Winning Tips

If you would like to enter a project for an award, make you you read these winning tips first which tell you what the judges are looking for and how best to present your project.

What the judges are looking for?

An interesting and inspiring story of how qualitative research has uniquely made a difference to the success of a business.

Clear understanding of the business imperatives behind the research brief
Inventive solutions to the client brief - NOT whizzy techniques for the sake of it
Inspired ideas about how research can positively affect business decision-making

How to write a winner

First define your success. Success means things got better, eg the right strategy was adopted, the ad or product was made better, the target audience was better understood, the media planning was improved, the team shared a new vision or direction, a better idea was developed, a fresh perspective was achieved, etc. It is not necessary to prove sales uplifts - though if relevant, such proof is welcome. You must simply demonstrate how your research affected a positive difference to business decision-making.

Think about effects

What effects can research realistically be expected to have? This should include both external effects, such as:

Identify the significance of something you already know and thereby make it useful
Build confidence in ideas such as ads or NPD
Redirect ideas such as product development or improvements

and internal effects, such as:

Inspire new thinking
Change team perspectives on a problem, issue, category or audience
Bring a team together to a fresh point of view and a shared strategy for the future…. etc

Before you put pen to paper, think about what effect your research had and how you want to demonstrate that to the judges.

Think about the business context

What was the problem or challenge the client was facing and why was qualitative research the best tool to address that problem or challenge?

What were the objectives for the project?
If the project was successful what would the client be able to do that they couldn't do before you began?
Did anything emerge in the project that the objectives hadn't anticipated - any lightbulb moments?

Demonstrate that you understood the link between the research objectives and the business challenge

Inspire with inventive solutions

It's not necessary to have three new techniques and the latest technology to prove that your research project was inventive. Tell us how your project design/approach set out to tackle the research objectives and help the client meet their business challenge. What clever thinking about how to run the project made the leap from fulfilling the objectives to having a real impact on the client's business.

The difference that made the difference

What was it about the way you approached the project that made the difference? And … what was the difference? Think about 'soft' as well as 'hard' effects' - qualitative research is a uniquely intuitive and inspirational tool. It's perfectly legitimate to cite changes in team mood as well as changes in their brand positioning statement.

Practical Stuff

Stick to the overall word limit
Put the weight of your paper behind demonstrating your project's effectiveness - if you don't demonstrate an effect on business success, the paper won't win
Tell the story clearly, concisely and aim to engage the readers if you want to stand out
Do all the small important stuff: on time, spelling, grammar, enclosures & stimulus (make sure they arrive), enclose the fee, get your client to approve it. (NB: We will of course be sensitive to issues of confidentiality, hence cases from January 2005 onwards are eligible)
Download entry forms at www.aqr.org.uk/prsaward