Teams & Talent

• Creative & Branded Content
• Article

How Does the Digital Environment Impact Advertising Creativity?

• JOURNAL OF ADVERTISING RESEARCH

Does the digital environment support or constrain advertising creativity? The answer is both. But how? Researchers in Australia relied on two seminal methods—the rigorous Delphi recruitment method through which research queried creative experts worldwide, and the Four P’s model of creativity. These were applied to investigate “place” (the digital environment) and its impact on the remaining P's: process, person and product. What they found was that technology both enhances and represses creativity.  

• Research & Data Quality
• Article

Are Marketers Using the Right Metrics?

• MSI

Which is more efficient when it comes to advantageous decision outcomes, marketing-mix metrics or financial metrics? Researchers in this award-winning MSI working paper investigated this question, basing their research on a behavioral framework and statistical model. On average, according to their sample, marketing-mix metrics are more effective than financial. Even so, managers seem more eager to use financial metrics, possibly, because they are easier to understand across the organization.

• Article

MSI: Fields of Gold -- Web Scraping for Consumer Research

Outlines the key challenges, state-of-the-art remedies, best practices, and corresponding standards for evaluation for web scraping in consumer research. Provides a structured workflow designed to achieve consistency and standardization in how web scraping is conducted, documented, reported, and evaluated in both the research and peer review process. The authors propose four interdependent facets necessary for generating credible scientific findings from web scraping-based research: (1) design transparency, (2) analytic reproducibility, (3) analytic robustness, and (4) effect replicability and generalizability. Read the Working Paper.

• Research & Data Quality
• Article

The 1st Annual Organizational Benchmark Survey—The Consultancy Report

• THE ARF

The Organizational Benchmark Survey investigates the changes in advertising and marketing research over the past year. This is the first of an annual series. The consultancy report covers a variety of subjects, including the names of their research departments and their structures, whether they are centralized or decentralized, their spending and KPIs, what skills researchers need and what tools they employ, and how satisfied they are with their department.

• Article

MSI: No Silver Bullet with AI -- Blending in Firm Culture and Capabilities with AI Marketing Investment for Enhancing Firm Performance

Employs large-scale data from more than 9,000 companies in the U.S. and China over four years to investigate (1) how AI marketing investment affects firm performance, (2) which mechanisms enable those effects, and (3) which factors moderate those effects. Read the Working Paper.

• Article

JAR: Why Do Great Creative Ideas Get Rejected?

Ask any ad-agency creative professional whether their best ideas ever see the light of day, and the answer likely will be “no”. That outcome is a function of a highly contentious, early-stage evaluation and selection process . Researchers in Australia and New Zealand reexamined the process and offered takeaways for moving great ideas forward. Read the JAR article.

• Creative & Branded Content
• Article

Getting Better Creative from Data and Insights

• CREATIVE COUNCIL WHITE PAPER

We have access to more data and research than ever before. But how well are they being used? It’s apparent to many in the advertising industry that there’s a gap between the research/data and creative/strategy communities, in terms of using data and insights effectively. To investigate this divide, the ARF Creative Council conducted a quantitative and qualitative research project, which has led to the publication of a new white paper titled: How to Get Better Creative from Better Insights.

• Audience & Media Measurement
• Article

What’s the Perfect Synergy Between Employees and Technology?

• CMO BRIEF

Technology is omnipresent in today’s world. Yet, it’s become more difficult to determine what is the best way to utilize it. Businesses want to provide topnotch customer experiences, while maintaining operational efficiency. Customers, meanwhile, require a convenient, responsive, personal experience. So how can companies strike a balance and create the ideal symmetry between employees and technology? The ARF’s Knowledge Center was recently challenged with this question. Here are its findings.

• Article

JAR: Drivers of Creativity within Advertising Agencies

What is the most effective organizational structure for development of advertising campaigns at ad agencies? Analyzing 554 ad campaigns, researchers conducted field interviews with ad-agency professionals at 31 firms representing 75-80 percent of billings for markets in Sydney, Melbourne, and Auckland, leading to further questions on improving structural, creative and strategic outcomes. Read the JAR article.

• Article

MSI: Investigating the Performance of Budget Allocation Rules -- A Monte Carlo Study

In an experimental simulation study, investigates the performance of four marketing budget allocation methods to maximize discounted portfolio profit over a five-period planning horizon. Read the Working Paper.