Tough Competition
October 15 2004
This year's MRS Research Excellence and Effectiveness Awards will be hosted by the UK Society on 26th October at the Café Royal in London, and for the first time feature an award for Public Policy & Social Research. Competition is fierce - and with work among litter louts, railway vandals and (other) young offenders on the short list, some of the respondents may not exactly be kittens either.
All the projects demonstrate the effective use of research in tackling complicated social issues. The contenders are:
- CML Market Research - tasked with understanding why people interfere with electric railway lines, by the Rail Safety & Standards Board (RSSB)
- Encams (the charity behind 'Keep Britain Tidy') which used a range of group discussions to pinpoint how people define litter and why they litter the streets. Its findings led to the development of two individual campaigns aimed at reducing dog fouling and fast food litter
- TNS UK and the Scottish Executive, for a project to help reverse the decline in the recruitment of panel members for hearings dealing with young offenders and children in need of care and protection, and
- Nunwood Consulting and Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council - for work to understand the views of young people in the Greater Manchester borough.
Winners will be announced by BBC News presenter Emma Howard during a prestigious ceremony at which is taking place on 26 October 2004.
Professor Michael Thomas, former President of the MRS and Chair of the Awards judging panel, says the the standard of the entries for the new Award has been exceptional. 'All of the four finalists have demonstrated considerable creativity in tackling highly sensitive topics with outstanding results. It is going to be a very difficult task for the judges to select a winner'.
Winners will be announced by BBC News presenter Emma Howard. Other awards and finalists include:
- ISBA Award (for Advertising Research Effectiveness):
- Robert Heath, The Value Creation Company, & Pam Hyder, Standard Life
- Nick Newall & Jeremy Martin, CML Research
- Omobono Ltd
- MRS Applications of Research Award (Research Effectiveness Case History)
- Orian Brook, Audiences London
- Simpson Carpenter for Nokia Mobile Phones
- NS UK & Nationwide
- MRS/AURA Insight Management Effectiveness Award
- Link Consumer Strategies UK Ltd & Kraft Foods
- Lorien Customer Focus
- Maritz Research
- Nunwood Consulting
- David Winton Award sponsored by TNS:
- John Griffiths, Planning Above & Beyond, Siamack Salari, Everyday Lives, Greg Rowland, Semiotics for Brand, & John Beasley-Murray, University of Manchester
- John Habershon, Momentum Research
- Robert Heath, The Value Creation Company, & Pam Hyder, Standard Life
More information is at
www.mrs.org.uk/awards/dinner2004.htm
All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.
