In this brand new feature, PR NEWS takes a look at the partnerships that can make PR more efficient and effective. We examine what you can expect when working with agencies and
other partners on a variety of initiatives, with information on everything from price to service to results.
Looking for a method of measuring your media hits that falls somewhere between incomprehensible academic research and ineffective ad hoc approaches? In this week's installment
of Partner to Partner, AtomicPR explains how its MediaContext approach "is designed to support the actual, active practice of PR."
The Partner: Atomic Tech Public Relations, 1379 Harrison Street, San Francisco, CA 94103-4334, 415/703-9454, http://www.atomicpr.com
The Contact: Andy Getsey, Co-Founder and CEO
The Price: $3,500 starting price for standalone MediaContext evaluation; scales up depending on number of competitors and product lines evaluated. MediaContext also comes as
part of Atomic's regular client retainers.
The Skinny: Getsey and his team developed MediaContext as a framework for measuring what PR has accomplished with the media and using that information to plan for future
campaigns.
The Atomic team analyzes news coverage for you and your main competitors over what one Atomic account supervisor calls "a useful timeframe - like six months." The account team
itself does the analysis - there's no research department or automated scoring system. Team members break down announcements and releases (from your company and your competition)
by type and number, analyze them with regard to strategy and potential importance and look at the resulting media hits in terms of number, importance of outlets, journalists, type
and quality of coverage. Even seemingly minor details like executive quotes in coverage, changes in Web site text or boilerplate changes are taken into consideration - all within
about a week's timeframe.
That analysis is then presented with accompanying charts and indices, as well as recommendations for future coverage. "It brings us up to speed on any new client," says Liz
Hass, account supervisor, "and it helps a lot to set realistic goals."
For Jennifer Jennings, director of corporate communications with CyberSource Corp., a provider of electronic payment and fraud detection software, those strategic planning
benefits were key. Jennings and her team discovered their strategy for the payment line of business was off-base: "From one [MediaContext] analysis to the next, we completely
shifted our strategy for the payment line, and we were able to demonstrate progress from that new PR strategy."
"The analysis keeps an eye on what competitors in the category want to say, and it puts in context what various clusters of media in the category want to see," Getsey says.
And while it's not designed to provide the type of measurement that sells other departments on the value of PR, MediaContext often accomplishes that job as well, Jennings says:
"A lot of execs in different areas of the company don't understand PR. When Atomic presents the MediaContext results, I try to get everyone in the room - the VP of sales, the VP
of engineering - so that everyone is on the same page."
Editor's Note: To pitch an idea for Partner to Partner, email Peggy Stuntz at [email protected].