Engagious

What Engagious does

Engagious is a privately held, Portland, Oregon-based research and message refinement consultancy founded in February 2018 through the merger of Dialsmith and Presentation Testing. The firm specializes in testing and refining business, political, and issue-advocacy messaging using a dial testing methodology grounded in behavioral science and social psychology. Its core technology is the Perception Analyzer Online (PAO) tool, licensed via the Dialsmith partnership, which captures moment-to-moment quantitative feedback on videos (speeches, debates, ads) through a zero-to-100 slider with readings taken from every respondent every second, typically conducted in combination with online focus groups via Zoom and in-depth interviews.

Engagious generates revenue through customized project-based consulting engagements spanning approximately 6-8 weeks, complemented by speaking engagements delivered by President Rich Thau. Projects typically produce deliverables such as messaging platforms, "what to say and not say" matrices, elevator speeches, detailed reports, and multimedia presentations. Pricing is quote-based and not publicly disclosed. The firm serves large corporations, trade associations, advocacy groups, political campaigns, and government leaders across use cases including advertising and media testing, advocacy and public policy, corporate and investor communications, sales presentations, financial messaging, and direct response optimization. Named clients include APCIA, International Franchise Association, ClearPath Foundation, Mutual of Omaha, Agora, NewMarket Health, Atlantic Coast Brands (Keranique), and Google NEST.

In parallel with its commercial work, Engagious operates two flagship voter research programs: the Swing Voter Project (monthly focus groups with swing-state voters since 2019, in partnership with NPR and Sago) and the Deciders Project (quarterly focus groups on 2024-2026 election cycles, in partnership with NBC News, Syracuse University's Institute for Democracy, Journalism and Citizenship, and Sago). These programs serve both as recurring content-marketing engines driving earned media and as proof points of methodological credibility for commercial engagements. The firm operates as a B2B professional services business with a sales-led, direct-engagement go-to-market model and a team of 1-10 employees.

Name

Engagious

Legal name

Engagious

Website

https://engagious.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2018

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Engagious is a Portland-based message refinement consultancy founded in 2018 that uses dial testing, behavioral science, and qualitative research to test and refine messaging for Fortune 500 corporations, trade associations, political campaigns, and advocacy groups, and operates the Swing Voter and Deciders voter research programs with NPR and NBC News.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Market Research and Message Testing Services

NAICS

Marketing Research and Public Opinion Polling (54191), Marketing Research and Public Opinion Polling (541910)

SIC

Services-Advertising Agencies (7311), Services-Advertising (7310)

akta.pro primary industry

Brand & Advertising Research (Brand Health, Copy Testing, Campaign Effectiveness) (MPAAALAG)

akta.pro secondary industry

Attribution, Measurement, Analytics & Incrementality (BPAMALAF)

Keywords

• Message testing services
• Market research consulting
• Dial testing methodology
• Messaging refinement
• Focus group research

Headquarters

HQ city

Portland

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

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. Research-Driven Consulting Services: Customized research and message refinement projects for corporate, advocacy, and political clients. Projects typically include deliverables such as messaging platforms, 'what to say and not say' matrices, elevator speeches, detailed reports, and multimedia presentations. Typical project duration is 6-8 weeks.
2. Speaking Engagements: Rich Thau offers speaking services for events where he shares swing voter insights and research findings directly with audiences.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Engagious is a message testing and refinement consultancy that combines research, behavioral science, social psychology, and storytelling to solve messaging challenges. The firm uses proprietary dial testing methodology, including the Perception Analyzer Online (PAO) tool, along with focus groups and in-depth interviews to uncover what target audiences truly think and measure moment-to-moment emotional responses. Projects typically span 6-8 weeks and produce messaging platforms, 'what to say and not say' matrices, and tailored communication strategies for corporations, trade associations, advocacy groups, and political campaigns.

Product overview

Engagious is a research and message refinement consultancy that offers a unified platform of qualitative and quantitative research services. The core offering is Research-Driven Solutions, which combines moment-to-moment dial testing, surveys, and in-depth interviews to test and refine business and issue-advocacy messaging. Key delivery mechanisms include Online Dial Testing using the proprietary Perception Analyzer Online (PAO) technology, supplemented by specialized vertical services — Financial Message Testing, Direct Response Message Testing, Media & Streaming Testing, Advocacy & Public Policy, Ad Testing, Corporate & Investor Communications, Sales Presentations, and Product Marketing. The company also operates flagship research programs including the Swing Voter Project (monthly focus groups with Biden-2020/Trump-2024 voters, in partnership with Sago and NPR) and The 2026 Deciders (quarterly focus groups with pivotal voting blocs, in partnership with Sago, Syracuse University, and NBC News), along with Rich Thau speaking engagements. The portfolio is held together by dial testing methodology informed by behavioral science and social psychology.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Quantifiable outcome

• 10% revenue increase for Agora's NewMarket Health
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers9 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• SagocoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 February 2024Sago (world's largest data collection company) partners with Engagious for voter focus group recruitment and qualitative/quantitative research support. The partnership enables monthly online focus groups with key voting blocs for the Deciders and Swing Voter Projects.
• Syracuse University's Institute for Democracy, Journalism and CitizenshipcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 February 2024Academic partnership for the Deciders Project, providing research credibility and institutional support for voter focus group research conducted in partnership with NBC News.
• NBC NewscoreGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 February 2024NBC News is the primary media partner reporting on the 2024-2026 Deciders Project, providing national media coverage for Engagious's voter research findings.
• AxioscoreGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 September 2019Axios partnered with Engagious to release key findings from persuadable voters focus groups, including reports on Ohio swing voters.
• NPR (National Public Radio)coreGTM or Marketing Partner · 12 March 2019NPR is the primary media partner for the Swing Voter Project, covering focus group findings first before other news organizations. CNN also airs snippets from groups on Inside Politics.
• Focus Pointe GlobalcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 12 March 2019Initial partner in the Swing Voter Project launch in 2019, collaborating on focus group research methodology.
• DialsmithcoreTechnology or Integration · 27 February 2018Dialsmith merged with Presentation Testing to form Engagious. Dialsmith provides Perception Analyzer technology, which Engagious uses for dial testing research methodology.
• ROKK SolutionsminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 27 February 2018Listed as a strategic partner, providing additional research and consulting capabilities for client projects.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Public Opinion Strategies: POS is a leading Republican polling and research firm conducting voter message testing, focus groups, and survey research for political and corporate clients — directly comparable to Engagious's Swing Voter Project on the opposite end of the political spectrum.
• Hart Research Associates: Hart Research Associates is a leading progressive polling and message-testing firm conducting focus groups, dial tests, and survey research for political and corporate clients — closely comparable methodology and client overlap with Engagious's advocacy practice.
• ROKK Solutions: ROKK Solutions is a public affairs and message-testing firm specializing in advocacy and issue campaigns — Engagious lists ROKK as a strategic partner, but their services and client base around public affairs messaging are directly overlapping.
• System1 (formerly BrainJuicer): System1 is the closest direct peer — an ad-effectiveness research firm using emotion and intuition-based measurement (Fame, Feeling, Fluency framework) to test creative and messaging, mirroring Engagious's behavioral-science approach to message refinement for advertisers and brands.
• Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research: GQR is a Democratic political research and consulting firm running focus groups and message testing for political campaigns and advocacy clients — a niche peer with directly comparable methodology to Engagious's Swing Voter Project and issue advocacy work.
• Ace Metrix (iSpot.tv): Ace Metrix (now part of iSpot.tv) provides ad creative effectiveness scoring through large-scale second-by-second viewer response measurement — a methodology directly comparable to Engagious's dial testing approach to quantifying moment-to-moment ad engagement.
• Maru/Matchbox: Maru/Matchbox provides custom market research and message testing through online panels and qualitative methods, serving corporate and brand clients — a comparable mid-sized competitor in ad effectiveness and message refinement services.

Broad incumbents

• Kantar Millward Brown: Kantar Millward Brown (Link) is the global leader in brand and advertising effectiveness research, including copy testing and campaign evaluation. It competes broadly with Engagious in the ad testing category but serves a much wider portfolio of services and geographies.
• Ipsos: Ipsos is a top-3 global market research firm offering ad testing, brand research, public opinion polling, and qualitative research — overlapping with all of Engagious's service lines but as part of a much broader portfolio and at significantly larger scale.
• Nielsen: Nielsen is a global measurement and data analytics leader in audience measurement, consumer insights, and advertising effectiveness — broadly overlapping with Engagious in media/streaming testing and ad effectiveness, but operating at massive scale.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UC6TzxNr4w6bSfhLLPWV-V6Q
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/engagious
• Xx.com/engagious
• Facebookfacebook.com/engagious

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 Engagious