QRi Consulting

What QRi Consulting does

QRi Consulting (legal entity: Qualitative Research International (QRi) Consulting Ltd) is a London-based private limited qualitative research consultancy founded in 1993 (originally as CRAM International) and rebranded to its current form in 2014. The firm specializes in consumer psychology-based research for brands and organizations, serving clients across automotive, FMCG, leisure and lifestyle, health and wellbeing, luxury, technology, and non-profit sectors. Its primary customers are enterprise brand teams and research-driven organizations seeking insight into subconscious consumer drivers, with FutureBrand representing the most significant disclosed long-term client relationship since 2014.

The company's core technology is the QualiQuant® methodology, a registered-trademark framework that combines qualitative depth (through projective techniques and Extended Creativity Groups, or ECGs®) with quantitative measurement to surface and quantify emotional consumer responses. Specialized tools include Lovemarker® (a brand-loyalty diagnostic measuring love/respect dimensions), Sensations® (a synaesthesia-based tool for fragrance and flavour research), and the Inside the Consumer Mind™ approach. Computer vision capabilities — facial coding for micro-expression analysis and eye tracking for attention measurement — are applied as complementary research instruments, while facial coding and eye tracking are not the firm's primary differentiators. The portfolio also includes ESOMAR-awarded work in sensory research.

Commercially, QRi operates a project-based professional services model, delivering bespoke qualitative research engagements rather than subscription or platform revenue. Pricing is quote-based and not publicly disclosed. Recurring revenue is anchored by the annual FutureBrand Index, FutureBrand Country Index, and FutureBrand Consumer Index engagements, with additional income from one-off consumer brand, destination branding, and not-for-profit research projects. Marketing is conducted through thought leadership (LinkedIn, blog), ESOMAR industry participation, published papers, and the FutureBrand partnership itself. The firm is independently held with Simon Patterson as Founder and CEO and Debbie Whittick as Operations Director; headcount is reported at 1-10 employees.

Name

QRi Consulting

Legal name

Qualitative Research International (QRi) Consulting Ltd

Website

https://qriconsulting.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1993

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

QRi Consulting is a London-based qualitative research consultancy (founded 1993, 1-10 employees) that uses its proprietary QualiQuant® methodology — combining qualitative depth with quantitative measurement — to help enterprise brands, country brands, and non-profits uncover subconscious consumer drivers, with FutureBrand as its anchor long-term client since 2014.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Qualitative Market Research Services

NAICS

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

SIC

Services-Advertising (7310), Services-Management Consulting Services (8742)

akta.pro primary industry

Customer Experience (CX) & Voice of Customer (NPS/CSAT, Journey Research) (MPAAALAH)

akta.pro secondary industry

Creative Concepting & Campaign Development (BPAFAEAD)

Keywords

• Qualitative market research
• Consumer psychology research
• Brand perception research
• Projective research techniques
• Brand strategy consulting

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Custom Research Consulting: QRi Consulting provides bespoke qualitative research services to brands and organizations across multiple sectors. Projects include brand perception studies, consumer psychology research, and custom research engagements tailored to specific client needs.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

QRi Consulting is a London-based qualitative research consultancy that designs and executes bespoke consumer psychology research engagements for enterprise brands and organizations. Its core offering applies the proprietary QualiQuant® methodology, which combines the depth of qualitative insight with quantitative measurement, supported by specialized tools such as Lovemarker®, Sensations®, and ECGs® (Extended Creativity Groups), to reveal subconscious emotional drivers of consumer behaviour. Deliverables include custom brand perception studies, country brand research, sensory/fragrance research, and recurring annual indices such as the FutureBrand Index.

Product overview

QRi Consulting offers a unified portfolio of qualitative research services anchored by its proprietary QualiQuant® methodology, which uniquely combines the depth of qualitative insight with quantitative precision. The core offering includes Inside the Consumer Mind™ — an approach for uncovering subconscious consumer motivations — supplemented by specialized research tools including Lovemarker® (for brand loyalty assessment), Sensations® (for fragrance/flavour research), and ECGs® (Extended Creativity Groups). QRi produces recurring research indices including the annual FutureBrand Index (Global Top 100 company rankings), FutureBrand Country Index, FutureBrand Consumer Index, and regional reports such as the Latin America Country Brand Report, all powered by the QualiQuant® framework and advanced research technologies including facial coding and eye tracking.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• QualiQuant®: Pioneering methodology combining qualitative insight with quantitative measurement to explore and quantify emotional responses.
• ECGs® (Extended Creativity Groups)
• Lovemarker®
• Sensations®

Products and services

• Custom Qualitative Research Consulting Bespoke consumer psychology research engagements delivered to enterprise clients across FMCG, automotive, luxury, technology, leisure and lifestyle, health and wellbeing, destination branding, and non-profit sectors. Engagements are tailored to specific client needs, covering brand perception studies, emotional response measurement, sensory research, and consumer psychology insights.
• QualiQuant® Research Methodology Proprietary research methodology that combines the richness of qualitative insight with the precision of quantitative measurement, enabling brands to explore and quantify emotional responses for a deeper, measurable understanding of consumer behaviour and the factors that drive choice.
• Lovemarker® Diagnostic Trademarked diagnostic tool that evaluates the in-depth emotional relationship consumers have with brands, measuring mystery, sensuality, and intimacy dimensions through projective and enabling techniques to assess a brand's Lovemark status based on love and respect levels. Available at 3 diagnostic levels for brand strategy evaluation.
• Sensations® Sensory Research QualiQuant®-based research tool that uses the psychology of Synaesthesia to discover unconscious feelings about fragrance and flavour that are not accessible by other modes of research, creating rich emotionally-based descriptions and visual/verbal language for brand positioning in the sensory category.
• ECGs® (Extended Creativity Groups) Trademarked advanced projective research technique using Extended Creativity Groups to reveal the emotions and motivations that consumers often cannot articulate directly, supporting deeper psychological insight in consumer research engagements.
• FutureBrand Index (Annual Global Brand Perception Study) Annual global perception study conducted in partnership with FutureBrand since 2014, reordering PwC's Global Top 100 Companies by Market Capitalisation to reflect each company's brand affinity strength rather than financial strength. Uses QualiQuant® methodology and a global sample of over 3,000 informed professionals.
• Country Brand Index Global perception study ranking 75 countries based on brand perception, examining where people want to live, visit, invest in, and buy goods and services from, using QualiQuant® methodologies.
• FutureBrand Consumer Index Assessment of consumer packaged goods brands (with the U.S. 2024 edition covering 100 CPG brands) to reveal which recognisable and iconic favourites are best placed to grow in the short- and long-term.
• Latin America Country Brand Report Regional study interviewing frequent travellers across Latin American countries (15 countries in the 2017/2018 edition, 17 countries in the 2019/2020 edition) using QualiQuant® methodology to rank country brands in the region.

Quantifiable outcome

• Perception strength of Global Top 100 Companies increased by 10% since 2014
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability4 records

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• ESOMAR FoundationcoreGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 October 2018QRi Consulting collaborates with ESOMAR Foundation on qualitative research initiatives for not-for-profit organisations, including hosting webinars and providing research expertise. The company is also a proud sponsor of the ESOMAR Best Qualitative Paper – Peter Cooper Excellence Award, demonstrating commitment to advancing the qualitative research industry.
• FutureBrandcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2014QRi Consulting has been FutureBrand's global research partner since 2014, conducting annual FutureBrand Index studies. This long-standing partnership involves QRi providing independent research using their QualiQuant® methodology to reorder PwC's Global Top 100 Companies by brand perception strength rather than financial metrics. The collaboration spans multiple indexes including FutureBrand Index (company), FutureBrand Country Index, and Latin America Country Brand Reports.
• ManeminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2013QRi Consulting collaborated with Mane (flavour and fragrance company) on the Sensations® research tool development, resulting in the award-winning 'How Does Your Cappuccino Feel?' study that won the ESOMAR Congress Award for Best Case History in 2013.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/qri-consulting
• Xx.com/QRI_Consulting
• Facebookfacebook.com/277146079400692

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 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 QRi Consulting