Person-Centered Psychology > Organizational Psychology > Brand Psychology

Originally, we began practicing as psychotherapists with individuals and couples in the 1980s in San Francisco, CA. We were also in-house psychologists at Levi Strauss (Bruce) and Wells Fargo Bank (Lin) at this time.

In the 1990s, we ran a management/executive consulting practice. Based on feedback from client CEOs and VPs of Marketing, we decided to provide more in-depth, psychological consumer insights to California companies with iconic brands.

We started bdm communications strategists in 1995 to provide insights that ‘bring deeper meaning’ into core customer’s attraction to brands, especially their needs, motivations and desires.

Since we follow our favorite market research professionals and brand marketing managers to their ‘next enterprises’ we now also work with smaller and increasingly more innovative companies, including recently-funded start-ups.

OUR PRIMARY FOCUS

OUR BACKGROUND

Dr. Bruce Brody

…is a brand psychologist engaged in market research and brand identity consultation for almost 25 years. His professional background includes clinical psychology as a practicing psychotherapist, management/organizational consultant to senior executives/CEOs and corporate trainer for wellness and employee health. His experience enables him to take a very broad and comprehensive approach to enabling entrepreneurs, marketers and their and cross-functional brand teams to see their offerings (products, services) through the eyes and minds of their target consumers.

Bruce grew up in an entrepreneurial family in NJ who all ran their own businesses.

Bruce attended University of New Hampshire, Goddard College and Saybrook Institute for his B.A. in Business, M.A. in Psychology and Ph.D. in Psychology degrees.

 

Dr. Lin Druschel

…is a brand psychologist who has worked with her husband, Dr. Bruce Brody for over 20 years. While an in-house psychologist at Wells Fargo Bank, she ran a clinical practice with individuals and a conjoint practice with Bruce doing couples therapy. She ran a management/organizational consulting practice for 12 years as an executive coach to CEOs and senior executives for companies in the SF Bay Area and NY. She is a fearless interviewer who never tires of hearing people’s stories. Her strategic insights are informed by her extensive experiences in all facets of people’s lives.

Lin grew up in a corporate IBM family with a father who designed and built aircraft in addition to running a prototype design production business as a home business.

Lin attended SUNY Purchase College and California School of Professional Psychology for her B.A., M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in Clinical Psychology.

In their free time Bruce and Lin are avid swimmers, skiers, mountain bikers, sailors, Berkeley food fanatics, home designer/builders, currently obsessed with tiny houses.

What we do as Qualitative Consumer Market Researchers

• Innovation; New product development, Early product guidance
• Product/Brand Positioning Research
• In-Depth Customer Insight for Investment/Acquisition Teams
• Consumer needs exploration and identification; deep dive exploratory
• Extensive In-Home Ethnography Research
• Brand Identity and Emotional Brand Connection/Relationship
• Consumer Segmentation Profiles In-Depth Illumination
• Consumer Shopping Profiles; Retail Affinities
• Advertising and Creative/Concept Testing: TV, Print, Radio, Internet
• Packaging Development and Evaluation

What Makes us Unique

• Our psychological perspective reveals consumer EMOTION. We ‘bring deeper meaning’ to your consumer research by illuminating the consumer’s EMOTIONAL CONNECTION to your brand
• Our background as psychotherapists enables us to give you an in-depth understanding of consumers’ developmental process, personality profile and traits, perceptions, motivations and decision-making, as well as superb in-depth interviewing skills
• Our background as organizational and management consultants providing strategic planning, contributes a strong understanding of customer-focused communication, and the ability to apply information gained from consumer research to practical and successful strategic action
• Our experience as guest lecturers/featured speakers at U.C. Berkeley’s Haas School of Business, Procter and Gamble annual sales/marketing meeting, enables us to teach concepts

Examples of Qualitative Research Projects

Our Clients Include

Albertsons   Armor All   Bayer   Betty Crocker   Birkenstock   Brita   BrightSmile   Bruce Aidell’s   Cadbury   California Lottery   Chevron   Cheerios   Clorox   Crunchy Nuts   Dean Foods   Danone   Dreyfus   Dunkin Donuts   Eggo   409   Fisher-Price   Fresh Step   Fruit2Day   General Mills   Glad   Good Home Company   Greenworks   Hidden Valley   Hilton   Horizon Organic   International Delight   KC Masterpiece   Kellogg   Kingsford   Land O’ Lakes   Levi Strauss   Liquid Plumr   Lexar   MGM   Nestle   New Belgium Beer   Netflix   Nike   Open Nature   Ore-Ida   Pine-Sol   Priority Total Pet Care   Rachel’s Yogurt   RoxShox   Safeway   ScoopAway   Sega   Silk   STP   Tilex    SONY   STP   Walmart   Various start-up, incubator and accelerator enterprises

Agencies We’ve Worked With

BBDO,   BeckerSF,   Cultivator,   DDB,   Engauge,   Fallon Worldwide,   Foote Cone Belding,   Gardner Geary,   Goodby, Silverstein & Partners,   Hal Riney,   Hill Holliday,   Interbrand,   Hoffman Lewis,   J Walter Thompson,   Ketchum,   Landor,   McCann Erikson,   Leo Burnett,   Ogilvy & Mather,   Olson,   OMNICOM,   Publicis,   Razorfish,   Saachi & Saachi,   Schawk,   TBWA,   Vizium,   Weiden & Kennedy,   WPP,   Young & Rubicam