Management Team

Diane has over 32 years of research experience on the supplier side, and founded Clarion Research in 1995. A quantitative research specialist, Diane is the senior officer in charge of all of Clarion’s quantitative work. However, over the years she has conducted a considerable amount of qualitative research as well, conducting focus groups on projects which have both quantitative and qualitative components.

Diane started her career at Oxtoby-Smith. She was responsible for project design, implementation and analysis on several major accounts including TWA (On Board Surveys), ITT Continental Baking (Copy testing), American Motors-Jeep Division (ongoing customer satisfaction tracking, car clinics for new models and ad-hoc projects), and Block Drug (customer satisfaction, new product development, copy testing and ad-hoc projects.) Diane was one of the first to note the potential for Jeeps, traditionally viewed as truck-like utility vehicles, to greatly expand their potential market by moving to a sports-recreational positioning.

She then moved to Directions for Decisions (Vice President, 1982-83), where she supervised a group of project directors and was responsible for researching several new product issues for General Foods, Pepsi and American Express. Most notably, she did considerable work helping Pepsi to introduce the new Slice line of beverages, and helping American Express better understand how to create a card line targeted at college students.

Diane next moved to Decisions Center-Research International (1984-1991). She started as Group Head, with a staff of 4. She was later promoted to Division Head, with a Staff of 12. Her group worked predominantly on Lever Brothers, AT&T, Range Rover and Mennen accounts. She pioneered the development of an extensive copy testing program for AT&T, and conducted the first research on the introduction to the US of Range Rover’s Discovery model. Over her tenure at Decision Center-Research International She successfully grew the group to over five times its initial volume.

She then moved to WAC Research (1992-1995), where she was brought in to assist this largely qualitative company to develop their quantitative research business. She won new business for the company from several key clients including AT&T, Saatchi & Saatchi Advertising, AC&R Advertising, Ogilvy & Mather Advertising, and London Fog.

Diane is a member of AMA and ESOMAR. Diane graduated in 1976 with a Bachelors Degree in Psychology from Cornell University, Ithaca, NY.

Hillarie joined Clarion in 2012. She and her team lead both quantitative and qualitative research studies – and specialize in multi-phase research projects requiring both quantitative and qualitative insights. Hillarie is experienced in complicated quantitative designs and analyses and she is also a skilled qualitative focus group moderator and in-depth interviewer who has conducted 1500+ in-depth interviews with leaders, executives, and educators. Hillarie has vast experience in education, media, telecommunications & technology, healthcare, and consumer packaged goods, in addition to other verticals.

Hillarie also has corporate, academic, and supplier research experience. She’s held corporate positions in market research, marketing, and product management at AT&T and Global Crossing, in addition to managing Verizon Wireless’ Brand & Advertising Research Program as a consultant for over two years. In academic settings, Hillarie has conducted and published research focused on expertise. In addition to her supplier-side experience at Clarion, she also founded a marketing research consulting firm and ran that business for ten years prior to joining Clarion.

Outside of her professional career, Hillarie has held non-salaried positions in several non-profit organizations. For six years, she was Vice President of People Funding People, an organization she co-founded to help complete small scale development projects in West Africa (Cameroon). She also served as Vice President of the Blacksburg New School, in Blacksburg, VA for one year. She currently serves on the boards of Community High School of Arts and Academics in Roanoke, VA (a small, independent college preparatory high school) and Girls Rock Roanoke (an organization dedicated to empowering and supporting young women as they pursue their goals and interests). She is also the Outcomes Director at Girls Rock Roanoke.

Hillarie holds Masters’ degrees from Northwestern University (Cognitive Psychology) and Rutgers University (Educational Psychology). While at Northwestern, she received a National Science Foundation Fellowship. She received her Bachelor’s Degree, in Psychology, with a minor in Economics and Business from Lafayette College in Pennsylvania.

Beverly Escario has been with Clarion for 19 years. Beverly manages all of Clarion’s quantitative logistics planning, survey field execution, data collection, and quality control. In addition, Beverly supervises Clarion’s quantitative division across project functions, including data cleaning, data quality, tabulation, and analysis. Beverly has personally developed several innovative workflow programs at Clarion, ensuring that quantitative studies are executed efficiently and effectively, regardless of study complexity.

Beverly is an expert project manager, particularly on large-scale and complex studies. She has personally overseen quantitative online surveys conducted simultaneously across several countries, and in multiple languages. In addition, she has spearheaded the execution of online, telephone, in-person and mail studies that included the completion, processing, and analysis of thousands of completed surveys.

During her tenure at Clarion, Beverly has also developed and overseen quantitative training and professional development for Clarion’s team of Project Directors and Assistant Project Directors.

Beverly joined Clarion Research shortly after graduating from New York University with a bachelor’s degree in Psychology and Economics.

Randy has over 25 years of market research industry client side experience, and has recently joined the Clarion Research team as Executive Vice President. During Randy’s extensive career at AT&T, he served as Executive Director of Market Research, which included leadership roles managing Consumer Research, Enterprise Research, and Brand Research. Prior to leaving AT&T in 2011, Randy managed large teams of market research professionals conducting ongoing qualitative and quantitative research initiatives to address strategic business issues. Most recently, Randy’s research responsibilities at AT&T included research leadership for enterprise mobility and applications services, as well as the development of an online business research community.

Randy’s research background also included the development and management of large scale research platforms, including Customer Value Added (CVA) research, comprehensive Customer Experience research, and management of conjoint statistical analysis and predictive modeling capabilities to address strategic business issues.

While at AT&T, Randy also participated in the successful efforts to win a David Ogilvy Award for Research Excellence, and the Malcolm Baldridge National Quality Award.

Randy’s educational background includes executive education programs at Kellogg Business School, Stanford Executive Education, as well as programs at Southern Illinois University.

Randy has spoken at a number of research industry conferences, including the Advertising Research Foundation (ARF), the American Marketing Association (AMA), and the 2002 ESOMAR World Research Congress in Barcelona, Spain. Randy has also served as a member of the Association of National Advertisers (ANA) Research Committee.

Linda has more than 25 years of experience in designing and directing a full array of domestic and international quantitative and qualitative research engagements in a wide range of disciplines, including Communications and Branding, Market Assessment, and Customer Experience. Her work has spanned numerous industries including CPG, retail, IT/telecom, financial services, hospitality and gaming, education, manufacturing, and professional services. Linda works closely with clients to understand their business issues and is passionate about designing research that will have an impact.

In addition to directing both basic and sophisticated custom quantitative studies, Linda is also a highly skilled moderator and interviewer, having personally conducted several hundred focus groups, in-person, telephone, and online in-depth interviews. She has extensive experience in executing both B2C and B2B, the latter covering a wide range of constituencies including C-Suite, senior and mid-level executives, customers, prospects, employees, and opinion leaders such as the financial community, media, and government.

Prior to joining Clarion, Linda previously held research positions in market research firms (The Harris Poll, Engine (formerly known as ORC International), corporate research departments (AT&T), and advertising agencies (Y&R, FCB).

Linda received her MBA in Marketing from Drexel University and her Bachelor of Arts degree from Towson State University, with a double major in Business Administration and Communications. She also completed post-graduate work at The University of Pennsylvania.