Oxford Research Agency launches qual unit

Mimosa will be led by Cheryl-Anne Jenkinson, formerly managing director of Bernstein Research and Evolution Studios.

The agency says the new unit has been launched in response to demand for “added value, innovative, joined-up qual-quant thinking.”

Laurence Curtis (pictured), chairman of the Oxford Research Agency, told Research: “When this concept was embryonic we decided we wanted something that was new, different, high-end in terms of thinking, and somebody to lead it that would challenge clients rather than just take the briefs. We saw that Cheryl-Anne’s desire was to be different and dig deeper and do more, and we felt that was a great gift.”

Jenkinson said Mimosa is already winning purely qualitative work from existing TORA clients, as well as taking part in qual-quant projects.

“In qualitative research we’re not necessarily always able to avail ourselves of the time to really get inside what the client is looking for,” she said. “The benefit of working with a startup company is there are no real rules or boundaries. What we’re doing is putting more development time into our qual projects so we’re more creative with our methods.”