What Provoke Insights does

Provoke Insights is a privately held, New York-based market research and brand strategy consultancy founded by Carly Fink in 2018 (per company history; firmographics state 2013). The firm sells custom primary research, brand strategy, and advertising effectiveness services to brand marketers, advertising agencies, government entities, and non-profits. Its core products include Primary Market Research (quantitative, qualitative, and ethnographic methods), Brand Strategy development, Advertising Research with the proprietary Advertising Optimizer Express tool, Brand Tracking and the Ecosystem Brand Tracker, Market Segmentation, Naming Research, Content Marketing & PR Research, Strategic Workshops, and a biannual Consumer Trends Research series covering 15 industries based on 1,500-respondent nationally representative surveys conducted twice yearly since Summer 2020.

The firm is differentiated by combining research execution with brand strategy in a single in-house team, allowing every engagement to move from data to strategic recommendation without handoff. Its go-to-market is sales-led direct engagement with enterprise clients, supplemented by channel partnerships with advertising agencies and the Radio Advertising Bureau (RAB), and a thought-leadership content engine (blog, newsletter, videos, biannual whitepapers) that has earned features in 100+ publications including USA Today, Forbes, Inc., and Mashable. Named enterprise clients span P&G, Bank of America, AIG, GSK, Dropbox, Penske, Andersen Windows, TEGNA, USPS, FDA, and the New York Blood Center.

Revenue is generated through two streams: project-based custom research engagements (professional services model) and recurring biannual consumer trends report subscriptions. Pricing is quote-based and not publicly disclosed. The firm holds no proprietary technology platform, no patents, and no disclosed external funding, operating as a bootstrapped consultancy with a small named team and offices in New York City and Ridgewood, NJ. The company is WBENC-certified as a Women's Business Enterprise (2026) and was recognized on Quirk's 10 Top Brand Research Companies list (2022).

Name

Provoke Insights

Legal name

Provoke Insights

Website

https://provokeinsights.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2018

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Provoke Insights is a New York-based market research and brand strategy consultancy that delivers custom primary research, advertising effectiveness studies, and biannual consumer trends reports to Fortune 500 brands, advertising agencies, government entities, and non-profits.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Market Research Services

NAICS

Marketing Research and Public Opinion Polling (54191), Marketing Consulting Services (541613), Advertising Agencies (541810)

SIC

Services-Engineering, Accounting, Research, Management (8700), Services-Advertising (7310), Services-Management Consulting Services (8742)

akta.pro primary industry

Market Research & Consumer Insights (BPAHALAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Audience Measurement & Media Research (Ratings, Attribution, Media Mix Insights) (MPAAALAM), Product & Innovation Research (Concept, Pricing, Packaging, Conjoint) (MPAAALAI), Social & Digital Insights (Social Listening, Online Community Research) (MPAAALAK), Content Strategy & Planning (BPAFAIAG)

Keywords

• Market research services
• Brand strategy consulting
• Advertising effectiveness research
• Consumer insights research
• Brand tracking services

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Custom Market Research Projects: Project-based consulting engagements for brand research, advertising research, and consumer insights. Deliverables include custom research reports, strategic recommendations, and ongoing tracking studies.
2. Trend Research Reports: Biannual consumer trends reports sold across 15 industries. Reports on brand loyalty, consumer behavior, and purchase decision drivers.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Provoke Insights is a full-service market research and brand consultancy that delivers custom primary market research (quantitative surveys, qualitative focus groups, in-depth interviews, ethnographic studies), brand strategy development, advertising research, brand tracking, segmentation, naming research, and biannual consumer trends reports. Engagements are project-based and tailored to client goals such as product launches, brand positioning, campaign optimization, and trend tracking across 15 industries. All research is managed in-house by a team that combines research expertise with brand strategy experience.

Product overview

Provoke Insights is a full-service market research firm and brand consultancy offering a comprehensive suite of services centered on primary market research, brand strategy, and advertising research. The core offerings include Primary Market Research (quantitative, qualitative, and secondary methodologies), Brand Strategy development, Advertising Research including the proprietary Advertising Optimizer Express tool, and Brand Tracking services with their Ecosystem Brand Tracker. The firm also provides specialized services such as Market Segmentation Research, Content Marketing & PR Research, Naming Research, Strategic Workshops, and biannual Consumer Trends Reports covering 15 industries. All services are delivered in-house by a team combining research expertise with brand strategy experience, designed to help organizations understand audiences, evaluate marketing initiatives, and identify growth opportunities.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Primary Market Research Custom primary market research services for advertising, branding, and content marketing initiatives, including quantitative surveys, qualitative focus groups, in-depth interviews, and ethnographic research for brand marketers and corporate leadership teams.
• Brand Strategy Brand strategy development grounded in consumer and market insight, including target audience identification, growth opportunities, brand positioning, and competitive advantages for organizations launching or strengthening brands.
• Advertising Research Research evaluating ad effectiveness, message clarity, media placement, and overall campaign performance to maximize advertising ROI for brand marketers and agencies.
• Advertising Optimizer Express Online quantitative tool that tests advertising including banner ads, print ads, OOH, and brochures. Determines how customers value different features and ranks the best combination for brands vs. competitors, testing up to 100,000 combinations for advertisers and brand marketers.
• Brand Tracking / Ecosystem Brand Tracker Brand health tracking that monitors brand performance vs competitors using metrics including business KPIs, social listening, media data, web and search analytics, industry trends, and PR research for enterprise brands.
• Market Segmentation Research Customer segmentation research using quantitative analysis and qualitative exploration to identify distinct audience groups based on shared motivations, behaviors, and needs for marketers seeking growth opportunities.
• Research for Content Marketing & PR Original research designed to support content marketing and public relations initiatives, helping brands differentiate themselves, generate media coverage, and produce shareable content.
• Naming Research Testing brand names through survey research to determine which names resonate with target audiences across dimensions such as likeability, quality perception, and memorability for brands launching new products or rebranding.
• Consumer Trends Reports (Summer/Winter) Biannual consumer trends research reports tracking shifts in consumer behavior, brand loyalty, and purchase decision drivers across 15 industries, based on nationally representative surveys of 1,500 Americans.
• Strategic Workshops Collaborative workshops including brand positioning sessions, audience and persona development, creative brief development, SWOT analysis, and customer journey mapping for marketing and brand leadership teams.

Quantifiable outcome

• Top publication features including USA Today, Forbes, Inc., Mashable
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers15 records

Segments8 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Radio Advertising Bureau (RAB)coreGTM or Marketing PartnerRAB partners with Provoke Insights to research key advertising categories. Provoke Insights conducts industry research that supports radio advertising strategies and helps RAB members understand consumer behavior in advertising contexts.
• Insights AssociationminorOthersMember of the leading professional organization for the market research industry, demonstrating commitment to industry standards and best practices.
• QRCAminorOthersMember of the Qualitative Research Consultants Association, connecting with other qualitative research professionals.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Others

• Touchstone Research:

Direct peers

• Kelton Global: Brand strategy and consumer insights consultancy serving Fortune 500 clients with research-to-strategy offerings. Highly comparable in service mix, client profile, and boutique positioning.
• The Harris Poll: One of the most established brand-tracking and consumer polling firms in the U.S., a direct competitor in brand research. Notably, founder Carly Fink previously held a research role at The Harris Poll, indicating close methodological overlap.
• Hall & Partners: Global brand and communications research consultancy combining quantitative research with brand strategy. Directly comparable hybrid research-strategy model targeting enterprise marketing clients.
• Savanta: Full-service market research agency offering brand, advertising, and consumer research to enterprise clients. Comparable mid-sized competitor with similar service portfolio.

Broad incumbents

• Ipsos: Global market research leader offering brand, advertising, and consumer research across all major verticals. Competes with Provoke on enterprise brand research engagements with significantly greater scale and resources.
• Mintel: Global market intelligence firm publishing syndicated consumer research across multiple industries including beauty, food, and retail. Comparable to Provoke's biannual trends reports but at much broader scale and with established subscription products.
• Kantar: One of the world's largest market research and brand-tracking firms, with deep enterprise relationships and proprietary data assets. Competes for the same Fortune 500 brand research dollars but at much larger scale.

Emerging players

• Zappi: Tech-enabled advertising and concept testing platform with automated consumer research workflows. Comparable advertising-effectiveness offering but with a self-serve technology model rather than bespoke services.
• System1 (formerly BrainJuicer): Advertising effectiveness research firm combining behavioral science with creative testing. Overlaps with Provoke's advertising research and Advertising Optimizer Express offerings.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/provokeinsights
• Facebookfacebook.com/provokeinsights
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/provoke-insights

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 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 Provoke Insights