Ben Allen
Founding Partner
Ben Allen is an award-winning qualitative researcher, strategic consultant and founder of Labrador Agency. He established Labrador in 2012 with the express purpose of challenging the status quo of qualitative research.
Guided by Ben’s vision and leadership, Labrador Agency has worked with a broad spectrum of clients—from Fortune 100 companies to foreign governments and non-profits. No matter the client or its objectives, Labrador’s commitment is to always work harder and smarter to help discover and interpret the pieces of relevant information that can drive results.
Mariah Wright
Partner, Strategy
Mariah has been working in branding and design as a Senior Strategist and Researcher for over ten years. She started her career in London, working in experiential and innovation design, before moving to New York to work with large brands and startups alike to uncover unique and meaningful growth opportunities. She has worked at Pearlfisher, The Future Laboratory, High Tide, Rec Trends, Stylus, and IKEA, often bridging cultural and semiotic insights to actionable springboards for creative discovery. Throughout her career, she has had the opportunity to work across many categories but food and beverage innovation and sustainable design have been her deepest areas of focus. Her clients have included PepsiCo, Diageo, General Mills, Suntory, Campari, and Moët Hennessy.
In addition to working with brands, Mariah has taught design at the undergraduate and graduate levels and written about the future of design for the Copenhagen Institute of Future Studies journal. Recently, Mariah rerooted her life back to Maine, where she is originally from, and has become a highly enthusiastic rural convert, earning the name “rugged girl” from her elderly neighbors. She built her own house, is a keen gardener, and runs a small side business working with local apiaries to make hand-dipped beeswax candles.
Margaret Mariani
Partner, Research
Margaret’s genuine curiosity in people led her to pursue a life in qualitative research. She’s a skilled moderator, inspiring facilitator, and agile strategic partner who’s worked on projects covering a wide range of industries and respondent types. At her core, she wholeheartedly believes that Research is the gateway to retaining a brand's competitive edge.
Prior to working with Labrador, Margaret spent more than a decade working as a brand strategist at advertising agencies McKinney and GSD&M.
Molly Dunne
Partner, Fieldwork
Molly has worked on every side of a research project from brand strategist to recruiter to focus group hostess to moderator. She applies this 365 degree perspective to each marketing challenge, providing a crystal clear understanding of how to achieve the best results through research.
Starting off in advertising for Grey Global NY, Molly then moved into integrated marketing for Loomis Group, and then to brand consulting for Greenberg Qualitative Research, TATTOO Brand Strategy and Sterling Brands.