The view from the top of business. Presented by Evan Davis, The Bottom Line cuts through confusion, statistics and spin to present a clearer view of the business world, through discussion with people running leading and emerging companies.

This week, Evan's top business guests hail from retail and advertising. They swap thoughts on consumer research. Companies spend lots of money to find out how their customers spend theirs, but do they learn anything useful?

They also debate what purpose business awards serve. Can they actually help a company be more successful?

Evan is joined in the studio by Ian Cheshire, chief executive of home improvement retail company Kingfisher. And from the world of advertising, Cilla Snowball, group chief executive and chairman of Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO, and David Jones, global chief executive of Havas Worldwide.

Producer: Ben Crighton.