Tentpole Strategy & Insights, LLC.
At Tentpole Strategy & Insights, we are expert researchers, always curious, continuously creative, and compelling in our storytelling. We know how to help your brand make solid strategic decisions based on insights that will drive your business forward.
We have a wealth of off-the-shelf knowledge to get you started, and a toolbox of methods to meet your custom needs.
our specialties
Youth Research
With U.S. birth rates falling,* now is the time to engage with young consumers to win their loyalty for a lifetime. Our Youth & Family specialist has been interviewing kids, tweens, and teens for 25+ years, and knows the nuances of connecting with youth-and interpreting their responses-for your benefit as well as theirs.
*Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2022
Generational insights
Decades of experience with Youth & Family audiences has led us to a deep understanding of Generations.
We know how to interpret subtle differences in attitudes and behaviors across ages within your target.
creative qualitative
Our favorite part of qualitative is developing new techniques and protocols that keep participants engaged and uncover fresh new insights.
We were on the forefront of Unboxing for adults as well as youth. We've developed emotion flashcards for Kindergarteners. What can we invent for you?
strategic synthesis
Already have reams of research reports that need to work together to drive your business initiatives?
We dovetail your one-off and recurring studies' results into easily-digestible, actionable documents suitable for boots-on-the-ground colleagues and the C-suite.
satisfied clients
"Mary is an incredible strategic partner and guider. I’ve had the pleasure of working with her on series research testing, helping inform the decision of whether or not to pick up a second season of a series and if so, what adjustments to make in order to better entertain the target audience. Mary knew how to best craft the quant questionnaire in order to get actionable results. She also wrote a stellar moderator’s guide that both covered all of the questions from our client side and also probed deeper to get those key insights we needed for decision making. She then moderated groups smoothly and beautifully, uncovering insights we weren’t expecting. I highly recommend Mary’s services for actionable insights." -Media Client
“Tentpole’s Mary McIlrath is not just an insights supplier—she’s a true partner. Tentpole’s insights have been invaluable to our agency and have helped us win new business and better support our clients. In addition, Mary is there for us to bounce ideas off of and to give us valuable perspective when we’ve needed it the most.” -Agency Client
"If you want to re-invigorate existing categories or invent new ones, and far outpace your competitors, Mary McIlrath of Tentpole Strategy and Insights is simply the best. I worked with Mary for many years doing innovative research for world-leading CPG companies. Her expertise in exploring need states/use-cases and developing true human-level insights that drive revenue is outstanding! What makes her better than others is her ability to instantly connect with anyone, ask evocative questions and intently listen with a completely open mind to reveal situational details, motivations, personal/cultural points of view, and detailed perceptions of product and brand experiences that have not been discovered before. Her PhD-level research training combined with her vast business experience allows her to apply scientific rigor to strategic and tactical business issues and deliver recommendations that you can truly rely upon to deliver business value.” -CPG Client