How to win the AQR Prosper Riley-Smith Award

If you're thinking of submitting an entry for the award make sure you read the judging criteria and winning tips below to select and prepare your entry in the best way.

What the judges are looking for:

The case study that best demonstrates how qualitative research has been executed and delivered in an effective way to move a client's business or organisation forward. Demonstrating uplift in commercial metrics isn't necessary to win the award, though entries must be able to demonstrate that the research has had effective and lasting commercial implication. Entries that demonstrate 1 or more of the following on top of effective and lasting commercial implication stand greater chance of making the Finalists shortlist:

Great qualitative thinking - showing that careful research design and analysis were integral to the process. Absolutely thinking about the most befitting way to deliver the research from the start and taking care to make sense of the data in the best way.
A touch of creative genius - telling us about a new approach or technique applied to the process, or skillful adaptation of an existing one, or creatively thinking on your feet during the research to deliver excellence and effectiveness.
Engaged and empowered clients - showing that you successfully managed client challenges, or built confidence in your clients to follow a new or different course of action, or engaged clients in qualitative research in a way they haven't before, all to positive effect!

Five Winning Tips:

Think back to projects or phases of projects that are now complete, for which you have more grounds to talk about effective and lasting commercial implication. You may have just completed a project with the best, most effective methodology in the world, but if you can't demonstrate how this has been effective yet, tell us about it next year! In the past some case studies have been submitted too early, even while projects are still running, which makes it very difficult for the judges to determine their effectiveness.
Tell an engaging story. You need to cut through a stack of submissions. Think about your title, your tone and how clear and joined up your story is. If your case study is concise, complete, easy to read and helps the judges to imagine, empathise and even want to have been there as part of this project, you stand greater chance. You can include a a few images if you want to, to help make your point, so long as they are embedded in the text document.
Remember to get all the basics right... Stick to the word limit, make sure your spelling and grammar is correct, make sure it's all in the same font so it doesn't look like you've just cut and paste from elsewhere, put sufficient weight behind demonstrating effective and lasting commercial implication as well as 1 or more of the other criteria above.
Work on the entry with as many people who are relevant to it as possible. Share ideas, edit and refine together. Ask your client or your agency for examples and evidence of effectiveness. Consider a joint entry if it makes sense to do so. Two brains are often better than 1!
Remember, sometimes it's those case studies that you don't think will be winners that actually are. If you're innovating and developing all the time, projects you completed 1 or 2 years ago may still be very interesting to the judges and chances are you'll have more opportunity to demonstrate effectiveness here too.

Download the entry form:

Download the entry form in MS Word Format or as a PDF.