OUR MISSION
We are more than a research firm, we are a movement.
Our Vision
WHY WE ARE DIFFERENT
SCIENTIFIC METHOD
We believe in the importance of underlying science, combining the expertise of academically trained researchers and seasoned marketers. We only work with validated methods and conduct ongoing classically designed experiments, isolating the proper variables in a controlled lab environment.
Along our journey, our team has written over 100 academic publications.
We approach every challenge with an eye towards innovation, equipped with the best toolbox, and an innate enthusiasm to build new solutions as we identify opportunities in the quant/qual tech supply chain.
This has led to innovation in ad insertion, brand integrations, in-home research, and Qualtech reflecting our dedication to advance the industry.
Our utmost driver is to provide clients with ongoing value to their businesses. This entails creating the most relevant and dependable metrics along with laboratory environments that reflect real-life audience and consumer experience.
We work every day to reinforce our clients’ trust by providing sound design and recommendations with a commitment to always tell you how it is, whether it’s good news or otherwise.
We believe that our research and the work of our clients can make an important impact on business and society. This makes us strive to set good examples, collaborate across the industry, and conduct research of social value. We choose to work with partners that benefit the audiences they serve.
What We Believe
We believe that audiences and brands are on this journey together.
We help them communicate what they can’t say.
We recognize the limitations of the status quo.
We want everyone to do what they do better.
Companies should ask: What do I need to measure to tell if my communication objectives are being effective/ met/ achieved. .
Our Story
2001:
FOUNDED AUDIENCE LABS
2005
LAUNCHED THE BEYOND :30 PROJECT
2008
MEDIASCIENCE WAS BORN THROUGH PARTNERSHIP WITH DISNEY
2013
2016
GROWTH – CHICAGO LAB
2019
GROWTH – NEW YORK LAB
Once upon a time, the media landscape was remarkably stable. Suddenly, however, innovation is perpetual.
Content is constantly taking new forms, transcending ‘programs’ to a near-endless array of opportunities competing for their attention.
Never before has the need for high-quality insight played a more critical role in guiding us through the changing landscape. Simply relying on cookie-cutter data while fitting our needs to generic and common measures clearly won’t suffice. Now, more than ever, we need best-in-class measures designed to address our specific communication objectives.
We have heard our calling. At MediaScience, we don’t think of ourselves as a mere business – we think of ourselves as part of a movement seeking to elevate the very atmosphere in which media and marketing research is conducted. Our goal is to help match specific communication needs to the best measures for each of those objectives.
This requires measuring human emotion. Because people can only tell you about the rational interpretation of their own emotional journeys, all self-report data (whether survey, interview, focus group, etc.) on human emotion is inherently flawed. People lack direct access to their own emotional encounters. Accordingly, it is critical that we measure human emotion directly – and this is something which MediaScience has excelled at – drawing on skin conductivity, heart rate, facial expression analysis, eye tracking, and even EEG.
It’s important for measurement to be done at a highly granular level – so that data can be aligned to the manner in which consumers experience content at the second-by-second level. And, of course, where possible, it’s best to facilitate such research in a controlled environment where variables can be isolated to better understand their effects. In this way, by drawing on the power of the scientific method, we not only know what impact content has; but more importantly… we understand the why.
Facilitating such research requires a high level of innovation – across all parts of the research value chain: From software programming to properly provide the right test environment (enabling digital ad insertion, for example, in respondent’s native social media feeds), to properly collecting data (making the experience as natural as possible) to analyzing data quickly and accurately using best-in-class algorithms that properly address the complexities of human physiological differences. In our domain, no company has been more innovative than MediaScience in responding to the challenges of the new media landscape in a credible path grounded in science.
And so we hope you’ll join us in our movement! We look forward to collaborating together in pioneering new frontiers. These are, undoubtedly, challenging times – but it’s in those times that the greatest opportunities are forged.
Dr. Duane Varan
Founder & CEO
Our Leadership Team
DUANE VARAN, PHD – Founder & CEO
As a global authority on new audience measurement methods, Duane has been invited to speak at industry conferences and deliver keynotes at over 50 events across five continents. During his tenure at Murdoch University in Australia, he founded Audience Labs. Duane has led the Advertising Research Foundation’s landmark NeuroStandards 1.0 initiative and founded Beyond :30, one of the world’s largest and longest-running consortium exploring the changing media and advertising landscape. Duane has published extensively in peer-reviewed journals and is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Australian Prime Minister’s University Teacher of the Year award.
In his spare time, Duane likes to read about architectural history and working on his Broadway musical about Al Capone.
AMY RASK, PHD – COO
Amy’s background in marketing, advertising, public relations and psychology fuels her passion for research with MediaScience. She received her Ph.D. in Mass Communication from the University of Alabama with a cognate in Cognitive Psychology. She also has a Masters degree in Advertising & Public Relations, and a Bachelors of Business Administration in Marketing. She has presented and published research in a variety of areas including advertising effectiveness, cognitive processes during multitasking, media effects (violence, body image, etc.) and advergaming. Amy won many awards in her academic career and worked as a research fellow at the Interactive Television Research Institute at Murdoch University (Australia). Amy is based in Austin and has been with MediaScience since its inception in 2008.
When Amy is not in the lab, she enjoys spending time at home with her husband, two children, and french bulldogs. While at home, the Rask family raises chickens and honey bees and spends lots of time in the Texas outdoors.
Elissa is a Neuromarketing pioneer, brand, advertising and strategy expert, author of many articles, a book on marketing to youth & a frequent global speaker. She was most recently CEO of the Ipsos Neuro & Behavioral Science Center. Prior she held senior research and strategy positions at Gillette, Philips, and Seagram’s; headed planning at ad agencies DMB&B and Grey, and led consultancies EmSense (Chief Analytics Officer) & BrainWaves (President). Elissa is dedicated to understanding human motivation, being an industry change agent, creating thought leadership and leading innovation. She has an AB in Human Behavior from The University of Chicago and an MS in Technology Management from Columbia University.
In her spare time, Elissa mentors young professionals and tech start-up companies, collaborates with industry leaders and writes movie reviews.
PHILLIP LOMAX – EVP of Business Development
Phillip Lomax leads the sales organization, partnership acquisition, and growth strategy into new verticals. Prior to joining, Lomax served as Senior Enterprise Account Executive for Uber Eats, where he generated over $130M in recurring revenue for the tech giant over 3.5 years. Through Uber, Phillip attended Harvard Business School’s Executive Education curriculum for 3 years, focused on Leadership and Strategy, was sponsored and mentored by a member of the Uber Eats Executive Leadership Team, and led sales training for new hire classes on Handling Objections and Closing.
Prior to Uber, you may have seen Phillip as a finalist on Fox’s The X Factor USA where he finished 4th in the Men’s category. His rendition of Please Don’t Stop the Music performed to Rihanna, herself, was an overnight sensation that wowed the Pop Idol.
Phillip grew up in Seattle, Japan, South Africa, Israel, and the UK. His interests include Marketplace Business Models, Tech, AI, VR/AR, Philosophy, Travel, Politics, and spending time with his beautiful wife, Dahee.
Daniel oversees operations and development of MediaScience’s lab network – ensuring cutting edge methods and procedures. Daniel also plays a key role in servicing clients, insights reporting, and product development.
Prior to joining MediaScience in early 2018, Daniel spent five years at the Advertising Research Foundation – where he worked with members who were engaged in event sponsorships and ARF’s research initiatives.
Daniel grew up 20 miles outside of New York City in Long Island – and currently lives in Astoria, Queens with his wife Marina and dog Stella. He enjoys golfing in the summer, skiing in the winter, and the occasional roller coaster ride! Like his Father, Daniel also suffers from being a Mets fan.