Giving Back Archives - GRBN.ORG

Calling for Nominations for this year’s Ginny Valentine Awards for bravery in Market Research

GRBN_News — Sun, 25 Mar 2018 23:33:40 +0000

Since 2011 market researchers have been winning a different kind of award, one for bravery rather than cleverness or profitability. In conference after conference and forum after forum, speakers have spoken of the importance of researchers not going with the flow but being willing to step out against the flow. Stan Sthanunathan, Vice President of Unilever made it one of his 10 commandments of market research. If you know someone who has shown bravery in the course of research, visit www.ginnyvalentine.com to nominate them. A distinguished panel of judges from client and supply side will pick the winners with awards given out in Atlanta in June at IIeX North America. The Ginny Valentine Badge of Courage awards were set up in memory of one of the most distinguished researchers in the UK who pioneered the use of semiotics in the marketing community against the odds. It took her decades. It seemed fitting to remember Ginny with an award celebrating persistence, risk taking, or raw physical courage. Now in its 7^th year we have a gallery of remarkable winners whose stories have inspired their peers. The Ginny Valentine awards are open to clients and suppliers, to junior as well as senior researchers. Our youngest ever winner was a teenage interviewer – sadly honoured posthumously after she was shot by the Taliban for conducting in home surveys. One of our most senior had worked an entire career to put conjoint analysis at the heart of the quantitative research industry worldwide. Once an entire client team won because of the way their funding of start-ups galvanized the way the whole industry thought. Last year’s winners included Pravin Shekhar who founded a research company predominantly staffed by those with a disability. Then there was the research conference organizer and speaker who redesigned a conference session around the needs of a dementia sufferer so she could tell her story without distraction and distress. Oh and the research team who conducted a very tricky study somewhere in the Middle East – but we aren’t allowed to tell you where. It’s complicated.. We have never been able to codify exactly what bravery means- every year the judges find a fresh example. Clients who risk their careers to buy off-roster. Or cancel a tracking study they no longer believe in even if that means starting from scratch without a benchmark to work from. The Ginny Valentine award is the only way we know to recognize such guts and gumption. But you can’t win without a nomination. So get nominating. You CAN nominate yourself! And hurry up – because there are only a few weeks to go. Perhaps the best thing about the Ginny Valentine awards is not just that they are helping to make researchers braver, but better at noticing and applauding bravery when we see it. So time to get started. Are you sure you haven’t seen a single piece of bravery in the last 12 months? We bet you have. Fiona Blades / John Griffiths, founders

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Want to change the world from your desk? Here’s how.

GRBN_News — Mon, 30 Jan 2017 07:00:06 +0000

Elizabeth Pitts, Master of Marketing Research Candidate at the University of Georgia, and Catherine Rickwood, Experience Director at MESH The Experience Agency, are two of the people, so passionate about the future of our sector and our ability to add value to society, as well as to clients, that they decided to join our 100-day challenge catalyst team and work together with GRBN, to encourage as many people as possible to take a 100-day challenge…. to make a difference. We asked them both why they wanted to be on the Catalyst team… Catherine: “Personally, I’ve always been drawn to research because it builds understanding of the world, and who isn’t curious to understand the world? To me, this initiative is the ultimate application of that.” Elizabeth:“I am drawn to research because it allows us understand our past, gain valuable insights into what’s going on in the present, and predict how trends will develop in the future. When shared, the knowledge that research provides can change our world. I look forward to being a part of this movement.” …and to share their views on why they think you should sign up to the Paragon 100-day challenge and give something back to society…

Want to change the world from your desk? Here’s how.

Calling all market, opinion and social researchers! Help us end poverty, combat climate change, and fight injustice and inequality. We all want to make a difference, but it’s often hard to know how. Well not anymore! Paragon Partnerships, founded by Unilever and other global companies have teamed up with GRBN to make magic happen. And here’s the opportunity for you to be a part of it. The aim is simple: connect the people, who can collect and process data with the people who can use the data to make a difference! By donating resources to this joint initiative, you will help governments, academics, the UN, and NGO’s around the world gain access to quality data and insights on the issues that the world is facing. Governments, academics, UN, and NGOs will then be able to tap into this pool of resources so that they can get the valuable information they need – easy, efficient and hassle free.

Use your research prowess to give something back to society

To kick things off, we’re challenging everyone to get involved! Are you up for the challenge? If so, we invite you to join us for our 100-day challenge initiative and you can sign up to donate resources here… http://grbnnews.com/paragon-partnerships-challenge/ If you’re not sure and want to read more about the joint initiative, you can do so here… http://grbnnews.com/paragon-unilever-initiated-partnership-grbn-join-forces-create-global-database/ and if you want to find out more about Paragon Partnerships, you can do so here… http://www.paragonpartnerships.com/ We’d love to hear from you, however big or small your company is, and you can even register as an individual rather than a representative of your company. So, come on and join the movement.


Elizabeth Pitts	Catherine Rickwood

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Paragon, a Unilever initiated partnership, and GRBN join forces to create a global database

GRBN_News — Mon, 16 Jan 2017 09:00:56 +0000

Paragon, a Unilever initiated partnership, and GRBN join forces to create a global database of research companies willing to help Governments, Academics and NGOs tackle the UN Global Goals NEW YORK – January 16th, 2017 — Paragon Partnerships and Global Research Business Network (GRBN) today announced in conjunction with Unilever and other global companies as their members, a joint initiative aimed at enabling Governments, Academics, UN and NGOs around the world, which are working to tackle the 17-point plan of the UN Global Goals – end poverty, combat climate change, and fight injustice and inequality around the world – to connect with market, opinion and social research companies, which are committed to helping by providing access to quality data and insights on the issues that the world is facing. GRBN has created a form on its news website, www.grbnnews.com, where people working for research companies, either as individuals or as representatives of their companies, can sign-up and express their willingness to help solve these global issues and indicate the resources they are willing and able to donate to assist Governments, Academics, UN and NGOs in order to do so. Governments, Academics, UN and NGOs will then be able to easily tap into this pool of resources so that they can get the data and insights they need, when they need them. As part of its 100-day challenge initiative, GRBN will be encouraging as many of its 3500 plus corporate members as possible to sign-up during the first quarter of 2017 and in this way to show their commitment to giving something back to society. Dilek Ozler, Senior CMI Manager at Unilever, commented: ”Humanity has a hard task in front of it to bring Sustainable Development to our world. And the to-do-list for the planet will only be achieved if everyone plays their part, and work together. Individually, no single body, government or business will be able to find solutions to address these challenges. Our only hope is to work in partnerships. And that is why the partnership between Paragon and GRBN is so important. This is going to open up a new venue for market research agencies all around the world to contribute to this noble cause. And that makes me so proud of the industry I belong to. I encourage all agencies to join this effort and contribute as much as they can.” Andrew Cannon, Executive Director at GRBN, said: “We are extremely proud to be able to support this fantastic Paragon Partnerships initiative and to use our reach into the global research industry though our 45 national association members. We are confident that the research industry will step up to the challenge and dedicate resources to tackling these serious issues for the benefit of people needing help.” Jane Frost CBE, CEO of the Market Research Society (MRS) – GRBN’s partner in Britain – said: “This initiative was launched at the MRS Annual Conference, IMPACT 2016 and we are delighted to support this initiative. It’s great to see organisations coming together to tackle the big issues facing the world today. The research and insight sector has so much to offer in enabling understanding, and it’s only once we truly understand our problems that we can begin to create innovative solutions.” — End About Paragon Paragon was created to infuse insights that will help to tackle the 17-point plan of the UN Global Goals – end poverty, combat climate change, and fight injustice and inequality around the world. Paragon brings partners together to work on finding solutions to these issues; Research Companies and their Clients generate and provide access to quality data and insights on the issues that the world is facing, helping Governments, Academics, UN and NGOs around the world to accomplish their goals. You can read more about Paragon and the partners here: http://www.paragonpartnerships.com/ About GRBN (www.grbn.org) Global Research Business Network connects 45 research associations and over 3500 research businesses on six continents. More than US$25 billion in annual research revenues (turnover) are generated by these businesses. GRBN’s mission is to promote and advance the business of research by developing and supporting strong autonomous national research associations. Twitter: @grbn_org CONTACT: Andrew Cannon GRBN +358.50.5226922 andrew.cannon@grbn.org OR Dilek Ozler Unilever USA +1 (201) 289-1014 dilek.ozler@unilever.com

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