Meet the Team

We are a group of senior, subject-matter specialists, but we do not look or behave like scientists in a laboratory. Although our strength is our method and technical knowledge, we believe that in the field of psychology, one needs to participate and thrive in the imperfection of being human. As leading psychologist, Pia Mellody, says “Everybody’s poop smells. To be human is to be imperfect.” If you forget this, you treat the mind like a machine and lose touch with reality.

We are not afraid of speaking of complex and delicate matters. We are not afraid of engaging clients as human beings with their own emotions, experiences and intuitions. In fact, we don’t believe in clients, we believe in people. We simply explain people to other people — we are the people in the middle.

We all come from strong academic backgrounds, diverse in focus, but unified in our understanding of how behaviour is determined. Everyone has been trained in the Hidden Depth Method by Massi Tedeschi and is actively involved in fieldwork and analysis.

We have a number of existing trusted interviewers who have moderated for us in different cultures and languages in cross-market studies. We also provide structured training for moderators chosen by agencies or clients.

  • Founder & Principal

    Massi is the founder of The Hidden Depth, having developed a proprietary method of investigation (the Hidden Depth Method) together with leading figures in the field of Semiotics and Depth Psychology.

    He has a D.Phil in Classical Studies with a focus on Applied Semiotic, of which he has been senior lecturer in the UK and France. He also holds an MSc in Psychology, an MA in Art Business, and has extensive training in Analytical Psychology. Massi has also studied perfumery in Grasse and is able to translate brand strategies in polysensory marketing, for beauty, fashion and lifestyle products.

    He has been working for a number of leading global brands and pharmaceutical companies, helping them with breakthrough innovation and communication.

    Massi is very experienced investigator of heath, wellness, beauty/body, having conducted over 100 projects in over 20 countries/cultures.

    As former senior lecturer in Applied Semiotics and Psychology of Consumption for Warwick University, John Moore University and IESA he constantly strives to transfer academic standards to the commercial arena.

    Massi is the behind-the-scenes-guy, he take thinking lead on projects from design to delivery, and is responsible for the final output while sharing field research with the rest of the team.

  • Managing Director

    Sue is Managing Director at The Hidden Depth, playing an integral role with her ability to use semiotics and psychology to understand and translate findings into actionable strategies.

    Sue holds an MBA with a specialisation in marketing and a degree in psychology.

    Over the past 20 years, Sue has worked as a planner and researcher in a variety of roles, and in that time she has spoken with many thousands of consumers.

    Sue has worked across a variety of areas from pharma to FMCG, supporting a mix of large marketing consultancies and think-tanks, but also boutique brand consultancies and strategic planning agencies working in the public sector.

    Sue is the face of The Hidden Depth, being instrumental both in field research and strategic thinking. She has an outstanding track record of helping clients embed knowledge within organisations and lead new conversations internally.

    She is an experienced trainer in the HD Method, having taught other professionals worldwide.

  • Director

    Spanning over 25 years, Julie’s practice aligns commercial opportunities with changes in the cultural landscape through the use of ethnography, discourse analysis, advanced design research techniques and emotion science.

    Julie’s academic background is in professional writing, visual communications and applied psychology at Carnegie Mellon University.

    Julie is an associate lecturer at UAL: Central St. Martin’s, teaching Master of Industrial Design students advanced research and cultural analysis methods.

    She has worked extensively with the Hidden Depth Method to research healthcare, from HIV and hepatitis, to asthma, diabetes, COPD, gynaecological cancers and public health.

    She is an experienced medical and scientific writer, working with advertising and communication agencies on clinician and patient-directed materials.

    Together with Massi, Julie is founder and director of the Generation Poetry Project, aimed at furthering the knowledge of new languages and forms of expression in younger generations.

  • Associate Director

    Milly has collaborated with Massi on a number of global projects on gender, body and identity - and works at The Hidden Depth as senior consultant, both in research and analysis.

    Milly academic background and formation is in design with a specialist degree in 3D design. Milly has also a deep understanding of psychology of design and innovation.

    Over the last 15 years, Milly’s practice has developed to draw on elements of semiotics, psychology, anthropology, ethnography, cultural theory - to understand forces and paradigms influencing meaning in people’s lives.

    Milly’s experience in healthcare research ranges from deep ethnography with those with conditions to trends and semiotic mapping of pharma categories.

    Projects have included looking at the impact of conditions such as diabetes on identity and support relationships, to understanding the language of migraine branding and packaging, forecasting the future of health information management, to handling studies of new devices.

    Milly works closely with the rest of the team in fieldwork, analysis and strategic thinking.

  • HD Creative Strategy

    Cathy has collaborated with Sue and Massi and Justin for over 10 years at different agencies. At The Hidden Depth, she is responsible for the creation of the research stimuli, but also the creative talent putting together strategic visual directions.

    Cathy worked as Head of Art and senior art director in a number of leading advertisement agency, including CDP, AMV, WCRS and DMB&B; so she intrinsically speaks the language and understand the challenges of communication agencies.

    Cathy worked across many diverse categories, from cancer research, to diabetes, to pet food, beer, hotel, the Army, etc.

    She is the recipient of many industry awards including D+AD, Cannes, British Arrow, IPA Effectiveness Award, and appeared on the TOP 100 Hall of Fame for her work on BMW.

    As creative director for Big Green Door she has worked for clients including Unilever, Mars, PepsiCo, Lloyds TSB, Unipath, Mondelez, Kraft, Eletrolux and more.

    Cathy is our go to person for anything which converts strategy and tactics into creative and visual articulations

  • Senior Consultant HD Large Scale

    Justin has collaborated with Sue for over 20 years, and with Massi and Cathy for more than 10. At The Hidden Depth, Justin helps with large size studies (above 74 interviews) where quant macro-patterns across markets and their distribution can be identified.

    He has an MA from Cambridge in Mathematical and Philosophical Logic, and an MBA specialising in marketing.

    From an early age, he has taken things apart and put them back together again, in order to see how to make them work better. This has not always worked (sorry about the hoover Mum) but over the course of 500 projects he’s got better at it thanks to Waitrose, Sainsbury’s, DCMS, Centrica, Whitbread, Hobbs, Homebase, Zip, Coca Cola, John Lewis, NSPCC, The Pensions Advisory Service, P&O.

    Everything he does starts with data and finishes in data, but the value he adds is in the gap between, where he uses experience and imagination to spot the gaps, sees the patterns and makes the connections in the data that few others see.

  • Academic Adviser & Special Research

    Christopher Hauke is an analytical psychologist and consultant in private practice, a PhD supervisor at Goldsmiths, University of London and a filmmaker.

    Prof. Hauke serves as adviser at The Hidden Depth, helping Massi with the design of complex studies, and as specialist interviewer in highly sensitive topic.

    His books and articles examine Jungian psychology, contemporary culture and film. They have been translated into eight languages - including Russian and Korean. In addition, his own short films and documentaries have been premiered in London, Barcelona, New York and Montreal.

    Christopher has been psychology consultant for production companies overseeing story development and narrative for feature films and digital games in London, New York and Los Angeles.

    He has been psychology consultant and creative on branding projects for food, pharmaceutical, motor vehicle and investment companies across the world. In 2017 he was part of the team winning the EphMRS award for Excellence in Consumer Insight in collaboration with Hall & Partners for Boehringer-Ingelheim.

Cathy Hang