Our fearless leader Chris has over two decades of insights and innovation experience where he has helped countless FMCG brands create better products through his fresh thinking and commitment to excellence. Full of drive, good humour and energy, Chris is crazy about continuous improvement and always finds a way to evolve traditional innovation practices to deliver a better experience: for participants and clients. Outside of PLAY, Chris has three daughters and loves spending his time in the Northern Beaches of Sydney finding new places on land and water to explore with them.  

Becky has over 18 years of experience in insights & innovation both here in Australia and in the UK where she started her career. She has experience working across ad hoc and syndicated data sources, as well as both qualitative and quantitative methodologies. She is extremely passionate about getting under the skin of her clients to understand their business challenges and how the consumer perspective can help their business grow. Becky focuses her time on sharing insights with the wider FMCG community so they can create products consumers truly want. She ensures that we bring our “A” game and clients get the best of PLAY.

Emma brings extensive senior-level agency experience from working on projects across Asia Pacific, Europe, USA, and the UK (one of her former homes!). She specialises in FMCG and retail research and consultancy, and has conducted work in NPD, Innovation and Shopper understanding for over 13 years. Emma loves using the best and latest techniques that are fit-for-purpose and is willing to ‘give anything a go’ (as long as it makes sense for the problem at hand!). She has a passion for helping clients launch products that really work in-market and loves to see all that hard work on the shelf in-store! 

Katherine has been in the research game for 15 years, starting life as a qualitative specialist before becoming a qual-quant researcher. In the UK, Katherine specialised in market opportunity and innovation projects, and since moving to Australia 6 years ago and strongly focusing on FMCG, she has continued to help clients develop and evolve their product ideas. Katherine is PLAY's packaging expert. What better way to use her skills as a former art history student, than to analyse consumers' reactions to a product's key touchpoint!

Helen is PLAY’s sensory and logistics guru, ensuring our product testing runs ‘as slick as a whistle’. Helen has 15+ years research experience, specialising in FMCG and sensory research. During this time Helen has successfully guided FMCG product development, from idea screening, to concept, through to pack and (specifically) product refinement. A finalist in the AMSRS Research Effectiveness Awards for ‘Commercial Excellence’, her product segmentation work identified a new product category which led to significant growth for an existing brand. Helen loves that she gets to eat chocolate and drink at work… all in the name of research!

Taryn brings 15 years of research experience to the team and has accumulated a wealth of multi-national insights experience across a wide range of industries, methodologies & categories – literally from banks to booze! She has a curiosity for understanding consumer behaviour and a passion for innovation (she was one of the innovation leads in her previous life at another agency). She loves helping clients with early-stage idea and concept development and gets a buzz from seeing the results of her work put into practice – especially when the product makes it to shelf! Originally from Cape Town and a through-and-through saltwater girl, she was naturally attracted to the Northern Beaches and the outdoorsy lifestyle. When she’s not in the office creating awesome consumer-led products, you'll usually find her on the water catching waves in her surfski!

Addy has experience working on both qualitative and quantitative projects, delving into data to help pull together reports and assisting with running CLTs and fieldwork. With a Bachelor in Product Design and Creative Intelligence and Innovation, Addy has a passion for problem-solving and a talent in applying agile design solutions that drive innovation. Addy is committed to understanding the needs and desires of consumers, and to develop product experiences that truly resonate and engage end users. Addy is always excited to learn new things and find ways of ‘+1-ing’. 

Carla started her career in consumer insights 15 years ago working with multinational research agencies. She built her expertise in customer satisfaction, mystery shopping and U&As in industries such as FMCG, automotive and retail. Carla loves talking to people and learning the ins and outs of the consumer journey. Sharing her discoveries with clients gives her a sense of purpose and joy.

Ed is a self-described problem solver and people person. As the Community manager his role combines both attributes - he is the first point of contact for respondents taking part in fieldwork and is always happy to help in any way he can. With previous experience as a chef and working in hospitality, Ed is a valuable addition in PLAYs sensory kitchen.

Having a Diploma in Information Technology, Argie has 10 years’ experience in Market research focusing on survey programming. Outside of work, Argie enjoys watching K-dramas, reading webtoons and hiking.