Research Awards

•    What are we looking for?
•    Who can enter?
•    What are the entry fees?
•    Categories
•    Entry timelines
•    The judging process
•    Outputs and confidentiality
•    Downloadable entry form and notes
•    Contact

As a comparatively new advertising medium the weight of responsibility is still on the digital marketing industry to prove and promote its effectiveness. Powerful research projects are the cornerstone of that process. For six years IAB Europe has championed research done by members and associates through promotion to the IAB network. This year we want to identify and showcase the best digital media research projects from across the Continent with the first IAB Europe Research Awards.

The awards will be an opportunity for the digital marketing world to applaud the contribution made to the development of the industry by the leading research projects and the teams that created them. After the award winners have been announced at Interact in May 2012, IAB Europe will compile top line results from all the projects entered to build a comprehensive resource for industry professionals to be circulated throughout Europe.

What are we looking for?
We want to highlight research results that empower the advertiser to make the most of digital media for communications. Projects will need to be robust and relevant, either to the entire market or to niche market sectors. Our judges will be looking for projects that are innovative, either in their subject focus or their approach, and that have truly made a difference through their application.

Who can enter?
We welcome projects that have been conducted on any budget, large or small, produced by any player in the digital ecosystem, be it national IABs, media owners, publishers, media agencies or research agencies. The project can feature a single European country, be pan-European or global (as long as at least one of the territories covered is European). The results must have been collected within the last two years (so since February 2009).

What are the entry fees?
This year any company can submit up to two projects to the awards for free. There will be a small fee of €200 per project for more than two entries.

This arrangement will be for this first year only, and in future all entries may be subject to a small fee.

Categories
There are six awards categories. Each project can be entered for up to three relevant categories from the following list
1.    Ad Effectiveness - How to use digital advertising to its best advantage
2.    Consumer attitudes & behaviour - Shedding light on consumer media consumption, their views on digital media and what this means for the advertiser
3.    Mobile internet - Any advertising research project that includes results specific to mobile internet use
4.    Social Media - Any advertising research project that includes results on (?)specific social media campaigns
5.    Cross media - Looking at how the internet works in harmony with other marketing media channels
6.    Branding - Projects that demonstrate the value of digital media to awareness or perception of a brand.

Entry timelines and other practical information
The competition is open to projects in which the data collection has been completed since February 2009.

Download the entry form at the foot of this page.

Entries deadline: Friday 29th April, 9am Barcelona time

Entry forms must be emailed to Knowledge@IABEurope.eu. Entries submitted after this time will not be considered.

The judges will draw up a shortlist during the week commencing Monday, 2nd May.
They may well require further information on some of the short-listed projects. Those requests will be sent out during week commencing Monday 9th May and you will have one week to supply that information.

Final judging will take place at the end of May and winners will be announced at the MIXX Awards dinner at Interact 2012 on 29th May in Barcelona.

The judging process
The judges will be a team of digital research experts representing the IAB membership including national IABs as well as media owners and publishers. Some of the companies on the panel may have also submitted entries to the competition. In these cases the judge will not be present for the discussion and determination on the project from their company.

The judges will be looking out for projects with clear, straightforward results that can easily be translated into messages and action tips for the digital industry and advertisers. Judges will also award credit for

•    Robust results
•    Pioneering subject matter – exploring new topics
•    Approach – innovative and, where appropriate, cost effective
•    Application – how the results have influenced business practice

Please note that judges will specify their reasons for choosing the winning projects, but will not enter into correspondence with entrants about any other stages of the decision making process.
 
Outputs and Confidentiality
One of the aims of this competition is to circulate the messages generated by the industry research. There may be possibilities to do this through

•    Press releases to Interact media partners
•    Presentations and publications at Interact
•    Dedicated website resource for results

If for any reason the results of your project are client confidential, please indicate this on the entry form and we will ensure that no information gets circulated without prior permission. This will not count against your entry in the judging process.

If you are particularly interested in communications opportunities, please indicate this on the entry form and supply appropriate contact details.

Please note that it is the responsibility of the entrant to ensure that relevant permissions from any parties involved are obtained before submission. 

Entries can be submitted between now and Friday 29th April, 12pm Barcelona time, by emailing completed forms to Knowledge@IABEurope.eu. Entries submitted after that time will not be considered.

Contact IAB Europe
Please email any queries to  Knowledge@IABEurope.eu.