Why Research Pros Love Working With Us
Mission
Clients love our mission statement: Helping People Succeed. We take on the heavy lifting for recruitment and logistics so you can focus on what you do best, designing and executing world-class research. We listen closely to understand your objectives, challenges, and success metrics. Then we move quickly to help ensure a seamless, high-quality study.
Fearlessness
Clients love that we don’t shy away from tough recruitment challenges. We’ve built scalable processes and online communities that allow us to recruit across a wide range of demographics and highly specific segments (even in smaller markets). Whether it’s a standard in-lab UX study, an in-home ethnography, or something unconventional—like research conducted on farms with large animals—we have the creativity to make it happen.
Collaboration
Clients love collaboration that delivers, ensuring results and avoiding surprises. Every project is led by a dedicated project manager and team who communicates directly with you, ensuring seamless transparency at every stage—through pre-recruit meetings, real-time progress updates, and detailed tracking documents—so you always know where things stand regardless of your time zone.
Flexibility
Clients love how we adapt to their unique workflows and organizational culture. No two research teams work the same way. We’re process oriented but won’t force you into a rigid process. At the start of every project, we take the time to understand your goals and how you want to approach the study. Then we design a project plan that fits your needs and delivers the results you need. Flexibility isn’t an afterthought—it’s built into how we work.
Experience
Clients love that we understand how what we do fits with what they do. Our team understands research. We’re behavioral scientists, group facilitators, logistical strategists, and recruitment specialists who bring deep experience to the table. Because we’ve worked across every stage of the research process, we can help anticipate challenges before they arise and ensure your study runs smoothly from start to finish.
Value
Clients love unbundled budgets that detail the costs for the services and criteria they specify. You see the cost breakouts upfront. You decide what level of investment to make in services and rigor consistent with your research needs. This means no hidden fees, no guesswork, and no paying for services you don’t need or for respondent criteria where cost exceeds value.
Our Team
Steven A. Reed
Qual/quant researcher, innovation team leader,
market strategist
CEO Founder
Herdley O. Paolini, PhD
Behavioral scientist, licensed psychologist, team leader
Senior Vice President
Karen White
Whirlpool User Experience pioneer, now client relationship manager
Vice President
Michael A. Paolini
Filmmaker and writer now researcher and operations team leader
Associate V.P.
Brent Brookhouse
Former editor for Vox Media and USA Today properties, IT developer/ team leader
Associate V.P
Herb Helm, Jr., PhD
Behavioral scientist, clinical psychologist, educator, consultant
Associate V.P.
Richard L. Lukey, Jr.
Led research teams at Leo Burnett agency & Whirlpool Kenmore, consultant
Associate V.P
Marketing Partners has been an effective partner recruiting participants for our usability studies! They are quick to respond to requests, flexible in discussing our needs, and helpful in identifying participants that meet our requirements in a timely manner.
Kelly Seagren,
UX Researcher
- Graco
MPI has a long history and partnership with my department and has always met expectations! The participants recruited have a variety of cultural backgrounds and possess great communication skills.
Effy Zheng,
UX Designer
- Whirlpool
My recruiting needs for Marketing Partners have been fully met. Their flexibility, personality, and general helpfulness with recruiting have lifted a great burden off of our teams shoulders, so we can do a better job of preparing for our studies on our end. I am very grateful for their continued support of our research here at Newell, and look forward to working with them in the future.
Andrew Cusmano,
UX Lab Analyst
– Newell Brands
Our capabilities
Identify, verify, schedule, and coordinate participants to your exact specifications. We can also manage digital incentive payments to ensure hassle-free follow-through with participants.
Build and nurture proprietary respondent pools—whether for formal research, ongoing customer feedback, or influencer engagement. We can operate under your brand or as a discreet third-party.
Maintain and curate your proprietary panels with custom-built platforms, relationship nurturing, and secure data management—on your IT systems or ours.
Recruit, verify, and coordinate influencers who align with your goals, acting in your name or as a third-party.
Recruit and manage participants across diverse markets, combining online communities with in-person facilities and logistics for UX or product studies.
Provide expert moderators—including Ph.D.-level behavioral scientists—for online IDIs, dyads, triads, or focus groups.
Manage recruiting, logistics, placement, data collection, removals, and incentive payments for product field tests—whether within employee populations, proprietary panels, or external sources.
Conduct ongoing satisfaction studies, with or without qualitative interviewing, recruiting from ownership databases, warranty lists, or other sources.
We believe we’re still in business after 30 years because we focus on three “R’s”— Rigor, Reliability, and Relationship. It’s our Triple-R formula.
Rigor because the right degree of exactness (consistent with value in the client’s eyes) is essential in your and our work.
Reliability, for obvious reasons.
And Relationship—the reason we still have our first client from more than 30 years ago (a relationship that dates back to a predecessor company.)
Our Triple-R Values
We don’t look to get on bid lists.
We build to order and focus on long-term relationships. We look for new clients who are open to an ongoing, trust-based relationship.
It’s in our name—Marketing Partners. We’ll never be a fast-growing “hot company,” but we’re always changing and aim to be around for another 30 years, at least.
SERVING INDUSTRY LEADERS
Our mission is to help you succeed by providing the recruitment and logistics backbone for your research. We offer flexible, end-to-end services—or à la carte support—in whatever way we can help you succeed.
For over three decades, we’ve partnered with organizations to support consumer research, innovation programs, customer experience studies, product development, relationship marketing, and community management. Our team brings experience across every step of the process.