ANA Launches Analytics Competition, Seeks To Benchmark Impact On ROI

In a major push to elevate the role of analytics inside marketing organizations, the Association of National Advertisers Wednesday unveiled a new awards program offering a $50,000 cash prize to the individual or organization demonstrating the most effective application of analytics to benchmark and improve the return on marketing investments.
 
The competition, which is open to ANA member companies and their employees, is being sponsored by marketing analytics firm MarketShare, and comes at a time when “Big Data” is the industry buzz du jour, and the free-flowing analysis of real-time data is challenging primary research and strategic planning for dominance in marketing decision-making.
 
Nominations are now open for the Marketing Analytics Leadership Award and will close Aug. 1. The winner will be presented at this year’s ANA Masters of Marketing Annual Conference, Oct. 3-6, in Phoenix.
 
A panel of judges including current and former CMOs, along with faculty from UCLA and Harvard, will pick the winner and three finalists.
 
The judging criteria include:
* Clarity, relevance, and magnitude of the marketing questions being addressed
* Innovative approaches taken to address the questions and/or overcome obstacles
* Scientific rigor applied in the approach to the solution(s)
* Steps taken to align key stakeholders and ensure organizational adoption of the outcomes
* Demonstrated impact on the business, measured against a credible benchmark
* Evidence of a continuous improvement process in place 
* Testimonials of senior marketing, finance, or business unit leaders regarding the impact of the analysis on key business decisions
 
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