Nonfiction explores the hidden parts of American life through immersive research. Their researchers have sat beside patients in hospitals, inmates in prison, and have interviewed Atlanta rappers while rollerblading. Nonfiction’s findings have been featured by ABC News, Axios, MSNBC, Fox News, and FastCompany. Their work has inspired public service campaigns, a division at Disney, new flavors of Doritos, and a Megan Thee Stallion song.
How Nonfiction is revolutionizing the multi-billion dollar industry of consumer insights by leading a movement toward more realist depictions of consumers, going where others won’t in order to uncover the hidden truths about what everyday people need and desire most.
How a renegade research company’s time unchaperoned in prisons, talking to bank robbers, and studying people’s Spotify playlists has led to groundbreaking insights for both everyday people and large companies
How Nonfiction Research uses “rogue interviews” to get killer insights on impossible timelines & tips for doing it yourself
An inside look at Nonfiction’s “America’s Secret Playlists” report, which poured over 10,000 public Spotify playlists to understand what emotions Americans wanted to feel, and how businesses might adjust to serve them better.
A look at Nonfiction’s “America’s Secret Playlists” study, which finds a growing American appetite for things that include deep and dark emotions, not just the happy ones.
An inside look at Nonfiction’s “Secret Financial Lives” report, which focused on money rather than banking, uncovered Americans’ vast and numerous unmet financial needs, and charted a course for how banks and other entrants could serve them better. This report has been featured on MSNBC, Axios, and CNBC.
A deep dive into Nonfiction’s “Invisible Weight” report and podcast, which uncover the dark, and often deeply lonely, emotional experiences of pregnant people in their journeys through pregnancy and the transition to motherhood. With hundreds of stories to back it up, this report builds a case for emotional care in the treatment of pregnant people.
Gunny is the co-founder of Nonfiction Research.
Nonfiction explores the hidden parts of American life through immersive research. Their researchers have sat beside patients in hospitals, inmates in prison, and have interviewed Atlanta rappers while rollerblading. Nonfiction’s findings have been featured by ABC News, Axios, MSNBC, Fox News, and FastCompany. Their work has inspired public service campaigns, a division at Disney, new flavors of Doritos, and a Megan Thee Stallion song.
Gunny has authored and co-authored Nonfiction studies such as The Secret Financial Lives of Americans, Intimacy in America, America’s Secret Music Playlists, and Saving Americans from the News.
Before Nonfiction, Gunny was the Head of Strategy at VICE Media's digital agency. Gunny is a founding board member of Brooklyn Poets - the literary nonprofit - and an advisory board member of DVRGNT Ventures, a venture capital fund dedicated to underestimated founders from underrepresented geographies. He’s a graduate of Coatesville Area Schools and Columbia University. He splits time between New York City and Nashville, where he lives with his wife and daughter.
Ben is the co-founder of Nonfiction Research.
Nonfiction explores the hidden parts of American life through immersive research. Their researchers have sat beside patients in hospitals, inmates in prison, and have interviewed Atlanta rappers while rollerblading. Nonfiction’s findings have been featured by ABC News, Axios, MSNBC, Fox News, and FastCompany. Their work has inspired public service campaigns, a division at Disney, new flavors of Doritos, and a Megan Thee Stallion song.
Before co-founding Nonfiction Research, Ben was Global Head of CPG Research at L2 (acquired by Gartner Research) where he worked directly with some of the world’s largest consumer brands, including P&G, Unilever, and Nestle. Prior to L2, he worked at Tenthwave, where he established the research & analytics practice, which grew in revenue annually. Ben is on the advisory board at Harvard Business Review and is routinely quoted/featured in industry news. He's a graduate of Georgetown University.
Lindsey Wehking is the Chief Investigative Strategy Officer at Nonfiction Research.
Nonfiction explores the hidden parts of American life through immersive research. Their researchers have sat beside patients in hospitals, inmates in prison, and have interviewed Atlanta rappers while rollerblading. Nonfiction’s findings have been featured by ABC News, Axios, MSNBC, Fox News, and FastCompany. Their work has inspired public service campaigns, a division at Disney, new flavors of Doritos, and a Megan Thee Stallion song.
Lindsey is the author of The Invisible Weight, a report and podcast on the hidden emotional experiences of pregnancy and the lack of emotional care in the U.S Healthcare system. She has also authored America’s Secret Playlists, a report on the secret lives hidden within Spotify playlists, and Saving America from the News, a study of what Americans really want from journalism.Her quest for more emotional realism in research has brought her into hip hop therapy groups, sex cults, ayahuasca retreats, illegal gas station casinos, Insane Clown Posse concerts and deep into the inner lives of everyday Americans.
Nigel is Head of Investigative Strategy at Nonfiction Research.
Nonfiction explores the hidden parts of American life through immersive research. Their researchers have sat beside patients in hospitals, inmates in prison, and have interviewed Atlanta rappers while rollerblading. Nonfiction’s findings have been featured by ABC News, Axios, MSNBC, Fox News, and FastCompany. Their work has inspired public service campaigns, a division at Disney, new flavors of Doritos, and a Megan Thee Stallion song.
Nigel is a war-correspondent turned strategist. He’s worked in advertising around the world, including at Saatchi, FCB, Grey, in New York, Leo Burnett in Chicago, and TBWA and Weber Shandwick in Berlin. Nigel’s work has garnered conversation, press coverage, and sales (i.e. National debate for Cheerios), and recognition from award shows, including Jay Chiat Strategic Excellence, Effies, Cannes, and One Show, among others.
Most recently, Nigel is the author of Earned Effect Study (WARC, Newsweek, etc.), an effectiveness study which he conducted in partnership with the Institute of Practioners in Advertising and Peter Field.
Jess Hoffman is the Director of Investigative Strategy at Nonfiction Research.
Nonfiction explores the hidden parts of American life through immersive research. Their researchers have sat beside patients in hospitals, inmates in prison, and have interviewed Atlanta rappers while rollerblading. Nonfiction’s findings have been featured by ABC News, Axios, MSNBC, Fox News, and FastCompany. Their work has inspired public service campaigns, a division at Disney, new flavors of Doritos, and a Megan Thee Stallion song.
At Nonfiction, Jess has authored studies on everything from Gen Z vaping and oral care, to subculture-inspired chip flavor innovation, to what stops people from acting on social causes they care deeply about.
Jess's belief for on-the-ground research has brought her to family dinner tables across Canada, Bad Bunny's hometown, illegal mountaintop raves, and late night drumming circles with Indigenous hip hop artists. She has always believed in two things tha make for powerful work: a great question and someone who will really listen to the answer.
Sam Schwarz is the director of investigative strategy at Nonfiction Research.
Nonfiction explores the hidden parts of American life through immersive research.Their researchers have sat beside patients in hospitals, inmates in prison, and have interviewed Atlanta rappers while rollerblading. Nonfiction’s findings have been featured by ABC News, Axios, MSNBC, Fox News, and FastCompany. Their work has inspired public service campaigns, a division at Disney, new flavors of Doritos, and a Megan Thee Stallion song.
At Nonfiction, Sam has authored studies on everything from distracted driving, to returning to the office in 2021, to how smell contributes to attraction.
Sam, an NYC native, graduated from the University of Edinburgh with a masters in philosophy, focusing on philosophy of the mind - and has been working to pick apart how people think and act ever since. He worked in advertising strategy for almost a decade, at Ogilvy and Leo Burnett in Mumbai, and at BBDO and R/GA in New York.
