Appleton, who joins from Kantar, has worked previously in translating consumer and user research into strategies to drive growth for multinational clients including McDonald’s, KFC, Heineken, MultiChoice and Standard Bank.

At Kantar, Appleton led the team on the MultiChoice account, working on high-impact strategic studies to drive business growth and inform pricing strategies.

Truth Consulting is an Instinctif Partners company and Appleton will work closely with the chief executive of Instinctif Partners Africa, Deanne Chatterton, and her team.

Commenting on the new development, head of Truth Leanne Tomasevic said: “Over the last few years, we’ve seen continued demand for insight. Many of our clients have told us that their organisations are recognising the value of, and investing more, in strategic insight, getting beyond the tactical and generalist research to drive more impact, commercial change and business transformation.

“We are pleased Lee chose to join us and we look forward to further growing the team and working more closely with our clients in Africa.”