The bursary, created by Lord Mais, a former Lord Mayor of London and past master of the Marketors, enables recipients to study in depth some aspect of marketing of direct personal interest. Company members and their immediate families are eligible and this year the Awards Committee, faced with nine worthy applications, recommended that the bursary of £3,000 should be awarded to Gerry Brierley, owner of the award winning range of U Klick software, which provides legislation compliancy for British small businesses. The range includes U Klick 4 health and safety, U Klick 4 employment law and U Klick 4 marketing.

 

Gerry Brierley

Gerry aims to deliver a coherent current and future vision of the way that marketing law will affect companies, in particular the small business community, within their marketing initiatives and activities. Further objectives are to consider how smaller businesses can overcome these marketing laws and use alternative methods to gain competitive advantage and market share, and what ultimate impact this has on new and traditional marketing methods.   The results will be used in both in an academic context and in providing assistance for businesses to help them overcome the difficulties relating to the complex subject area. Welcoming the award, Gerry said ‘I am very surprised to receive this coveted award and am excited about researching the area of marketing law which I am particularly passionate about. I look forward to delivering an interesting and quality paper to the Marketors next year.’

As marketing law is an area where no formal courses of study are available, Roger Alexander, chairman of Lewis Silkin and also a member of the Marketors, has agreed to act as an informal mentor, guiding Gerry in her study.

Gerry Brierley lives and works in Guildford.

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for photo attached of Gerry Brierley contact Shirley Barnett 0108 2027821 prprojects@aol.com

 

Contacts
Winner: Gerry Brierley DipM MA MCIM AIMC AIB Chartered Marketer Tel 0845 222 0307 email: gerry@uklick.co.uk

 

BG Group and Cadbury Schweppes come top of non-financial reporting league – marketers and investors want OFR

 

 

The league table identifies the companies that are going furthest to quantify intangible assets to the board and the ‘City’, demonstrating the value of marketing as a wealth creator.

 

By topping this table BG Group and Cadbury Schweppes have led the way in non-financial reporting and this offers an unprecedented opportunity to their marketers to demonstrate their value to business.

 

Greater transparency will help marketers to better articulate the crucial link between marketing and business success, in turn raising the status of marketing.

 

 

Over 400 portfolio managers and buy-side and sell-side analysts scored the disclosure of companies Business Reviews. The ‘OFR’ Checklist was then used to rank the overall winners. The ‘OFR’ Checklist, which was sponsored initially by the Worshipful Company of Marketors and now by the Marketing Society and the IPA, provides a simple framework whereby companies can verify that they have complied with the Accounting Standards Board guidelines on financial reporting.

 

Said Hamish Pringle, Director General of the IPA: “Balance sheet accounting is a system built for the world of physical assets, a world now far less important to UK plc than that of intangibles. As we drag financial reporting kicking and screaming into the 21st century, marketing is coming under increasingly intense scrutiny, and the best practitioners welcome this. Soon the best brains in the City will fully appreciate the connection between marketing activity and the creation of the brands which are such major shareholder assets.”

 

Said Hugh Burkitt, Chief Executive of the Marketing Society: "The Marketing Society's number one objective right now is to help marketers demonstrate the value of marketing to their colleagues in the Boardroom. BG Group and Cadbury's are leading the way in reporting non-financial assets, which includes brand assets, setting an example that all marketers should study.”

 

Said Roger de Pilkyngton, Master of the Worshipful Company of Marketors 2006: ”Investment in customers is a critical success factor for any organisation. The Worshipful Company of Marketors are proud to have sponsored the research and resulting OFR checklist that not only encourages greater transparency of business review information by companies, but also demonstrates the linkage between marketing and business success. Analysts and other members of the financial community have warmly welcomed the research. This is a marvellous opportunity for marketing to make common cause with the City.”

 

In response to a separate question, an overwhelming majority of 250 survey respondents (78 percent) said companies should still publish a full OFR whether or not it is compulsory under UK law. Both portfolio managers and analysts said they welcomed the increased amount of disclosure an OFR or equivalent forward-looking strategy document contains. One fund manager, stressing the valuable insight gained from directors’ views of their companies’ futures, said: ‘The OFR is the best way to find out how a management looks at its business.’ Another said: ‘You can’t get sufficient information from statutory accounting – you need a broader discussion of a business and its prospects, not just a backward-looking view of figures.’

 

The Treasury withdrew the mandatory OFR in November 2005 and replaced it with the Business Review after fears it would create too much ‘red tape’ for businesses. The Business Review still requires ‘large’ organisations – listed and larger private companies – to provide up to 85% of the details that would have gone into the ‘OFR’.

 

Notes to Editors - Panoramic Group
The Panoramic Group was established in 2006 to promote the value of marketing and marketing communications to business. Our definition of marketing is the 'growing and harvesting of cash flow'. The participants are The Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM), the D&AD, the global professional association and educational charity representing creative practitioners, The Institute of Direct Marketing (IDM), The Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA), The Incorporated Society of British Advertisers (ISBA), The Marketing Society (TMS), The Market Research Society (MRS) and The Worshipful Company of Marketors (TWCM). Between them The Panoramic Group represents over 40,000 members of the marketing services industry.

 

For further information:
Marketing Society tel: 020 8973 1700
Institute of Practitioners in Advertising tel: 020 7235 7020
The Worshipful Company of Marketors tel: 01727 824446

 

Issued by:
IPA Press Office tel: 020 7201 8261