Rich Thau, former president and co-founder of Presentation Testing, will be president of Engagious and describes the new business venture as a re-brand and expansion of the Presentation Testing research consultancy. Dialsmith will remain a distinct group, focusing on dial testing technologies and services to its research clients and partners.

He said: "Engagious will have the technical acumen of our (now) in-house Dialsmith technical team to gather and analyse valuable audience insights through in-person and online dial testing research, resulting in all phases of the consulting process –from research to analysis to insights to implementation – now being available to our clients, all under one roof." 

David Paull (pictured), co-founder and CEO of Dialsmith, will be CEO of Engagious. He added: "Engagious is very much a ‘1+1 = 3 venture’. When we first started talking about this, we challenged ourselves to come up with ways to bring greater value to our clients than either of our companies have done on their own. My experience is in tools and technologies for learning what people think in the moment.

"Rich’s experience is in using those tools, as well as his years of messaging expertise and intuition, to learn what will resonate with people. In the end, it was a natural fit."

Further details of the deal have not been disclosed. Engagious has offices in New York City and Portland, Oregon, as well as in London.