PHILADELPHIA, Pa., July 24, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via PRWEB - National Analysts Worldwide, the Philadelphia-headquartered market research and consulting boutique, has announced that it will operate globally under the name, NAXION, effective July, 2014. The firm remains a woman-owned Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) organization led by majority owner, President and CEO, Susan Schwartz McDonald, Ph.D. The firm guides market strategy in target industries using advanced research techniques and powerful analytics.
Said McDonald, "We wanted our name to better reflect our brand, which has always had a forward-looking focus and a well-deserved reputation for applying novel, highly customized techniques to problems of market innovation, forecasting, and brand effectiveness."
The firm, which traces its origins to 1911, is actually the world's oldest business intelligence enterprise. It was conceived by Cyrus Curtis, publisher of The Saturday Evening Post and The Ladies Home Journal, as a new service to help advertisers understand their customers. The AMA's prestigious Parlin Award for research innovation was named after Charles Coolidge Parlin, the man Curtis hired to realize this novel idea. "Innovation is in our corporate DNA," noted McDonald.
National Analysts was spun off from Curtis as an independent company in 1943 and acquired by Booz.Allen & Hamilton in 1970, the genesis of a hybrid service model that integrates research and consulting. It regained its independent status in 1992 under the ownership of two (then) Booz.Allen partners, Susan Schwartz McDonald and John Berrigan. The firm became a woman-owned ESOP with the retirement of Berrigan in 2003.
"'National Analysts' is truly a venerable brand," said McDonald, whose first stint at the firm began when she was in graduate school at the University of Pennsylvania in the early '70's. And having "grown up" there, McDonald says she feels a special sense of stewardship. "This firm is the place where many important industry milestones were recorded, so retiring a name with that kind of history really tugs at all our heartstrings," acknowledged McDonald. "But we help guide brands with great equity for a living, so we know how important it is in a 21st century business environment to optimize the alignment between what we call ourselves and what we do."
McDonald believes that the name NAXION is a more fitting brand banner for a firm that does business globally – especially an organization that combines analytics with business consulting. She notes, "The act of rebranding invites everyone, even current clients, to take a fresh look at our offerings, which continue to expand in response to the new challenges people bring us and the new data streams now available."
NAXION serves technology-driven industries like IT, Healthcare, Energy, and Manufacturing, as well as Financial Services, and specialized consumer product categories. "The kinds of problems we're asked to solve are complex and fascinating, and they often involve products or technologies that will someday change the world," said McDonald. "Because of our unique history and culture, we've always been a firm that punches above its weight. Our clients are some of the biggest brands in the world and also some of the smallest, like early-stage drugs that are going to revolutionize medicine. They come to us because they know they are going to get smart, highly customized solutions to difficult marketing problems, with a level of attention that sets us apart." Added McDonald, "Whatever we call ourselves, everyone in this firm operates as if it's his or her own name above the door."
About NAXION
NAXION is a research-powered boutique that consults on strategic business issues in specialized industry sectors, including healthcare, information technology, financial services, building systems, energy, communications, and B2B. Depth of marketing experience in key verticals, combined with sophisticated research capabilities and advanced analytics, guide an integrative approach to data-driven decision support. The firm's NAscence Group supports bio-innovation within large and emerging pharmaceutical companies by providing forecasting and other research-based consulting services in support of commercialization strategy.
Types of projects routinely conducted by the firm include market segmentation, opportunity assessment and demand forecasting, pricing, positioning and market entry strategy, innovation and transformation, brand health, and lifecycle management. The firm is widely known for its Farsight® suite of forecasting services, which support the building of integrated demand and revenue models, including highly dynamic market models. Specialized services include litigation and regulatory support, often involving expert testimony. For more information, visit http://www.naxionthinking.com/.
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