Vice President, Insights and Strategy
Executive Director – Designsensory Intelligence
Chris has been a member of the marketing profession since his graduation from the University of Missouri, Columbia, where he earned a BA in Marketing and Economics. Since 1992, when he started Lancaster Market Intelligence, he has been providing proprietary market intelligence for his clients, giving those clients critical consumer and competitive insights to help understand customer needs and expectations. Prior to starting his business, Chris worked on a national scale, serving as Director of Marketing Services with responsibility for national advertising and promotion for Philips Consumer Electronics and managing the in-house advertising agency for The Musicland Group. In 2017, Lancaster Market Intelligence merged with Designsensory.
All his work now focuses on providing vital market information to strategically focused organizations – from NASCAR to MLS, zoos to health care providers, financial institutions, travel/tourism/hospitality destinations and venues to state governments for workforce and economic development.
Long a leader in the research community, Chris has been at the forefront of uncovering and utilizing new technologies to gain deeper insights from an ever-changing cultural paradigm. While serving highly successful organizations, Chris also lends his expertise to emerging start-ups.
Chris serves the community through non-profit board participation. He is a past president of the Sertoma Center, Knox County Health Improvement Council, American Advertising Federation – Knoxville, and American Marketing Association – Knoxville. Served on the founding board for East Tennessee Information and Referral (211) and the Knox Area Rescue Ministries Executive Board. Additionally, he is a member of the American Advertising Federation Hall of Fame and the recipient of the American Advertising Federation Silver Medal Award. Chris has also served on the board of Historic Rugby, Inc. in Tennessee.
Chris has conducted thousands of studies, including:
• Qualitative research
• Quantitative research
• Net Promoter Score©/Customer Experience Tracking
• Awareness and attitude tracking
• Brand equity analysis
• Brand positioning
• Brand lift
• Concept & Copy testing
• Purchase behavior analysis
• New product concept testing
• Opportunity mining
Personally, Chris is married to his wife Toni. They enjoy life through travel, their dedication to their professions, and spending as much time as possible with their seven children and fourteen grandchildren.
