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F7-02·F7 — Communications Strategy

The IPA Databank: What the Evidence Actually Says

The productive tension

Rigorous empirical evidenceandpractical marketing judgment

The synthesis

The IPA Effectiveness Databank is the closest thing marketing has to a clinical evidence base -- real campaigns, real results, rigorous methodology. But data is not wisdom. The patterns in the databank require interpretation, contextual judgment, and an understanding of what the data can and cannot tell you. The evidence-based approach is to take the evidence seriously (most marketers do not) AND to apply judgment about when and how it applies to your specific situation (most data evangelists do not). Evidence-informed practice, not evidence-as-scripture.

Learning objectives

  • Explain what the IPA Effectiveness Awards and Databank are and why they constitute a uniquely valuable evidence base
  • Describe the methodology that makes IPA cases more rigorous than typical marketing case studies
  • Identify the key findings from the databank on emotional versus rational campaigns, fame, and multi-channel deployment
  • Articulate the "effectiveness crisis" identified in post-2012 data
  • Distinguish between correlation and causation in IPA findings and apply appropriate epistemic caution

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