NEW YORK, NY – As analytics become increasingly important in every marketing practitioner’s life, the ANA (Association of National Advertisers) is launching a first-of-its-kind award recognizing leadership in applying smart analytics to successful marketing programs. Open to ANA member companies, and sponsored by leading marketing analytics firm MarketShare, the award offers a $50,000 cash prize to the individual or team demonstrating the most effective application of analytics to benchmark and improve marketing investment ROI. 

The Marketing Analytics Leadership Award spotlights and celebrates today’s rapid adoption of analytics in planning and measuring marketing investments. The nomination process begins immediately, and will close August 1, 2013. The inaugural award will be presented at this year’s ANA Masters of Marketing Annual Conference, to be held October 3-6 in Phoenix, Ariz.

Three finalists will be selected by a distinguished panel of current and former CMOs, along with business thought leaders from academic institutions UCLA and Harvard. Attendees of the Masters of Marketing Conference will also have a chance to vote for their preferred nominee. 

“Marketing analytics is a critically important part of demonstrating the return on marketing investment, and this new award will recognize individuals leading their companies in adopting credible, practical analytic practices,” said ANA President and CEO Bob Liodice. “The ANA is fully committed to accelerating the role of analytics in benchmarking and improving advertising and marketing effectiveness.”

“Analytics aren’t just about making short-term contributions to marketing measurement,” added Pat LaPointe, executive vice president at MarketShare. “Today’s advanced analytics help marketing organizations build long-term asset and shareholder value, and this award will help marketers who are true leaders in the field gain recognition for the value they are delivering.” 

Entries will be evaluated on the following criteria:

• 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

“It’s exciting to see marketing analytics elevated by this award,” said judging panel member Becky Saeger, former CMO of Charles Schwab and former ANA chairperson. "Today's state-of-the-art analytic tools effectively help align marketing investments to business results in a way we could only imagine just a few years ago. This award will highlight actual results, and hopefully inspire every CMO, CFO, and CEO to take advantage of these critical business tools." 

“Creativity remains important for CMOs and other marketers,” said Jim Stengel, former global marketing officer of P&G, former ANA chairperson, and another judging panel member. “But the real leaders in marketing are good at both the art and the science. The analytics capabilities we have are enormous, and it makes perfect sense to recognize talented teams that are putting those capabilities to use driving business results.”    

In addition to Saeger and Stengel, the Marketing Analytics Leadership Award panel of judges includes: 

• Tom Davenport, professor at Babson College and visiting professor at the Harvard Business School
• Dominique Hanssens, PhD, professor at the UCLA/Anderson School of Management, and former executive director of the Marketing Science Institute
• Claire Huang, CMO at JPMorgan Chase
• Jon Iwata, senior vice president, marketing and communications at IBM
• Rob Malcolm, former president of global marketing, sales and innovation at Diageo, and lecturer at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania

“As a member of the judging panel, I’m looking forward to seeing some of the innovative approaches and scientific rigor that marketers are bringing to analytics,” Davenport said. “This awards program will help data-minded marketers get the recognition they deserve.” 

To learn more about the award and nomination process, download the nomination form here http://www.analyticsaward.com/.