What Trender Research does

Trender Research is a private, founder-owned consultancy founded in 2007 and headquartered in Westford, Massachusetts. The firm provides research, strategy, and advisory services exclusively to the Media & Entertainment industry, with CEO and Principal Consultant Brian Mahony serving as the lead engagement principal. Its service portfolio spans nine core offerings: strategy consulting, market research, thought leadership, content distribution, business development, content creation, strategic advisory, expert witness work, and interim management. Clients include both startups and large enterprises such as NBCUniversal, Amazon, Verizon, IMAX, Intel, Ericsson, Siemens, Omnicom, and Akamai, with project scopes ranging from research and go-to-market planning to operational interim roles.

The firm operates a community-led go-to-market model anchored on the OTT Executive Community, a 50,000+ member network of senior executives spanning nearly every major M&E company worldwide, with geographic distribution of 55% North America, 30% EMEA, 10% Asia, and 5% Rest of World. The OTT Executive Podcast, hosted by Mahony, functions as a thought leadership vehicle that supports top-of-funnel demand generation alongside trade show presence, owned magazines, newsletters, social media, and meet-ups. Revenue is generated through custom, project-based professional services engagements rather than any standardized software or SaaS offering; there is no proprietary technology platform, API, or productized IP disclosed.

Trender Research is bootstrapped with no disclosed institutional funding, no parent company, and no M&A activity. The company is led by a single named executive (Mahony) with a network of contract consultants that can be "rallied" for specific projects, and claims an average 20x ROI for clients across 70+ completed engagements over its 20-year history. Its core economic asset is the OTT Executive Community, which functions simultaneously as a research input, a distribution channel, and a customer-acquisition engine for the underlying consulting practice.

Name

Trender Research

Legal name

Trender Research

Website

https://trenderresearch.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2007

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Trender Research is a founder-owned Media & Entertainment consultancy founded in 2007, delivering strategy, research, content distribution, and advisory services to enterprise and startup clients through a 50,000+ member executive community led by CEO Brian Mahony.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Management Consulting — Media & Entertainment

NAICS

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

SIC

Services-Management Consulting Services (8742), Periodicals: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2721)

akta.pro primary industry

Custom Market Research (Ad Hoc Studies, Segmentation, U&A) (MPAAALAC)

akta.pro secondary industries

Industry & Sector Research (Syndicated/Custom) (BPAHALAE), Syndicated Market Research (Panels, Omnibus, Tracker Studies) (MPAAALAB), Business, Finance & Industry Trade Magazines (MPAJAEAM)

Keywords

• Media entertainment consulting
• Market research services
• Strategic advisory services
• Content distribution consulting
• Thought leadership programs

Headquarters

HQ city

Westford

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Consulting Services: Trender Research generates revenue through multiple professional services including strategy consulting, research services, thought leadership programs, content creation, strategic advisory, expert witness services for M&E IP disputes, interim management roles, and business development support. Projects range from strategy, research, business development, marketing, and thought leadership to advisory, investing, and expert witness roles.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Trender Research is a Media & Entertainment industry consultancy that sells custom, engagement-based advisory services — including strategy, market research, thought leadership, content distribution, business development, content creation, strategic advisory, expert witness, and interim management — to enterprise M&E companies and start-ups. The firm supplements its consulting practice with a 50,000+ member OTT Executive Community and the OTT Executive Podcast, which together act as both a research asset and a demand-generation channel for client engagements.

Product overview

Trender Research is a consulting firm providing expert research and consulting services to the Media & Entertainment industry. Rather than a unified software platform, the company offers a portfolio of consulting service modules including Strategy, Research, Thought Leadership, Content Distribution, Business Development, Content Creation, Strategic Advisory, Expert Witness, and Interim Management. These services are delivered by CEO Brian Mahony and a network of experienced consultants. The company also operates the OTT Executive Community (a 50,000+ member professional network) and produces the OTT Executive Podcast as thought leadership vehicles that complement its consulting offerings. The services are designed to help clients discover, understand, and capitalize on opportunities in the fast-moving M&E industry.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• OTT Executive Community: A 50,000+ member executive-level community in the Media & Entertainment industry, led by Brian Mahony as President.

Products and services

• Strategy Consulting
• Research Services
• Thought Leadership Programs
• Content Distribution Services
• Business Development Services
• Content Creation Services
• Strategic Advisory Services
• Expert Witness Services
• Interim Management Services
• OTT Executive Community
• OTT Executive Podcast

Quantifiable outcome

• Averaging over 20 times ROI for clients
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers34 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights2 records

Direct peers

• Parks Associates: Parks Associates is a market research and consulting firm focused on consumer technology, broadband, and media/entertainment. Highly comparable to Trender Research in serving M&E and OTT clients with custom research, syndicated reports, and industry events.
• The Diffusion Group (TDG Research): TDG Research is a boutique research and advisory firm focused on OTT streaming, cord-cutting, and the future of television. Directly comparable as a specialist M&E/OTT research and consulting firm targeting overlapping executive audiences.
• Hub Entertainment Research: Hub Entertainment Research specializes in consumer behavior research across the media, entertainment, and advertising ecosystem. Comparable in methodology (consumer-behavior insights) and end-clients (broadcasters, streamers, advertisers) to Trender Research.
• Digital TV Research: Digital TV Research is a specialist research firm focused on digital TV, OTT, and streaming forecasts worldwide. Closely comparable to Trender Research's OTT/streaming-focused research and advisory practice.
• Magid: Magid is a research-driven consulting firm with deep media, entertainment, and consumer-behavior expertise. Comparable to Trender Research in methodology, vertical focus, and engagement of senior M&E executives.
• Activate Consulting: Activate is a strategy consulting and advisory firm focused on technology, media, and entertainment. Comparable to Trender Research in serving M&E strategy, research, and thought-leadership needs of senior executives.

Broad incumbents

• Frost & Sullivan: Frost & Sullivan is a large global research and consulting firm covering multiple industries including media and entertainment. Overlaps with Trender Research in syndicated and custom M&E research, but operates at much greater scale across verticals.
• Omdia: Omdia (formerly IHS Markit technology research) is a broad incumbent covering media, entertainment, and telecom research. Comparable to Trender Research in M&E/OTT coverage, but with a much larger analyst base and enterprise research portfolio.
• IDC: IDC is a global market intelligence and advisory firm that covers media, entertainment, and digital content as part of a much wider technology research practice. Comparable as an enterprise research and advisory competitor, though far broader in scope.
• SNL Kagan (S&P Global): SNL Kagan, now part of S&P Global, provides media, communications, and entertainment research and forecasting. Overlaps with Trender Research's M&E coverage but operates at much larger scale and with syndicated data products.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/TrenderResearch
• Facebookfacebook.com/profile.php
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/trender-research-inc.

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

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 Trender Research