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We build research and content programs for companies that want to understand their customers and move their markets.

Clientsarrow top right

With over 250 published studies and many more internal projects, our researchers have experience across the full range of industries, audiences, and geographies.

Case Studies arrow top right

Each piece of research is unique, but every Executive Summary engagement shares an uninterrupted connection between the business goal and the ultimate outcome.

Approach arrow top right

We take a proven, five-step approach to understanding the goal and business context to ensure the finished product matches our clients’ highest expectations.

Selected Clients

Case Studies

Ecommerce

Deep Audience Insight Drove a High-Impact Brand Relaunch

An ecommerce leader was preparing a brand relaunch. To get it right, they needed more than broad market signals. Direct insight from hard-to-reach audiences energized the rebrand with authentic language and a powerful understanding of pain/gain points. >>>
Martech

Turning Insight into Industry Impact: A Growth Story

Over multiple years, Executive Summary researchers have surveyed tens of thousands of executives worldwide, helping to build one of high-tech's largest thought leadership programs, and the client's best performing global lead generation activity. >>>
CPG / FMCG

A Strategy Reset, Grounded in the Market

A CPG/FMCG brand reset its sustainability strategy using targeted peer intelligence and expert advisory input. The research resulted in clear priorities, credible positioning, refined best practice, and a path to leadership defined by reliable guidance. >>>
Services

Getting on the Short List: CMO Assumptions vs. Consumer Opinions Generated Massive Brand Lift

A top-ten consultancy wanted to be to be considered by marketing leaders. They raised their unaided recall by an average of 14% in target countries and increased lead flow and conversion with a unique, multi-audience study. >>>
Martech

Consumer Insights Fuel Global Marketing and Sales

A global mar-tech company transformed large-scale consumer loyalty research into a multi-year growth engine with effects across the sales cycle, from higher lead rates, stronger sales engagement and expanded market reach to long-term visibility. >>>
Energy

Market Visibility Turned Into a 5-Year Roadmap for Growth

A multi-national energy company uncovered new ecommerce opportunities, prioritized investments with TAM/SAM/SOM modeling, and accelerated regional expansion strategies which became the foundation of their long term growth strategy. >>>
Martech

A Digital Experience Platform Broke into the Manufacturing Sector

To help the client enter into the manufacturing sector where it had limited visibility, Executive Summary researchers delivered a benchmarking study of digital transformation that successfully positioned the brand as a credible thought leader and partner. >>>
Pharma

A New GTM Approach: Expanding Healthcare Conversations Through Frontline Insight

A global technology company honed its go-to-market strategy in Healthcare with multi-modal research that examined how providers view their relationships with payors, insurers and pharmaceutical organizations. >>>
Retail

From Intelligence to Assets: Executive Insights Powered a Global Retail Strategy Playbook

A leading enterprise software company deepened its relationships with retail audiences by turning executive insight into a global benchmark study of holiday and omnichannel strategies, delivered through wide-ranging assets. >>>
Media

Mining Competitors’ Experience for a One-of-a-Kind Product Map

An international media brand needed to better understand the complicated question of how to monetize news-related ad inventory. In-depth interviews with industry executives helped them access hard to find competitive data and define a new strategy for success. >>>

Our Approach

Research starts with a hypothesis, but our work begins with your business. Whether you need to generate leads next quarter or define a five-year strategy, we want to understand the project goals in context. 

We dig in with stakeholders, competitive analysis, and desk research to interrogate assumptions and challenge conventional wisdom. Then we work with you to define success and the optimal process to achieve it.

We design research that reflects the complexity of decision making in the real world. Every study is tailored to your market, your audiences, and the language they use.

It’s essential that the ultimate goal informs the creative design phase. Each data point should have a defined purpose within the narrative or to inform strategy. The research must produce novel, reliable findings to be an engine of thought leadership or successful planning. 

Securing genuine data at scale is a growing challenge, due to survey fatigue and a steady increase in synthetic response. Executive Summary has preferred relationships with trusted panel partners to reach buyers and decision-makers shaping your market and minimize data costs.

Once in the field, the data is carefully monitored to ensure authenticity and the right mix of demographics, sectors and regions. We ruthlessly eliminate suspicious data to ensure that your research is based on real people in the target audience.

In research, there’s nothing more rewarding than a rich dataset. We analyze the response with state-of-the-art tools, and provide clients with instant access to qualitative highlights, crosstabs and dashboards.

Executive Summary researchers also bring over 100 years of combined experience in identifying strategic insight and narrative value.

Insight drives value when it’s well communicated, whether the target audience is your market or your C-Suite. We build narratives that combine data, qualitative depth, evocative imagery and sharp writing. The result is content that enrolls and influences decision-makers and supports market-facing teams.

Form follows function, and research enables a wide range of content from short-form video and event talks to podcasts and traditional reports. It can also power sales training, employee learning, and executive guidance. 

Deep Audience Insight Drove a High-Impact Brand Relaunch

Before taking the leap into a brand reset, the client wanted to hear from the people making high-stakes buying decisions: those who understood the platform’s strengths, pain points, and trade-offs from first-hand experience.

To get that level of insight, verified active users were sourced across industries and roles. A targeted survey focused on how real decisions were made in highly complex enterprise environments.

The survey revealed what matters to users, from performance expectations to integration challenges, giving teams a grounded view of priorities. That input was synthesized into clear, actionable personas directly tied to purchase and renewal drivers.

These user-validated personas became the foundation for the brand relaunch. They shaped messaging, product positioning, and go-to-market strategy, immediately giving the brand credibility the market recognized.

Why It Worked:

The survey was built for impact: Executive Summary researchers worked closely with the client’s marketing and technical teams to align on business objectives and launch priorities. Then, we designed a survey that delivered insight that was directly relevant to both.

Personas teams could run with: Clear, practical profiles were rooted in real purchase and renewal drivers, not theoretical segments.

Hard-to-reach voices, finally heard: The client had never been able to access these users at scale, the precise audience they’d been trying to reach and influence.

The study gave the brand a credible foundation for relaunch, aligning messaging with real user priorities and arming teams with clear, actionable insight that shaped go-to-market execution from day one.

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Turning Insight into Industry Impact: A Growth Story

What began as a single report has grown into a full program of research-led outputs, including reports, dashboards, analyst decks, webinars, podcasts, and wide-ranging video content.

It became a trusted benchmark for the client’s C-suite, a strategic resource for internal teams, and a value driver for external stakeholders. It fueled sales pipelines, shaped global conference narratives, and attracted high-profile media coverage.

Above all, the program has kept the brand firmly at the center of industry dialogue and decision-making. 

The results speak for themselves. In one recent year alone:

– Qualified marketing leads reached 85% of the annual KPI within six months

– Qualified leads in the Americas exceeded the full-year KPI by 135%

– Web traffic rose 38% year-over-year in the Americas and 36% in APAC

Why It Worked:

One research program led to multiple commercial wins: We designed the studies to meet a range of needs, from regional and industry insights to solution-level storytelling, creating commercial flexibility from a single data set.

We established a benchmark, not just a message: We earned trust from senior executives and credibility with tier-one media by aligning internal messaging with a broader market lens.

Real insights turned into powerful marketing: We activated insights across high-impact channels, including conference stages, leadership panels, long-form videos, and social cutdowns – reaching decision-makers where it mattered.

Evolution ensured relevance: With every iteration, we refined the survey structure and expanded content formats to match shifting business priorities and audience expectations.

The program became the client’s most commercially successful global thought leadership initiative, driving consistent lead generation, executive engagement, and sustained brand authority over more than a decade.

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A Strategy Reset, Grounded in the Market

Facing growing pressure to stake a claim in sustainable ecommerce, this global CPG had ambition but lacked the external insight to move decisively. Internal assumptions and pilots only got them so far. Leadership needed credible, market-tested input to refine priorities and support an ongoing investment.

Executive Summary researchers implemented a market-led insight effort, built on twenty in-depth interviews with senior leaders across FMCG, retail, tech, logistics, and government, coupled with a custom advisory panel anchored by respected academic experts. This group challenged internal thinking and turned ambition into strategic foresight.

The findings were distilled into a clear set of priorities and actions, delivered directly to the executive team including the CMO. The goal wasn’t to gather opinions. It was to test ambition against market reality and deliver a credible path to leadership in sustainability.

Why It Worked:

Revealed critical pressure points: Peer insights exposed blind spots, operational risks, and rising global standards, helping the team focus where it mattered most.

Closed expectation gaps: Identified disconnects between consumer expectations, industry actions, and measurement frameworks – creating urgency for change.

Delivered a clear path to leadership: A phased, pragmatic roadmap helped the brand take action quickly while building toward long-term advantage.

Strengthened global credibility: Insights from across sectors gave the strategy relevance and weight, helping the brand engage credibly with regional teams and external stakeholders.

The research gave leadership a reality check grounded in external insight, replaced assumptions with clear priorities, and equipped the brand to lead on sustainability with credibility and focus.

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Getting on the Short List: CMO Assumptions vs. Consumer Opinions Generated Massive Brand Lift

A top ten consulting firm wanted to become better known as a resource for CMOs. Working with their key stakeholders, Executive Summary researchers identified an opportunity to pit public opinion against the entrenched beliefs of senior executives.

The resulting studies were divided by industry, including Consumer Services, FSI, Healthcare, and Retail.

In addition to generating increased lead SQL volumes, the research fueled a campaign of site traffic, event talks, and social content that resulted in a Y-o-Y increase of 14% in top-of-mind awareness.

Why It Worked:

Powerful narratives broke through the noise: We identified tensions between public views and corporate CX investment as an opportunity to capture attention with eye-opening data.

Strong content supported every channel: You can’t expect every CMO to prefer a 20-page PDF. Research provided the intellectual and visual assets to spark interest across the spectrum of paid, earned, and owned marketing.

Tailored research resonated with decision-makers: Executives audiences want to understand their unique market and challenges. Sector-specific findings expanded the reach and increased the authority of the studies.

True thought leadership cast a powerful shadow: By gearing their outreach to the study findings, the client could begin new sales conversations from a position of strength rather than having to establish their marketing credentials.

The ‘shortlist’ is a state of mind: By combining the draw of the research with a year-long supporting campaign, the client radically improved its unaided recall with potential customers in an area where they were established but not yet well-known.

The combined studies gave the client a differentiated position in a crowded market, drove measurable improvements in brand recall and lead quality, and opened high-value conversations with marketing decision-makers across priority sectors.

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Customer Insights Fuel Global Marketing and Sales

Content marketing is often a one-and-done campaign. This company used research to break that pattern and extract maximum value over multiple quarters.

What started as a single report aimed at media coverage evolved into a full-scale, insight-driven content engine.

The proof is in the performance: a 25% increase in qualified leads and 30% more booked meetings, all underpinned by a research program driving everything from executive positioning to regional sales enablement.

Why It Worked:

Strategic research without the staffing headache: Executive Summary researchers and analysts acted as an embedded team. From designing the research to delivering the insights, we handled the heavy lifting so their internal teams could focus on turning insight into action.

High-impact content, not high-effort rework: This wasn’t a one-off asset. Each iteration of the research fed a full year’s worth of content, from content at scale to C-suite briefings and regional sales decks.

Speed to insight that actually moved the needle: Static PDFs don’t drive fit the needs of everyone in the pipeline. We complemented traditional reports with interactive dashboards, giving marketers and sellers direct access to segmented, real-time data. This led to a 25% bump in qualified leads in a single campaign, and sales teams armed with relevant talking points, not recycled messaging. Meetings increased by 30% because the content spoke to buyers’ needs.

Content that keeps working long after launch: Too often, content uptake peaks on launch day. Here, 40% of report downloads led to sales conversations – not clicks or shares, but real business outcomes.

This is an example of research-led marketing done right: scalable, revenue-focused, and built to make decision-makers pay attention.

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Market Visibility Turned Into a 5-Year Roadmap for Growth

A global energy management company was navigating ecommerce growth without a clear map. With sales spread across distribution partners, e-procurement platforms, pure-play sites, marketplaces, and direct channels, leadership lacked the data to prioritize investments or plan regional expansion with confidence. 

Step one was to build a comprehensive, fact-based view of the company’s ecommerce opportunity across geographies and every route to market. That meant sizing the Total Addressable Market (TAM), Serviceable Available Market (SAM), and Serviceable Obtainable Market (SOM) for each channel, region by region.

From there, Executive Summary researchers translated insight into action:

– Maturity models benchmarked the company’s position versus competitors.

– SWOT analyses revealed where the company was vulnerable – and where it could strike.

– A tailored investment framework showed exactly where to double down, where to hold, and where to exit.

Why It Worked:

Hunches replaced with hard numbers: TAM/SAM/SOM modelling exposed the real market size, allowing teams to focus investment where growth was possible, not just hoped for.

Speed without compromise: Internal knowledge was structured and leveraged, accelerating delivery without sacrificing depth.

Blind spots exposed: Underperforming channels and overlooked countries came into focus, challenging existing plans and uncovering untapped revenue streams.

Operationalized strategy: Tools like maturity models and investment frameworks enabled teams to act immediately, no translation needed.

Empowered regional leaders: With hard data in hand, local teams had the credibility to make the case for resources and lead with authority.

The company gained a concrete, five-year roadmap for ecommerce growth backed by data, giving global and regional teams the clarity and confidence to reallocate resources, pressure-test assumptions, and act on the markets that matter.

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A Digital Experience Platform Broke Into the Manufacturing Sector

A DXP needed a foothold in the manufacturing sector, an industry where it lacked visibility and credibility. The solution was a benchmarking study on digital transformation that positioned the brand as a serious partner in a market long dominated by legacy providers.

To uncover where manufacturers stood and what held them back, we surveyed senior executives, and conducted in-depth interviews with C-level leaders. The research revealed the structural barriers slowing transformation and identified the behaviors that separated digital leaders from laggards.

The result was a flagship report, supported by a targeted content series including webinars, articles, and blog posts. Together, these assets reinforced the insights and sustained engagement across the sales cycle.

Why It Worked:

Combined scale with executive insight: Quantitative survey data delivered credibility, while C-level interviews added strategic depth. The result was insight that worked in both boardroom and frontline sales conversations.

Turned benchmarking into a call to action: By highlighting real-world best practices, the content helped prospects see where they stood and what they needed to do next. It didn’t just inform; it motivated change.

Value across the funnel: The research fueled a connected set of assets, from the core report to webinars, articles, and sales tools, that kept prospects engaged from awareness through conversion.

The research gave the client a credible entry point into manufacturing conversations and equipped marketing and sales teams with the insight needed to open doors, build trust, and move opportunities forward.

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A New GTM Approach: Expanding Healthcare Conversations Through Frontline Insight

The client needed to develop a healthcare go-to-market strategy informed by the operational realities of clinical care. By identifying where pressure builds across provider workflows, we uncovered clear opportunities for the client’s solutions to deliver meaningful value.

Executive Summary researchers conducted targeted surveys of physicians, nurses, physician assistants, and dental professionals, uncovering daily friction points in care delivery and exposing how provider, payor, and insurer dynamics influence clinical decisions.

These operational challenges were connected to broader patterns in healthcare delivery, enabling the client to align its offerings with the actual needs of healthcare professionals, not assumptions or outdated personas.

Why It Worked:

Credible insight that stood up to scrutiny: Grounded in first-hand input from clinical professionals, the research delivered findings the client could use with confidence in high-stakes internal planning and external positioning.

Segmentation that unlocked commercial precision: Practitioner-level analysis revealed nuanced needs across roles, enabling teams to target messaging, prioritize product focus, and tailor engagement.

Strategic clarity on where to play: Instead of presenting raw data, we delivered a structured view of friction points and mapped them to specific growth opportunities.

Deliverables built for action: Executive presentations, planning decks, and interactive dashboards translated the insight into formats that supported real-time decision-making and long-term alignment.

The program equipped the client with a market-ready strategy based on real-world challenges and clear commercial pathways. Teams gained alignment, messaging became more precise, and engagement efforts were grounded in what healthcare providers actually needed.

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From Intelligence to Assets: Executive Insights Powered a Global Retail Strategy Playbook

A customer experience management platform wanted a research-led strategy that delivered credibility and commercial impact in the retail sector.

Through interviews with senior decision makers at premier brands around the world, we uncovered what drove results in holiday environments and identified where typical strategies failed.

The research revealed practical patterns across shoppertainment, loyalty models, and omnichannel execution, helping the client focus its commercial strategy and content efforts where they matter most.

We translated the intelligence into a set of strategic assets designed to perform across channels:

– A global benchmark report on holiday and omnichannel strategies

– Regional playbooks tailored to North America, EMEA, and APAC

– Executive summaries and case studies for sales and field teams

– Data-rich infographics to support internal and external storytelling

– Webinars, podcasts, and blog content to sustain post-launch engagement

Why It Worked:

Insight replaced assumptions: Executive input delivered specificity, credibility, and market relevance.

Assets were built for scale and flexibility: Each piece worked independently or as part of an integrated campaign.

Regional relevance amplified global impact: Local teams could deploy content that matched real market conditions without losing alignment.

Guidance was built for execution: Audiences walked away with actionable takeaways, not abstract theory.

Promotion was sustained, not short-lived: Strategic distribution extended content visibility well beyond the initial launch.

The brand established itself as a trusted strategic advisor by leading with research and showing deep understanding of retail realities. It shifted perception, built influence, and earned attention in a market flooded with flat messaging.

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Mining Competitors’ Experience for a One-of-a-Kind Product Map

One of the world’s largest media companies wanted to understand how other properties navigated the tricky challenge of monetizing their news ad inventory.

This was a case where highly targeted conversations were worth far more than more general survey or panel insights.

We found executives who had recently moved on from identified competitors and conducted lengthy interviews that fulfilled on the brief while honoring their non-compete agreements and comfort levels.

This qualitative study uncovered significant variations in approach and monetization frameworks while highlighting the role of brand and audience loyalty. It also alerted the client to the innovative ways in which competitors were using bespoke content sponsorships to ensure brand impact and safety.

To help the client communicate these findings across their international leadership and teams, we created a variety of strategic assets:

  • A global benchmark report summarizing findings
  • Regional breakouts tailored to North America, EMEA, and APAC
  • Short-form videos to help bring anecdotes to life and lend third-party authority
  • A presentation with detailed talk-track for meetings with senior leadership
  • A brief looking ahead to the 2-5 year future

The Outcome:

The media owner received strategic insight and tactical data they couldn’t assemble themselves. It supported the internal client’s case for action and acted as a catalyst for change in approach, investment and long-term planning.

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