What Clarteza does

Clarteza is a Chicago-based innovation consultancy, founded by Mag Retelewski, that provides consumer insights, brand strategy, and innovation services to Fortune 500 consumer packaged goods companies and mid-sized brands. The firm's stated operating premise is to fuse artificial intelligence, innovative research methods, and curated technologies to translate consumer data into actionable business outcomes. Its service portfolio spans consumer insights research, innovation strategy, brand strategy consulting, shopper insights, communication evaluation, and experiential marketing campaign assessment, supported by a flexible agency model that scales project teams up or down depending on client needs.

The firm's technology stack combines third-party AI tools with proprietary methodology. Key components include: the Fusion Research Methodology, which pairs System 1 (unconscious) and System 2 (cognitive) consumer processing; Natural Language Processing for open-ended text analysis; Prevue predictive visual modeling for shelf and packaging noticeability assessment; and micro-facial expression analysis software developed in collaboration with MIT Lab and grounded in Paul Ekman's foundational emotion research. These tools operate alongside a client-specific Clarteza Product Portal used for competitive landscape analysis. Clarteza also operates a sub-brand, Workshops by Design, which delivers innovation workshops led by team members with improv facilitation backgrounds.

Clarteza generates revenue through project-based consulting engagements and research studies ranging from short-term clarity reports (approximately four weeks) to comprehensive multi-country studies (eight to twelve weeks). The firm does not publicly disclose pricing, operating on quote-based engagements tailored to client scope. Client acquisition occurs through direct sales, professional networking, referrals, and thought leadership content published through the company's blog, LinkedIn presence, and case studies. The company claims to have served hundreds of brands globally across the U.S., Europe, Asia, Latin America, and Africa, including multinational CPG clients such as Nestlé, S.C. Johnson, Purina, The Honest Company, Blue Diamond Growers, Dairy Farmers of America, Whole Foods Market, Coffemate, Dolce Gusto, and Similac.

Name

Clarteza

Legal name

Clarteza

Website

https://clarteza.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2012

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Clarteza is a Chicago-based innovation consultancy that delivers AI-augmented consumer insights, brand strategy, and innovation workshop services to Fortune 500 CPG multinationals and mid-sized brands across North America, Europe, Asia, Latin America, and Africa.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Management Consulting (Consumer Strategy & Innovation)

NAICS

Marketing Consulting Services (541613), Other Management Consulting Services (541618), Marketing Research and Public Opinion Polling (541910)

SIC

Services-Management Consulting Services (8742), Services-Engineering, Accounting, Research, Management (8700)

akta.pro primary industry

Customer, Marketing & Sales Consulting (BPAHACAG)

akta.pro secondary industries

Customer Churn, CLV & Retention Intelligence (HDAAAHAC), Personalization, Testing & Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) (BPAFAFAG)

Keywords

• Consumer insights research
• Innovation consulting
• Brand strategy advisory
• Consumer strategy consulting
• Market research services

Headquarters

HQ city

Chicago

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations

Revenue model

1. Innovation Consulting & Research Services: Clarteza generates revenue through custom consulting engagements and research projects. The company offers services including consumer insights, market research, brand strategy, innovation workshops, and strategic advisory. Projects vary in size and complexity, ranging from short-term assessments (1-2 weeks) to comprehensive multi-country studies (8-12 weeks). The agency model is flexible and scalable, allowing clients to engage as needed.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Clarteza is a boutique innovation consultancy that delivers consumer insights research, innovation strategy, and brand strategy services to Fortune 500 and mid-sized consumer-facing companies. The firm combines AI-powered research tools (Natural Language Processing, micro-facial expression analysis, and predictive visual modeling) with psychology, neuroscience, and design thinking methodologies through a flexible agency model that scales to client needs.

Product overview

Clarteza is an innovation consultancy that operates as a single integrated service offering rather than a platform-plus-modules architecture. The company provides consumer insights research and innovation strategy services, grounded in psychology, neuroscience, and design thinking methodologies. Their core offerings include proprietary research approaches (Fusion Research Methodology, Clarity Report), AI-powered analysis tools (Prevue Visual Modeling, Micro-facial AI Analysis, NLP-based text analysis), and facilitation services (Workshops by Design). The services work together as an integrated engagement model where research methodologies inform strategic recommendations, AI tools provide predictive and evaluative capabilities, and workshops enable co-creation with clients. Clarteza also maintains a proprietary client-specific tool called the Clarteza Product Portal for competitive analysis and innovation tracking.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Clarteza: Primary innovation consultancy brand focusing on consumer insights, brand strategy, and innovation services
• Workshops by Design

Products and services

• Consumer Insights Research Primary research services combining qualitative interviews, quantitative surveys, ethnographic observation, and behavioral science techniques to uncover consumer needs, motivations, and hidden barriers to product adoption. Targeted at Fortune 500 and mid-sized consumer-facing companies.
• Innovation Strategy Consulting Strategic consulting services focused on driving growth through deep consumer insights grounded in psychology, neuroscience, and design thinking. Helps Fortune 500 and mid-sized companies develop strategies that spark innovation and unlock market potential.
• Brand Strategy Consulting Strategic consulting to help brands develop and refine their positioning, messaging, and communication strategies based on consumer insights and market analysis.
• Shopper Insights Research Research services focused on understanding the shopper journey and in-store behavior, including evaluation of product placement, shelf presence, and factors impacting purchase decisions at the point of sale.
• Workshops by Design Interactive workshop programs designed to help teams learn new skills, gain new perspectives, and solve problems. Includes the 'Innovation by Design' workshop experience that guides clients through the innovation process using design thinking principles and improv facilitation, offered in-person and virtually.

Quantifiable outcome

• Multi-dimensional research results spanning AI predictive, unconscious, and conscious processing of the brain
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers18 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability6 records

Feature4 records

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• NielsenIQ: Global consumer measurement and analytics company serving CPG manufacturers and retailers. Overlaps Clarteza's CPG-focused consumer insights work but dominates in retail measurement data and syndicated consumer panels that a boutique cannot replicate.
• Ipsos: One of the largest global market research firms serving CPG and consumer brands. Comparable to Clarteza in custom consumer insights and innovation research but with much broader portfolio and global infrastructure.
• Kantar: Global market research and consulting giant with deep CPG expertise. Overlaps Clarteza's consumer insights and brand strategy work but operates at vastly greater scale with syndicated data, panels and technology platforms.

Direct peers

• Hall & Partners: Brand and communications insights consultancy serving global CPG and consumer brands. Comparable to Clarteza in delivering brand strategy and consumer insight engagements for large multinational clients.
• Mintel: Global consumer research and insights firm publishing syndicated CPG and consumer trend reports. Directly comparable to Clarteza as both serve CPG innovation teams with consumer insights, but Mintel operates at significantly larger scale with syndicated data products.
• The Hartman Group: Boutique-style consumer insights consultancy focused on CPG and consumer culture. Closely comparable in size and positioning to Clarteza, with a similar emphasis on qualitative and cultural consumer research for major brands.
• Kelton Global: Insights and strategy firm serving consumer brands with custom research, brand strategy and innovation support. Directly comparable to Clarteza's CPG-focused custom insights and innovation consulting.
• HumanEight (formerly Discover Insights): Consumer insights consultancy combining human-centered research with behavioral science and AI. Closely comparable to Clarteza in the integration of AI/NLP and behavioral science into consumer research deliverables.
• Lieberman Research Worldwide: Consumer insights firm offering qualitative, quantitative and neuroscience-based research. Comparable to Clarteza's blend of custom research, consumer insights and psychology-driven methodology for brand clients.
• PSB Insights: Full-service insights consultancy providing qualitative and quantitative research for CPG and consumer brands. Comparable to Clarteza in delivering custom consumer insights, market research and brand strategy work for enterprise clients.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/clarteza
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/clarteza
• Facebookfacebook.com/Clarteza

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Clarteza