Summary
Big Data is an increasingly sophisticated business practice and marketing intelligence is now fuelled by software that attempts to fuse multiple data sources. New roles such as data scientists are being developed to co-ordinate and analyse this glut of data. They have a computational, statistical focus and carry increasingly influential weight across business. But this article argues that the work of behavioural experts is also critical if brands are to benefit from behavioural data. Human insight and experience remains fundamental to marketing practice and if behaviourists and analysts can find a way to work together, they can glean real value from the information they have.

Summary
This report from the ARF's Audience Measurement 7.0 conference - themed the 'measurement crisis' - covers presentations from Kellogg, Facebook, comScore, ABC and CNN about the challenges presented by cross-platform audiences in the digital age. Kellogg discusses the role of digital in the company's own media mix, where investment follows performance. Facebook references a study of 60 campaigns on the social network, of which 70% registered a three-fold ROI. And a separate presentation from comScore focuses on research into Starbucks' Facebook fans, which found a 38% lift in purchase incidence. Separately, broadcaster ABC presents its "smile research" - pilot work into using smiling and happiness as an audience metric. And finally, CNN shares research on how the proliferation of screens is changing media consumption, based on a study of basketball viewing.

Summary
This paper argues that current media research models are broken, and that there is a need to fix them. It puts forward a methodology to overcome the challenges of traditional media research. Switched On is described as a 360° model for research that uses two types of camera to record and then observe individuals' media consumption, free of moderator influence and respondent direction. Examples of this model being used on consumers are then discussed.

Summary
What actually constitutes branded entertainment is diverse and for this reason, as a discipline, it can seem very difficult to evaluate. It is also often a part of a wider campaign and so isolating its success is another challenge. A key question is: what did it contribute compared to a conventional spot? Using an experimental design, Ipsos aims to measure the effectiveness of branded entertainment in a controlled environment and delves deeper into how consumers can be exposed to a particular campaign, using examples from the Glastonbury Festival and HSBC Private Banking.

Summary
The 'orchestration' model represents a new way of constructing and integrating messages across channels, whereby the communication dances to the same brand tune but can play out differently across media. It contrast with the more traditional 'matching luggage' approach, where integration across media channels is advertising and visually led and the consumer has to journey across numerous media to experience the full message from different touchpoints. So integrated media measurement requires new research methods attuned to the theatre of modern brand communication.

Summary
Until recently the world of fundraising relied on goodwill to motivate supporters to donate their time or money to good causes. Increasingly however, not-for-profit organisations have marketing and insight departments that are attuning themselves to how people around the world are living their lives and how fundraising efforts can best fit in with those fast-changing attitudes, values and lifestyles. This case study shows how Iconoculture and UNICEF are working together to embed consumer trend frameworks around the organisation as a way of understanding supporters, both in an individual and a corporate environment. It shares both the process and some of the latest outputs, in the form of new fundraising ideas and communications strategies.

Summary
A conference report from Warc's Advertising Research 2011 event, covering presentations from Google, Yahoo, MPG, BSkyB and Bupa, among others. Their main theme is that media measurement is becoming more difficult for the research industry. Common points of agreement are: that researchers are taking more account of real-time data in their media measurement strategies, that the problem is particularly acute in measuring "pull" media, such as search ads, and that, even so, researchers are making strides in developing innovative and experimental techniques.

Summary
This report from the ARF's Re:Think conference covers the contribution of Scott McDonald, Condé Nast's SVP of research and insights. He is speaking at a panel session entitled "50 Years of Advertising Research", staged to mirror the 50th anniversary issue of the Journal of Advertising on a similar theme. McDonald argues for a switch in the focus of research from the comparability of individual media to reflect the reality that all print media are now also consumed digitally. He also calls for a move away from language like "campaigns" and "targeting" to reflect a more collaborative approach to advertising, or risk consumers using technology to avoid ads completely. He highlights the importance of verifying research insights with corroborative evidence before acting upon them, and cites the social, behavioral and brain sciences as fruitful sources of learning for researchers.

Summary
A report covering three presentations at a 2011 MRS conference. Hamish Pringle of the IPA reveals that consumers are dipping in and out of the "media flow" in their day-to-day lives; a major challenge for today's researchers is to develop media strategies to reflect this "always-on" world. IAB Europe/Screen Digest show that online adspend is enjoying explosive growth, with innovations in display ads - and online video in particular - boosting the sector even in mature markets. Interbrand says that building brand value can be achieved through maintaining a sense of consistency over multiple touchpoints, or by embracing unorthodox media strategies such as building offline word of mouth.

Summary
This report from the ARF's Audience Research conference focuses on a client panel session in which executives from organizations including the ANA, Time Inc., GroupM and Optimedia offer their opinions on the current shortcomings of market research and offer up their ideas for the future. MR is told to produce tools that can help advertisers make sense of all the data emanating from digital conversations. Equally, there's a call for media research to measure actual distribution across all channels, and not just paid circulation. Similarly, the industry is told to switch focus from measuring media devices to measuring across multiple platforms.