What The Good Side does

The Good Side is an independent cultural insights, strategy, and creative studio headquartered in London at Mare Street Studios. Founded in 2016, the firm operates with a stated team of 18 people and serves consumer brands, charities, museums, government bodies, and challenger financial-services clients across the UK, USA, Brazil, Germany, Japan, India, and Saudi Arabia. Its offering is organised around three integrated practices: Audience + Cultural Insight Services (semiotics, ethnography, social listening, audience segmentation, qualitative and quantitative research), Human Centred Strategy Services (brand positioning, campaign strategy, narrative change, purpose consultancy), and Visual Storytelling Production Services delivered through a wholly-owned subsidiary, The Good Side Productions (documentaries, insight films, podcasts, digital content). The Good Collective operates as a sub-brand and curated network of 16-25 year-old creatives (including Forbes 30 under 30 winners and National Theatre playwrights) that provides co-creation services across five structured engagement models.

The business is a professional-services consultancy generating revenue through project-based and retainer engagements with enterprise and non-profit clients, sold via direct outreach, the company website, email enquiries, and CEO-led Calendly booking. Pricing is not publicly disclosed. There is no proprietary technology platform; the firm sells human expertise rather than software. Co-founders Saul Parker (CEO) and James Lewis (Head of Production) remain with the company, alongside a Managing Director, three Directors, two Associate Directors, and a research and production bench.

Notable client engagements include Duolingo (Gen Z brand strategy), Movember Foundation (a five-year relationship underpinning a global masculinities initiative that triggered a £6.5m harm-reduction commitment in 2025), Channel 4, Sony Music/Ministry of Sound Records, the V&A Museum, Human Dignity Trust (whose A Better Place documentary screened at 57 festivals and supported passage of hate-crimes legislation in Seychelles), the UK National Citizen Service Trust, and an unnamed challenger bank. The firm is B Corp certified and was awarded the MRS Grand Prix for Social Impact and MRS Best Applications of Research in 2023, followed by an MRS Cultural Insights Award and Telly Awards Gold and Silver in 2024. No external institutional investment or funding rounds are disclosed.

Name

The Good Side

Legal name

The Good Side

Website

https://thisisthegoodside.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The Good Side is a London-based independent cultural insights, strategy, and creative studio that combines audience research, brand strategy, and visual storytelling to serve consumer brands, charities, museums, and government clients globally.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Brand and Cultural Insights Consultancy

NAICS

Other Sound Recording Industries (512290)

SIC

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

akta.pro primary industry

Cause/Sustainability & Purpose-Driven Creative Agencies (MPAAAAAL)

akta.pro secondary industries

Content Studio & Creative Resourcing (In-house/Embedded Teams) (BPAFAIAJ), Creator Content Production & Co-Creation Studios (BPAFAHAD)

Keywords

• Cultural insights consulting
• Brand strategy services
• Visual storytelling
• Audience research
• Creative consultancy

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, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Consulting and Strategy Services: The company generates revenue through client engagements for cultural insights, brand strategy, and creative consulting services. Work appears to be project-based and retainer-based, with engagements spanning research, strategy development, and creative production.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

The Good Side blends audience research, brand strategy, and visual storytelling to help brands, charities, and government bodies cut through cultural noise. The studio delivers integrated insight-led work that turns cultural understanding into brand direction and creative output. Engagements span research, strategy, and creative production for purpose-driven and commercial clients.

Product overview

The Good Side is an independent insight, strategy and creative studio operating as a unified consultancy rather than a platform-plus-modules architecture. Its core offering combines three interconnected service areas: Audience + Cultural Insight Services (semiotics, ethnography, social listening, audience segmentation), Human Centred Strategy Services (brand positioning, campaign strategy, purpose consultancy, narrative change), and Visual Storytelling Production Services (documentaries, insight films, digital content). The Good Collective functions as a distinct sub-brand providing a network of young creatives for co-creation with client audiences.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• The Good Collective: A network of creative young people aged 16-25 offering collaboration opportunities for brands including Culture Dive, Creative Lift, Advisory Role, Idea Generation, and Learning Journey programs.

Products and services

• Cultural Insights & Audience Research Research and cultural analysis engagement that maps audiences, attitudes, and cultural contexts to inform brand strategy and creative direction for brands, charities, and government bodies.
• Brand Strategy Brand strategy engagement developing positioning, narrative, and direction grounded in cultural insights, for brands and purpose-led organizations seeking to reposition or sharpen their market presence.
• Visual Storytelling & Creative Content Creative production service that delivers visual storytelling and content outputs informed by upstream insights and strategy work, for campaigns and brand activations by brands, charities, and government bodies.

Quantifiable outcome

• Triggered £6.5m commitment from Movember for harm reduction plan in 2025
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• The Good Side ProductionscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerIntegrated production company within The Good Side ecosystem, delivering insight-led, audience-first creative outputs across multiple formats including documentaries, films, and digital content. This is an affiliated entity rather than an external partnership.
• The Good CollectivecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerA network of young creatives, Gen Z voices, and youth influencers that The Good Side accesses for co-creation projects. Features Forbes 30 under 30 winners, National Theatre playwrights, and other accomplished young changemakers. Provides youth-first perspectives for client projects.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Ipsos: Global market research and consumer insights firm covering cultural and creative effectiveness work. Broadly comparable research capability, much larger scale.
• Kantar: Global market research and insights giant with cultural insight practice. Comparable audience research and brand strategy capabilities at vastly larger scale.
• Mother: Major independent creative agency in London serving global brands. Comparable as a London indie, though broader in scope and less specialised in research depth.
• The & Partnership (MullenLowe Group): Purpose-led advertising network combining creative, media and data. Comparable on cultural-insight values but with greater scale and network reach.

Direct peers

• Canvas8: Cultural insights platform producing research-driven content and reports for brand teams. Closest comparable to The Good Side in combining cultural understanding with brand strategy outputs.
• Lucky Generals: Independent creative agency with strong purpose-led positioning. Comparable as a London-based boutique creative shop with similar cultural-strategy credentials.
• The Future Laboratory: Trend forecasting and consumer foresight consultancy serving brands with cultural intelligence and strategy. Comparable in the trends-to-strategy value chain.
• Stylus: Consumer trends and innovation consultancy providing insight reports and advisory to brands and retailers. Overlaps in audience research and forward-looking strategy.
• Flamingo (Kantar): Specialist cultural insights consultancy (now part of Kantar) delivering audience research and strategy work for brands. Directly comparable offerings of semiotic and ethnographic insight.
• Contagious Communications: Creative intelligence platform delivering cultural insights and marketing effectiveness analysis to brands. Overlaps with The Good Side's insight-led creative output.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCk7jAEw2aTsM-NQefm6eF3g
• Facebookfacebook.com/thisisthegoodside
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/thisisthegoodside
• Instagraminstagram.com/thisisthegoodside

Compliance1 record

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 The Good Side