ARF Kicks Off 75th Anniversary Year with Comprehensive Array of Events, Speakers, Research, Insights to Help Marketers Make Smarter Decisions

NEW YORK, Jan. 26, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- The Advertising Research Foundation (ARF) will kick off its 75th Anniversary year with a comprehensive array of events, speakers, publications, research and insights – all designed to help marketers make smarter decisions about how to deploy their resources and connect with consumers more effectively in the future.

The schedule of activities begins with a look-back at ARF's creation with a Founders' Tribute Luncheon at the New York Athletic Club on February 11, 2011 – the actual date of ARF's 75th anniversary.  The event will honor the CEOs of the two organizations that established the Foundation in 1936 – Bob Liodice, President and CEO, Association of National Advertisers (ANA), and Nancy Hill, President and CEO, the American Association of Advertising Agencies (4As).

Then March 20-23, ARF will convene its largest-ever Annual Convention, Re:think 2011 – Managing the Complexity Maze: Insights as the Navigator.  Keynote speakers headlining this four-day event include Dr. Robert Groves, Director, U.S. Census Bureau; Reuben Mark, Retired Chairman and CEO, Colgate-Palmolive Company; and Chuck Porter, Chairman Crispin Porter + Bogusky.  Each of these luminaries will reflect on lessons from the past, as well as look ahead to emerging trends, resources, tools and knowledge that are shaping the future of the marketing landscape.

On the afternoons of March 21 and 22, participants will engage in Diamond Learning Sessions, sponsored by The Kantar Group and The Nielsen Company. Opening remarks on each day will be provided by Susan Whiting, Vice Chair and Chief Diversity Officer, The Nielsen Company, and Kim Dedeker, Chair of the Americas, Kantar.

Dr. Groves' widely anticipated speech will present findings gleaned from an analysis of Census 2010 data and how these insights can power marketing campaigns for years to come. Other keynote speakers at Re:think 2011 are Christa Carone, Chief Marketing Officer, Xerox Corporation; Kim L. Feil, Chief Marketing Officer, Walgreens; and Guy Garcia, Chief Executive Officer, Mentamatrix, Inc.

In addition, on March 22, Sir Martin Sorrell, Chief Executive Officer of the WPP Group, will give a special address and winners of the annual ARF David Ogilvy Awards for Excellence in Advertising Research (sponsored by Microsoft Advertising) will be announced.

Re:think 2011 will also include more than 30 Key Issue Forums focused on topics of high importance to marketers, including marketing to multicultural consumers, multi-country mobile marketing, behavioral and neurometric response to advertising, advertising effectiveness across multiple touchpoints and an assessment of the 'socialness' of social media audiences.

For the first time, Re:think 2011 will encompass a special ARF Insights Zone, March 21-22, featuring learning sessions, product demonstrations, book signings and networking opportunities presented by convention sponsors and exhibitors. Rounding out the Re:think 2011 agenda will be the annual presentation of the ARF Great Mind Awards, sponsored by GfK, on March 23, recognizing individuals who have contributed to the excellence and advancement of advertising research.

"Our 75th Anniversary year provides the marketing industry with an ideal opportunity to step back and assess the current state of advertising research as well as identify vital, research-based insights that are driving the future of marketing effectiveness," said Bob Barocci, President and CEO, the Advertising Research Foundation. "With an extensive series of 2011 initiatives, we will help marketers navigate the growing complexity of the changing advertising environment."

Capping an aggressive first quarter of anniversary activity, ARF's Journal of Advertising Research, which is completing its fiftieth year of publication, will issue two editions.  Its regular March Journal of Advertising Research will look at the future of marketing research, and a special 50th Anniversary edition sponsored by Millward Brown, the largest in the publication's history, will draw on the expertise of more than 40 thought-leading academic authors and 20 accomplished practitioners from across the world to review five decades of advertising research.

About the Advertising Research Foundation (ARF)::

Founded in 1936 by the Association of National Advertisers and the American Association of Advertising Agencies, the ARF is dedicated to aggregating, creating and distributing research-based knowledge that will help members make better advertising decisions. ARF members include more than 400 advertisers, advertising agencies, associations, research firms, and media companies. The ARF is the only organization that brings all members of the industry to the same table for strategic collaboration. In 2011, the ARF will celebrate its 75th Anniversary as the industry's authoritative source of advertising knowledge. The ARF is located at 432 Park Ave. South, 6th Floor, New York, NY 10016 and on the Web at www.thearf.org.

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SOURCE Advertising Research Foundation (ARF)