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Author: Razvan Bondalici

Cracking the Gender Code. A 20-year longitudinal study in 6 months

Why are there so few women in computing? Jobs are plentiful – demand exceeds supply – and they pay well. Simple, right? Girls don’t like computers.

But that’s rubbish. At primary school age, girls and boys have similar interest levels. It’s at secondary school that their interest declines relative to boys.

Girls Who Code (GWC), a US-based NGO, asked Accenture Research to investigate this conundrum – and to suggest how they might help solve it.

In an ideal world, we would have conducted a longitudinal study, tracking a group of girls from birth to college. But we didn’t have 20 years; we had about 6 months.

Ultimately, we needed to build a quantitative model; Girls Who Code wanted to understand what interventions would make a difference – and what impact they would have on the pipeline of women into computing.

Phase 1: Identifying the problem

However, before even beginning to think about questionnaire design, we needed to understand the mindset of girls – and their wider ecosystem of support (e.g., parents, teachers, friends).

But who knows what goes on inside a teenager’s head? Sure, we’ve all been teenagers. Some of you might today be parents/carers for teenagers. But can any of us, hand on heart, say they understand what teenagers think and feel? Do we understand the language they use? And the relationship these digital natives have with ubiquitous technology?

We also needed to consider how best to tap into insights from different groups: A traditional focus group might be intimidating for younger girls – and we needed to get their parents onboard for legal as well as research reasons. And how could we tap into the energy and natural curiosity of high-school girls?

We turned to PSB for help, and through extensive desk research and brainstorming sessions, settled on a ‘Community Case Study’ approach. Mimicking the life-journey that makes or breaks a girl’s interest in computing we not only needed to speak to girls of different ages, but also to other life stakeholders who shape a teenager’s development. This of course meant that we needed to tailor our methodology to each audience we spoke to: Ethnographic ‘kitchen-table’ discussions with primary school girls, their friends and their parents; fun conflict or ‘swing’ groups with high-school girls to learn the language they use to advocate a career in computing; classic focus groups with coding students and young professionals to better understand the life stories behind their decision in favour of computing.

And, given the huge role of societal factors, we wanted to follow an anthropologist-like approach by selecting two contrasting cities, Atlanta and New York, in which we spoke with more than 150 people.

Phase 2: Framing the solution

We used the language and insights from the case studies to build an online quantitative survey which was answered by ~9000 individuals drawn from the same groups as the community case studies.

We combined this survey data with labour force statistics into a model to identify the factors that most influence girls’ decisions to pursue computing further at each stage of their educational journey.

The model allowed us to show how the proportion of women could rise from 24% to 39% by acting on the most positively influential factors – and was also used to calculate the associated $299 billion uplift in women’s earnings.

Pleasingly, the barriers we identified in the community case studies were very strongly evidenced during the subsequent quantitative analysis. The need to spark interest at middle school; sustain interest at high school; and inspire interest in college, were all suggested by the qual – then proved by the quant.

The research within “Cracking the Gender Code” has supported the work of GWC by helping the organization tell the story of the gender gap in tech and make the case for interventions earlier in the academic pipeline.

The report has been used by GWC to rally support to programmes which have reached 185,000 girls across the United States. GWC founder and CEO Reshma Saujani said: “In order to create a more equitable tech industry, we have to understand the extent of the problem – how many girls and women are participating in the field, when they drop out of tech, and why. The research within the Accenture and Girls Who Code report “Cracking the Gender Code” has been invaluable as we work to rally support for our programs, for solutions to closing the gender gap in tech.”

Read the full report.

 

About the authors

Dominic King is a Senior Principal at Accenture Research. Accenture Research is a team of ~300 researchers and analysts across 23 countries. It shapes trends and creates data-driven insights about the most pressing issues global organizations face.

Brita Cooper is a Project Manager at PSB. With roots in innovative political campaign strategy, today PSB are a full-service research insights agency engaging blue-chip organizations across all sectors.

Successful parenting – Harnessing aspirations to save lives in rural India

India, one of the world’s fastest-growing economies, still loses 300,000 young lives each year to pneumonia and diarrhea, diseases that we have the tools to prevent. If practiced together, handwashing with soap at key occasions (HWWS) and complete immunization, two of the most cost-effective child survival interventions, could significantly reduce under 5 mortality. Lifebuoy, Unilever’s leading health soap brand and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, an innovative public-private partnership working to immunise children in the world’s poorest countries, came together to design an integrated communication platform called ‘Safal Shuruaat’. Translated as ‘Successful Beginning’, the program harnesses parents’ aspirations for their child’s success to help mobilise parents to handwash with soap at key occasions, immunize their children and other key parenting behaviours. The program aims to achieve sustained behaviour change in handwashing with soap and immunization under the ‘aspirational’ umbrella of successful parenting as a communication platform to save lives of young children and help them reach a better potential while intervening in the first 2 years: bringing down the under 5 mortality rates. Safal Shuruaat is being implemented by a consortium led by GroupM, with Kantar as the research partner responsible for monitoring and evaluation.

A successful start

‘Safal Shuruaat’ has been implemented in an initial two pilot districts in Uttar Pradesh, India.  Further scale-up in 12 additional districts is planned for the second half of 2019. The program takes parents of children under 2 years on an engaging journey through a series of village events, home visits, and a group encounter at the rural childcare centres and school.

The overall research design, provides 360-degree support to program implementation, with multiple components set out with the following objectives:

  • Formative: To understand the status quo and build a hypothesis that could be tested and utilized to inform initial program design and strategy.
  • Concurrent Monitoring (initial two pilot districts):To track key indicators on handwashing and immunization in synergy with the pilot intervention roll-out, and provide strategic inputs for course correction through learning, preparing the program for scale up.
  • Impact Evaluation: To estimate the effectiveness and impact of the program on the knowledge, attitudes, intents and practices around handwashing and immunization by comparing treatment and control groups (pre-and post-intervention) in the scale-up phase.
  • Sustainability Measurement: To capture behaviour regression and relapse to understand the intervention’s contribution to sustained behaviour change.
  • Documenting and Dissemination: To capture and record ‘positive deviance’, capturing insightful stories and creating a strong learning & sharing culture with internal as well as external stakeholders.

The Formative research formative research included 800 face to face CAPI assisted quantitative surveys with parents of under 2 years, along with 70 qualitative activities with key influencers and enablers, including extended family members, village heads, and field-level workers. Findings showed that parents broadly considered children’s health issues to be beyond their span of control and an unavoidable part of their life. Childcare practices were mostly governed by prevalent social beliefs, norms and rituals, which potentially contributed to the low uptake of suggested practices, even though promoted by front line health workers.

Concurrent monitoring was undertaken for a period of 10 months across 108 villages. Six monitoring touch points took place before and after program visits; each program visit covering progressive modules on HWWS, immunization and parenting. In a sample of about 4000 respondents engaged during the monitoring, a longitudinal panel sample of 320 households was followed to enable a deeper dive into handwashing behaviours.

The first round of concurrent monitoring (MV0) set up a baseline for knowledge, attitudes and practice indicators on HWWS, immunization as well as relevance of these in being a successful parent.

The incidence of handwashing post defecation was as low as 13% at the baseline and showed a rise of 53% within 6 months (MV4 after 3 program visits). The high engagement strategy, including the use of engaging audio-visual aides, managed to target other handwashing occasions as well. The incidence of handwashing with soap by the mothers before breastfeeding a child rose from 2.7% to 14.8 percent. In terms of the proportions, the percentage of people never washing hands post defecation dropped from 86.1 to 29.3 percent. These trends were similar for cross-sectional as well as the longitudinal panel participants.

The Mother and Child Protection Card (MCP Card) is an essential tool[1]designed to inform and educate the mother and family on different aspects of maternal and childcare, linking maternal and childcare into a continuum of care[2]. The program stresses the importance of using the MCP card and keeping it safe. Monitoring at MV4 showed an increase of 12 percentage points from the baseline (85.2%).  The compliance for three priority vaccines – Rotavirus, Measles Rubella and Pentavalent – relevant for children under the age of 2, grew by 45%[3], 35% and 20% points respectively.

Several social and religious constraints also act as barriers to immunisation uptake. Breaking down misunderstandings and finding a way to leverage or transform social norms becomes critical if we are to increase the uptake of vaccines.

Finally, the parenting component, which was the foundation of the integrated communication platform was also monitored. Awareness of key parenting behaviours, including the understanding of the need to bond with the child, ensure adequate nutrition and maintain hygiene behaviours increased by 18%, 23% and 11% points respectively. With respect to washing own hands with soap and getting the child immunized positive trends with a 2% rise in vaccination and 11% in handwashing was reported as actions to be a good parent.

The data was analysed to examine differences in the cohort exposed to specific program visits with access to assets distributed vis-à-vis the others. The proportion of people, who received the handwashing station always washing hands with soap post defecation was 10% higher than who did not receive. Similarly, the more exposures to the program visits the higher the proportion of ‘always washing hands with soap post defecation’. An immunization calendar was given to parents to facilitate reminders around immunization dates. The ones who received the calendar showed 12%-point higher compliance for pentavalent vaccine, 11% points higher for rotavirus vaccine and 15% points higher compliance for measles-rubella vaccine as compared to the cohort that did not receive it.

This project has been a rich learning experience for each of the stakeholders and the 360-degree research component has played a critical role from strategizing and creative design right through to implementation and monitoring. At the end of the 3-year program Safal Shuruaat will have reached 5000 villages and a minimum of 300,000 households with children under 2 years.

[1]Developed by the Ministry of Women and Child Development and the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India.

[2]Implemented through the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) scheme of Ministry of Women and Child Development and the National Health Mission (NHM) of the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare (MoHFW)

[3]Rotavirus was introduced during the period of the programme so the increase of 45% is measured between MV1 and MV4

 

About the Authors:

Pallavi Dhall, Director- Research Services, Kantar

Esha Sheth, Sr. Global Brand Manager, Lifebuoy Social Mission, Hindustan Unilever

Susan Mackay, Technical Lead, Demand Generation, Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance

Surya AV, CEO-South Asia, Public Division, Kantar

Smita Singh, Senior Director, Groupm Media India (Pvt). Ltd.

Carol Szeto, Senior Country Manager, Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance

Abhishek Singh, Senior Director, Groupm  Media India (Pvt). Ltd.

Pradakshana Kaul, Assistant Manager, Lifebuoy social mission, Hindustan Unilever

 

Communications in Research – Part2: Tell Your Story

On the 9th of July, ESOMAR Foundation hosted the 3rd webinar of the series Advanced Research Knowledge and Insights for Not-For Profit Organizations. The webinar zeroed in on the often-overlooked ingredient of every successful research project: communications. The online event was hosted by Phyllis Macfarlane, ESOMAR Foundation founding board member and featured Kai Jimenez, long-time communications professional now with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). This is the second of the 2-part series of tips and tools on how to upgrade your NGO’s communication and storytelling capabilities.

 

Tell Your Story

  1. Focus on the insights and human truths beyond the statistics.

Sometimes, we can get so enamored by our research project, or so engrossed in the new data we have at our fingertips, that we make the mistake of assuming that everyone is as enthusiastic as we are about the numbers. Unfortunately, that is simply not true, and it is even less true when the audiences we address are not technical experts in the same field.

This is why the focus in the way you communicate your research findings should be on the insights, not just the statistics. Insights are truths that you find by analyzing the data within the bigger context of other research, your field, or even human nature. These insights are what can be used to drive action or inform decisions, so use the data to prove your point or add information, but zero in on the insights to stay useful and relevant.

 

  1. Use the story of one to share the truth of many 

There is a famous though morbid line that goes, “one death is a tragedy, but a million deaths are a statistic.” As cold and depressing as this may sound, it reveals the way people process information. At some point, the numbers become too big for human minds to imagine, so even if the data is about something that we would otherwise feel strongly about, we tend to forget about the people that make up these large numbers and are unable to care deeply about what is being said.

This is why one way to strike a chord in the hearts of audiences is by using the story of one to share the truth of many. By presenting the data on the scale of the individual, audiences are given the space to empathize with the community’s experiences, sympathize with their plight, and ultimately build affinity with your advocacy.

There are several ways to go about this. The most common way would be to pick out interesting and resonant quotes from the interviews, focus group discussions, or any other qualitative data sets available to include in the report. Another way would be to choose a person who took part in the study and ask them to share their personal story, or even to create a fictional person to embody the average or typical person according to your research results. Whichever way you choose, remember to make sure that the story that is highlighted is actually representative of the results. Do not use outliers as it may only lead to confusion and misconceptions. In addition, if you choose to share the stories of real people, ensure that the way you share the story is not exploitative, and that informed consent was obtained to publicly share their own experiences. The goal should always be to amplify the voices of those who would otherwise go unheard.

 

  1. Use every relevant touch point to engage with your stakeholders

One of the most important assumptions that is always held true in the communications industry states that the most trusted businesses, industries, and brands are those that the public most frequently interact with in meaningful and relevant ways. This belief is backed up by many studies in many countries over time. This is why to build trust among your stakeholders and to get them to advocate for or contribute to your cause, it is important to repeatedly engage them through touch points that are relevant to them to convey stories and messages that are resonant with them.

Today, there are a multitude of ways to reach your audiences through different platforms, but because resources are not infinite, it is important to streamline and prioritize the channels that would yield the best results. To do this, return to your stakeholder map and understand the behavior of your stakeholders to correctly identify the most important touch points for your target audiences. Are you reaching out to millennials who spend 4-5 hours on the internet? Then social media might be the best way to reach them. Are you targeting high net-worth individuals? Then it might be better to make an impression in person through strategically chosen events. Only by knowing and understand your audiences can you choose strategically the best ways to reach them to create the best possib

About the Author:

Kai Jimenez is a researcher, strategist, and all-around storyteller. She recently transitioned into an international development neophyte, working to promote gender equality in Mongolia with the UN Population Fund. Prior to this role, she built her career in the private sector specializing in development and corporate communications, business strategy and innovations, and research and analytics. Her last role was to concurrently head the Corporate Development unit and the Research & Analytics unit of The EON Group, a multi-awarded public relations firm among the world’s top 250. She holds a Master’s Degree in Political Economy and gives talks on branding, storytelling, a and research in local and international forums.

 

Missed out the presentation? You can still check it here.

 

Communications in Research – Part1: Work Your Advocacy

Earlier this month, ESOMAR Foundation hosted the latest of the series Research Knowledge for Not-For Profit Organizations. The webinar zeroed in on the often-overlooked ingredient of every successful research project: communications. The online event was hosted by Phyllis Macfarlane (GFK & ESOMAR Foundation) and featured Kai Jimenez, long-time communications professional now with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). Below is the summary of the webinar in Kai’s own words.

The Case for Communications

When people think about embarking on a research project, the focus is usually all on the data and just the data. This is understandable, of course, because research projects are launched because organizations need information, but the truth is that every successful research project actually begins and ends with something a bit more human: a good story.

We live in a world where stories – not statistics – are what people remember, and more importantly, are what drive us to action. Good stories and messages are especially important in the development sector as we are constantly trying to get people to advocate for our cause, to be generous with their time and resources, and to change their behavior for the better. And to succeed in these admittedly difficult tasks, we need stories and messages that are reasonable to the mind (logical) but still touch the heart (emotional). Data and statistics are important because your audiences need a reason to believe in you, but it is necessary to go beyond simply stating the numbers and instead frame the information in a way that is relevant, memorable, shareable, and action-inspiring.

Even at a time when buzz words like “big data” and “analytics” are constantly used and overused, research projects still rely on strong and effective communications, especially at two important points in the process: first, at the beginning, when strong arguments are needed to garner the necessary support to kick off the project; and second, at the end, to maximize the investments made for the research by using the findings to draw more attention to the advocacy.

Here are some tips and tools that have powered the communications industry for years that you could use to level-up your own storytelling capabilities.

Part I: Work Your Advocacy

  1. Take the time to understand, map out, and profile your stakeholders.

Large-scale research projects are often multi-stakeholder activities, especially in the development sector. You will need a lot of help – from institutional backing, community participation to funding and technical support – and the long list of things you need will come from different individuals and organizations with their own unique set of priorities.

This is why the first and most important step of any communications initiative is to comprehensively map out and profile your stakeholders. Understanding your target audiences will guide you in choosing which individuals or organizations to prioritize, in crafting the right stories that are most relevant and resonant to them, and in identifying the most cost-efficient channels to engage with your stakeholders. Below are the key things you need to consider for your stakeholder map, and the guide questions you should be asking yourself for each.

Things to Consider What to Use it For Some Questions to Ask Yourself
Priorities & Values

 

 

 Identifying common ground with your stakeholders to craft messages that are relevant to their priorities and concerns Which individuals or organizations are already outspoken advocates for your cause? Are there any organizations already working in the area of your advocacy, or companies with CSR programs aligned with your cause? For the specific stakeholders you have in mind, what are their known advocacies? What are their professional and personal interests that could encourage or hinder them from supporting you?

 
Behavior Identifying the best channels and moments to engage with your stakeholders What are their day-to-day activities? Where do they source their information? Do they still watch TV or do they source their entertainment purely online? Do they still read newspapers or do they get their news from Twitter? Would they be the type to trust an email, or do you need to speak with them in person?

 
Available Support Estimating the resources you can count on and categorizing your stakeholders based on the kind of support they give What kind of support or resources do they provide? Is it financial, in-kind, pro bono consulting, volunteered time? How long do they provide support? One-off or long-term?
Reputation Avoiding reputational risks by association, and ensuring that your partnership with them positively impacts your own reputation in the eyes of your other stakeholders and the public What’s the reputation of the individual or organization? How do they work with partners: are they known as fair and committed, or are they known for being very superficial supporters? Do they have any scandals surrounding them, or other risk areas you should be considering?
Existing Relationship Establishing trust to improve your chances in persuading your stakeholders Have you worked together before? Has your past experience with them left a positive or negative impression? Do you even have a relationship at all with them? If not, do you have mutual friends or communities that you can tap to reach them?
Key People Identifying and approaching the people who can make the most impact Who are the main decision-makers in the organizations you’re targeting? Whose opinions do those decision-makers respect? Are there any people within the organization who can advocate for your cause internally, or even externally?
Requirements Confirming qualifications, and guiding you in your path to becoming qualified in the mid- to long-term What are the technical, organizational, and documentation requirements for funding requests and partnerships?

 

  1. Shine the light on the outcomes to which your research will contribute.

When you finally do craft those messages and reach out to your stakeholders, make sure to include more than just a laundry list of your intended project output. While project proposals definitely need a list of concrete deliverables, the truth is that no one is driven to action by the promise of a report or several spreadsheets worth of data. Instead, shine the light of the outcomes that can be achieved because of the research that you will do.

For example, don’t just tell your stakeholders that you want to write a report on why parents in India are not giving their children this specific cheap and accessible medicine for diarrhea. Instead, tell them that you need the data to develop targeted interventions to reduce diarrhea among babies, which in turn would like to a decline in infant mortality. Don’t just promise your funders a presentation that will list down the ways teenage girls in Congo manage their menstruations. They want to know that their money will go into a research project that can point out the best way to give these girls widespread access to safe resources for personal hygiene, which in the long run would mean that they become better educated because they no longer need to skip a week of classes when they’re on their period.

Paint the big picture. Your advocacy is your organization’s greatest story, so use it to your advantage.

  1. It’s not about you. It’s about what you can do with and for them. 

The hard truth is that often we can get so caught up in telling our story, pitching our cause and talking about our work that we forget that effective communication should be a two-way street. Our stories and messages need to focus on not only on what we can do, but more importantly, what we can do with and for our audiences.

This is why stakeholder mapping and profiling is the key to successful communications. You need to find what they value, what drives them, what they believe and do, so that you could connect your advocacy story to what matters to them. Spell out how their support to your cause can impact their own lives, their jobs, and their organizations. For instance, will your climate change advocacy help make a company’s brand appeal more to eco-warriors? Will your community feeding program help reduce the load of local governments? Find and highlight these points of intersection between what you value and what they value.

 

Missed out the presentation? You can still check it here.

Watch this space for the second part of the webinar summary.

 

 

Driving Change in Behaviour Management

The Story of Ensuring Equitable Outcomes from Underprivileged Students

It was Monsoon of 2018 when I traveled to the city of Bangalore, India under the Market Research Society of India’s The Community Program (TCP), an initiative designed to give back to the community by offering world-class research and insights to small organisations which work for social causes at grass-root level. The task was unusual but interesting.

Parikrma Foundation is an NGO that strives for the holistic development of underprivileged children empowering them to become valuable contributors to society. It runs 4 schools and 1 junior college in Bangalore. Despite investment in a detailed Behaviour management policy, there was one issue that the NGO had constantly grappled with – Disciplinary Concerns.

Violence and other behavioural traits of underserved children (especially teens) that led to classroom disruption and hampered the growth of all the students. This inherent concern about discipline gave rise to need for a direction – whether or not to change the behaviour management policy? If yes, what should be the change? If not, what should Parikrma do?

This is where the journey began. While the problem looked like a disciplinary concern – to be fixed by rules and policies, I looked at it differently.

I believed that a lot of empathy was needed to understand and address this problem. The study had to be about behaviour and how does one influence it, and not about disciplinary policy and its flaws. Keeping the student as the centre of this journey – their voice and story needed to be captured. My task was to find a mid-way making the outcome relevant to both – students primarily, and the school.

To understand why the students do what they do, a qualitative research approach was apt. However, the techniques had to be minimally intrusive.

The study had 3 phases

PHASE 1: EXPLORATION

Where I set out to explore the problem in detail and left no stone unturned. It began with setting the context right and gaining conceptual clarity about adolescent behaviour. A thorough theoretical review and conversations with developmental psychologists helped in this.

This was followed by in-situ observations at the school to explore and understand what exactly is the behaviour which is labeled as undisciplined or disruptive. Also to pick non-verbal cues and elements that form a part of the school culture. I attended classes and became one of them so that the students could be themselves when with me.

I also interviewed teachers to explore stories and instances of disciplinary issues. Their challenges, their approach to discipline, etc. helped me to develop the next phase, the crux of this entire study, in a robust manner.

PHASE 2: DISCOVERY

Hidden motivations and perceptions are unearthed when the students have freedom to express. And this is exactly what the Interactive workshops we all about.

This was a unique one of its kind technique used for this study. Sessions full of energy, fun and laughter left me with amazing insights that were eye-opening.

Techniques like role-playing their teachers set the students free to express; The Superhero Factory was another exercise where the students were asked to build their own superhero by sketching and making collages, this helped me understand the figures these students look up to and want to project.

PHASE 3: DESIGN

The last part of the study where I took all the findings to some experienced psychologists and senior educators to gain action steps based on their experience.

The most important discovery from this study was – Keeping students at the forefront and dealing with them differently rather than changing rules and policies was what was required for addressing issues at Parikrma.

This broad discovery was then split into small action steps for the NGO based on key insights –

  1. Defining the school environment

“We have simple rules and regulations, we are not their teachers, we are their brothers and sisters that is why they call us Akka and Anna” – Teacher, Parikrma

Compassion is an important aspect of the culture at Parikrma – reflected in every element of the school, be it the pet dog kept at each school or be it addressing teachers as brothers/sisters.

This led to the home vs. school dilemma in students’ mind letting them bring negative behaviour from home into school easily. There was a need to set boundaries.

This was reinforced by introducing elements that make the boundaries clear – like behaviour contract signed between students, parents and the school, reinforced during sessions by psychologists.

  1. Building consistency

“Some teachers are strict and follow the policy as is, some don’t and use their judgment to some extent” – School Head, Parikrma

Inconsistent implementation of the behaviour management policy in action was curbed by knowledge sharing among teachers and giving them different levels of independence in making decisions related to policy implementation.

  1. Creating a positive ecosystem for the students

Crux of this study was the student’s mind – It was discovered that all students had an aspiration to move out of their current underprivileged state, wanted to have a good job and luxuries. What was different in generally well-behaved students was that they could project themselves in a positive way, while the disruptive students had low self-worth and limited projection of positive self-image.

This was reinforced through regular peer-to-peer mentoring, feedback and leadership roles given to disruptive students.

Parikrma Oxygen – a big step of Parikrma based on insights generated through this study. The NGO has invested in a dedicated place on the outskirts of the city which will transport them to another environment, where the students will engage in multiple extracurricular activities and would have the space to express themselves. 

The study seeded different thoughts, elements and action-steps into the “Parikrma Culture” and ways of functioning, marking the beginning of a change and the impact will be seen in the years to come.

About the Author:

Karan Sadashiv Sabnis, Senior Research Manager, Insights Division, Kantar – India

 

2018 Annual Report is out!

We are pleased to share the 2018 Annual Report and Financial Statement of the ESOMAR Foundation.

In 2018 the ESOMAR Foundation intensified the dialogue with NGOs by providing essential knowledge so to help them assess and evaluate their impact on society. The Foundation provided the platform and facilitated the exchange of information between the NGO sector and the market research industry.

We have focused our resources on fostering connections between the two sectors by bringing together their representatives, awarding scholarships, celebrating the best of research and expanding our Programmes. We have stimulated donations through sponsorship and specific activities which engaged the market research industry and beyond.

At operational level, the Foundation was able to achieve a good number of results, with the help and support of volunteers.  The ESOMAR Council and the Supervisory Board continued to provide support and advice in pursuing the Foundation mission “to use the skills, knowledge and support of the industry to do social good”.

In this report you can read about the exciting steps our programmes have taken in 2018 to support individuals and Not-for-Profit organisations throughout the world. From our relaunched training activities, to the continuation of the scholarship grants, to the new – Making a Difference competition, our activities are taking significant steps towards catalysing cooperation between the data, insight and research industry and the non profit sector.

A special Thank You!

It goes without saying that we could not survive without the generous help and support of the many donors, supporters, friends, ambassadors and partners that demonstrate how much they care for us! So, we’d like to take this opportunity to warmly and sincerely THANK YOU ALL for ensuring that together we can pursue our mission of contributing to a better world.

 

ESOMAR Foundation Webinar: Communications in Research

Every successful research project begins & ends with a good story.

Most of the time, people think that the research process is all about just the data, data, data. However, every successful research project actually begins and ends with something a little more human: a good story.

This webinar aims to help you find and tell your good story with actionable tips and tools that have powered the communications industry for years. The webinar will focus on two important pain points: gaining support to kick off your research project, and maximizing your research investment by sounding all the bells and whistles to publicize your research findings. The webinar will cover best practices in working your advocacy to garner the much-needed support for your research project among your stakeholders, be it in the form of government or institutional backing, funding, or even community participation and ownership. It also aims to help you close the loop by giving you ideas on how to turn your data into resonant and relevant stories that can hopefully change mindsets and spur behaviors.

This is an opportunity not to be missed for anyone working in or with the Non Profit sector. You will gain reliable and efficient measures which you can implement in order to amplify the voices of those who would otherwise go unheard. 

 

Kai Jimenez is a researcher, strategist, and all-around storyteller. She recently transitioned into an international development neophyte, working to promote gender equality in Mongolia with the UN Population Fund. Prior to this role, she built her career in the private sector specializing in development and corporate communications, business strategy and innovations, and research and analytics. Her last role was to concurrently head the Corporate Development unit and the Research & Analytics unit of The EON Group, a multi-awarded public relations firm among the world’s top 250. She holds a Master’s Degree in Political Economy and gives talks on branding, storytelling, a and research in local and international forums.

 

A lifelong market researcher currently working on the GfK Verein’s University Cooperation Programme to improve the quality of education in Market Research in Africa and China. Founding member and treasurer of the ESOMAR Foundation.

 

Live webinar 9 July 2019, 13:00 CEST

 

                                                    

ESOMAR Foundation Making a Difference Competition 2019 Winners announced!

We are excited to announce the winners of the second edition of our “Making a Difference” Competition. We have received a large number of entries – all of which of great value for highlighting and promoting how the best of research has made a significant difference to Not-For-Profits. 

We had an overwhelming response and four winners were chosen by the expert jury. For this edition, the judges considered projects that made the biggest difference to the most important issues of our time, as identified by the UN SDGs.

Congratulations to the winners of 2019 Making a Difference Competition!

Making-a-Difference  – Good Health and Well-being

Towards an open-defecation-free, clean India

Saptarshi Guha, Kantar, India

NFP Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) Grameen, Govt of India

 

Making-a-Difference  – Peace Justice and Strong Institutions

Social media first: leveraging digital platforms to strengthen the political participation of Nigerian youth

Anu Mohammed, BBC Media Action, Nigeria

NFP BBC Media Action

 

Making-a-Difference  – Gender Equality

Breaking the Silence: Uncovering the Truth about Gender-Based Violence in Mongolia

Nastasha Francesca Jimenez, UNFPA, Mongolia

NFP United Nations Population Fund

 

Making-a-Difference  – Quality Education

Study of young people with dyslexia – challenges and needs in the Danish education system

Rie Schmidt Knudsen, Epinion, Denmark

NFP Egmont Foundation

 

The winners are invited to present their work at a special ‘Making a Difference’ session at this year’s ESOMAR Congress in Edinburgh, 8-11 September.

 

COMMENDED

Among the entries there were a number of them which deserved a commendation for their excellent approach, so, we are particularly happy to announce the entries which were commended:

Lives matter: A heuristic approach to prevent child mortality in rural India

Pallavi Dhall, Kantar, India

A market research approach to understanding and reaching high-risk men in South Africa with HIV testing and linkage to treatment

Shawn Malone, Population Services International (PSI), South Africa

Driving Change in Behaviour Management

Karan Sabnis, Kantar, India

Government Policies for the Disabled vs. the Ground Reality

Divya Meenakshy Harish, Brandscapes Worldwide, India

How Research Proves a Difference was Made

Will Goodhand, Survivors Fund SURF, United Kingdom

Identifying nudges for the growth of women in Bhap, Rajasthan

Madhur Mohan (Kantar) & Niyati Taggarsi (Ormax Consultants), India

The ESOMAR Foundation wishes to thank all those who participated in the competition. We aim to promote and highlight the excellent case-studies – to encourage the use of more insightful and inventive research for massively increasing the overall impact of market research in building a better world!

 

Webinar: Advertising Effectiveness for Not for Profit organisations

A unique opportunity to hear the very latest understanding on NfP advertising

In this second webinar of our series on Advanced Research techniques, we look at Advertising Effectiveness for Not for Profit organisations. We all know that old adage that half of all advertising spend is wasted, it’s just that we don’t know which half – but over the last decade or so – with the new neuroscience bringing real understanding of how the brain works – we are getting much better at knowing which types of advertising are most effective – in both the long and short term – and new technology has helped us measure the effect in ways that just weren’t possible before.

We are very fortunate to have Will Goodhand to deliver our webinar. Will has the advantage of both being a very experienced Social Researcher, and working at System1 research, who specialise in measuring advertising impact and effectiveness – so he can bring very relevant experience to the issue. He is going to share the very latest understanding on Not-for-Profit advertising, drawing on the S1AR (System1 Ad Ratings) database which contains the measured performance of all UK and US ads immediately they are aired. From this huge database we will learn how charity/not-for-profit advertising is doing overall. How does it compare to other categories? (Not well, apparently). And whether you love or loath such overall comparisons, what about performance within the charity category? Who are the star performers and what can we learn from them? And is there anything that can be taken from the best performing ads in other categories? Will draws on his personal experience working across the categories of charity, FMCG and Tech, with the aim – like all good ads – of stirring emotion and positive action!

This is a truly unique opportunity to learn about the potential for advertising – and overall communications effectiveness – for your not-for-profit organisation.

If you use advertising for fundraising or for awareness-raising, you will learn what you are doing wrong and what you are getting right. What works and what doesn’t.

And if you don’t yet use advertising – you will know the arguments for and against certain types of approaches, and what advertising could potentially do for your organisation.

This really is an unmissable opportunity for anyone working in – or interested in – the Not for Profit sector. We guarantee that you will learn how to communicate better in general, that it will give you something you want to talk about, and it will really make you think!  

 

Will Goodhand leads the Communications research team at System1 PLC, determining the emotional performance of advertising for long and short-term profitability. Will’s team works with a number of UK and international charities, while also servicing many leading FMCGs and tech companies. Will is a key member of the S1AR (System1 Ad Ratings) team which tests every UK & US ad as it airs (including Not-for-Profit), creating a comprehensive and accessible source of data on the performance of the industry and individual comms.

Outside work, Will is a volunteer Trustee of SURF, the Rwandan Survivors’ Fund charity and he champions the Iwacu widows’ cooperative who hand-make beautiful jewellery: www.rwandanbeauty.com

 

CEO of System1 Group PLC; voted most Innovative Research Agency in the world for the last 5 years running. John’s recipe for entrepreneurial success is; creativity, resilience, determination, perseverance, stamina, drive, imagination, resourcefulness, courage, self-belief, commitment, ability to go without sleep and a touch of madness.

Prior to BrainJuicer, John founded innovation agency, Brand Genetics and before that, John was Planning Director at Publicis having joined from Unilever, where he held a number of research and marketing positions. Since September 2017 he holds the President position at ESOMAR Foundation.

Live webinar 16 May 2019, 17:00 CET

 

                                                    

Making a Difference Competition Extension – New Deadline April 29th

 

Deadline for applications extended until April 29th

Due to demand, the new deadline for the Making a Difference Competition is e.o.d. April 29th. You now have 10 extra days to submit your entries and have the chance to present your work on the main stage of the ESOMAR Congress in Edinburgh. We’d be thrilled to receive your proposals!

LOOKING FOR INSPIRATION?

Check out some of the previous winners of the Making a Difference Competition.

 

SUBMIT YOUR ENTRY!