The philosophy that spawned the Newcomen Group was born in 1991 with a simple but powerful idea: that experience not only is a more important driver of behavioural change than communications but also has most effect when preceded by appropriately set expectations. This basic piece of psychology led to scores of in-market exercises conducted on behalf of eight of the top ten fmcg brand owners, amongst others, involving literally hundreds of millions of consumer experiences across seven countries. The evidence thus gathered of the power of the idea relative to orthodox means was overwhelming.
   The Newcomen Group itself was born out of a collaboration ten years later between John Bunyard, progenitor of this ‘Heuristic’ philosophy, and Tim Routledge who brought a particular interest in innovating networks to deliver maximum efficiency at minimal cost and a wealth of practical skills. After experimenting for four years with a new business model designed to bring together the relevant expertise, they embarked on assembling a large group of scientists, specialists and supervisors capable of undertaking projects in any sphere where attitudinal and behavioural change are paramount. That group is now the Newcomen Group, embracing around twenty organisations and individuals as share-holding members and another two dozen as associates, representing over forty disciplines from sensory investigation and brain-scanning to musical composition and film production.