The firm will look at what it calls the three main drivers of research effectiveness, namely “defining the real question to be solved and the commercial opportunity this will unlock, delivering genuine insight to answer that question and working with businesses to provide clear growth paths”.

Phillips said: “Fiftyfive5 has evolved out of a simple desire to see investments in insights deliver growth for clients, and this has never been more important, with identifying and accessing sources of organic growth the top item on the agenda for CEOs and marketing directors in 2010.”

She previously spent nine years at The Leading Edge, most recently as managing director of the firm’s Sydney office. Before that, Phillips had a three-year spell in the brand strategy team at Ipsos in the UK. She also worked on the clientside as an insights planner for British Airways.

Kemp was previously in charge of The Leading Edge’s global brand and innovation offering, and has worked as a regional director for TNS and in various client service jobs at CM Research. On the clientside he spent eight years in global brand planning roles for Diageo.