First Insights

Our team of consultants is focused on three guiding principles during every engagement:

We Listen and Promote a Constructive Dialogue – Unbiased research and marketing advice must begin with an open mind. Understanding how to meet your needs involves learning all we can about your high level objectives.
We Attend to the Details – Our team offers transparency and knows that our attention to the smallest of details drives a successful project.
We Deliver Actionable Results – We know that your project direction, budget and reputation is on the line when you use an outside supplier and we only consider the job done when all stakeholders are satisfied.

Bios

Lon Taylor – Principal

For the past fifteen years Lon Taylor has cultivated his usability, marketing and advertising skills by achieving measurable results for Fortune 500 firms and successful start-up’s. Having filled a variety of roles as a usability moderator, senior project manager, director of marketing, and occasional information architect, he offers clients a straightforward approach to helping them meet their objectives.

The experience of working across a variety of industries - banking, insurance, travel, pharmaceuticals, automotive, technology and packaged goods - gives Lon a unique perspective when new challenges arise. The diverse nature of the projects Lon completed during his years at Blue Marble and Novo (part of Publicis Groupe, the world’s 4th largest advertising and media firm) demonstrated his ability to lead multi-disciplined teams and think creatively.

Before the emergence of the Internet, Lon supervised the production of B to B catalogs, consumer direct marketing initiatives, CD-ROM’s and touch screen kiosks at Digital Interactive and Marketlog Inc.

An active participant in the New York New Media community, Lon was co-founder of the New York Research SIG. He's also a member of the Usability Professionals Association, and has co-chaired Guerilla Marketing and Viral Marketing conferences for the Institute for International Research.

Lon has published usability related articles in Quirk’s Market Research Magazine, The Journal of Intranet Strategy & Management, and MarketingProfs.com. He holds a B.S. in Social Education from Boston University.

Julie Rabin – Senior Usability Consultant

Julie has over twelve years of qualitative and quantitative market research expertise. Before establishing a consultative role with First Insights, she was the Research Supervisor at Novo/Semaphore Partners, an interactive services firm and division of the Publicis Group. During her three years there Julie was responsible for conducting usability testing, heuristic analyses, online surveys, online focus groups, and on-site field studies. Her experience includes conducting multiple projects for Cadillac, General Mills, Orbitz, Phillip Morris, MetLife, Chase, Continental and GM Goodwrench.

Prior to Semaphore Partners, Julie was Marketing Manger/Research Analyst at Conde Nast, Hearst and Wenner Media conducting market research for magazines publishers such as GQ, Redbook, Rolling Stone and Golf Digest.

Julie holds a B.S. in English from SUNY Oswego

Pauline Arae – Marketing Consultant

Pauline’s experience varies across media outlets including television, online, wireless and On-demand. She has a great passion for digging deeper beyond traditional communications to learn what affects consumer behavior. Prior to joining First Insights, she worked in public relations as an Account Executive. During her time in public relations, Pauline was responsible for conducting competitive research, heuristic analyses, and executing cutting-edge campaigns.

Before entering public relations, Pauline was an Analyst with CBS Network as well as MTV Networks under Viacom. During her three years there, she was responsible for conducting consumer research for competitive reports, providing programming recommendations, and compiling multi-platform analyses. Pauline also played a role in MTV’s digital media branding efforts, executing marketing campaigns which successfully stimulated not only online and on-air growth, but also across new media outlets. Pauline has both qualitative and quantitative market research expertise, with a proven track record of both in-house and agency client satisfaction.

Pauline holds a B.A. from the University of Connecticut in Communications and Spanish as well as a minor in International Studies. She is also multi-lingual, speaking Spanish, Farsi and conversational Hebrew.