Google - WPP marketing research awards programme bestows 11 grants

Eleven research awards have been granted to universities under the auspices of the Google and WPP marketing research awards programme for which over 120 entries were received.

The programme is overseen by Professor John Quelch, senior associate dean of Harvard Business School and a non-executive director of WPP; Dr. Hal Varian, Google's chief economist; and professor Glen Urban, former dean of the Sloan School of Management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. This committee made final decisions on the proposals to be funded and will guide the project implementation process for the winning submissions.

The supported projects represent the first round of awards in the three-year program that will see WPP and Google commit up to $4.6 million to support research into how online media influences consumer behavior, attitudes and decision making. Funding for the supported projects will be released in this month.

''I was very impressed with the volume and quality of the submissions. I think we have an exciting set of grants that are truly innovative, academically rigorous, and relevant to practice of Digital Marketing'' said Professor Urban.

''The winning projects offer convincing designs to explore how online and offline marketing influence consumer attitudes, decisions and purchase behavior. As marketing continues to become more digital and more measurable, the results of these studies would also advance our understanding of how advertising investment should be allocated among media channels'' said Dr. Varian.

"These awards promise to focus some of the best minds in the marketing academy on the marketing impacts of the digital revolution," added Professor Quelch.