There may be some implications and consequences to this move which I can’t see yet, but it sounds really good. The Microsoft online advertising channel, MSN, is sponsoring a major advertising research award and promoting the cause of better advertising research. We could all benefit.

Link: MediaPost: MSN, ARF Deal Writes The Book On Branded Trade Content by Joe Mandese

MSN will incorporate its brand, its message and some of its own research insights into a book compiling ten years of the ad industry’s best research. The as-yet-unnamed book, which will be published in 2005 by LEA Inc. on behalf of the Advertising Research Foundation and researcher Wirthlin Worldwide, is part of a unique, long-term deal making MSN the official sponsor of the ARF’s David Ogilvy Awards for Research Excellence