The PRS Effectiveness Award Winner 2011

The 2011 Award was won by Julie Davey (Julie Davey Research) for her paper "Turning Ostriches into owls. How research helped to overturn consumer complacency around gum disease for Corsodyl".

Two things consistently captured the judges' imagination as they evaluated this year's entries: creative and inspiring use of qualitative methodology and demonstration of tangible, commercial end benefit to the client, ie prosperous change in strategic direction, or uplift in measures of marketing effectiveness or brand sales. Our three finalists superbly combined both these elements, making 2011 a very tough contest.

The Prosper Riley-Smith Award is dedicated to excellence and effectiveness in qualitative research. It's given to the best example of qual being executed and delivered in an effective way to move a business or organisation forward. Demonstrating tangible and lasting commercial impact is a must, with extra weight given to superb research design and analysis, creativity and client handling.

The winning entry

The winning entry was the paper "Turning Ostriches into owls. How research helped to overturn consumer complacency around gum disease for Corsodyl" by Julie Davey (Julie Davey Research) in association with Caroline Cole & Joanna Stanbridge (GSK).

This year's winner had a tough communications challenge: to understand how to disrupt complacency around gum disease, encouraging consumers to be better in their own oral care routines as well as to talk more to peers and dental professionals about the issue. It certainly got the judges talking, and not just about gum disease.

Our winner demonstrated really fresh and exciting thinking, developing a new method to explore the issue and advocacy in a totally befitting way. Brave enough to get the client team participating in a projective exercise at pitch, the team was fully involved throughout, with confidence continually elevated. The outcome is a highly effective campaign for Corsodyl, demonstrated through multiple marketing measures of effectiveness as well as the project journey.

"Stands out for showcasing truly fresh thinking, a range of effective impacts and powerful client involvement right from the start"

Full article on Julie Davey's winning Corsodyl entry

Runners Up

Our congratulations also go out to our other Finalists:

Becky Rowe & Dr Robin Pharoah (ESRO), and London Borough of Lewisham
No Ordinary Criminals: An Ethnography of Repeat and Prolific Offenders

Claire McAlpine (Mediacom)
The Route to Recruit: mapping the real world journey and communication opportunities in recruiting the Metropolitan Police Service's special constables

The Judges

And our thanks again to 2011 judges:

Elle Atton (Chair of Judging Panel)
Simon Pollock (General Mills)
James Holden (BBC)
Maebh Whelan (Legal & General)
Harry Mirpuri (Which?)
Richard Drury (Boots Opticians)
Dr Jane Cantellow (Saatchi & Saatchi)
Peter Lovett (AQR)