Smarty Pants has announced three new hires. Los Angeles-based research manager Paul “Skip” Wong. Wong assumes the role of “Insights Guru”. He will manage custom quantitative research initiatives – including audience segmentations, positioning tests, and concept evaluations – and for Smarty Pants’ flagship clients. Prior to Smarty Pants, Wong served as a strategy manager at Bastian db5, where he led quarterly trackers and ad hoc marketing strategy initiatives. Previous roles have included senior analyst of gaming and digital media at Interpret for clients such as EA, LinkedIn, Google and Activision; research management consultant for Kantar supporting AT&T, Hulu, Red Lobster and Sony; and head of instruction and events at renowned sweet shop Milk Bar.
Dr. Jordan Powers assumes the role of “Research Prodigy,” providing key support on qualitative, quantitative and mixed-method research across categories. Dr. Powers recently completed her Ph.D. in communication at Regent University after earning a master’s degree in professional communication from East Tennessee State University. She earned her bachelor’s degree at the University of Virginia’s College at Wise. As a scholar, Jordan conducted quantitative and qualitative research on topics ranging from celebrity influence on product worth, to the role of gender and race in fandom, to the latent political messages in memes. She has presented her research at the Southern States Communication Association and the National Communication Association. In addition to her impressive academic pedigree, Powers has worked in banking, academia and retail prior to joining Smarty Pants. She has also served as an international English instructor for Chinese students. Each of these experiences has provided her with a strong foundation in B2B and B2C work across lifestages and cultures.
The company also added “Insights Brainiac” Emily Solomon. In this senior analyst role, Solomon guides qualitative, quantitative and mixed-method research for several of Smarty Pants’ healthcare, automotive and entertainment clients. Solomon was most recently a senior manager of customer experience at Marriott International. Her key contributions included utilizing advanced VR technology to immerse guests into new hotel spaces, leading to refined hotel design plans, and designing and executing cutting-edge copy testing research that drove immediate creative impact. Solomon began her career supporting the baby and beauty businesses at Johnson & Johnson, where her work spanned sales strategy, trade promotions and shopper insights. She later joined Kraft Heinz as a management trainee and was promoted twice to become a senior analyst of consumer insights. She parlayed her project management and innovation experience into an associate insights manager role at MillerCoors where she led countless white space initiatives designed to fuel brand growth.
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