About
Patricia (Patti) Sunderland is the founder of Cultural Research and Analysis, Inc., based in New York City and Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Patti brings background and interest in linguistic as well as visual anthropology to the ethnographic, semiotic and cultural analysis of people’s everyday life worlds. Her work has contributed to highly successful makeovers of brands and retail environments as well as the successful launch of new products, brand and communication campaigns.
Patti holds a Masters and PhD in Social and Cultural Psychology from the University of Vermont and an MPhil in Cultural Anthropology from New York University.
Patti can be reached at patti@crastudio.com or +1.917.653.5974.
A media profile published by the American Psychological Association can be found here.
On any given project, Patti partners with an international team of anthropologists and qualitative research assuring that the cultural expertise and necessary human resources are covered – wherever your project takes place and whatever the size.
Research partners she has worked with include Alexandria, AgenceKi, Practica Group, InProcess, Suzy, P9, Caleidoscopio Ethnographic Research, Fuel Global, MAGNIFICO, Space Doctors.
Testimonials
“Patricia built two extremely insightful ethno research on Malibu in the US and Ararat in Russia. The quality of the fieldwork was outstanding, but more importantly, the deep analysis provided on both cases allowed to draw priceless conclusions on how to turn both Brands around, leading to new Brand platforms and positioning, proven to be successful. Together with us, Patricia managed to translate ethnographic research approach into Consumer driven strategic conclusions, while working very closely with Brand teams.”
- Cyril Claquin, Pernod Ricard
“Patti has collaborated with and inspired across numerous projects at various agencies that I've worked at over the last 18 years or so. In that time, she has demonstrated the commercial and creative ROI of applying an ethnographic and semiotic approach to marketing. Patti is an intelligent, charming character who breathes life into insights and value into research.”
- Jacqueline Smart, Culture, Consumer, Brand Strategist
“I had the pleasure of working with Patti on an international ethnography project I managed. Patti is incredibly thoughtful and insightful: she has the knack for discerning patterns in behaviour and attitudes, using this to uncover meaning and emergent trends. She’s highly experienced with clients and communicates superbly. She’s witty and funny and quite simply a joy to work with.”
- Charlie Cochrane, Jump the Fence
“Patti brought rich, emotional consumer insights and fresh perspective through ethnographic work on a brand we'd been researching for three years. She did a whirlwind 14 day project with outstanding quality and rich implications. She is impressive, passionate and fun to work with.”
- Kathleen Carroll, The Branding Clinic