Over the course of the next five years, Cossette will support this partnership by working closely with Luc Dupont, advertising and communications expert and professor in the Communications Department at the University of Ottawa. The aim is to conduct research on past studies and campaigns to identify what makes an advertisement effective and to also evaluate the impact of new broadcast platforms now available in the communications industry.

In addition to setting up a research centre, Cossette has created a study grant, valued at $3,000, which will be awarded on an annual basis for the next five years to a qualifying Master's student recognized for his/her outstanding research on advertising (traditional, new media, or new technology). The recipient of the Cossette Communication Group Study Grant will use the funds to further research on a subject linked to the advertising industry.

“Progress in the advertising industry has developed through close collaboration between industry insiders and academics," says Pierre Delagrave, president of Cossette Media and Fjord Interactive Marketing + Technology. "The creation of the Cossette University Research Centre and the Cossette Communication Group Study Grant is the concrete result of a desire to ensure that the lessons learned will continue to be shared in the future. Through this initiative, Cossette will help the University of Ottawa foster research in the advertising industry, a domain often overlooked when it comes to graduate study - and thereby contribute to the training of future professionals.”

In phase one, research will be conducted on the effectiveness of advertising using the archives of the Tracking Efficiency Study by Impact Research. The equivalent of nearly 4,000 studies have been conducted since 1980. It will deal with innovating and expanding the criteria normally used in assessing the effectiveness of an advertisement by integrating not only the value of its advertising weight, but also the linguistic, graphic and iconic codes, something which has not been done before.

Phase two will deal with understanding the impact of new broadcasting platforms. Documented analysis, surveys, and interviews will better define the prevalence and influence of new media such as podcasting, PVRs, blogs, content-sharing sites, virtual community portals, video portals, Web TV, Internet radio, mobile phones and Blackberry devices. The results will give a more detailed outline of the choices available to advertisers today.

Dupont has published four books on advertising, which have been translated into English, Spanish and Korean. As a professor, he gives advertising and marketing lectures every year at a wide range of conferences and seminars. As well, he often works with the electronic and print media on the topics of advertising, marketing and image.