INDEPENDENT INSIGHT & STRATEGY CONSULTANT
I partner with brands, consultancies and insight teams on questions around growth, positioning, audiences and market opportunity — combining qualitative depth, quantitative thinking and cross-market perspective to turn research into action.
APAC · China · New Zealand · Global / multi-market
Award-winning work · Published thought leadership · Cross-market experience
01 / SELECTED WORK
Global FMCG Needs-State Strategy
Multi-market consumer evidence translated into an actionable needs-state framework for brand and innovation decisions.
Seven-Market Tourism Growth Strategy
Seven-market qualitative and quantitative evidence used to identify audience opportunities and reframe growth around year-round travel.
Future Mobility — Global Thought Leadership
Winning global thought-leadership work on future-mobility brand building, taken from strategic framing through editorial integration to external publication.
Global Market Sizing & Growth Opportunity
Multi-market modelling integrating market size, growth forecasts, price and volume, and client sales data to support international commercial opportunity assessment.
AI-Enabled Client Experience
An AI-enabled concept demonstration built from prompt development through product creation and video storytelling for a senior global client-leadership audience.
02 / WHAT I HELP WITH
Brand & Growth Strategy
Insight & Research
Positioning, audience opportunities, portfolio questions, innovation, differentiation and growth strategy.
Qualitative research, quantitative interpretation, mixed-method thinking, research design and strategic analysis.
Cross-Market & Cultural Strategy
Strategic Synthesis & Thought Leadership
Multi-market synthesis, APAC and China insight, cultural interpretation and translating global thinking into locally relevant strategy.
Turning large or fragmented evidence bases into frameworks, points of view, executive narratives and clear recommendations.
AI-enabled where useful — human judgement always at the centre.
03 / ABOUT
I work at the point where insight needs to become a decision.
I’m an independent insight and strategy consultant working across consumer insight, brand and growth questions. My background spans qualitative and quantitative research, multi-market strategy and cross-cultural work, with particular experience across APAC, China and New Zealand. I’m most useful when the evidence is complex, the business question is still taking shape, and the answer needs to become clear enough to act on.
My approach combines research depth with strategic synthesis — finding the pattern, sharpening the argument and turning evidence into a useful direction rather than stopping at the findings.
SELECTED RECOGNITION
Kantar Goldstar Achiever Scheme — Global Winner
Ovation Research Rising Star Award — Finalist, 2024
Published Thought Leadership — Kantar Global
Recognition through Kantar’s global talent programme, including winning strategy and innovation work.
Recognised as a finalist at the 2024 Research Association Effectiveness Awards.
Winning future-mobility strategy work developed into externally published thought leadership on brand differentiation and growth.
PhD-trained · Global and APAC project experience · English / Chinese
04 / THINKING
Ideas on brands, culture and what sits beyond the research brief.
I write and host conversations around the questions that interest me beyond individual projects — how brands build value, how culture changes behaviour, and what markets can reveal that traditional research sometimes misses.
LATEST / BRAND & CULTURE
What the vintage market can tell us about brand equity
A look at what resale behaviour, pricing and desirability can reveal about the strength of a brand beyond traditional brand metrics.
Article coming soon
PODCAST
结构之外 | Beyond the Structure
Conversations about brands, business, culture and the ideas that become visible when you look beyond conventional research structures.
More thinking coming soon — essays, observations and conversations across brands, consumers, markets and culture.
05 / CONTACT
Have a question worth getting clearer on?
I’m open to independent consulting, project partnerships and conversations with brands, consultancies and insight teams working through complex consumer, market or growth questions.
VALERIE ZHANG
Independent Insight & Strategy Consultant
New Zealand · China · APAC · Global
© 2026 Valerie Zhang