How to use IDOL
Set out below are some simple instructions and guidance on how to use the IPA Databank Online tool.
The tool has been designed to allow easy access to IPA Effectiveness Awards case study data, through a simple four-step process:
- Build your universe of Case Studies using the Search Wizard
- View the results using the interactive charting feature and save your charts
- View the case study summary prior to deciding whether or not to buy
- Click to buy the case study on the main IPA site
1. Search Wizard
Start with the Search Wizard to build your own case study collection, or universe. This is the principle feature of the tool that remains present on all pages, allowing you the flexibility to amend your universe at any time.
The universe is initially set to include all case studies available on IDOL.
The purpose of the Search Wizard is to allow you to select and filter those case studies that you would like to access, either through the charting feature or by viewing the case study summaries.
The IPA Databank is compiled from questionnaires submitted as part of the IPA Effectiveness Awards competitions. We have chosen 16 fields for you to choose from here, ranging from the Year published, to whether or not the case study was an Award winner.
Use the "+" buttons to expand or collapse the individual fields. Alternatively, click on the Expand or Collapse buttons at the top of the fields list to open or close all the fields at once.
Use the tick boxes to select which responses are of interest to you.
Please note that IDOL searches using the AND operand between different fields and the OR operand within a particular field. For example, ticking more than one box within a particular field such as 'Business objectives' will give you more results, as you are expanding your choice. Ticking one or more boxes in different fields e.g ticking 'Sales volume gain' in 'Business Objectives' and also ticking '2009' in 'Year' will give you less results as your are narrowing your choice.
Further detail about the individual fields can be found by hitting the "i" tooltip alongside each fields. This provides details of the question asked in the original questionnaire and whether there are limited responses to it, for example, due to it only having been included in the questionnaires from a certain year.
There is a dynamic counter of the number of case studies in your universe which is updated each time you make a selection within the fields.
A green tick is also placed alongside every field in the Search Wizard that you have used to create your custom universe.
Finally, when you have created your universe, click on View Results at the bottom of the Search Wizard to open up the Chart Results page.
Please note that you can clear or reset your universe selection, either at an individual field level (click on Clear Selection under each field) or globally, using the Reset button at the top of the Search Wizard.
2. Chart Results
Once you have selected your universe of case studies, you can use the interactive charting feature to view and analyse the results.
Click on View Results at the bottom of the Search Wizard, and the page will refresh to show the Chart Results.
This page presents you with a number of options for charting:
- Firstly, you are reminded how many case studies there are within your chosen universe.
- Secondly, you are prompted to break down your universe by further case study fields. The default is set to Market/Product Category, but the drop down menu provides you with the ability to select from any of the fields available.
- Third, you can choose your chart type, either Bar or Pie
Each time you make a selection or amend your universe, the chart will refresh.
You can amend your universe by using the Search Wizard on your left or by clicking on the bar or pie segment. Please note that there may be some bars or pie slices that are made up of many miscellaneous (rest) items. If these individually represent less than 3% of the total you can continue to drill down by clicking on bar or slice until the individual elements are revealed
You can save or print your graph at any time by clicking on the right button of your mouse and choosing the relevant browser option. Alternatively, there is a Save button just above the IPA Source wording which you can click on to save your graph. Images are saved in the .gif format and can then be inserted into external documents such as presentations.
At the bottom left of the page, is the My Selection box, which lists all the case study field selections you have made, so you can easily refer to this as you build and amend your universe.
Once you have completed your analysis, you have the option to View List of Case Studies. By clicking on this link you will be able to see summary information for each of the case studies which form your current set of search results.
Note that you can amend your case study universe at any time. If you change your field selection the counter will update, the chart you are viewing will refresh and a new list of case study summaries will be available to you.
IDOL is all about aggregate learning - what general truths can the data reveal to us? When case study questionnaires are submitted as part of the IPA Effectiveness Awards competitions, it is necessary for some data fields to remain confidential. For this reason, if you have searched IDOL, charted the results and have selected a single 'Marketing Communications Budget' band or a single 'Business Effects' field, your results will not be available for viewing of the summary information. You could relax the criteria you have chosen or expand your search by selecting at least two 'Marketing Communications Budget' bands or at least two 'Business Effects' fields in order to view the summary information as normal.
3. Case Study List
Once you have filtered down your universe of case studies, you can view the case study summary detail to determine whether or not you then want to go on and buy the full version.
By clicking on View List of Case Studies, you are taken to a page, listing all of the case studies that match your search fields.
The top of the page provides a reminder of the search fields used to create your universe.
The case studies are sorted by Year (most recent first), and there is also the option to sort by Relevance (number of search fields that the case study matches) or Title (alphabetical).
The information available on each case study includes:
- Agency
- Year
- Awards won at the IPA Effectiveness Awards
- Short description of the case study (click on more to expand the detail)
Use the scroll bar to navigate through the list of case studies.
If you would like to read more of any of the case studies you have selected, you can click to download the full version by clicking on the Buy button to the right of the case study name.
Alternatively, click on the button at the bottom of the case study list to go back to the Chart Results.
4. Buying Case Studies
Buying IPA case studies is very easy. If you click on a Buy link at any time, you will be taken to that case study on the main IPA site in a separate browser window.
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 online, via the IPA's shopping cart, using credit card payments. The case study or studies are available to you for viewing or downloading immediately after you have paid.
Because of this differential pricing it will be necessary (if you haven't already done so) for you to register your details on the main IPA website, which is very easy and takes about two minutes to complete.