Chuck Bradley, PhD

Hello!

I'm Chuck, a data scientist and consumer researcher. I help people understand and act on data.

At STRAT7 Incite I work on fabulously diverse projects for a managerie of clients. I've helped Starbucks design a new ready-to-drink tea latte using a conjoint analysis; I've helped Lowe's understand their brand positioning with an implicit association test; and I've helped Lenovo tailor their messaging strategy to a new target demographic with a mixed-methods program.

At Universal Destinations and Experiences, I designed and managed demand and measurement studies for high-risk, high-budget park events, including the Park’s first Premium Scream Night. The studies I designed, reaching tens of thousands of Park guests annually, are how the Company understands its customers.

At Lexicon Branding, my branding research and consulting informed the naming of Amazon Prime Big Deal Days, Intel Evo Edition, Intel Core Ultra, Cencora (formerly AmerisourceBergen), Trip Boards and Trip Planner for Expedia Group, and Tru Cooperative Bank (formerly First West Bank) among others.

I earned my PhD in Cognitive Linguistics at Purdue University where my research focused on (a) the neurobiology of language and (b) the genesis of novel sign languages. I tackled each from a range of perspectives--from semiotics to neuronal behavior--and a range of methodologies, such as online surveys, psychometric experiments and fMRI studies. Some of my work has even been published or presented at international conferences.

★ My diverse background--from the neuro-imaging of language, brand research, consumer research on theme parks, and consumer insights consulting--has equipped me with a well-rounded toolkit to tackle new problems with creative ease. ★

In my free time, I give free walking tours of the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood as a volunteer for San Francisco City Guides. When I'm not guiding, I'm researching the Hippie Countercultural movement or picking at outstanding puzzles surrounding how new sign languages are born. Riding my bike and tending to my small but mighty garden make me happy. In rainier months, I burn through classic and world cinema.

Prior to Incite, I was a Senior Data Analyst at Universal Destinations & Experiences, working on the ad-hoc / custom research team. Given my background in writing meticulous and creative surveys, I was trusted with designing and managing demand measurement studies for high-risk, high-budget park events, including the Park’s first Premium Scream Night, first Fan Fest Night, and new VIP Tour package for the opening of Epic Universe. The studies I designed were incorporated into company’s ongoing guest satisfaction tracking surveys, reaching 10's of thousands of Park guests annually.

I also had a "courtesy appointment" on the qualitative team, where I intercepted guests at our Parks to understand their needs, wants, frustrations and expectations in depth.

Prior to that, I worked as a linguist and consumer researcher at Lexicon Branding, a boutique brand name consulting firm in sunny Sausalito, California. My job involved thinking deeply about how brand names will sound in different language markets, assessing the international community's cultural and embodied relationships to names, and figuring out how/why people have positive (or negative) associations with completely made-up names. To these ends, I applied both experimental and computational methods.

I took the reins of Lexicon's consumer naming research after one year of service, where I developed, deployed, and analyzed consumer surveys to assess the "Day 0" brand equity a name inately carries. I also helped clients quantitatively reorganize their brand architectures, pick the right product descriptor (Is 'Pro' more premium than 'Plus'?), and align creative copy with company values through qualitative interviews.

★ My research informed the naming of Amazon Prime Big Deal Days, Intel Evo Edition, Intel Core Ultra, Cencora (from AmerisourceBergen)

I earned my PhD in Linguistics from Purdue University, where I studied with Ronnie Wilbur in the Sign Language and Linguistics Lab. My PhD work focused on (a) the neurobiology of language, including the modeling of complex spatial and time series data (i.e., fMRI data); and (b) the emergence of grammar in sign language via iconicity, or, a motivated connection between how a sign/ gesture looks like and what it means. My dissertation and subsequent publications explore visual features that guide the interpretation of signs and gestures in novel communication settings, like when a Deaf signer and a hearing non-signer must communicate, using qualitative linguistic interviews with a mixture of NLP (e.g., BERT) and machine learning analyses.