The concept of measurement took root in PR circles during the
last recession in the early 1990s, when tight budgets dictated that
corporations pay closer attention to their returns on investment.
More than a decade later, the economy is again in a tailspin. But
now you have to toss into the deck the stink of corporate scandals
and the result is that measurement has morphed to a significant
degree into, well, accountability.
"In the olden days, [PR people] used to be able to say, 'I know
what's happening out there because I see clips coming in'," says
Katie Paine, chair of the IPR Commission on Measurement and
president of K. D. Paine & Partners. "Imagine how credible your
CFO would be if they walked into the Board of Directors and said,
'I know we're making money because I see checks coming in.' They
would not have any credibility and neither does the PR person who
says, 'I know what's happening because I see clips.' The truth is
that everybody is demanding numbers and actionable data, and if you
don't have it your job is in jeopardy."
Paine shared the latest measurement strategies during PR NEWS'
April 8 Webinar, "PR Accountability: Measurement Strategies That
Work." She was joined by Ward White, VP of communications for
Northwest Mutual Life Insurance Co.
"Measurement is the dictionary and it is the way to communicate
your results and your success to top management," says Paine. "You
want your work to be meaningful and to do that you need to
measure."
White, who started on the agency side of the business before
moving to corporate, notes that "measurement takes things out of
anecdotal evidence and turns it into data and hard evidence...and
data drives decisions."
It may not happen overnight, but gradually PR pros are going to
have to demonstrate some sort of ROI for every actionable project.
Let's start with measuring trust, an area requiring unparalleled
attention of late:
According to Paine, there are seven steps to trust
measurement:
- Identify relationships
- Define how those relationships benefit your business
- Prioritize the relationships
- Determine measurable objective and criteria
- Determine the benchmark
- Select a measurement tool
- Analyze, take action, measure again
One problem with measurement is that corporations and nonprofits
tend to isolate the issue rather than infusing it throughout the
organization. White says that measurement flows best from the
bottom up so, "we're working as communicators as coaches to the
business units and business unit heads to develop their own
measures that then support" the overall corporate goals.
Paine reiterated that corporate communications executives
continue to underestimate the power of the Web. "The reality is
that in many industries -- high-tech, travel, automotive and
consumer electronics -- the Web is far more influential than
newspapers, radio or TV," she says. PR pros have to "think about
doing things differently in terms of how you title information on
the Web and the words you use to describe your products and
services are the same words that people use when they search for
information on Google."
A good portion of the webinar centered on educating the C-suite
to the benefits of measurement. Clips are one thing, but PR pros
would have better luck with their bosses if they tied measurement
to market share and/or customer research, for example.
"When you talk to a corporate executive about either measuring
relationships or the types of measurement that I recommend, it's
like 'Light dawns over Marblehead,'" Paine says, referring to New
England lexicon expressing the proverbial light bulb over the head.
"You have to translate [measurement] into percentages, numbers or
graphs, which the CEO identifies with. If you talk about PR in
lofty terms, their eyes will glaze over."
It's advisable to treat measurement like a compass - not a
yardstick. "Most measurement tells you how big or small something
is when it should tell the company where it's going," Paine says. A
more holistic approach to measurement entails showing "you got the
message across because these executives did so many interviews,"
she says. "The more you tie measurement to outcomes the more the
CEO will relate to it."
As the debate rages about measurement, an increasing number of
companies are embracing the idea, but admit that the PR profession
as a whole has a lot of catching up to do. "I don't think we as an
industry have found the Holy Grail [for measurement] but we are all
racing to measure the effectiveness of messaging," says Linda
Rutherford, director of PR for Southwest Airlines. "PR adds a
dimension to the brand that, if it can be measured, helps companies
to understand outcomes."
Southwest Airlines has initiated several metrics in the last
couple of years to get some fundamental measurements on the
airliner's media messages. In 2001 the company created a benchmark
analysis to get more mentions of the company name in story
headlines as well as the story leads. This year the company
integrated Vocus technology to analyze whether mentions of
Southwest Airlines in the media caused consumers to purchase
tickets from the airline. The technology also helps the company to
home in on how the message was perceived in stories. Was the
mention reactive or proactive? What was the tone? Positive?
Negative? Neutral? "This gives us metrics showing the volume of
stories and how they shape up against our goals."
As measurement evolves it will most likely eliminate some of the
voodoo that is sometimes associated with PR. But that will take
some heavy lifting and a change in mindset. "I don't believe PR is
an art," says Kathleen Buczko, APR, and a partner with NMC
Partners. "There are artistic elements. But we, as an industry are
putting ourselves behind the eight ball because we refuse to
qualify and define what we do everyday."
NMC Partners relied heavily on focus groups of kids ages 8-14,
on both coasts, before its client, Pivit, rolled out a new version
of the Balance Board, a kind of skateboard sans any wheels. NMC
tied the focus group to the design and description of the product.
"If we ask our customers what they want it's our job as
communicators to meet their expectation and measurement tools play
a vital role in doing that," Buczko says.
Why Measure Trust Now?
- 23% believe that CEOs can be trusted
- 73% say you can't be too careful with them"
- 79% believe that improper actions are very or somewhat
widespread - 69% have observed violations of law or company standards at
least sometime in the last 12 months
Source: KD Paine & Associates
Most frequently used and recommend measures:
- Competitive media analysis that shows share of quotes, (i.e. of
all the times someone is quoted and how often). - Company A's CEO or spokesperson get quoted vs. Company's
B's. - Share of visibility: of all the headlines, photos, captions and
mentions in first graph, how much goes to Company A vs. Company
B. - Share of mind: of all the times IDC, Gartner etc. talk about an
IT company, how often do they mention Company A vs Company B and
does the ensuing article communicate key messages. - Share of positioning -- in discussion of the issues most
important to buyers, i.e. good value for the money -- how often is
Company A positioned as having good value for the money vs Company
B. - Share of recommendations: of all the times a product in the
category is recommended, how often is it Company A vs Company
B - Share of brand or product benefits -- of all the times a
product benefit is mentioned, how often is it brand A vs brand
B.
Source: Katie Paine
Contacts: Katie Paine, [email protected], 603.431.6967;
Ward White, [email protected];
Linda Rutherford, Southwest Airlines, 214. 792.4645; Kathleen
Buckzo, NMC Partners, 562.712.4700.