We’ve Created Value For
Strategic Emotion. Commercial Impact. Built for the Brands that Shape the World.
Data tells you what people do. But only emotion tells you why.
We help global brands and agency leaders build brands with meaning by turning emotional insight into commercial advantage.
Our proprietary Empathy Framework™ reveals unmet emotional needs and identifies precise Emotional Jobs-To-Be-Done — so your brand can resonate, differentiate and grow in ways that stick.
Built to enhance and integrate with your existing IP and systems.
Build Brand Equity by creating tailored Emotional Value
Signal Insight™ - faster than qual, truer than synthetic AI
When there’s no time (or budget) for full qual and synthetic AI isn’t enough — Signal Insight™ gives you emotionally grounded, human-checked insight, fast. We take huge amounts of data, add excellent strategic thinking and our custom Empathy Framework AI tools to find the emotional signal in the audience noise so that so you can brief, pitch and plan with confidence.
5 day turnaround, limited spots available.
Decode Emotional Jobs-To-Be-Done to unlock value and drive action
Understand what your audience really feels — and why it matters
Identify new routes to loyalty, distinctiveness and brand meaning
deep QUALITATIVE RESEARCH - enhanced by emotional ai analysis
We combine the depth of human insight with the scale and pattern recognition of The Empathy Framework AI. Through interviews, ethnography and human-led AI analysis, we uncover the emotional truths behind customer behaviour — fast, rich, and ready for strategic use.
Hear what the numbers can’t tell you — uncover the emotional logic behind your audience’s choices, so your strategy starts with deep understanding
Find the patterns in real human experience — we combine deep listening with the Empathy Framework AI to reveal emotional themes across people, places and cultures
Create insight that inspires and guides — from brand platforms to strategies for growth, our qual work delivers clarity through the logic of emotion so that achieving your goals - and those of your audiences -feels like pushing on an open door
what our clients say
How We Help You Build Brand Equity — Emotionally, Intentionally, and at Scale
Contrary to popular opinion, emotions are not fixed — they’re constructed by the brain based on belief, experience and context.
The Empathy Framework™ decodes these patterns, helping your brand to create and communicate emotional value with confidence and consistency.
Leveraging a paradigm shift in the neuroscience of emotion, we help you to create the specific types of emotional value your audiences are most needing across touchpoints, journeys and media.
INITIAL
CONSULTATION
We explore your brand’s goals, customers and current models
empathy framework ai insights
Benchmark your brand against competitors on emotional resonance across your category, identify the Emotional Jobs To Be Done to grow market share
CUSTOM qualitative research
Deeply human qualitative research enhanced by The Empathy Framework AI for emotional analysis at scale. Tailored to your category and audience
STRATEGic activation
As well as a custom debrief, we provide a Custom AI Brand Agent, your emotionally intelligent assistant, trained to apply the insights, perform the Emotional Jobs-To-Be-Done throguh tailored language and build your brand consistently across media
OUR WORK
Our work with leading brands and causes has helped to attract new customers, drive long-term loyalty, build brand equity and increase revenue. Here’s how we’ve made a difference.
SKIN+ME & AND BEGIN
SKIN+ME & AND BEGIN
SKIN+ME & AND BEGIN
Sophie Van Ettinger, CMO, Skin+Me and And Begin
1:1 Diet by Cambridge Weight Plan
1:1 Diet by Cambridge Weight Plan
1:1 Diet by Cambridge Weight Plan
Hayley McQuade, CMO, 1:1 Diet by Cambridge Weight Plan
Redrow & The Kite Factory
Redrow & The Kite Factory
Redrow & The Kite Factory
Christian Taylor, Managing Partner, The Kite Factory.
The Emotional Equity Index™
Want to know what emotional value your brand is creating — and where it's falling short?
Apply for an Emotional Equity Index™, and if we think we are a good fit, you'll receive an executive-grade brand audit that benchmarks your current strategy against 10 universal emotional needs.
You’ll receive:
- A visual snapshot of your brand’s current emotional strengths and gaps
- Insight into competitor emotional positioning
- A tailored set of Emotional Jobs-To-Be-Done™ to unlock new growth
Designed for CMOs, Heads of Strategy, and Insight Leaders who want to make emotional relevance measurable — and actionable.
ABOUT US
Source Nine was founded to help brands build emotional value in a world where meaning is getting harder to find.
When insight veteran Vincent Nolan (Founder of 2CV, Co-Founder of Mermaid Gin) met behaviour change strategist Rob Harrison-Plastow (University of Exeter), they saw the same problem from different angles: marketing was drowning in data, and yet still missing what matters — the human emotional drivers behind trust, loyalty, and growth.
What started as a project to help climate campaigners connect with broader audiences became something bigger: a system for understanding audiences not just as segments, but as people with emotional needs, shifting beliefs, and constructed realities.
Now, we don’t just help brands understand people.
We help them become more emotionally coherent, resonant and trusted across media, segments and time.
If you’re looking for a smarter way to build brand equity, grounded in emotion and built for scale, we’d love to start a strategic conversation.
