ISA Announces Launch of Web3-Focused Insights Division and Expanded Team to Support

ISA onboards a team of Web3 experts to support clients’ go-to-market strategies.

Insights firm ISA announced today that the company is launching a Web3-focused division, to support client’s growing needs for insights and data related to the $25 billion dollar industry.

ISA has emerged as an early leader in Web3 insights, having already partnered with multiple Fortune 500 brands to provide data, insights, and strategic consultation, allowing them to achieve rapid and sustained growth in Web3. The ISA Group is among the first research firms, if not the first, to pay incentives to respondents in cryptocurrency, as well as among the first to conduct focus groups on Clubhouse. For those who want to connect with The ISA Group, members of the Web3 team will be attending NFT|LA, March 28-31.

“Over our forty-year history as a company we have built a reputation for helping clients successfully adapt to disrupted markets and seize new opportunities,” said Jacqueline Rosales, President of ISA. “We offer access to key audiences – consumers, collectors and creators – expert consulting and innovative approaches other insights firms don’t have. We understand that brands who don’t evolve and expand their legacies in the Web3 space, are at risk of getting left behind.”

Rosales herself is partnering with clients on projects in entertainment and gaming, bringing her passion for technological innovation and sharing her vision for the possibilities of Web3. She is confident that research and insights can drive key outcomes for brands. To support the expansion of ISA’s Web3 division, two experts:  Garry Liu and Garrett Hand, have joined the team.

Garry Liu is a bi-lingual, restless reinventor who has translated his work experience in the creator economy into a community-centric focus on the NFT and crypto space. He has a passion for cultivating self-sufficient communities and building trust through sincere community outreach. Garry has utilized his knowledge and passion to educate creators and corporations on how to enter and navigate the Web3 space. 

As a current full time NFT and crypto currency investor, Garrett Hand brings insight and creativity from thousands of hours studying the blockchain. Having made the majority of his recent income through the NFT and crypto space, he has been able to bridge the knowledge of a full-time investor to a part time advisor and consultant for up-and-coming projects in the space. Garrett has helped creators access the best utilities and strategies to innovate NFT projects.

 

The ISA Group Announces Two Key Promotions, Supporting Expansion of Community and Analytics Offerings

Jennifer Holland promoted to Vice President of Research & Analytics; Julie McClammy to Director, Research & Analytics Division.

Insights firm ISA announced two major promotions today that will support the continued expansion of ISA’s Full Service Research & Analytics Division. Jennifer Holland will assume the role of Vice President of Research & Analytics and Julie McClammy will serve as Director, Research & Analytics, effective immediately. In their expanded roles, Holland and McClammy will focus on delivering strategic research and analysis to ISA’s growing roster of blue chips clients, including Fortune 500 brands like IBM, insights firms, public policy and public health organizations, and the nation’s top colleges and universities.

These promotions tie in to the larger company goals of expanding community services, servicing clients like IBM, and offering clients high-level thought partnerships.

“Jennifer and Julie have both played a critical role in the success and the growth of ISA and we are thrilled to promote them to these roles,” said Jacqueline Rosales, President of ISA. “When our company pivoted in early 2020 to assisting public health officials with measuring the spread of COVID-19, Jennifer led these vital studies and continues to oversee Covid-related projects today. Julie has been directing our Full Service team since joining us in 2019. Julie designed and managed the first-ever in-home usage test with cannabis products containing THC in 2020. These are just two examples of their ground-breaking work and commitment to high-level thought partnership.”

In her new role, Jennifer will be focusing on expanding market share of current clients in the Full Service and Community space, driving marketplace expansion, and partnering with the Material team and clients to diversify and expand service offerings. Jennifer has 25+ years of experience in market research and brings with her a passion for connecting consumers and businesses using insights and data. She has a focus on assisting clients in meeting their research objectives and guiding them through the correct methodology and sample planning, while coordinating research services support. Jennifer has worked with clients in a myriad of industries including CPG, QSR, Healthcare, Public Policy, Energy and Utilities.

In addition to delivering comprehensive insights to her clients, Julie will be working closely with senior executives across the larger Material organization to design thorough and precise research studies. Julie will continue to manage the Full-Service/Community Insights Research Team in her new role. Julie has 35+ years of experience in market research, emphasizing advanced analytics and segmentation. She is a visionary in pursuit of research excellence, innovation and quality. She inspires internal consultants to maximize impact through intelligent design and strategic analysis and consults with clients on sampling, weighting, and cross-cultural comparability. Julie also has diversified experience in all phases of consumer market research, as well as experience in Entertainment Marketing, PR and Promotions measurement.

ISA and Vertosa Announce Speaker Lineup for Live Event on Nov. 4: The Evolution of an Industry: Tales and Trends from Cannabis Industry Veterans

David Paleschuck, best-selling author of Branding Bud, will moderate the event featuring two speakers fresh off the stage at MJBizCon 2021

ISA and Vertosa announced today the speaker lineup for their upcoming webinar, The Evolution of an Industry: Tales and Trends from Cannabis Industry Veterans. In 2020, in-person conferences came to a halt. Last week the cannabis industry gathered in Las Vegas for the most-anticipated event of 2021. With 35,000 attendees, 1,300 exhibitors, and 130 speakers from around the world gathering to learn the latest about the cannabis industry, it was the place to be for industry executives and business leaders. This webinar will reveal shared learnings from this event, featuring two dynamic speakers fresh off the Las Vegas stage. Speakers will share their thoughts about the evolution of the cannabis industry as a whole, focusing on what has changed over the course of the pandemic era. Austin and Lisa will share the focus of their speaking engagements from MJBizCon and explore the themes and buzz from the event.

David Paleschuck, best-selling author of Branding Bud: The Commercialization of Cannabis, will moderate the live event starting at 1 pm PST on November 4, 2021. Austin Stevenson, CIO at Vertosa, Lisa Buffo, Founder & CEO of the Cannabis Marketing Association, and Adriana Hemans, VP of Demand at ISA, will provide context as industry veterans who have witnessed the transformation first-hand. This engagement is the fourth in a series of webinar events stemming from a strategic partnership between ISA and Vertosa.

“Our panel brings together a diverse group of veteran industry leaders, each with their own unique perspective and in-depth knowledge of the cannabis industry. Join us to gain an insider’s look at the strategies for building successful brands in a disruptive market.” said Adriana Hemans, VP of Demand at ISA. 

The event is free and open to the public. Attendees can register here.

Meet the Speakers

David Paleschuck

David Paleschuck is the author of “Branding Bud: The Commercialization of Cannabis” and has over twenty years of global brand and consumer marketing experience at American Express, MasterCard, Pepsi and Microsoft – and over ten years in the legal cannabis industry as VP, Licensing & Brand Partnerships at Dope Magazine; Chief Brand Officer at Evergreen Herbal and The Matters Group. David has played a part in creating many of today’s well-known cannabis brands. His writings on cannabis trends, branding and packaging have been featured in A Different Leaf, The Cannabis Industry Journal, Green Entrepreneur, New Cannabis Ventures, Cannabis Prospect Magazine, Green Market Report, Dope Magazine, MG, and many others. His work has been noted and quoted in Forbes, Kiplinger, and The Brookings Institution. His recently released book was featured in Forbes magazine and is currently at the top of Amazon’s bestsellers’ list in the ‘branding and logo design’ and ‘green business’ categories.

Austin Stevenson

Austin Stevenson is Chief Innovation Officer at cannabis and hemp infusion technology company Vertosa. Austin plays an integral role in the business development of Vertosa, facilitating partnerships with leading brands to produce top quality cannabinoid-infused beverages, topicals, edibles and more. Prior to joining Vertosa, Austin leveraged his bio-tech experience building the regulatory Hemp/CBD testing program for Eurofins – a world leader in food, environment, and product testing services – where he worked with CVS and Walgreens to test and verify the quality of their retail CBD topicals. Austin and the Vertosa team are also committed to community action and industry leadership. He serves as a Member on the City of Oakland’s Cannabis Regulatory Commission, for which he supports the licensing of equity partners and works to break down financial barriers to entering the industry by championing grant funding. He is also an Advisory Board Member on EAZE’s Momentum Program, a business accelerator designed to support and empower underrepresented founders in the licensed cannabis industry, as well as a founding board member of the Cannabis Beverage Association.

Lisa Buffo

Lisa Buffo is a marketer and entrepreneur with a passion for launching companies with experience in both the cannabis and technology industries. Lisa is the Founder & CEO of the Cannabis Marketing Association, a trade association focused on education and best practices for industry marketers with the vision of rebranding cannabis at the national level. CMA has hosted over 100+ educational events nationwide bringing together the cannabis marketing community. Lisa has been quoted in Forbes, The Guardian, VICE, Denver Business Journal, The Boulder Daily Camera, Marijuana News Network, Cannabis Culture Magazine and other national, local, and trade publications. Lisa has worked in the cannabis industry since 2014. She started working in commercial cultivation where she grasped the important role compliance plays for cannabis companies. Lisa helped launch 10 cannabis startups for CanopyBoulder, the industry’s first business accelerator in 2015. Lisa also launched the industry’s first online wholesale brokerage as their CMO, garnering national coverage in VICE and INC Magazine and becoming the first cannabis-related company to present at SXSW in Austin, TX. Lisa is the Founder & Co-Chair of the National Cannabis Industry Association’s Marketing & Advertising Committee where she co-authored the Public Relations Crisis Manual and the Short Guide to Colorado’s Marketing & Advertising Regulations. Lisa is an active speaker and has spoken at WomenGrow, NCIA, and CMA events.

Adriana Hemans

Adriana Hemans is Vice President of Demand at ISA, where she heads up the Cannabis Research Division. She helps cannabis brands build more customer-centric businesses through data and insights. Adriana’s work has been published in numerous industry publications including mg Magazine, Marijuana Venture, and The Cannigma. She has been invited to speak onstage at cannabis events across the country, including NECANN (Northeast Cannabis Business Conference) and the NCIA’s Annual Cannabis Business Conference.

Register today!

ISA President Jacqueline Rosales Answers Cannabis Questions in San Fernando Valley Business Journal

Rosales spoke to the Business Journal about why ISA started doing market research into cannabis, what people are buying post pandemic and why she admires quarterback Tom Brady

ISA’s company president, Jacqueline Rosales, has been featured in the San Fernando Valley Business Journal. In her interview, Rosales talks about where consumers are coming from post-pandemic: how the big shifts are centered around self-care and self-sufficiency tools. She believes consumers are really focused on the question of how am I going to do things at home?

Rosales gets very personal when she delves into the details of her history with medical cannabis, which is as a result of being involved in an awful car accident in 2015. Because of her multiple injuries and being laid up for a long time, she found a very good health care team who was able to explore cannabis, which eliminated much of the ridiculous amounts of prescription medications. It was this experience that made her realize the huge opportunity there was to be part of the emerging cannabis industry. Fast forward to 2021, and ISA already has two years’ worth of data, thanks to Green Time, a community of cannabis consumers.

Rosales offered her advice to someone looking to start a business: “Take risks. Fail often”. And most importantly: “People. Hire people who are smarter than you”. When she states this, there’s passion in her voice, “I feel that if we have the greatest team that we can do anything!”

Read the Article

ISA and Vertosa Announce Upcoming Live Event Exploring Branding and Marketing for Cannabis-infused Beverages

The virtual event taking place on July 27th will include the best-selling author of Branding Bud along with business leaders from WUNDER and Pabst Labs

ISA and Vertosa announced today the speaker lineup for their upcoming webinar: “Category Creators: Marketing and Branding for Cannabis Beverages.” Alexi Chialtas, CEO of WUNDER, David Paleschuck, Author of Branding Bud: The Commercialization of Cannabis and Mark Faicol, Brand Manager at Pabst Labs, will join the live event starting at 1 pm PST on July 27, 2021. This engagement is the third in a series of webinar events stemming from a strategic partnership between ISA and Vertosa.
The infused beverage market is expanding rapidly, driven by consumer curiosity and innovative product development. With new cannabis beverages launching almost every day, brands must constantly create and maintain excitement around their product. ISA and Vertosa developed this content specifically to bring to light new marketing strategies, concepts and approaches. The panel of experts will explore the question of what consumers are really looking for and how marketers can speak directly to their needs. Additionally, ISA will be releasing new data and insights showcasing the enormous potential of the infused beverage market.
“Our panel brings together a diverse group of powerful industry leaders, each with their own unique perspective and in-depth knowledge of both the cannabis beverages market, and the cannabis industry as a whole,” said Jacqueline Rosales, President of ISA. Jacqueline will moderate the event and lead the conversation about marketing and branding for cannabis beverages. The event is free and open to the public. 

Register Here

Q-insights Welcomes In-Person Research with the Official Re-opening of Their Sherman Oaks Facility

After 16 months of closure due to pandemic safety, ISA’s Q-insights focus facility is now open for in-person interviews, focus groups, and product testing

ISA announced today that their Q-insights office is fully open for clients and respondents after more than a year of closure during the coronavirus pandemic. Thanks to vaccine adoption and falling transmission rates in-person research is now safe. This means no more physical distancing, no capacity limits on businesses and relaxed mask guidance. The Q-insights facility, located in Sherman Oaks, CA will be a mask-free environment.

“We are thrilled to be getting back to in-person research,” said Jamie Quider, Vice President of Q-insights.  “During the pandemic, we were able to fulfill projects by tapping into our in-house online and telephone capabilities, and now being able to offer our clients the opportunity to see respondents’ live expressions is truly gratifying.”

Q-insights provides a unique combination of solutions to their clients and partners including in-person quantitative and qualitative research, specializing in car clinics, large recruits with hard-to-reach audiences, and multicultural recruiting and interviewing. They’ve served hundreds of brands across key industries and specialize in automotive, multicultural recruiting, and field management research. When face-to-face research was no longer an option during the pandemic, Q-insights was able to adapt their research methodologies to keep projects running smoothly.

 

The Q-insights office is located at 15060 Ventura Blvd #125, Sherman Oaks, CA 91403.