Irrational Agency
Irrational Agency is a London- and Amsterdam-based behavioural science research consultancy founded in 2012 that applies proprietary methodologies including System 3, Narrative Qual, and Behavioural Conjoint to deliver consumer, pricing, and brand insights to enterprise clients across FMCG, healthcare, media, finance, and retail.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2012
- HeadquartersLondon, United Kingdom
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What Irrational Agency does
Irrational Agency is a behavioural science research consultancy founded in 2012 and headquartered in London, with a regional office in Amsterdam. The firm operates a proprietary methodological stack built around three pillars: System 3, a methodology that converts thousands of consumer narratives into a quantified map of associations and imagined future choices; Narrative Qual, a qualitative research approach borrowing from psychotherapy and semiotics to surface unconscious drivers of behaviour; and Behavioural Conjoint, an enhanced conjoint framework that embeds realistic context and time pressure to expose true decision drivers. A fourth offering, Hidden Stories, packages these methods into a quarterly syndicated research product tracking the UK's top 100 food brands across Sustainability, Wellbeing, and Value themes.
The company is organised as Irrational Agency Ltd., a private UK limited company with no disclosed external funding, operating with 11-50 employees. Revenue is generated through two primary streams: (1) custom research projects scoped around each enterprise client's commercial challenge (pricing, communications, brand positioning, innovation, customer journey), and (2) subscription-based syndicated reports via the Hidden Stories product. Projects are bespoke and delivered via direct enterprise engagement led by the senior team, including Founding Partner Leigh Caldwell, Managing Director Stephanie Shaarwi, Head of Survey Technology Simon West, and Head of Marketing Adam Warner.
The client base spans FMCG and consumer goods (Mondelez, McDonald's, Danone, Kingsford, Beam Suntory, Boots, Primark, ghd, Kimberly-Clark), healthcare and pharmaceuticals (including work across 23 of the top 25 global pharma companies), media/broadcasting (UKTV), finance and retail (Lloyds, Vodafone), and travel/hospitality and nonprofit (Intercontinental Hotel Group, Macmillan Cancer Support). Operational reach is documented across the UK, Netherlands, France, Spain, Poland, Russia, the USA, and Australia, with case study outcomes citing 13% market share uplift, 20% sales uplift measured by RCT, 17% revenue increase from pricing recommendations, and 200%+ revenue increases on struggling new products.
Irrational Agency firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Irrational Agency
- Legal name
- Irrational Agency Ltd.
- Website
- https://irrationalagency.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2012
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Irrational Agency is a London- and Amsterdam-based behavioural science research consultancy founded in 2012 that applies proprietary methodologies including System 3, Narrative Qual, and Behavioural Conjoint to deliver consumer, pricing, and brand insights to enterprise clients across FMCG, healthcare, media, finance, and retail.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Irrational Agency industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Market Research and Behavioural Science Consulting
- NAICS
- Advertising Agencies (541810)
- SIC
- Services-Advertising Agencies (7311)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Customer Experience (CX) & Voice of Customer (NPS/CSAT, Journey Research) (MPAAALAH)
Keywords
Where Irrational Agency is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- London
- HQ country
- United Kingdom
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices2 records
Markets served
Irrational Agency business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Custom Research Projects: Project-based consulting engagements where Irrational Agency builds custom research approaches around each client's specific commercial challenge. Projects cover narrative research, System 3 studies, and Behavioral Conjoint analysis for enterprise clients.
- Hidden Stories Syndicated Reports: Quarterly subscription-based syndicated reports providing ongoing insights on consumer trends (Sustainability, Wellbeing, Value for Money) with brand rankings for the UK top 100 food brands.
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels1 record
Marketing channels5 records
Irrational Agency product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Irrational Agency is a behavioural science research consultancy that helps major brands understand the unconscious stories and cultural narratives driving consumer choice. It sells custom research engagements built around proprietary methodologies—Narrative Qual, System 3 and Behavioural Conjoint—combined into bespoke projects that predict future behaviour, optimise pricing, and shape brand and communication strategy. It also offers Hidden Stories, a quarterly syndicated research subscription covering consumer trends such as sustainability, value and wellbeing.
Product overview
Irrational Agency is a behavioural science research consultancy offering a portfolio of proprietary research methodologies. Their core offerings consist of Narrative Qual (qualitative research using therapeutic interview techniques and semiotics), System 3 (their flagship proprietary method that maps consumer stories at quantitative scale to predict future behaviour), and Behavioural Conjoint (enhanced conjoint analysis with behavioural science and realistic decision contexts). They also provide Hidden Stories, a syndicated research report subscription covering consumer trends. These methodologies are often combined in client engagements, with System 3 providing strategic insight and Behavioural Conjoint enabling tactical decisions on pricing, features and communications.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Narrative Qual
Quantifiable outcome
- 13% year-on-year market share uplift for UKTV's alibi channel (best result in 10 years)
- +4 more outcomes
Companies that use Irrational Agency
Customer profileNamed customers19 records
Segments5 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Irrational Agency technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
AI capability6 records
Feature4 records
Irrational Agency partnerships and signals
Strategic signalScale indicators7 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Irrational Agency competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- System1: Behavioral science-led advertising and brand effectiveness research firm (acquired BrainJuicer). Directly comparable to Irrational Agency in applying behavioral science and implicit measurement to brand and consumer insight work; similar clientele and methodology positioning.
- Verve: UK-based market research agency combining quantitative and qualitative insight with cultural and behavioral understanding. Comparable specialist consultancy serving similar consumer-brand and healthcare clients, and explicitly cited as a former employer of Irrational Agency team members.
- Savanta: UK market research consultancy offering bespoke qual and quant research, brand tracking, and customer experience studies. Comparable boutique-mid research firm serving similar enterprise consumer-brand buyers; named as a training-ground employer of Irrational Agency staff.
- Mintel: Global market research firm specializing in consumer product intelligence, syndicated reports, and consumer insight. Directly comparable on the syndicated consumer-trends product layer (Hidden Stories) and overlaps on CPG/FMCG client base.
Broad incumbents
- Kantar: World's largest market research group with deep behavioral science practice (Kantar's Behavioral Science Practice, Lightspeed, Worldpanel). Broad incumbent offering portfolio-level services where Irrational Agency specializes in narrative and behavioral methods; former employer of Irrational Agency's Head of Survey Technology.
- Ipsos: Global market research and consumer insight firm operating across qualitative, quantitative, and behavioral science. Direct broad incumbent competing for the same enterprise consumer-brand RFPs; former employer of Irrational Agency's Managing Director.
- NielsenIQ: Global consumer intelligence and measurement firm serving FMCG and retail with retail measurement and consumer research. Broad incumbent covering the same enterprise CPG buyer that Irrational Agency targets with bespoke behavioral research.
- GfK: Global market research firm specializing in consumer goods, retail, and technology insight. Broad incumbent operating at the same enterprise client level with syndicated and custom offerings overlapping Irrational Agency's customer base.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Irrational Agency social profiles
Digital presenceIrrational Agency financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Irrational Agency leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles6 records
Irrational Agency funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Irrational Agency M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Irrational Agency
What does Irrational Agency do?
Irrational Agency is a behavioural science research consultancy that helps major brands understand the unconscious stories and cultural narratives driving consumer choice. It sells custom research engagements built around proprietary methodologies—Narrative Qual, System 3 and Behavioural Conjoint—combined into bespoke projects that predict future behaviour, optimise pricing, and shape brand and communication strategy. It also offers Hidden Stories, a quarterly syndicated research subscription covering consumer trends such as sustainability, value and wellbeing.
Is Irrational Agency a public or private company?
Irrational Agency is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Irrational Agency founded?
Irrational Agency was founded in 2012. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Irrational Agency based?
Irrational Agency is headquartered in London, United Kingdom, in the Europe region.
How does Irrational Agency make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. Custom Research Projects are the primary driver. The others are hidden Stories Syndicated Reports.
Who are Irrational Agency's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are System1, Verve, Savanta and Mintel. Broad incumbents are Kantar, Ipsos, NielsenIQ and GfK.
Does Irrational Agency have an API?
No public API is recorded for Irrational Agency.
What industry is Irrational Agency in?
Irrational Agency's product category is Market Research and Behavioural Science Consulting. Its primary akta.pro industry code is MPAAALAH, Customer Experience (CX) & Voice of Customer (NPS/CSAT, Journey Research). Its NAICS code is 541810 and its SIC code is 7311.