The Advertising Research Foundation honors Merrill & Escalent for industry-leading research in advertising.

Escalent is honored to share that in partnership with Merrill, our research project, Seeing the Unseen: The role gender plays in wealth management, has been awarded a Gold David Ogilvy Award for Brand Purpose from The Advertising Research Foundation.

The award recognizes Merrill for their work to focus on a higher reason to exist than just making a profit. To support their brand purpose of making their firm a place where women feel seen, welcomed and celebrated, Merrill partnered with Escalent on a groundbreaking study to understand the role gender bias plays in investing relationships. A thorough and multi-layered body of research conducted by Escalent identified unconscious behaviors to help Merrill be more inclusive by mitigating systemic bias internally as well as in the broader financial services industry.

“We are incredibly proud of what this team has accomplished in their mission to create a better financial future for women,” said Melissa Sauter, CEO of Escalent. “Working hand-in-hand with Merrill to uncover what unconscious gender bias still exists in wealth management will help drive meaningful change across the industry. We’re honored to accept this recognition with Merrill as they actively transform insights into action.”