Customer intelligence platform Toluna has appointed consumer intelligence veteran Sej Patel to the role of Head of Business for Australia and New Zealand.
With over 20 years’ experience in consumer intelligence and data analytics, Patel will be responsible for continuing to drive Toluna’s rapid growth across both Australia and New Zealand.
Having kickstarted his career in the UK, Patel moved to Australia to set up Lightspeed Research in 2004, and has continued to introduce and build global insights companies in the country ever since. He successfully launched YouGov in Australia in 2015, growing it for several years before consulting for Cultural Pulse and InMobi prior to joining Quality Online Research. In his new role as Business Director for Toluna, Sej will be working with Stephen Walker and the Sydney team to develop the platform business and increase brand growth.
Toluna’s APAC managing director Ludo Milet said: “Sej brings a wealth of experience and expertise to Toluna Australia New Zealand, we are delighted to welcome him as the new Head of Business for this region. Sej is a highly-recognised leader across the digital data collection and insights industry. We are excited to see him lead our business, and work with Stephen Walker and our Australian team to support our clients’ needs.”
Patel said: “This is an incredibly exciting time to be in the consumer insights space – Toluna is revolutionising consumer intelligence with its cutting edge technology, and I’m thrilled to have joined the company at this time.”
Patel’s appointment coincides with the launch of Toluna Start, a world-first real-time insights platform. Developed and built in collaboration with industry experts covering areas of data science, brand management, marketing and academics, Toluna Start is the culmination of Toluna’s two decades of market research expertise. Toluna Start, which integrates Toluna’s panel of 30+ million members, empowers clients to conduct high quality, real-time insights covering all quantitative, qualitative and data visualisation needs to truly understand the full consumer journey.
“There’s been a gradual shift away from traditional research for some time, but the pandemic has really accelerated the need for real-time insights as businesses try to keep on top of ever changing consumer sentiment. We’re embarking on a new era in consumer intelligence and I’m really looking forward to leading the team to help deliver the most cutting edge, data driven insights for our customers across ANZ. Toluna Start is redefining the impact and pace of the insight team within a business to respond to business challenges,” Mr Patel said.
