Emma Runciman

Emma was a nosey kid.

One of those children who never stopped asking why. It drove her parents mad, but what better background for founding a research agency?

Her background wasn’t in people-watching, though, it was in particle-watching. Before finding her way into consumer investigation, she worked in environmental research and consultancy. Analysing the content of carcinogenic benzene in soil samples and digging for information from councils and government agencies seemed like a natural progression from her academic background in geography.

Her background in empirical observation was a perfect if unconventional fit for consumer insight research – where she’d get to work with people instead of petrochemicals. It led her to a design and research agency in the Midlands, where she helped brands use research to discover the most powerful designs for their stores and displays.

This is when she got the idea for a practical, observation-based approach to research and testing. So she founded Think Say Do.