Neil James is an accomplished Director of Research at Solve Advertising and Branding in Minneapolis, a two-time winner of AdAge’s Small Agency of the Year. With clients as varied as Porsche, Rust-Oleum and Goodwill Easter Seals, it is no surprise their team is just as intriguing.
Concurrent to taking a winding path that led to a career in market research, Neil has released 4+ albums and played countless shows in a shredding Twin Cities metal band called Cwn Annwn (look them up on Bandcamp!).
Neil traces his career path from philosophy grad to commissioned sales to strategy and research. He shares his lessons learned along the way, thoughts on research democratization and, of course, his journey through music and metal.