[Editor’s Note:In many cases,COVID-19 has shifted priorities. To give readers a feel for how communicators are thinking, we’ve conducted a series of four interviews with PR pros.
The first is with John Gillolly, Hill+Knowlton Strategies’ (US) newly installed SVP for data and analytics. Gillooly heads the firm’s data and analytics work across all sectors. He was most recently MD, global analytics at Athena Global Advisors. We asked about his priorities and what might carry over from the pandemic. His edited responses are below.]
PRNEWS: What are your priorities in this position? Have they changed with the coronavirus pandemic?
SVP, Data + Analytics
H+K (US)
John Gillooly: My priority is to merge existing research experts, who are well-versed in H+K’s capabilities, with new capabilities in machine learning-enabled capture and to synthesize insights across a multitude of data sources.
Overall, my priorities haven’t shifted [since coronavirus], but the distribution of focus has changed a bit. H+K is committed to the health and happiness of its staff, and that is something I am very mindful of in this climate.
In general, analytics folks tend to be very happy disappearing into code and pouring through information. As such, they, myself included, might forget the human aspect of our business.
It would be easy for us to be heads down and churn on things that could lead to burn-out. As a team, we need to remember to come up for air, shut off, laugh with co-workers and stay engaged.
I have prioritized to the team that our day is not just writing and QA-ing code, but that it is about maintaining contact with one another in a host of virtual settings.
PRNEWS: What are you counseling brand communicators to be doing at this moment, measurement-wise?
Gillooly: I don’t think my counsel has radically changed. [It has always been] to ask, ‘What is our null hypothesis?’ Or, to use a less academic term, ‘What is our default action at the moment, and what information will change that?’
There is so much information circulating rapidly every day. Having that core anchor is important.
PRNEWS: Do you see anything different that’s being done now in measurement and analytics that likely will carry over after coronavirus levels off, or once this crisis passes?
Gillooly: Information ingest and fact-checking/verification efforts are going to stick around. The proliferation of fake news is nothing new, but this moment has really amplified the amount of information circulating. How do we verify information? How do we summarize it in a way that isn’t crippling?
In addition, how do we identify key topics and themes the public is latching onto, to further identify gaps in understanding or the availability of trusted information?
With so many polls and surveys coming out every day, are there unanswered questions that remain? Where are audiences turning for answers? Our behavioral science team has been doing a lot of research on many of these questions as well.
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