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Submit your entry for the 2022 Making a Difference Awards

The ESOMAR Foundation’s annual Making a Difference Awards are now open for entries. Our annual Awards are a chance to applaud and reward the best examples of Market Research making a difference to the world’s Charities.

Through these awards, the ESOMAR Foundation aims to raise awareness of the impact of great research on the work of Charities, by offering a platform for these stories to be heard.

All Charity case studies, whether they are international, national or local and in any sector, are encouraged to apply.

WHY YOU SHOULD ENTER THE COMPETITION:

  • It encourages excellence, educates and motivates the industry to produce great research on and for Charities
  • The last 2 years have been a particularly difficult time to conduct research – especially for Charities – tell us how you responded to the challenge and what you learnt
  • Share your work for mutually beneficial inspiration and learning
  • The competition will highlight ‘Making a Difference’ case studies to increase the impact of market research in building a better world!
  • Your work will be promoted throughout the year on all our platforms
  • Win a category and an award
  • Winners get recognised at the ESOMAR Congress to be held in Toronto on 18-21 September, the biggest global event in the market research industry
  • It’s a fun, challenging, and exciting way to share your work.

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW:

  • All Charity cases are welcome whether they are international, national or local!
  • You may showcase any innovative and insightful research work
  • There is no limit of entries per author
  • Each case-study must have a separate application
  • If you’d like help from a research expert writing your submission, we can find a willing volunteer in your country

LOOKING FOR INSPIRATION?

Check out the previous Making a Difference Competition winners

IMPORTANT DEADLINES:

  • 17 June – Deadline for submissions – DEADLINE EXTENDED! -> 6 July
  • 18 July – Announcement to the winners
  • September – awards presented at the ESOMAR Congress

SUBMIT YOUR ENTRY!

 

ESOMAR Foundation Making a Difference Awards – Winners announced!

We are thrilled to announce the winners of this year’s edition of our Making a Difference Awards.

The judges were impressed by the quality of the entries this year and, mindful of the UN’s injunction to ‘Leave no one behind’ which is the central, transformative promise of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), we have selected 3 winners based on the positive impact that the research conducted will have on the lives of vulnerable people.  Our winning projects address three specific and very important groups, the research identified ways in which they can be helped and supported to improve their life chances, and has had a significant impact:

Supporting the financially excluded – The Human Account – serving the financially excluded

Jasper Grosskurth, Dalberg Research, Kenya

Dalberg and the Bill&Melinda Gates Foundation: The Human Account – The Human Account is a six-country multi-method research project designed to be a catalyst for new product development serving the financially excluded. The measure of success was the degree to which others worked with the data – which is publicly available – examples are given of utilisation in India, Myanmar, Tanzania, Kenya, Nigeria by many different bodies.

Period poverty and its effect on young women – UK Period Poverty and Stigma

Kate Whiffen, Opinium, UK

Priya Minhas, Opinium, UK

Melanie Thienard, Plan International 

Opinium & Plan International: UK Period Poverty and Stigma – tackles the ‘toxic trio’ of issues that make up period poverty – lack of access to products, inadequate education and societal stigma – in order to empower young people into successful adulthood. The research has gained widespread media coverage in the UK and globally – specifically the work on the period emoji reached 4 million people on social media. Further, the research programme has changed the narrative in the UK by quantifying the extent of period poverty and its impact, and influenced policy makers and other key organisations to introduce policy changes.

Exploitation of Children – Understanding child trafficking and Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children in West Bengal, India – Knowledge, attitudes and practices among children, parents and community leaders in Bardhaman, Bankura and Birbhum

Sanghamitra Mazumdar, Seefar 

Malvika Dwivedi, Sattva Consulting

Seefar and My Choices Foundation: Understanding Child Trafficking and Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children in West Bengal, India. The research resulting in the launch of the Safe Village Programme in three districts of West Bengal in February 2021. The campaign aims to improve knowledge and internalisation of key risks associated with CT/CSEC, and to promote the role that children, families and the wider community, can play in ending CT and CSEC

Congratulations to the winners of the 2021 Making a Difference Awards!

The winners are invited to present their case studies during the ESOMAR Insights Festival from 20-22 September 2021.

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!

 

Will you make a difference also this time?

The 4th edition of the Making a Difference Awards is on its way! In just three weeks we will start reviewing the entries for these awards. We expect no less than the excellent case studies which won in 2020! The 3 winning cases were brilliant, strong and inspiring examples of research ‘Making a Difference’.

IN 2020 we aligned the best case stories with the UN SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals).

SDG #3 – Good Health and Well-Being: A case study on public perceptions of schizophrenia

SDG #5 – Gender Equality: A study on the lives of typical rural Indian women aiming to understand the social norms, practices and relations and reveals the reasons that prevent them from achieving economic advancement

SDG #4 – Quality Education: A story on bullying at school and how effective market research contributed in making a ground-breaking difference, changing laws and altering perceptions

In summary, an excellent, thought-provoking and inspiring selection of case studies demonstrated the real value that research can bring to the Not-for-Profit sector in all areas of life.

Will you make a difference also this time? Inequalities and crises all over the world call for better handling of mankind. You can help bridging gaps and supporting the work and dedication of the many NGOs who are there to make a difference. We look forward to listening to your stories!

SUBMIT YOUR ENTRY!

 

Submit your entry for the 2021 Making a Difference Awards

The ESOMAR Foundation’s annual Making a Difference Awards are now open for entries. Our annual Awards are a chance to applaud and reward the best examples of Market Research making a difference to the world’s Charities.

Through these awards, the ESOMAR Foundation aims to raise awareness of the impact of great research on the work of Charities, by offering a platform for these stories to be heard.

All Charity case studies, whether they are international, national or local and in any sector, are encouraged to apply.

WHY YOU SHOULD ENTER THE COMPETITION:

  • It encourages excellence, educates and motivates the industry to produce great research on and for Charities
  • Share your work for mutually beneficial inspiration and learning.
  • The competition will highlight ‘Making a Difference’ case studies to increase the impact of market research in building a better world!
  • Your work will be promoted throughout the year on all our platforms
  • Win a category and an award
  • Winners get invited to present at the ESOMAR Insight Festival, the biggest global and digital event in the market research industry
  • It’s a fun, challenging, and exciting way to share your work.

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW:

  • All Charity cases are welcome whether they are international, national or local!
  • You may showcase any innovative and insightful research work
  • There is no limit of entries per author
  • Each case-study must have a separate application
  • If you’d like help from a research expert writing your submission, we can find a willing volunteer in your country

LOOKING FOR INSPIRATION?

Check out the previous Making a Difference Competition winners

IMPORTANT DEADLINES:

  • 15 May – Deadline for submissions
  • 30 June – Announcement to the winners
  • September – presentation at Insight Festival

SUBMIT YOUR ENTRY!

 

Pirate Book Research in Turkey

In 2014, Turkish Federation of Professional Associations of Publishers (YAYFED) decided to make a research to understand the level of pirated books in Turkey and the reasons and motivations behind it and they consulted Yöntem Research Consultancy. We designed a 360O research model and decided to not only interview the public, but also to gain insight from sector professionals and key opinion leaders in order to develop the right strategies to increase awareness about copyright and intellectual property right concepts.

We mainly focused on the following topics among the public:

·       Pirated product purchase tendency in different areas/sectors (clothing, computer games, music etc.)

·       Book reading habits

·       Place and extent of pirated book

·       Future of e-book

We carried out the study using quantitative face-to-face paper and pencil interview technique with the public, university students, key opinion leaders and stakeholders. In order to double check the quantitative finding and to reach an industry consensus, we also conducted qualitative one-to-one in-depth delphi interviews with sector professionals from the book industry.

Sample sizes and sampling techniques were as follows for each target group:

·      Public: n=523; household quota sampling with random route.

·      University students: n=154; household quota sampling with random route.

·       Key opinion leaders and stakeholders: n=113; sampling from a database composed of list provided by YAYFED, a list formed by Yöntem with desk research and also free find.

·       Sector professionals: 7 in-depth delphi interviews with experts from a list of media, General Directorate of Security, NGOs/NPOs, state institutions, academicians, authors and translators provided by YAYFED.

In-depth delphi interviews helped us to deep-dive in book pirating concept from the industry experts’ point of view and so to understand and estimate the size of book pirating in Turkey accordingly and to reach a consensus about pirated book among the main players of the industry.

We analysed the findings using both qualitative and quantitative analysis techniques. Statistical significance test was applied for all quantitative findings

Together with YAYFED, we have organised a full-day workshop in a central hotel with the participation of leading authors, journalists, translators, publishing company representatives and libraries. The strategic project consultant was also present in the workshop. We have presented the research results to the audience and then evaluated the findings together.

Together with the strategy consultant we prepared a strategy report after the workshop and shared it with the Ministry of Culture and Tourism General Directorate of Copyright, General Secretariat of the Higher Education Council, and the General Secretariat of the High Council of Judges and Prosecutors.

General Directorate of Copyright included this report in the 2015-2019 Strategic Report of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

Coming to some key finding from the study, it was interesting to see that people first started reading pirated books as young as 15-16 years old and mainly due to economical reasons (Graph-1).

Graph 1

Seeing that pirated book reading habits start from teen ages, officials of the Ministry of Education who participated in the strategic report preparation phase, stated that more awareness should be raised and that they would support this among students by including illustrative tools such as logos and graphics in textbooks and in the Fatih Project; a project of the Turkish government which seeks to integrate state-of-the-art computer technology into Turkey’s public education system.

Another interesting finding from the research was that people tend to buy (or claim so) pirated books less than other pirated or counterfeit/imitation products like DVDs, computer/console games/softwares, music CDs, clothing/apparel etc. (Graph-2).

Graph 2

This finding addressed us that pirating in books was either concealed more by the respondents or they were not aware of different types of pirating in book. It was understood that a special attention should be made in fighting pirated book and a more focused public communication language should be used.

The research also revealed that almost 2 of every 3 people do not exactly know what copyright is (Graph-3)

Graph 3

YAYFED has also shared the research findings with Turkish Patent and Trademark Office and they decided to take pirated book issue together with brand and patent counterfeiting issue.

With the action plan prepared based on our research findings, an increase of 47% was achieved in the number of pirated books busted in the second 6 months of 2014.

By the end of 2014, YAYFED announced that with the strategies developed and actions taken, within a period of 5-months, a significant success was achieved as pirated book production decreased by 70%.

The Pirate Book Research was given the Silver Owl Award, under the “Social Owl” category, in 3rd Owl Awards Contest organized by Turkish Researchers’ Association (TUAD) in 2015. This success also drew attraction at international level and the award success of our research project was also announced by The International Federation of Reproduction Rights Organisations (IFRRO):

 

About the Author: Mehmet AKTULGA, Managing Director – Yöntem Research

MaD Award Winners Session

Another record-breaking year; another record-breaking challenge for the jury. For the third edition of our Making a Difference Award Competition we have received a high number of quality entries, up 13 per cent on last year’s total. The jury had a very difficult job and found it challenging to select the winning case studies, as all of the projects were of incredibly high quality.

We aligned the best case stories – the Award Winners – with the UN SDG’s (Sustainable Development Goals) so that we can see the effect on progress with the goals in multiple areas. The 3 winning authors and their NGO counterparts took the virtual stage at the ESOMAR Insights Festival on three consecutive days. Their sessions were brilliant, strong and inspiring examples of research ‘Making a Difference’ and as a result were extremely well received by the audience. We’ll tell you what you’ve missed!

The first session featured the winners of SDG #3 – Good Heath and Well-Being: Çigdem Penn [Xsights], Elif Elkin [Abdi Ibrahim Otsuka Ilaç] and Haldun Soygur, MD, PhD [Federation of Schizophrenia Associations] with the brilliant case-study “Public Perceptions of Schizophrenia“. The study demonstrated the need for creating a difference to stop the stigmatisation of mental health patients, a corporate social responsibility perspective – through the collaboration of a pharmaceutical company an Non Governmental Organisation and a Research Company.

Prof Haldun Soygur from the Federation of Schizophrenia Associations

For the second session had covered the following paper ‘Providing earning capability and opportunity to rural women’, by Indu Upadhay, of Ipsos India and Sheela Iyer from Light of Life Trust India. They are the winners of Making a Difference – Gender Equality (SDG #5). The study touched the lives of typical rural Indian women, it aimed to understand the social norms, practices and relations and reveal the reasons that prevents them from achieving economic advancement. It identified ways in which the leading local NGO – The Light of Life Trust (LOLT) can address these barriers and increase women’s enrolment in its program as well as successful transition to employment. We certainly believe the project made a difference since it helped women fulfil their foremost aspiration of achieving greater financial security! Not only did Indu and Sheela put together an extraordinary case-study but an amazing presentation as well. 

Snapshot from their amazing presentation

The last day of the Insights Festival was for the winners of Making a Difference – Quality Education (SDG #4). Mariam Ghabrial from Marketeers Research and Johnathan Crickx from UNICEF Egypt delivered an exceptional presentation titled “How market research created words and changed worlds”. This is a story of how effective market research contributed in making a groundbreaking difference, changing laws and altering perceptions. The audience was shocked to hear that before the campaign there wasn’t even a word for bullying in Egyptian Arabic. A diligent mission that would have never been possible without UNICEF as well as national and creative partners. 

Aya is one of the faces of so many young people that decided to publicly take a stance against bullying

In summary, an excellent, thought-provoking and inspiring session which demonstrated the real value that research can bring to the Not-for-Profit sector in all areas of life. The winning case-studies and and the rest of the commended entries will be featured on this space in the coming months, so keep an eye out!

Making a Difference at ESOMAR Insights Festival

From Monday almost 5000 market researchers from all corners of the world have taken the virtual environment and registered for ESOMAR’s annual industry get-together. In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic has had a huge impact on people’s lives and societies across the world and the ESOMAR Congress made no exception. The physical connections were replaced with digital ones under the umbrella of the Insights Festival, a truly global data and insights summit.

The winners of our third edition of the Making a Difference Awards will take to the stage to showcase how the best of research has made a significant difference to Not-For-Profits. The session will include 3 different presentations:

How Market Research Created Words and Changed Worlds with Mariam Ghabrial, Client Engagement Manager, [Marketeers Research] and Jonathan  Crickx [UNICEF]

Mariam Ghabrial has been working at Marketeers Research for the past five years, believing in the power of research, providing consultations that are pillared with strong market research to help empower businesses. Before treading into the world of market research, she explored the advertising industry. An experience that contributed to her passion for communication which helped her navigate better through the next steps in life.

Her words: “Adding my deep interest in psychology to the mix, it all comes back to the magnificence of the human mind and I believe finding the best way to communicate is a quest I embarked on, leading me to one of the accomplishments I’m most proud of … Utilising research to breakthrough cultural barriers and derive powerful communication messages that makes a true difference in the world, which I am looking forward to sharing with you today.”

Jonathan  Crickx is the Chief of Communication for UNICEF Egypt since July 2017.

“I am covering all aspects of communication and advocacy, from press releases to field visits, documentation of programme activities and social media. One of the most interesting aspect of this is the social and behavioural change campaigns we are leading in Egypt. Before that, I held similar position for the European Union in Palestine and Afghanistan. In a previous life, I was a journalist for the Belgian public TV news channel RTBF for 11 years. I am married and the lucky father of a wonderful 8-month-old boy. I enjoy listening to music, kitesurfing and diving.”

Pro Bono Research for Light of Life Trust: Providing earning capability and opportunity to rural women, Indu Upadhyay [Ipsos] India; Sheela Iyer [Light of Life Trust (LOLT)] Indi

Indu Upadhyay is a graduate in social anthropology and psychology. With a strong background in the study of human culture and behaviour, she is passionate about applying a people-centered approach to solving real world problems. Indu has a penchant for statistical research coupled with two years worth of experience in the market research industry. Her paper was featured as well in the local Research Got Talent competition in India.

Sheela Iyer has a major in Physics and a Post Graduation in Computer Software and Applications and was working in the software industry when the bug to do something meaningful stung and she switched to the development sector. It’s been over 5 years since she has been working with the Non profit, Light of Life Trust and is completely addicted to the feeling of contributing to the work to impact and transform lives for the common good of society.

Public Perceptions of Schizophrenia with Çigdem Penn [Xsights], Elif Elkin [Abdi İbrahim Otsuka İlaç] and Haldun Soygur, MD, PhD [Federation of Schizophrenia Associations]

Çiğdem Penn is an experienced researcher with twenty years of expertise in both quantitative and qualitative research methodologies. She is well versed in both high-profile and international projects. A graduate of the London School of Economics and Political Science, Çiğdem started her career in management consulting and focused on change management and resistance to change. She then moved into market research and worked in two of the largest agencies in the UK. In 2006, Çiğdem started her own research consultancy, Xsights in London and opened the Turkish branch in 2010. She has been delivering results-driven research and consultancy projects ever since, both in Turkey and internationally.

Çiğdem is a member of ESOMAR, the Market Research Society and the Turkish Researchers Association and is the founding president of the Turkey and Nepal Business Council. Çiğdem has lived in Kathmandu for three years consulting with the United Nations, is now based in Turkey. Çiğdem Penn, a mother of three, is a frequent public speaker and an occasional columnist. She speaks French and English fluently.

Elif Elkin was born in İstanbul and graduated from Robert College and from the Chemistry Department of the Bosphorous University. She had her MBA at the Yeditepe University. From 2001 she held various positions in sales and marketing departments in Deva, one of the top 10 pharmaceutical companies in Turkey. In 2007 she was appointed General Manager and continued this role parallel to her position of Executive Vice President of Marketing & Sales in Deva until she joined Abdi İbrahim in 2009.

Elif has been serving as the General Manager of Abdi İbrahim Otsuka Pharmaceutical since January 2017. She is 40 years old, married and has 3 children named Bora, Nehir and Mira.

Prof. Haldun Soygur is the Chairman of the Board of the Federation of Schizophrenia Associations, of which he is also a founder. Believing in the value of close cooperation between service providers and service users in the provision of mental health services; From the beginning, he worked in the organisation of schizophrenia patients, their families and mental health professionals all together. He ensured the establishment of the Blue Horse Cafe (Mavi At Kafe) where schizophrenia patients work. He is still actively engaged in the correct recognition of schizophrenia in society, the fight against stigma and discrimination, and to offer the best possible treatment and rehabilitation opportunities for patients with schizophrenia.

During his tenure as the Clinic Chief at the Oncology Training and Research Hospital Psychiatry Clinic, where he founded and worked for ten years, he pioneered the establishment of the psycho-oncology discipline, consultation-liaison psychiatry services and the provision of mental health services for oncology staff. He served as the Head of Psychosocial Support Unit of the Cancer Advisory Board of the Ministry of Health for two years. He published as an editor Schizophrenia and Other Psychotic Disorders, Schizophrenia Treatment Guide, Basic Psychopharmacology. For the community, he published the books of Schizophrenia: Voices, Faces, Stories and Sleepless Children: Schizophrenia Articles.

If you are registered at the Insights Festival make sure you do not miss the the Making a Difference sessions.

ESOMAR Foundation Making a Difference Awards – Winners announced!

We are thrilled to announce the winners of this year’s edition of our Making a Difference Awards. 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 three winners were chosen by the expert jury. 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 the 2020 Making a Difference Awards!

 

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

Public Perceptions of Schizophrenia

Çiğdem Penn, Xsights, Turkey

NFP Federation of Schizophrenia Associations

 

Making-a-Difference  – Gender Equality

Pro Bono Research for Light of Life Trust: Providing earning capability and opportunity to rural women

Indu Upadhyay, Ipsos, India

NFP Light of Life Trust (LOLT)

 

Making-a-Difference  – Quality Education

Anti-Bullying Campaign Progressive Copy Development

Mariam Ghabrial, Marketeers Research and Consultancy, Egypt

NFP UNICEF Egypt

 

The winners are invited to present their case studies during the ESOMAR Insights Festival from 14-17 September 2020.

 

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:

Why Don’t We Talk About This? Why Kenya needs to start talking about mental health

Paul Drawbridge, Be Forward Foundation, Kenya

Project Butterfly: Transforming Perceptions of Transgender People

Sarah Jenkins, Magenta, United Kingdom

Human Trafficking survey: Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine

Inna Volosevych, Info Sapiens, Ukraine

Street Sports Incubator

Mohammad Alomari, Jordan Youth Innovation Forum (JYIF), Jordan

The Healthy Priorities

Florencia Rojo, Fine Research, Argentina

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!

 

Submit your entry for the 2020 Making a Difference Awards

The ESOMAR Foundation’s annual Making a Difference Awards are now open for entries. Our annual Awards are a chance to applaud and reward the best examples of Market Research making a difference to the world’s Charities.

Through these awards, the ESOMAR Foundation aims to raise awareness of the impact of great research on the work of Charities, by offering a platform for these stories to be heard.

All Charity case studies, whether they are international, national or local and in any sector, are encouraged to apply.

WHY YOU SHOULD ENTER THE COMPETITION:

  • It encourages excellence, educates and motivates the industry to produce great research on and for Charities
  • Share your work for mutually beneficial inspiration and learning.
  • The competition will highlight ‘Making a Difference’ case studies to increase the impact of market research in building a better world!
  • Your work will be promoted throughout the year on all our platforms
  • Win a category and an award, receive a trophy
  • Winners get flights, accommodation & passes to present at the ESOMAR Congress in Toronto, the biggest event in the market research industry
  • It’s a fun, challenging and exciting way to share your work.

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW:

  • All Charity cases are welcome whether they are international, national or local!
  • You may showcase any innovative and insightful research work
  • There is no limit of entries per author
  • Each case-study must have a separate application
  • If you’d like help from a research expert writing your submission, we can find a willing volunteer in your country

LOOKING FOR INSPIRATION?

Check out the previous Making a Difference Competition winners

SUBMIT YOUR ENTRY!