The advertising industry is in the midst of a paradigm shift. In order to offer members the insights they need to keep ahead of the curve, the ARF conducts original research that tackles the industry’s most pressing questions. To keep membership abreast of this year’s exciting agenda, we’ve compiled a list of projects that will be completed this year. See them below.
What terms are used in creative teams and are they universal? The answer is, while many terms are commonly used, there is no uniformity and no empirical resource. As no such glossary existed, The ARF Creative Council developed one. 860 terms, with a unique identifier for each, will be available for free to the public on the foundation’s website. See it here.
Cracking Brand Purpose
Brand purpose campaigns can increase brand strength and appeal. The most frequent objectives are branding and behavioral change. While there is widespread agreement on these, little agreement can be found on what aspects deliver a winning campaign, until now. The ARF in collaboration with Kantor, has produced a best-in-class framework for creating successful brand purpose campaigns.
Cracking Brand Purpose analyzed 45 campaigns, among them award winners and those resulting in negative consequences. Each was examined through four lenses: brand, culture, humanity and impact. Researchers discovered that a successful brand purpose campaign must be related to something bigger than the brand itself. It needs to contribute to the good of humanity. And it must include these elements: You, Them and The World.
The 3rd Annual Privacy Study
One of our most highly sought-after reports, this year’s privacy study contains additional questions related to COVID-19. These include what health-related information respondents are willing to share to help stop the virus, what coronavirus terminology they’re familiar with and who they trust regarding information on the pandemic. Other survey questions asked about online shopping, mobile device use, and respondents’ willingness to share digital data. The results of the study were presented at an ARF Virtual Town Hall event.
Download the 3rd Annual Privacy Study
The Industry Benchmark Survey
This effort by the ARF Analytics Council is the first of an annual survey to investigate the current state of research and the data science profession. Specifically, the benchmark survey aims to find out how companies collect and use research data, what departments they have and what’s going on within them. How do companies organize around data and research? Do small agencies differ from large ones? What skills are needed to work in such a department? And what skills do researchers lack?
Over 500 responses have been collected. Respondents were classified as: advertisers and marketers, advertising agencies, consultancies, research firms and media and entertainment companies. The report will contain approximately 70+ respondents from each category and over 200 from research companies. It will be further broken down between large and small firms.
The survey looks into the structure of research and insights departments, stakeholder value, and spend on research and insights functions. What’s more, it investigates the methods used and what type of training is needed.
Four reports in total will be released, one covering each sector: advertisers, agencies, research firms and media companies.
See the Advertiser Report here
See the Agency Report here
See the Consultancy Report here
See the Research Company Report here
See the Media & Entertainment Report here.
ARF Database
What is the relationship between brand and sales advertising? To find out, the ARF is creating a database to enable research on the subject. The annual project’s debut will include over 60 Ogilvy applicants.
The ARF plans to harmonize this effort with a similar project conducted by IPA in the UK. Each entry will include brand and product category, age, share, consideration, pricing position, growth, sales cycle, campaign objective, primary target, media plan, competitive strategy, outcomes, research used and brand equity.
ROI & “Lift” Report
Initiated by the Cross-Platform Measurement Council, this study looks at research and marketing analytics firms to indicate what services they provide and how they go about doing so. For instance, one firm might focus on campaign optimization, while another concentrates on digital only and a third only looks at incremental lift. This study will also catalogue the types of research these firms do. The results will be fashioned into a providers guide.
Download the ROI & Lift Report here.
Brand Voice
How to successfully launch a Purpose Campaign? Forty-five purpose campaigns were identified through social listening and award programs. Kantar then evaluated the successful and less successful campaigns using a paradigm that considered these features: brand connection, cultural moments, consumer attitudes and impact on brand equity.
Access the study here:
Access the appendix here:
Creatives and Research
Survey and IDIs among creatives, planners and researchers to understand how they work with each other and how to improve the working relation. What do researchers consider the best methods and how does it compare with what creatives want. Read more.
Navigating the Media Landscape II
An update of the study conducted last year by the LA Council. How do people find programs in an age of streaming and recommendation engines? Has adoption flattened out? Are audiences using both traditional and digital video or primarily one or the other.
Contact Paul Donato (PDonato@thearf.org) for more information.