About the IPA Databank
Background
The Effectiveness Awards were launched in London, UK by the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA) in 1980. These awards are recognised by agencies and clients as Adland's most rigorous awards scheme because entrants have to prove to a jury of experienced clients that their communications strategies have worked in hard business terms. These awards are not only open to agencies but to media owners and advertisers alike.
The case studies submitted are invaluable to anyone interested in marketing and marketing communications, both in the writing and the reading, because they:
- prove that communications can be a highly profitable investment
- ensure high standards of evaluation and campaign analysis
- provide an explanation for winning business strategies
Databank
Papers submitted to every IPA Effectiveness Award competition since 1980, including the former AREA and Scottish IPA Effectiveness Awards, have been compiled and indexed to form the IPA case study Databank. Since 1998 as part of the entry criteria, an extensive questionnaire has been submitted with each entry which has enabled a sophisticated relational database to be built: the IPA Databank.
IDOL includes data from every winning paper published since 1980 and all papers submitted with questionnaires since 1998: 921 case studies in total, covering virtually every category, and virtually every communications channel from direct mail to social networks.
The data examines the characteristics, circumstances and objectives of the brands, the nature and scale of the campaigns that they ran and, of course, the results that were achieved. Whatever your question or issue there is likely to be a robust body of case studies that can illuminate it, giving you quantitative answers as well as qualitative richness of detail. There is no other database like it.
Visit the IPA Effectiveness Awards site for further background information on the competition and to view the latest winning films.
Buying IPA case studies
Once you have completed your search on IDOL, you can purchase any or all of the case studies that sit behind your results. You can buy IPA case studies from the main IPA site at any time by visiting the case studies page on our main site.
IPA member agencies can download twelve case studies for free in each calendar year; thereafter they pay £25.00 per case study. Non-members pay £40.00 per case study and students get a discounted rate of just £10.00 per download. All payments are made via credit card and the case study or studies are available to you immediately after the online form has been submitted.
Because of this differential pricing it is necessary (if you haven't already done so) for you to register on the main IPA website which is very easy and takes about two minutes to complete.