About us

INNOFACT AG is more than a market research institute: It is the institute that works for your market advantage. INNOFACT offers market research using innovative methods, robust data collection from online panels founded by INNOFACT, fast and a great commitment to your questions.

INNOFACT is a full service market research institute. We combine traditional market research knowledge and skills with the opportunities of online surveys and state-of-the-art data collection. We are active in Germany, Europe and around the world.

INNOFACT is a market and quality leader for online surveys in Germany and operates its own online panels. We employ people who apply high quality and standards to their results, and we provide solutions and recommendations for our customers’ market questions. The head office of INNOFACT is in Düsseldorf. There are branch offices in Zurich and Lengerich.

You are welcome to contact us:

Karsten Polthier
CEO

Tel.: +49 211 – 86 20 29-0
Fax: +49 211 – 86 20 29-210

INNOFACTS

+ 3000000

Interviews per year

+ 1400

Projects per year

+ 300

Clients per year

120

Employees at three locations

Profile

  • 120 Employees

  • Offices in Düsseldorf, Zurich and Lengerich

  • Approx. 1,400 Projects per Year

  • Inhouse IT Team and innovative IT Solutions

  • Founded in 2001

  • Independent and owner-managed institute

  • Member of ESOMAR, BVM and DGOF

Board

Karsten Polthier, CEO

E-Mail Karsten Polthier
+49 211 86 20 29-0

Karsten Polthier
CEO

Customer care, consulting, controlling, corporate strategy

Karsten Polthier (born 1963) studied business administration in Cologne (graduated in business administration with an honours master’s degree in summer 1990). Major fields of study were marketing, market research and psychology.

Already during his studies and subsequently, he was able to collect extensive experiences in different management consultations. Based on these experiences and contacts, Polthier Marktforschung & Marketingberatung was founded in Meerbusch in 1991. After nine years of successful consulting activities, he moved to INNOFACT AG in 2000 as CEO.

Partner

Christian Thunig, Partner

E-Mail Christian Thunig
+49 211 86 20 29-268

Christian Thunig
Managing Partner

Corporate communications, marketing, consulting

Christian Thunig is Managing Partner at INNOFACT AG. Prior to this, the business graduate spent 17 years at the Handelsblatt publishing group. Most recently, he was Editor-in-Chief and Project Manager of absatzwirtschaft – Zeitschrift für Marketing. He is on the editorial advisory board of the platform marktforschung.de and on the board of BVM, the Professional Association of German Market and Social Researchers.

Translated with DeepL.com (free version)

Daniel Schwarz, Partner

E-Mail Daniel Schwarz
+49 211 86 20 29-241

Daniel Schwarz
Partner / Unit Director

Daniel Schwarz is Partner and Unit Director. After graduating from the University of Trier with a degree in business administration with a focus on marketing and trade and a longer stay at a market research institute in Vancouver, Canada, he joined INNOFACT in 2007 and since 2010 has headed his own unit, which is at home in various industries ranging from FMCG and retail to system catering and medical technology.

Dirk Bothe, Partner

E-Mail Dirk Bothe
+49 211 86 20 29-242

Dirk Bothe
Partner / Unit Director

Dirk Bothe is a partner and unit director. He studied ethnology and sociology at the Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität in Bonn. In 2007, he started as an analyst at INNOFACT and has been heading his own unit since 2014. His focus is on retail, FMCG and international tracking of customer satisfaction and brand strength. He supports clients such as REWE Group, Lekkerland SE and Peek & Cloppenburg.

Tomislav Djoja, Partner

E-Mail Tomislav Djoja
+49 211 86 20 29-238

Tomislav Djoja
Partner / Unit Director

Tomislav Djoja is Partner and Unit Director. He has been part of INNOFACT since graduating from the University of Bielefeld in 2007 with a degree in business administration, specialising in marketing and statistics. He is a proven expert in the fields of advertising research, preference measurement and price research. He has been heading his own unit since 2011 and successfully supports clients from sectors such as retail, FMCG and consulting.

Marcel Küster, Partner

E-Mail Marcel Küster
+49 211 86 20 29-237

Marcel Küster
Partner / Unit Director

Marcel Küster is Partner and Unit Director. After studying economics at the University of Wuppertal with a focus on “Methods of Empirical Economic and Social Research” and working at the chair of the same name, he joined INNOFACT in 2009 and has been leading his own unit since 2013, which focuses on telecommunications, digital, gaming & e-sports, retail, FMCG and customer research.

Chris Schachinger, Partner

E-Mail Chris Schachinger
+49 211 86 20 29-253

Chris Schachinger
Partner / Unit Director

Chris Schachinger is a partner and unit director. He completed his diploma in work and organisational sociology at the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University in Frankfurt am Main. He has been a consultant at INNOFACT since 2011, specialising in brand and sustainability research, tracking, FMCG and demanding target groups of all kinds. Previously he was at Millward Brown. He supports clients such as Nestlé Wagner, EY Parthenon, McKinsey & Comp. and Mondelez, Deutsches Milchkontor or Werner und Mertz.

Dr. Elena Sopelnikowa, Partner

E-Mail to Dr. Elena Sopelnikowa
+49 211 86 20 29-217

Dr. Elena Sopelnikova
Partner / Unit Director

Dr. Elena Sopelnikowa is a partner at INNOFACT. She has been with the company since 2004 and is Head of Analysis. Born in Ukraine, she studied “Applied Mathematics”. She came to Germany in 2001 and initially worked as a research assistant at the Center for Applied Psychology, Environmental and Social Research in Bochum.

Thorsten Dießner, Partner

E-Mail to Thorsten Dießner
+49 5481 902 811-111

Thorsten Dießner
Partner

Thorsten Dießner is a partner at INNOFACT. He joined the institute in 2021 and is Head of Programming and Innovation Development. The passionate software developer was previously Director Operations at Kantar, where he was responsible for the design of innovative survey modules and the development of dashboard frameworks in addition to managing the scripting and online technology teams. He was also co-founder of the Innovation Hub at KantarHealth.

Supervisory board

  • Harald Jäger (Chairman), Director Client Services / Member of the Management Board HAVAS, Düsseldorf
  • Dr. Ernest-W. Droege, Board Member and CEO Droege Group
  • Thomas Flohr, Managing Partner Bernd Heuer & Partner Human Resources GmbH, Düsseldorf
  • Christian Böllhoff, Managing Partner Prognos AG
  • Holger Temmen
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