What emicity research does

emicity research (legal entity Consumer Insights Inc., DBA Emicity) is a full-service market research and consulting firm headquartered in Troy, Michigan, founded in 1995 by Karl Schmidt and now operating continuously for 30 years. The firm delivers qualitative and quantitative research services including brand positioning, psychographic and behavioral segmentation, competitive analysis, communications development, brand tracking, loyalty program design, and new product development support. With approximately six named staff members, Emicity operates as a boutique consultancy combining deep senior expertise with small-team agility rather than scale-driven volume. The technology stack is conventional — standard survey, panel, and interview tools — with no proprietary platform, software product, or data product disclosed.

The firm serves a national roster of enterprise clients across diverse sectors: automotive (Ford, American Honda, Chevrolet, Cadillac, Buick, multiple GM divisions, Nissan, Jaguar, Infiniti, Dodge, OnStar, Lear, Delphi), consumer goods and retail (Kellogg, Miller Brewing, 7UP/Dr Pepper, McDonald's, Little Caesars, Macy's, Levi's, J.Crew, Tractor Supply, Meijer, 7-Eleven, Belle Tire), advertising agencies (J. Walter Thompson, Leo Burnett, McCann Erickson, Arnold Worldwide, Goodby Silverstein & Partners, WONGDOODY), financial services (Comerica, Lincoln Financial, National City Bank, Farmers Insurance), healthcare systems (Henry Ford Health System, University of Michigan Health Systems, Detroit Medical Center, Cedars Sinai, Phoenix Children's Hospital), government (U.S. Navy, U.S. Postal Service), education (Michigan State, Drexel, Capella), utilities (DTE Energy, Consumers Energy, PG&E, Georgia Power, Commonwealth Edison), and hospitality/industrial/services accounts.

Revenue is generated exclusively through custom, project-based professional services engagements, with multi-year contracts and quote-based pricing. Go-to-market is direct, sales-led enterprise engagement — no channel partners, resellers, or intermediaries — with the firm positioning itself as an "extension of the client's team" rather than a transactional vendor. Emicity is privately held and founder-owned, with no external funding rounds, investors, or parent company disclosed; ownership sits with founders and management. Geographic scope is national within the United States with limited cross-border activity (Canada referenced via GM of Canada). No AI/ML capabilities, data products, or platform technology are part of the offering.

Name

emicity research

Legal name

Consumer Insights Inc.

Website

https://emi.city

Company type

Private

Founded year

1995

Operating status

Operating

Short description

emicity research is a 30-year-old boutique market research and consulting firm in Troy, Michigan, providing qualitative and quantitative research services — including brand positioning, segmentation, and competitive analysis — to a national roster of enterprise clients across automotive, consumer goods, advertising, healthcare, financial services, government, and other sectors.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Troy

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, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Market Research Services: Full-service market research and consulting solutions delivered through project-based engagements. Provides both formal research studies and ongoing strategic support to clients. Revenue derived from client projects involving brand positioning, segmentation, competitive analysis, communications development, brand tracking, loyalty programs, and new product development.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Emicity is a full-service market research and consulting firm that designs and executes qualitative and quantitative research engagements for enterprise, government, and non-profit clients. Services span brand and product positioning, psychographic and behavioral customer segmentation, competitive market analysis, communications development, strategic brand tracking, loyalty program research, and new product development and refinement, delivered as custom project-based engagements or ongoing strategic support.

Product overview

Emicity Research is a full-service market research and consulting firm offering qualitative and quantitative research methodologies. Their core service offering includes brand and product positioning, psychographic and behavioral customer segmentation, competitive market analysis, communications development, strategic brand tracking, customer loyalty program development, and new product development and refinement. The company was originally incorporated as Consumer Insights, Inc. in 1995 and operates as a service-based research consultancy without distinct named software products or modules.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Market Research and Consulting Services Full-service custom market research and consulting engagement offering combining qualitative and quantitative methodologies to help enterprise clients sync their business with their customers. Includes brand and product positioning, psychographic and behavioral customer segmentation, competitive market analysis, communications development, brand tracking, loyalty program research, and new product development and refinement.
• Brand Positioning and Segmentation Research Custom research engagements developing brand and product positioning and psychographic and behavioral customer segmentation for enterprise clients across goods, services, and non-profit sectors.
• Competitive Market Analysis Custom competitive research engagements that combine qualitative and quantitative methods to inform enterprise clients' strategic decisions versus their competitive set.
• Communications Development Research Custom research supporting development of marketing communications, message testing, and creative development for enterprise brand and agency clients.
• Brand Tracking and Loyalty Program Research Ongoing and project-based strategic brand tracking studies and customer loyalty program research for enterprise clients across multiple sectors.
• New Product Development Research Custom qualitative and quantitative research supporting new product development and refinement, concept testing, and product optimization for enterprise clients.
• Public Opinion and Policy Evaluation Research Mixed-method research, public opinion polling, and program and policy evaluation engagements for government, non-profit, and other clients, including Arabic-language interviewing, translation, and moderation.
• Fractional Insights Leadership Embedded interim insights leadership offering for brands that need a more temporary, hands-on approach to consumer understanding rather than a traditional vendor-side research engagement.

Quantifiable outcome

• High client satisfaction with projects completed on time and on budget
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers84 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves1 record

Expansion highlights3 records

Direct peers

• The Directions Group: Boutique consumer insights and strategic research consultancy of similar size and orientation to Emicity, serving enterprise clients with custom qualitative and quantitative work and emphasizing partnership-style engagements.
• C+R Research: Mid-sized custom market research firm offering qualitative, quantitative, and insights services to brand marketers, with a similar cross-vertical, custom-project delivery model to Emicity.
• The B&A Group (now B+A): Boutique brand and communications research firm focused on strategic insights for advertisers and brand marketers — directly overlapping Emicity's communications development and brand tracking work.
• Schlesinger Group: Global qualitative research services firm with a heavy focus on focus group facilities, recruiting, and qualitative project execution — overlapping directly with Emicity's qualitative methodology strengths.
• Market Strategies International (now M/A/R/C Research): Mid-sized custom market research firm serving enterprise clients across categories with both qualitative and quantitative capabilities — a closely comparable peer in size, service mix, and customer base.

Broad incumbents

• Ipsos: Global market research and consulting firm that competes for the same enterprise research budgets as Emicity, but at much greater scale and with proprietary syndicated products, panels, and analytics platforms.
• Kantar: One of the largest global research and insights consultancies, offering brand tracking, consumer panel, and ad effectiveness work that overlaps with the majority of Emicity's service lines at a much larger scale.
• Research Now / Dynata: Large-scale data and insights platform providing online sample and research services that compete with Emicity's quantitative offerings, though with a tech/panel-based model rather than a boutique custom model.
• Mintel: Market research publisher and consulting firm with syndicated consumer and product intelligence, competing for some of the same brand strategy and competitive analysis budgets as Emicity.

Emerging players

• Toluna: Digital consumer insights platform combining panels with automated research tools; represents the AI/tech-enabled direction of the industry and a long-term competitive threat to traditional boutique firms like Emicity.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/EmicityResearch
• Facebookfacebook.com/emicityresearch
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/emicity/posts/?feedView=all

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 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 emicity research