ARF to Seek New CEO as McDonald Announces Retirement

In New York, the ARF has announced that its longtime President and CEO Scott McDonald will retire early next year. A successor has not yet been appointed.

The ARF (Advertising Research Foundation) was founded in 1936 and has more than 400 member companies. The organization exists to advance and promote industry standards and best practices. During nearly a decade at the helm, McDonald (pictured) has refocused the ARF on its founding mission to advance the scientific practice of advertising and marketing through research, which it does through conferences, debates, research initiatives, and educational activities. During his tenure the association has acquired CIMM, in 2018, and MSI in 2021, becoming - in its own words - an 'incubator of measurement innovation and conduit for advanced academic work in analytics, consumer behavior, and business strategy.'

McDonald is also credited with creating topic-specific working councils and a Research Leadership Committee to align research with member needs; the digitization of content; and expansion of the ARF's Knowledge Center. The Foundation has developed the NYU/ARF Certificate in Marketing Optimization and Insights, now offering nine NYU courses and awarding more than 125 certificates; and (in partnership with NORC at the University of Chicago) ARF DASH, a syndicated universe study that calibrates studies combining big data with probability samples, has been Media Rating Council accredited since last year and is already impacting the measurement industry and its leading players.

Chairman of the Board Mark Truss comments: 'Scott's successor will inherit an innovative, high performing organization, with an outstanding leadership team and staff.' McDonald himself states: 'It has been an honor and privilege to serve as President of the ARF, and I am proud of what we have accomplished. My retirement plans reflect my judgment that generational change is healthy for any organization, especially one that witnesses so much technological and structural transformation. It was 90 years ago that the ARF was founded by some smart and far-sighted people, and it has retained its commitment to objectivity, scientific rigor and empirical evidence throughout its history. That remains our True North and the baton I pass to the next generation of leadership.'
The search for a new CEO is expected to begin in the next month.

Web site: www.thearf.org .