Heart And Mind Strategies Llc

What Heart And Mind Strategies Llc does

Heart And Mind Strategies LLC (DBA Heart+Mind Strategies) is a privately-held B2B research, strategy, and activation consultancy founded in 2008 and headquartered in Reston, Virginia. The firm specializes in applied behavioral science and values-based research, employing proprietary Means-End Theory frameworks and a values laddering methodology to uncover non-conscious consumer and stakeholder motivations. Its service suite spans Qualitative Solutions (in-depth interviews, focus groups, including the proprietary Triadic Illumination technique), Quantitative Solutions, Advanced Analytics, Strategy Solutions, Activation Solutions, and Data Quality + Fraud Prevention, organized under a sub-brand structure including the Center for Applied Values Research.

The company serves enterprise clients across more than a dozen verticals including Transportation, Travel + Tourism, Technology, Financial Services, Healthcare, Education, Government + Public Policy, Consumer Goods, Associations, Energy, Agriculture + Sustainability, and Foundations/NGOs. Named clients include Google, Microsoft, Amazon, AARP, Freddie Mac, UBS, GM, MGM Resorts, Allegiant Air, the City of Boston, Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, NHTSA, AAA, APTA, and Intermountain Health. Revenue is generated through custom professional-services engagements priced on a quote basis with multi-year contract cadences, distributed via a direct enterprise sales motion rather than self-service or product-led channels.

The firm's technology stack combines its proprietary Values Laddering methodology and Triadic Illumination focus group technique with human-guided AI methodologies through the Lightning Lab product (launched March 2026), which uses third-party generative AI models (ChatGPT-4, Google BARD) for rapid synthetic qualitative research. The firm is bootstrapped with no disclosed external funding, ISO 27001 certified, and operates under a co-CEO leadership structure with founding partners Mike Dabadie, Dee Allsop PhD, and Jennifer Airey.

Name

Heart And Mind Strategies Llc

Legal name

Heart And Mind Strategies LLC

Website

https://heartandmind.us

Company type

Private

Founded year

2008

Operating status

Operating

Short description

Heart+Mind Strategies is a B2B behavioral science consultancy founded in 2008 that helps enterprises, government agencies, and associations understand consumer and stakeholder choice-making using proprietary values laddering methodology, serving Fortune 500 clients across transportation, travel, technology, financial services, and other verticals.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Market Research Consulting

NAICS

Marketing Research and Public Opinion Polling (54191), Marketing Consulting Services (541613), Management Consulting Services (54161)

SIC

Services-Management Consulting Services (8742), Services-Engineering, Accounting, Research, Management (8700)

akta.pro primary industry

Strategy & Corporate Development Consulting (BPAHACAA)

Keywords

• Market research consulting
• Behavioral science research
• Consumer insights strategy
• Qualitative research services
• Brand strategy consulting

Headquarters

HQ city

Reston

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Research and Consulting Services: Provides custom qualitative and quantitative research, advanced analytics, strategy solutions, and activation services to government agencies, associations, and commercial clients across multiple industries

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Heart+Mind Strategies is a market research and consulting firm that applies behavioral science and values-based research methodologies to uncover how and why consumers and organizations make choices. The firm delivers qualitative and quantitative research, advanced analytics, strategy development, and activation services for enterprise clients across government, associations, and commercial sectors. Its proprietary Values Center applies Means-End Theory and values laddering to link product attributes to human values, and its Lightning Lab product uses generative AI for rapid qualitative insights.

Product overview

Heart+Mind Strategies is an insights, strategy, and activation consultancy specializing in human decision-making research. The company offers a unified suite of services built around understanding how people make choices through behavioral science. The core offerings include Qualitative Solutions (in-depth interviews, focus groups), Quantitative Solutions (surveys, statistical analysis), Advanced Analytics (AI-assisted analysis, synthetic data), Strategy Solutions (brand strategy, messaging), Activation Solutions (campaign execution), and Data Quality + Fraud Prevention. Their differentiated approach centers on the Values Center, which applies Means-End Theory and values laddering methodologies to uncover latent motivations. The company has also launched Lightning Lab, an AI-enhanced qualitative insights product that leverages generative AI (ChatGPT-4, Bard) for rapid synthetic research, representing their primary AI-powered innovation in the portfolio.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Lightning Lab: Fast, AI-Enhanced Qualitative Insights product offering
• Connections
• Center for Applied Values Research
• Illumination Lab
• Triadic Illumination

Products and services

• Qualitative Solutions Custom qualitative research engagements involving in-depth interviews, focus groups, and proprietary discussion techniques (including Triadic Illumination) to uncover non-conscious motivations and behaviors of consumers using behavioral science and psychological methods. Sold to enterprise, government, and association clients.
• Quantitative Solutions Survey-based and statistical research services that validate qualitative insights and measure attitudes, behaviors, and preferences across target audiences. Sold to enterprise, government, and association clients.
• Advanced Analytics Data analysis services including AI-assisted transcript analysis, synthetic data generation, and advanced statistical techniques to derive actionable insights from research data. Sold to enterprise, government, and association clients.
• Strategy Solutions Strategic consulting that translates research findings into actionable brand strategy, messaging, positioning, and stakeholder action plans. Sold to enterprise, government, and association clients.
• Activation Solutions Implementation services that bridge from insights to real-world activation, including messaging development, creative direction, and campaign execution. Sold to enterprise, government, and association clients.
• Data Quality + Fraud Prevention Quality control and data integrity services designed to ensure reliable research results and protect against fraudulent survey responses. Sold to research and insights clients.
• Lightning Lab AI-enhanced qualitative insights product that enables fast qualitative research through generative AI-powered persona-based virtual in-depth interviews and focus groups, allowing rapid exploration of human thought, beliefs, values, and motivations.
• Values Center (Center for Applied Values Research) Center for Applied Values Research applying Means-End Theory frameworks and values laddering methodology to understand how and why consumer choices are made, illuminating the connection between product attributes and core human values.

Quantifiable outcome

• Ogilvy Gold Award 2023 for All-Inclusive Boston Campaign research
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers20 records

Segments12 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability5 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and supporting.

• Proverb AgencycoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 23 October 2023Strategic partnership with Proverb agency for the All-Inclusive Boston campaign. Proverb's strategists and creative team translated Heart+Mind's research findings into the award-winning advertising campaign. Led by Daren Bascome, Proverb demonstrated exceptional creativity in bringing the campaign to life.
• Colette Phillips CommunicationssupportingStrategic or Co-development Partner · 23 October 2023Collaboration with Colette Phillips Communications as one of multiple organizations invested in the success of the Boston campaign initiative.
• Meet BostonsupportingStrategic or Co-development Partner · 23 October 2023Partnership with Meet Boston (destination marketing organization) in the collaborative effort supporting the All-Inclusive Boston campaign research and execution.
• AARPcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 7 June 2023Partnership with AARP to field first-ever experimental qualitative study testing generative AI tools for market research. Maury Giles, Chief Growth Officer at Heart+Mind, and Patty David, Vice President of Consumer Insights at AARP, presented findings at IIEX North America conference and Insights Association Annual Conference.
• SophossupportingStrategic or Co-development Partner · 9 April 2022Featured Chet Wisniewski, Principal Research Scientist at Sophos, as a panelist in the Connections session on Impact of Russian Invasion on Energy, Cybersecurity, and Trade. Sophos contributes cybersecurity expertise to joint discussions on cyber threats and protection.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Ipsos: Global market research and consulting leader operating across all of Heart+Mind's verticals at much larger scale. Comparable as the scaled incumbent benchmark for enterprise research RFPs and AI-augmented insight delivery.
• Material (formerly LRW Group): Research, insights, and brand consultancy formed from the merger of LRW, Hall & Partners, and others. Competes with Heart+Mind for brand and communications research mandates while offering broader strategy and creative capabilities.

Direct peers

• Kelton Global: Brand strategy and consumer insights consultancy offering qualitative, quantitative, and activation services. Overlaps directly with Heart+Mind's How-We-Do-It service stack (qualitative, quantitative, strategy, activation) and similar enterprise/government client mix.
• Escalent: Insights and analytics consultancy combining qualitative, quantitative, and advanced analytics for enterprise clients across industries. Directly comparable in service portfolio, multi-vertical mix, and AI-augmented analytics roadmap.
• Sparks & Honey: Cultural strategy and consumer insights agency that combines qualitative research with cultural foresight for brand and marketing clients. Directly comparable to Heart+Mind's blend of behavioral science, cultural forces analysis, and brand strategy activation.
• The Barna Group: Research and consulting firm studying values, beliefs, and cultural trends. Smaller but conceptually aligned with Heart+Mind's Center for Applied Values Research; competes for values-based research mandates in faith, nonprofit, and culture verticals.
• C Space: Customer-led growth and consumer insights firm that pairs qualitative community-based research with brand strategy and activation. Comparable to Heart+Mind's insights-to-activation model and emphasis on uncovering non-conscious customer motivations.
• The Hartman Group: Long-standing values-based and cultural consumer insights consultancy. Highly comparable to Heart+Mind because it similarly anchors its differentiation in uncovering underlying consumer values and motivations through proprietary qualitative methodologies serving Fortune 500 clients.
• Hall & Partners: Brand and communications research consultancy focused on uncovering consumer insight to fuel creative campaigns. Highly comparable to Heart+Mind's brand strategy + communications research positioning, with similar agency/brand-side buyer base.
• Penn Schoen Berland (PSB): Research-based strategic consultancy known for messaging and persuasion research for corporate and political clients. Highly comparable to Heart+Mind's persuasion/emotional driver work, public policy practice, and campaign research wins.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCp4lOTCSIT_fc8g5x33VLAw
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/heart-mind-strategies

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 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 Heart And Mind Strategies Llc