Duel was founded from the ashes of the Daredevil Project Games Studio by Paul Archer and Panagiotis ‘Naio’ Tsarouchis when they realised there was a disconnect between the fortunes spent on advertising in aid of growing brands and the hidden truth that most of the growth comes from word-of-mouth.

Inspired by purpose-led brands and the passion-first approaches of the adventure industry, Duel was built by viral gaming specialists, community experts and consumer psychologists.

"The number of top tier brands who rely on Paul and his team of advocacy experts to guide them through this tectonic shift in marketing is quite staggering."

-Downing Ventures

MD and Founder:

Paul Archer is a World Record-breaking adventurer, brand ambassador and a leading voice in brand advocacy. He has advised brands like M&S, American Express, Tough Mudder and Rab, and hundreds more on their word-of-mouth and advocacy strategy, using a background in viral gaming and psychology to show what it takes to build great brands in the long term.

Previously a brand ambassador for 30+ adventure brands, he’s driven around the world in a black cab as a part of the It’s on the Meter expedition, sold tens of thousands of books and speaks regularly at events and conferences including ModernCX, TedX, Cannes Lions, Social Media Week and Retail Tech. He also guest lectures at the British School of Fashion.

When not doing that, you’ll probably find him on a bike, a board or with a guitar in hand.

Co-Founder and CTO:

Naio Tsarouchis is an award winning designer and developer with prolific experience in entrepreneurship having founded design and technology education startups including Consider Magazine, Art In Progress and Treesix.

Naio is Duel’s Co-Founder, CTO and expert in both complex computer science and user-centric design, having built Duel from a UGC platform into a fully-featured Brand Advocacy suite. As a fellow Co-Founder of Daredevil Project gaming studio, he has a deep, technical understanding of how gaming virology, authentic brands and customer behaviour intersect on a platform level.

When not working, you’ll probably find him rescuing art in Bristol, adding to his impressive rum collection and rocking his synth.

Lead Brand & Community Consultant:

Jaclyn Crocker is a top expert on community-led brand building, having worked at community marketing leader lululemon as GM Brand and Community in Canada and Australia. She has 8 years of specialised experience in building brand communities across multiple channels, in multiple countries with little to no advertising spend, and she has advised over 300+ brands on their community strategies.

Jaclyn leads the Community team, where she ensures every brand in the Duel community has a terrific experience, whether that is custom building useful workshops for strategy leaders or ensuring brands programs & goals are well aligned with the Duel technology.

When not doing that, you’re likely to find Jac baking colourful cakes or doing high-intensity home workouts.

Head of Operations:

David Bradbury is an ex-Cambridge University psychologist and a former technology company co-founder. He has run numerous research projects on Brand Advocacy, leading to the acclaimed ‘Brand Advocacy Masterclass Series’ attended by large corporations like Philips, Boots, Travelex and Tui, as well as fast up and coming brands like Red Paddles, Allplants, The Idleman and FeelUnique. He has been featured in Forbes and Inc Magazine for his work.

David leads the Operations and Brand Partners teams at Duel. He combines his academic and practical experience to ensure Duel's product is built on sound science, insightful feedback and efficient development practices.

Outside of work, you’ll find David reading, watching arthouse cinema or out on the water.