What BOO! does

BOO! is a privately held, Los Angeles-area qualitative brand research firm founded in 2002 by Mark Tall (Head BOO!) and Vallier Hardy. The firm specializes in ethnographic and creative qualitative research for enterprise brands, with a stated focus on uncovering "how and why" target audiences feel about brands, markets, and social media. Its client roster spans automotive (Hyundai, Toyota, Audi, Bridgestone), media (NPR, PBS), food and beverage (Starbucks, Panda Express, Nestle, Red Bull), technology (Microsoft, Sony, Acer), gaming (Activision, Wargaming), financial services (Visa), healthcare (Humana, Staar Surgical), and entertainment (Disney). The firm explicitly differentiates from traditional focus-group facilities by refusing list-based recruiting, professional respondents, and third-party facilities.

The firm's core technology is methodological rather than software: a proprietary four-stage in-house recruiting process, projective collage techniques, creative non-traditional research settings, online depth interviews, and curated private online communities. Project deliverables are produced by principals only (no junior researchers), and include strategic presentations and research documentary films produced through a 12-year partnership with FlowTownFilms (led by documentary filmmaker MoDMaN), which operates as BOO!'s adjacent film-production subsidiary. The firm has no app, no API, no disclosed integrations, and no digital product surface beyond its website.

Revenue is generated through project-based professional services engagements, with each project scoped and priced individually (pricing is not publicly disclosed). The go-to-market is sales-led and direct, relying on reputation, referrals, RFP responses, and a single website channel, supported by direct email ([email protected]) and phone ((310) 869-1047). Customer segments include both large enterprises with substantial research budgets and emerging brands on smaller budgets. The firm is 1–10 employees, has received no disclosed outside funding, and operates without channel partners aside from its FlowTownFilms alliance and informal referral relationships with unnamed quantitative research firms for projects requiring quantitative capability.

Name

BOO!

Legal name

Boo!

Website

https://boo-i.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2002

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Los Angeles

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

Offering type

Services

Revenue model

1. Brand Research Projects: Custom qualitative research engagements for brands. Each project starts with a blank sheet and tailored approach. Projects cover brand audits, positioning studies, consumer immersion, audience conversion analysis, and strategic brand development. Revenue is generated through project fees, likely structured as fixed-price engagements.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels2 records

Core offering

No source-backed information about the company's core offerings was provided in the input.

Product overview

BOO! is a creative brand research company offering a unified suite of qualitative research services. The core offering centers on ethnographic research combined with unique in-house recruiting capabilities and creative research techniques. The company provides depth interviews, curated online communities, and strategic presentations, with an integrated film production capability through its FlowTownFilms partnership. All services are delivered by principals with over 30 years of qualitative experience, emphasizing a non-traditional approach that includes projective collage techniques, thorough participant preparation, and five key principles: real, priming, comfort, context, and fun.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• FlowTown Films: The film arm of BOO!, led by documentary filmmaker MoDMaN, dedicated to telling the story of research in an engaging and compelling way.

Named customers21 records

Segments2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• FlowTownFilmscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFlowTownFilms is the film arm of BOO!, led by documentary filmmaker MoDMaN. They tell the story of the research in engaging, compelling ways. BOO! has maintained a 12-year partnership with FlowTownFilms for producing gorgeous research documentaries of any length, crafting insightful and engaging strategic films that present research findings.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Direct peers

• Kadence International: Global research consultancy offering qualitative brand and consumer research, including online communities and ethnographic work, for enterprise marketing clients.
• Hall & Partners: Global brand-focused insights consultancy delivering qualitative and strategic research to enterprise brands. Comparable to BOO! in targeting brand marketers with deep qualitative engagements and named-brand client rosters.
• Touchstone Research: Full-service market research company with strong qualitative research capabilities serving brand and product marketing teams. Comparable boutique-to-mid-scale positioning relative to BOO!.
• Illuminas: Insights and strategy consultancy focused on brand, customer, and employee research through qualitative and quantitative methods. Directly comparable to BOO! in qualitative depth and brand-client focus.
• Kelton Global: A boutique insights and strategy firm specializing in qualitative and creative brand research for major consumer brands. Highly comparable to BOO! on methodology, brand-client focus, and boutique delivery model.
• C+R Research: Full-service insights firm running qualitative and quantitative brand research for major consumer brands and agencies. Overlaps with BOO! in qualitative consumer insights work and brand-marketing audience.
• Directions Research: Independent research firm providing qualitative and quantitative brand and consumer research to enterprise clients. Comparable to BOO! in service mix and target buyer.
• Insights in Marketing: Consumer insights consultancy emphasizing qualitative and ethnographic research for major CPG, retail, and entertainment brands. Highly comparable to BOO! in methodology and customer profile.

Broad incumbents

• Ipsos: Global market research leader with extensive qualitative brand and ethnographic capabilities. Competes with BOO! for the same enterprise brand-research RFPs but at significantly greater scale and service breadth.
• PSB (Penn Schoen Berland): Large global brand and communications research firm offering qualitative and quantitative work for major brands. Overlaps with BOO! but operates at much broader scale, often as part of larger holding-company portfolios.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/boo-i

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Subsidiaries1 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 BOO!