Lee Appleton appointed to drive growth with the launch of Truth Consulting in South Africa

Acceleration in demand for data and insight sees Truth expand into Africa

After three successive years of growth and following the successful launch of our Truth offering, Instinctif’s insight and research team, in Germany a year ago, we have added South Africa to our footprint.

Lee Appleton joins as Director of Truth Consulting, a full-service strategic insight agency with headquarters in London, specialising in brand, innovation, audience and business strategy. Lee, who joins from Kantar, has a proven track record of translating consumer and user research into actionable strategies to drive growth for multinational clients, including McDonald’s, KFC, Heineken, MultiChoice and Standard Bank.

Leanne Tomasevic, Head of Truth, says: “Over the last few years, we’ve seen continued demand for insight. Many of our clients have told us that their organisations recognise the value of investing more in strategic insight. Getting beyond the tactical and generalist research to drive more impact, commercial change and business transformation. We are pleased Lee chose to join us, and we look forward to further growing the team and working more closely with our clients in Africa.”

Lee Appleton, Director, Truth Consulting, comments, “I am excited to join the business at such a critical juncture. I relish my mandate to drive growth for Truth’s corporate and consumer research footprint in Africa. My passion lies in utilising appropriate, innovative solutions to get to the essence of consumers’ and users’ views and synthesising their responses into a language that clients can understand. In this uncertain time, clients are looking more for strategic advice and impactful, design-led narratives rather than focusing on traditionally tactical research that often lacks the ability to ramp up business and brand growth. Our Truth Consulting proposition provides clear guidance for brands establishing themselves in emerging markets where local context is critical to success.”

At Kantar, Lee led the team on the MultiChoice account, working on high-impact strategic studies to drive business growth and inform pricing strategies. While he is experienced across all research disciplines, he is a specialist in innovation and branding. He has used his experience and skills to unlock value for his clients, growing portfolios to secure sustainable outcomes and value-add relationships.

Lee believes in the value of building diverse, high-performance teams that collaboratively design research and interrogate insights. He understands the importance of harnessing different perspectives and world views and how these inform customer, consumer and user experience. This is intrinsic to his success and will be a core component of how he delivers on Truth Consulting’s ambitions.

Truth Consulting is an Instinctif Partners company, delivering business communications that bring together deep expertise from across the financial, consumer, corporate and political landscapes. Lee will also work closely with Deanne Chatterton and her team at Instinctif Partners Africa.

Deanne Chatterton, CEO of Instinctif Partners Africa, says: “The world is changing at an unprecedented rate. Data matters more today than ever before to inform and guide commercial and personal decisions. How consumers engage with brands influences their reputation – brands want to understand consumer decision-making and behaviours better. They want the Truth – and we are here to ensure they find it.”