with FMCG brands, finding better ways of doing research. Our passion for the future helped us connect with like-minded people in Australia and across the globe.” says Erica van Lieven, Managing Director InSites Consulting Australia and part of the Global Partner Board at InSites Consulting.

How it all started

In 2011, Direction First reached out to InSites Consulting to partner up and leverage off their online research communities, bringing this approach as a front-runner to the Australian market. After 6 years of collaborating, the partnership generated a 17% year-on-year growth for Direction First. Also, it exposed the synergies in quality standards, culture and values, leading up to the official acquisition of Direction First in 2017.

“We will still be able to deliver the flexible service of a small local agency but with the resources and capabilities of a global one. Locally ignited, globally fueled! The synergies we felt by collaborating were spot on and it’s amazing to see it all coming together.“, concludes Erica van Lieven.

And if one thing is evident from our great alliance, it’s that innovation runs in our DNA. Cos we’re constantly creating and incorporating new technologies, networks and solutions to ensure our clients get to the future first! Just recently, we were able to not only showcase such a great Australian case study, but even secured top honors at the AMSRS National Conference with our groundbreaking chatbot experiment with Nestlé Australia. The full story is available on our blog!

Hungry for more? Tune in for a trip down memory lane and discover the Direction First – InSites Consulting Australia story. Or get in touch with our Sydney team!