Market research awards in 2024 are prestigious awards that acknowledge professionals and organizations for their dedication, creativity, and impact. Over the years, market research awards have sufficed as recognition of researchers’ contributions and excellence. The award includes not only organizational contributions but also individuals. 

Thus, recognition from esteemed awards not only honours the winners but also fosters a spirit of healthy competition and continuous improvement among researchers. The research industry is now littered with professionals of varying talents striving to innovate, refine methodologies, and contribute to the growth and development of the market research field.

The drive to be exceptional may not be solely for the recognition, but that cannot be outruled. In this article, we will explore the top 9 global market research awards you should be aware of in 2024. 

ESOMAR Excellence Awards

The ESOMAR Excellence Awards is an initiative that recognizes outstanding achievement and excellence in contributing to the insights and analytics community internationally. The awards are presented every other year to deserving individuals who have made significant contributions to insights and analytics. The awards are a great way to celebrate the achievements of individuals who have gone above and beyond to help the community make leaps forward in the field of insights and analytics.

Notable Previous Winners and Their Impact

Many individuals have been recognized by the ESOMAR Excellence Awards for their significant contributions to the field of insights and analytics. Here are some notable previous winners and their impact:

1. Kristin Luck: Kristin is a serial entrepreneur and a pioneer in the field of digital marketing research. She has been recognized for her work in developing innovative research methodologies and for her contributions to the industry as a whole.
2. Niels Schillewaert: He is a co-founder and managing partner of InSites Consulting and has been recognized for his contributions to market research. Neils has been reported to be a driving force of innovation and change in the industry.
3. Ray Poynter: Another notable name is Ray Poynter. Ray is the founder of The Future Place and has been recognized for his contributions to the field of market research. 

Fishbein Model in Market Research

Criteria for Nomination and Selection Process

The ESOMAR Excellence Awards are presented every other year to deserving individuals who have made significant contributions to insights and analytics. It might interest you to know that the nomination process is by invitation only, and the criteria for nomination vary depending on the award category. 

Furthermore, the selection process involves a committee chaired by the ESOMAR President and the Vice President and Director General. The submissions are evaluated based on a variety of criteria, including their innovation, impact, and effectiveness. The winner of the award receives a cash prize of €10,000 and exposure during the event to celebrate their lifetime achievements in service to the community.

The MRS Awards (Market Research Society Awards)

The Market Research Society (MRS) is the world’s leading authority on research and insight. This award stands out for its support and promotion of evidence-based decision-making in business and society. The MRS Awards celebrate excellence across a wide range of categories such as best research projects, teams, agencies, clients, and individuals in the UK and internationally.

The MRS Awards are open to anyone involved in market research, insight, analytics, or data science. The categories cover various sectors, disciplines, and methodologies, as well as special awards for outstanding contributions to the profession. The criteria for submission vary depending on the category but generally include evidence of clear objectives, robust methodology, insightful analysis, impactful results, and ethical standards.

The MRS Awards are a great opportunity to showcase your work, gain recognition from your peers and clients, and celebrate your achievements with the research community. 

Quirk’s Marketing Research and Insight Excellence Awards

If you are a marketing researcher or an insight professional, you might be interested in Quirk’s Marketing Research and Insight Excellence Awards. These awards are designed to celebrate the best practices and achievements in the field of marketing research and insights. The Quirk’s Awards are not just another trophy to collect, but a valuable opportunity to showcase your work, gain recognition, and learn from your peers.

The Quirk’s Awards have some unique features and categories that make them different from other awards in the industry. For example, the awards are judged by a panel of experts from both the client and supplier sides, ensuring a balanced and fair evaluation of the entries. The awards also have a variety of categories that cover different aspects of marketing research and insights, such as innovation, impact, storytelling, collaboration, and more. The awards are open to entries from any country, any industry, and any size of organization.

Top Survey & Market Research Certifications

Some of the unique features and categories of the Quirk’s Awards are:

1. The awards are judged by an independent panel of experts from academia, industry, and media.
2. The awards are open to entries from any organization or individual involved in marketing research and insights, regardless of size, sector, or location.
3. It covers a wide range of topics and disciplines, such as customer experience, data science, social media, behavioural economics, and more.
4. It has a global scope, with separate competitions for North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and Latin America.

Case Studies of Memorable Winning Campaigns 

Some of the memorable winning campaigns from the past years are:

1. Qualitative Research Impact 2022: Opinium conducted a qualitative research project that had a significant impact on public awareness and understanding of endometriosis, a chronic condition that affects one in 10 women worldwide. The project was commissioned by Standard Life Foundation, a charitable organization that aims to improve financial well-being for people on low-to-middle incomes. The project aimed to explore the financial impact of endometriosis on women’s lives, as well as their experiences of accessing health care, employment, and social support. The project involved a multi-method approach that combined online communities, in-depth interviews, video diaries, and creative tasks with 40 women living with endometriosis in the U.K. The project used a participatory design and storytelling that empowered the participants to co-create the research agenda and outputs, ensuring that their voices were heard and represented throughout the process. The project delivered powerful insights that revealed the hidden costs and challenges of living with endometriosis, such as reduced income, increased expenses, limited career opportunities, delayed diagnosis, inadequate treatment, stigma, and isolation. Based on these insights, recommendations for improving the financial well-being and quality of life of women with endometriosis were made. The project received widespread media coverage and recognition from various stakeholders, such as endometriosis charities, healthcare organizations, government agencies, and celebrities.

In 2022, the awards celebrated more outstanding achievements in marketing research and insights. Some of the winners were:

1. Outstanding Young Researcher: Maia Chang, Ferrara
2. Fearless Leader, sponsored by Zappi: Timothy Cornelius, QuestionPro
3. Groundbreaking Research Project: Firefish, The Numbers Lab, and Pinterest
4. Health Care/Pharmaceutical Research Project: Research Partnership and Bristol Myers Squibb

The David Ogilvy Awards

The ARF David Ogilvy Awards is the premier awards program that honours research- and insights-driven advertising. The awards pay tribute to the late David Ogilvy, the ultimate “madman,” founder of the agency Ogilvy, and creator of some of the biggest fundamentals in advertising that are still being used today.

The awards celebrate his forward-thinking belief in the importance of research behind effective advertising. They recognize campaigns that highlight the power of research and insights to create impactful and innovative advertising across various categories, such as brand transformation, consumer experience, social responsibility, multicultural, innovation, and more.

Some of the winners of the 2023 ARF David Ogilvy Awards include:

1. UNFOLD YOUR WORLD by Samsung, which used ethnographic research to understand how consumers use their smartphones created a campaign that showcased the benefits of the foldable Galaxy Z Flip device.
2. LET’S HEAR IT FROM HANDS by Dove Hand Wash, which used a combination of qualitative and quantitative research to uncover the emotional and functional needs of hand washers during the pandemic created a campaign that celebrated the role of hands in everyday life.
3. THE LIVING PORTRAIT OF NYC by Citizens, which used data visualization and storytelling to capture the pulse of New York City during the pandemic created a campaign that demonstrated how Citizens supports small businesses in the city.
4. HERE FOR HER by CVS Health, which used social listening and sentiment analysis to identify the gaps and opportunities in women’s health care and created a campaign that positioned CVS as a trusted partner for women’s health needs.

Criteria for Evaluating Campaign Effectiveness

The ARF David Ogilvy Awards are judged by a panel of experts from various disciplines, such as research, analytics, strategy, creative, media, and academia. The judges evaluate the entries based on four criteria:

1. Research: How well did the research address the business challenge and inform the creative strategy?
2. Strategy: How well did the strategy align with the research insights and the brand objectives?
3. Creative: How well did the creative execution deliver on the strategy and engage the target audience?
4. Results: How well did the campaign achieve the desired outcomes and demonstrate a clear link between research, strategy, creativity, and results?

The ARF David Ogilvy Awards are open to submissions from all types of organizations, such as agencies, advertisers, media companies, research firms, non-profits, and academic institutions. The deadline for submissions for the 2024 awards is January 31, 2024. 

Ginny Valentine Badge of Courage Awards

The Ginny Valentine Badge of Courage Awards are named after Virginia “Ginny” Valentine, a pioneer of semiotics and cultural research who died in 2010. The awards recognize researchers who have shown exceptional courage and determination to produce great market research, often in challenging or controversial situations. The awards are organized by the Research Liberation Front, a group of research revolutionaries dedicated to setting research free and pushing boundaries.

Some of the notable winners of the Ginny Valentine Badge of Courage Awards are:

1. Lena Chinou, Heineken: for challenging the purpose of a 150-year-old organization and leading a global cultural transformation project.
2. Kalinda Fisher, The Great Reset: for selflessly bringing together opinions that are poles apart and creating a platform for dialogue and action on social issues.
3. Dr. Polibio Cordova, Cedatos: for publishing unpopular polls and facing threats and lawsuits during the Ecuadorian presidential election.

The awards are presented annually at various market research events around the world, such as TMRE, IIeX, and MRMW. The winners are selected by a panel of judges from different sectors and regions of the market research industry.

What sets the Ginny Valentine Awards apart from other market research awards is that they celebrate not just marketing success or methodological rigour, but bravery, innovation, and impact. The awards aim to preserve the legacy of Ginny Valentine and inspire others to follow her example of challenging traditional market research and advocating for new thinking.

EXPLOR Award

The EXPLOR Award is an annual case study competition that honours innovation in marketing research. The award is sponsored by the Austrian Society for Consumer Studies (ÖGVS), a non-profit organization that conducts independent consumer research and testing.

The EXPLOR Award recognizes breakthrough innovation in areas such as:

1. New methods or techniques for data collection, analysis, or visualization.
2. New applications or integrations of existing methods or technologies.
3. Latest insights or solutions for business or social problems

The award is open to researchers from any sector, industry, or country, as long as the project has been conducted or completed within the last two years. The award is presented at the Insights Association Corporate Researchers Conference (CRC), an annual symposium for market researchers and data analysts in North America.

Some of the recent winners of the EXPLOR Award are:

1. Reach3 Insights: for using messenger-based shopper research and predictive analytics to optimize e-commerce conversion for a global CPG brand.
2. Gongos: for developing a gamified mobile app that leverages behavioural science to measure consumer emotions and motivations.
3. ZappiStore: for creating an automated platform that enables fast and cost-effective testing of creative concepts.

The evaluation process for the EXPLOR Award consists of three stages:

1. Submission: Researchers submit an abstract of their project online, describing the objectives, methods, results, and implications of their innovation.
2. Selection: A global team of judges reviews the submissions and selects three finalists based on originality, relevance, validity, and impact.
3. Presentation: The finalists present their case studies at CRC, where the attendees vote for the winner.

The winner receives a trophy, a certificate, and recognition in various media outlets. The winner also gets the opportunity to share their innovation with a wider audience through webinars, podcasts, or articles.

ASC/MRS Award for Research Effectiveness

The ASC/MRS Award for Research Effectiveness is an annual award that celebrates the successful collaboration between the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) and the Market Research Society (MRS) in promoting and maintaining high standards of research in advertising. The award recognizes cases that demonstrate the effective use of research in informing, developing, evaluating, or regulating advertising campaigns or practices. The award is open to any organization or individual involved in conducting or commissioning research for advertising purposes.

The criteria for measuring research effectiveness are:

1. Relevance: The research should address an important advertising objective or challenge.
2. Rigor: The research should follow appropriate and robust methods, ethics, and quality standards.
3. Impact: The research should have a significant and demonstrable influence on advertising decisions, outcomes, or regulations.

American Marketing Association (AMA) – Paragon Awards

The AMA Paragon Awards are the premier awards program that recognizes excellence in marketing research and strategy across various industries and sectors. The awards showcase the best practices, innovative solutions, and impactful work of marketing researchers and strategists who have made a difference in their organizations and society.

The key categories for the 2023 awards were:

1. Best Comprehensive Research/Strategy
2. Best Innovation in Research/Strategy
3. Best Impactful Research/Strategy
4. Best Emerging Researcher/Strategist
5. Best Research/Strategy Agency

The submission guidelines for the 2023 entry were:

1. Entries must be based on research or strategy projects completed or implemented between January 2022 and December 2022.
2. Entries must include a summary of the project objectives, methods, results, and implications, as well as supporting materials such as charts, graphs, videos, or testimonials.
3. Entries must be submitted online through the AMA website by 28th February 2023.

The winners were announced at the AMA Marketing Week Live event in September 2023. 

Insights Association – Insight Impact Awards

The Insights Association Insight Impact Awards honour the impact of insights and research on decision-making in business, government, and society. The awards celebrate the role of insights professionals in driving positive change and delivering value to their clients and stakeholders.

The awards examine noteworthy Insight Impact Award-winning projects from previous years, such as:

1. How insights helped a global retailer optimize its store layout and assortment to increase sales and customer satisfaction.
2. The ways insights helped a national nonprofit organization improve its fundraising strategy and donor retention rate.
3. How insights helped a state government agency design and implement a successful public health campaign to reduce opioid abuse.

The judging criteria and evaluation process are:

1. Relevance: The project should address a significant business, social, or policy issue or opportunity.
2. Innovation: The project should demonstrate creativity, originality, and novelty in the use of insights methods, tools, or techniques.
3. Value: The project should provide clear and measurable benefits to the client or stakeholder, such as increased revenue, reduced costs, enhanced reputation, or improved outcomes.

Conclusion

In this blog post, we have highlighted the importance and benefits of market research awards for the industry and its professionals. By participating in these awards, market researchers can gain recognition, feedback, exposure, and networking opportunities, as well as contribute to the advancement and innovation of the field. Market researchers should be encouraged to consider applying for or nominating their peers for these awards, as a way of celebrating and sharing their achievements and insights.

As the market research industry evolves and adapts to the changing needs and expectations of clients and consumers, so do the criteria and standards for market research awards in the future. As a market researcher, keep an eye out to see the newest trends in the market research awards.