Research and articles about entering and winning industry awards by Boost Marketing

<body> <center> <div align="left"> <table border="0" height="568" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="7"> <tr> <td valign="top"> <p class="h1"><font color="#DC100A" size="4">Research</font></p> </td> <td valign="top">   </td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top"> <p class="Body"><font size="2">Is the desire to win awards commercial sanity or nothing more than vanity? Well, we've always plumped for the former, and whenever we hear someone say those wonderful words "<i>well it must be good its won an award</i>" our belief becomes that little bit stronger. The trouble is, we are a little biased and lets be honest, not everyone likes awards as much as we do.</font></p> <p class="Body"><font size="2">So, in October 2008 us curious people at Boost commissioned <a href="http://www.shape-the-future.com/" target="_blank">Shape-the-Future</a> to conduction a major research exercise to see the extent to which awards influenced buying decisions.</font></p> <p class="Body"><font size="2">Our belief was confirmed when the survey demonstrated that of the 400 senior business people who took part, 81% admitted to being influenced by awards when buying products and services for their business (see pi chart). This was then reinforced by 76% also agreeing with the statement “<i>awards are important for generating business or improving the value of a brand</i>”.</font></p> <p class="Body"><font size="2">There is a challenge though: the survey clearly showed that on balance the number of awards being entered was on the increase, so the competition is getting more intense for these wonderfully cost effective assets that influence such a large proportion of buying decisions. </font> <p class="Body"><font size="2">For an executive summary and the ability to buy the full survey for £95, please click <a href="http://www.shape-the-future.com/Awards-vanity-or-sanity.asp?r=1">here</a>. </font> </td> <td valign="top"> <img border="0" src="../images/pichart.gif" width="350" height="290"> </td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top"> <p class="h1"><font color="#DC100A" size="4">Articles</font></p> </td> <td valign="top">   </td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" height="478"> <p class="Body"><font size="2">Every now and then Boost are asked to offer a few words on the subject of awards. Here are some examples:</font></p> <ul> <li> <p class="Body"><font size="2"><b>CCF </b> (Call Centre Focus) May 2008 edition - Half page article on how to write a submission for the European Call Centre Awards. <a href="../images/CCF-2008.pdf">Click here to read article.</a><br> </font></li> <li> <p class="Body"><font size="2"><b>The Times</b>, February 2nd 2008, "<i>And the Award Goes To</i>" four page article in the Magazine supplement. <a href="http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/article3264342.ece">Click here to see online version of the article</a>.<br> </font></li> <li> <p class="Body"><font size="2"><b>CCF </b> (Call Centre Focus) May 2007 edition - Article entitled "<i>And The Winner Is</i>" on how to write a submission for the European Call Centre Awards. <a href="/ccf_May_awards.pdf" target="_blank">Click here to download PDF of article</a>.<br> </font></li> <li> <p class="Body"><font size="2"><b> UK-HRD</b> (now <a href="http://www.trainingjournal.com" target="_blank">www.trainingjournal.com</a> ), August 2006, published an article about entering training awards entitled "<i>Industry Awards – Benchmarking and Best Practice or Just Silverware?</i>". <a href="../ukhrd_article.htm" target="_blank">Click here to read article</a>.<br> </font></li> <li> <p class="Body"><font size="2"><b> Enterprise Nation</b>, August 2007, published an article about entering their Home Workers Award, also called "<i>And The Award Goes To</i>".<br> </font></li> </ul> </td> <td valign="top" height="478" align="right"> <p align="right"> <img border="1" src="../images/croppedarticle.jpg" align="right" width="283" height="326"> </p> </td> </tr> </center> <tr> <td colspan="2" valign="bottom" height="37"> <p align="right"><font size="2">(c) 2008 Boost Marketing</font> </td> </tr> </table> </div> </body>