Ogilvy adds multicultural category to awards

Posted by Elena del Valle on October 22, 2008

David Burgos

David Burgos, account group director, MillwardBrown

The David Ogilvy Awards for Excellence in Advertising Research presented annually by the Advertising Research Foundation (ARF) recently added a multicultural category award to mark the 15 anniversary of the awards. The announcement was made by Robert Barocci, president and chief executive officer of ARF.

“Adding the Multicultural category to the David Ogilvy Awards is a natural progression as multicultural research continues to play an important role in advertising,” said David Burgos, vice president, Multicultural Practice, Millward Brown, and co-chair of the ARF Multicultural Advertising Council. Burgos has led the initiative with ARF to raise awareness of the importance of multicultural marketing and strategy.

“The addition of this new category reflects the fact that the multicultural segment is one of tremendous growth and purchasing power, and requires targeting strategies and campaign development that work in tandem with the mainstream rather than in silos.”

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“The industry is aware of many outstanding multicultural campaigns that achieve marketplace success. It’s time to acknowledge the creative and research excellence behind these successes. Broader awareness of multicultural marketing will narrow the gap between ethnic and mainstream marketing and lead to better integration of the two over time,” said Joel Rubinson, chief research officer, ARF.

The list of judges for the new multicultural category will be released at the next annual gala. Past judges have included leaders in the marketing and research industry. Organizers promise that the upcoming Awards will have a similar caliber of judges including experts in multicultural marketing and research.

“The Ogilvy Awards do not honor research methods, tools or techniques. Rather, they celebrate breakthrough programs where creative inspiration and research insights combine to produce an outstanding advertising campaign. Examples of these breakthrough moments are: When skillful analysis and creative interpretation produce ideas that help drive strategy, creative and media planning; when research overcomes fear and conjecture to give life to unique advertising by providing evidence of its marketplace potential; when the creative process uses research to find unexpected ways of looking at and talking about a brand and its promise,” said a spokesman for the Ogilvy Awards when asked about the selection criteria for the multicultural awards.

The ARF Ogilvy Awards celebrate the role of consumer research in creating successful advertising. Named to recognize David Ogilvy’s spirited advocacy of the importance of research in making good advertising better, the awards honor some of the best research-driven campaigns in business categories and the industry.

The ARF is accepting submissions for the 2009 competition until December 16, 2008. The 2009 winners will be honored at the 55th Annual ARF Convention + Expo on March 31 at the David Ogilvy Awards Gala in Times Square, New York.

Founded in 1936 by the Association of National Advertisers and the American Association of Advertising Agencies, the mission of the ARF is to “improve the practice of advertising, marketing and media research in pursuit of more effective marketing and advertising communications.” ARF members include more than 300 advertisers, advertising agencies, associations, research firms, and media companies.

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