Product and Retail Research Consultants: 7

Brent Coker, PhD, is an Online Consumer Psychologist, researcher, and lecturer of Marketing at the University of Melbourne. He has a PhD in Electronic Commerce (“Predicting Internet Purchase Intention”). 

For the past decade, Dr. Coker has been researching why ideas spread, and what causes people to share. In 2011, he developed the 'bump' algorithm that predicts the spread of memes and video ads, and a few years later, wrote a book to summarize what he learned about Viral Marketing. The WH Smith Heathrow chart topping book, Going Viral is the culmination of a seven year study on the psychology of building a strong brand and customer engagement. For more information, view his Masterclass on Viral Marketing – “ "Virology".“

Dr. Coker founded the dot-com “Fernland” in 1998, and is currently founding director of Deloosh. – a technology and market research company. He is also inventor of the web analytics tool “webreep” Webreep Model,) which was the first web app to detect and measure website dissatisfaction, and more recently the founder of Wear Cape, – an influencer marketing agency. 

Keynotes and Public Speaking - Dr. Coker has been serving as a keynote speaker for years. He has delivered speeches to  such as entities as NASA, IBM, CPA Australia, and Oticon, and Qantas on subject including word of mouth, viral marketing, and online branding.

Dr. Brent Coker on Stage

View Dr. Brent Coker's Expert Witness Profile.

Avinash Vashistha has dedicated his career to the unique requirements of the Global Outsourcing Market. His background and understanding of the practices surrounding Offshore Markets provides clients with a custom offshoring strategy, supplier / build mapping, favorable pricing, reduced risk, successful transition and sustainable performance contracts that address issues unique to offshore delivery.

Mr. Vashistha has evaluated and conducted due diligence on over 200 supplier firms, including companies in India, Russia, China, Philippines, Malaysia, C&E Europe, US, Canada, UK, Ireland and Vietnam. He has directed sourcing assessments, IT and BPO / KPO sourcing transactions and executed program governance models realizing $6 Billion in savings for clients. Avinash also developed significant expertise in the areas of R&D, Technology, Human Resources, Finance and Accounting, Analytics, Investment Research, claims processing and other domain specific voice and back office business processes. Mr. Vashistha has been a strong proponent of well-qualified, but lesser known tier-two suppliers in the competitive sourcing process.

Thought Leader: His opinions are sought and recognized by worldwide organizations and conference organizers such as IDC, NASSCOM, CITEM, C-Level, Private Equity Conference, the Indo-American Chamber of Commerce, CII, SBPOA and IAOP. Leading media conglomerates such as the Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, Time, The Straits Times, The Business Times, USA TODAY, CNN, CNBC, Forbes, Business Week, Bangkok Post, NDTV, Times Group, Business Standard and Cyber Media have featured Avinash extensively. He has been recognized by HRO Today as ‘HRO Superstar’ for 2006 and 2007 in the category of thought leaders and advisors on outsourcing. He has also been recognized as ‘FAO Superstar’ for 2007.

Dr. Thomas Maronick has provided both plaintiff and defense litigators with marketing and consumer expertise for over 25 years. Prior to that he was the in-house marketing expert at the FTC. Since leaving the FTC in 1997, Dr. Maronick has been qualified as an expert in numerous federal and state courts, providing expert reports, affidavits, and testimony on marketing, advertising, and consumer behavior matters. 

Dr. Maronick has designed and implemented over 300 consumer surveys for litigation and/or policy related strategies, using virtually every survey research methodology, including mall-intercept studies, telephone and mail surveys, and studies using the internet and consumer mail panels. Dr. Maronick has testified (deposition/trial) over 75 times in the past five years and is the author of research of the use of surveys in litigation. 

Areas of Expertise:

• False and Deceptive Advertising
• Deceptive Marketing Practices
• Consumer/Advertising Survey Research
• Packaging
• Trademark/Tradedress

Radhakrishnaiah Parachuru, PhD, is a Textile Engineer with an MS degree in Decision Sciences / Applied Statistics. A multidisciplinary scientist, Dr. Parachuru possesses more than 35 years of teaching, research, and industrial experience in Polymer, Fiber, Textile, Apparel, Carpet, and other related disciplines. 

Serving as the coordinator of industry and public support activities at Georgia Tech, Dr. Parachuru has completed more than 180 applied research projects for the benefit of all segments of the Textile and Allied industries. Projects completed fall in the following categories:

• Product / Process Optimization
• Technical Trouble Shooting
• Design and Evaluation of New Products
• Assistance for Product Diversification and Value Addition
• Evaluation of Products and Processes for Dispute Resolution and Litigation Support
• Training of Technical Staff
• Establishment of Quality Control Facilities and Routines
• Business Data Modeling and Analysis
• Miscellaneous Cost Saving Projects

Dr. Parachuru has also conducted basic research in the area of Textile Manufacturing and served as the main adviser of several graduate students who completed MS and PhD degrees in textile engineering. He has been an active member of Fiber Society, AATCC, ASTM and TQCA for nearly 30 years. Dr. Parachuru currently serves as an active member of several AATCC technical committees and also as chairman of the AATCC committee on statistics. His current research interests are in the area of medical and industrial textiles. 

Consultation Services - Dr. Parachuru offers technical consultation to manufacturers, distributors, wholesalers, and retailers. His services are broad-based and they cover the whole spectrum of traditional and non-traditional fiber products.  His services also cover raw materias, in-process materials, finished products and process technologies. Based on 35 years of teaching and research in textiles, ploymers, metals, cermaics and composite materials, he is uniquely positioned to define the contributions of raw materails, design parameters and manufacturing variables. 

Litigation Support - Dr. Parachuru has been qualified as a Fiber / Textile Expert in dozens of civil and criminal court cases. His experience covers federal, state, and county courts in multiple states within the United States.

Areas of Expertise:

Polymers Fibers Yarns Fabrics

Garments Carpets Nonwovens Textiles Technical Textiles

Dr. Larry Chiagouris has a rare combination serving as a senior Fortune 500 executive and as an accomplished academician. He has provided expert testimony and written opinions on damages, marketing, advertising, intellectual property issues (including the use of survey research) for plaintiffs & defendants at major national & local firms.

Dr. Chiagouris  brings extensive experience as a Senior Marketing, Branding and Research Executive responsible for directing major assignments for companies such as AT&T, Campbell Soup, Kraft, Miller Brewing, Peugeot, Pfizer, Prudential and Visa. He has a Ph.D. in Marketing, is Past Chairman, Advertising Research Foundation and Former Director of the American Marketing Association.

Experience Summary:

• Experience evenly divided between plaintiff and defendant engagements over 100 cases
• Several cases include elements of intellectual property issues
• Majority of cases involve elements of consumer behavior or survey research
• Majority of cases involve elements of advertising related strategies and tactics
• Majority of cases involve elements of Internet related tactics
• Majority of cases involve written opinions and depositions
• Written and oral testimony in several Federal District Court jurisdictions
• Engaged by both large multinational law firms and small boutique firms
• Class action cases evenly divided between plaintiffs and defendants
• Selected by Agency Magazine as one of 10 best and brightest researchers.

Rob Wallace has unique expertise in Trademark, Trade Dress, Copyright, Brand Identity and Package Design Infringement. For 30+ years, Rob ran one of the nation's top Brand Identity Strategy and Package Design Resources providing global branding expertise to Fortune 500 companies in virtually all CPG categories. His clients include P&G, Nestle, Pepsico, Unilever, Kraft, Colgate, The Home Depot, Brown-Foreman, Novartis, J&J and more than 30 market leading companies. Manhattan-based, Rob has been an expert witness for important litigation involving:

• Likelihood of Consumer Confusion, Brand Valuation & Dilution
• Innovation/Ideation Copyright
• Package Graphic/Structural Design
• Product Design
• Branding Industry Best Practices
• False Advertising
• Corrective Advertising
• and all brand related issues.

Rob has commissioned literally hundreds of consumer surveys and is uniquely qualified to determine the results of all research. He has worked for attorneys on both the plaintiff and defense sides of his cases. He is effective and efficient with the average project report requiring between 10 and 12 hours.

Gina von Esmarch, CMO, Adesso Associates CEO / Founder, is a seasoned Marketing Executive with over 25 years of experience developing strategic and impactful B2B marketing initiatives. She has extensive experience in digital transformation, customer programs / retention, brand, content, and shaping corporate narratives for disruptive and innovative brands in the B2B Tech Space.

In her role as CMO, Gina has developed programs for such clients as Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport, PlayStation, NetApp, Socialtext, Ingenico, Fathom Online, Oracle BMW Racing & Moet Cup (2003), and AmericaOne (2000). She has recruited and led teams in countries around the world.

Gina has been engaged to collaborate across teams and regions to align offerings and create revenue. She builds and manages marketing teams to establish market leadership, brand awareness, and differentiation. She excels at leveraging social media to engage with influencers through clear and transparent communications.

Gina successfully develops effective Go-To-Market (GTM) strategies and launches bottom-line impact programs through targeted integrated marketing initiatives. She is an expert at establishing and scaling strategic company positioning amongst third party influencers to build market/product perception, creating strong multi-faceted thought leadership initiatives, crafting large-scale media, analyst, brand awareness, rebranding, and launch campaigns. Gina excels at delivering best-in-class Analyst Relations and Voice of Customer programs with Impact Metrics. With an exceptional mix of analytical skills and business acumen, she drives business decisions in marketing and sales. 

The Know Show - Interview with Gina von Esmarch on Voice of Customer

Business Consulting Expertise:

Brand Awareness & Management Strategic Messaging, Planning & Execution (GTM) Integrated Consumer Marketing Campaigns & Customer Retention Integrated Marketing Campaign Development

Multi-channel Social Media Content Storytelling Digital & SEO Optimization Revenue Growth & Optimization