New Market Realities Demand Change In Media Measurement

Part Two of a Two-Part Series on Media Measurement

Measuring a media campaign is no easy task, especially given the ongoing debate over what constitutes valid measurement. Can media coverage really be accurately tied to sales
and stock price - or even more subjective qualities like corporate reputation? And with the glut of media reporting and analysis services on the market, is it easier, cheaper or
more effective to outsource measurement of your impact with the media? What can third-party providers offer that you can't achieve in-house?

In this second installment of his exclusive look at the ever-changing media analytics arena, Marc Solomon, principal with attentionSpin, attempts to answer a few of these
questions with a side-by-side comparison of products and services from some of the most popular media analytics providers. These companies are making new strides in the level of
analysis they are able to provide, and their services go far beyond simple clip-counting.

Regardless of the level of automated analysis a third-party provider can offer, however, human intervention remains a must: Your own understanding of the media you target, your
campaign messages and your bottom line goals are the key to a rich understanding of the data any media analytics tool is able to provide, and to the successful use of that data in
directing future media relations initiatives.

Marc Solomon is a principal with attentionSpin, a training and consulting group that gives analysts a perspective for reporting and analyzing the properties of media
attraction. For more information, see http://www.attentionspin.com or call Solomon at 617/945-0644.

Editor's Note: The following comparison is not an exhaustive listing of media analysis providers. Look for more information on other vendors in upcoming issues of PR NEWS.

Core Offerings

	CARMA	BIZ360	InsightFarm	Vocus
Fee Structure	Fees usually range anywhere from $1,500 to $15,000 per month. Core business represents 90 percent of revenues.	Starts at $40,000 annually.	Would not disclose.	Vocus provides customized implementation, training and support services for Vocus Public Relations starting at $8,500 for one concurrent license supporting up to three users.
Available Services	Services include detailed qualitative analysis, Executive Summaries, client briefings and regular strategic consulting services. The CARMA imMEDIAte Web site offers analysis of how media placements relate to indicators of corporate reputation, such as stock performance. Basic charges are $200/month to subscribe to one region of the site and $400 for a global subscription.	Customers can pull customizable reports on: mindshare in various pubs or sectors; ad-equivalency; reach/impressions; issue life-cycle; prominence over time (how much of an article is about you and your competitors); mindshare over time; mentions over time (raw numbers versus the percentages in mindshare reports). BIZ360 also offers a series of reports on journalists and people in the news.	Message System Analysis, Reputation Yardstick, Constituency Watch, Direct Impact and PR in the Mix are among services offered on a monthly or quarterly retainer. PR Impacts are custom studies that measure the impact of sponsorships, events, and other public-relations initiatives. Consulting is available on a per diem basis.	Vocus Public Relations includes measurement and analytics with media relations management, news management, PR collateral management, editorial calendars and project management. Users can assess probable response to a new release based on past treatment. The service also includes analysis of media and how they have treated your organization, as well as graphical displays of number of clips for the period/number of clips in relation to releases issued Vocus also offers eNewsRoom for building effective online press centers, and Vocus Media Monitoring.

Operations

	CARMA	BIZ360	InsightFarm	Vocus
Ownership	CARMA International, Inc. is a privately held corporation.	Biz360 Corp. is privately held with equity stakes by Foundation Capital, Granite Ventures and Adobe Ventures.	InsightFarm is privately held by Burrelle's and VMS.	Vocus is privately held.
Employees	150 Worldwide (full- and part-time)	30	50	107+
URL	http://www.carma.com (main corporate site); http://www.carmaimmediate.com (subscription-based Web site)	http://www.biz360.com	http://www.insightfarm.com	http://www.vocus.com
Years in Business	18	2	10	10

Sales & Marketing

	CARMA	BIZ360	InsightFarm	Vocus
Offices	Headquarters are in Washington, DC. 1023 15th Street, N.W., Seventh Floor Washington, D.C. 20005 Other offices include Toronto, Santiago, New Delhi, London, Tokyo and Sydney.	San Mateo, CA. 115 East 5th Avenue San Mateo, California 94401	Livingston, NJ. 75 East Northfield Road Livingston, NJ 07039	Headquarters in Lanham, MD. 4296 Forbes Boulevard Lanham, MD 20706. Sales office in Seattle.
Key Contact	Albert Barr, 202/842-1818.	Keith Goldberg, 650/373-3310.	Carol Holden, 877/839-9770.	Lori Kotz, 301/459-2590.
Key Channel Alliances	Lexis Nexis Group.	Northernlight, WorkinPR.	Burrelle's, VMS, VoiceTrak.	PR Newswire.
Key Customers	Ford, Nokia, Philips Electronics, Morgan Stanley, Citicorp, IBM, Sprint, General Motors, Boeing.	3Com, Epiphany, Hyperion, Visa and Wilson, Sonsini, Goodrich and Rosati (WSGR).	Would not disclose.	Edelman, Best Buy, Lowe's Home Improvement Warehouse, Hill and Knowlton. Close to 20 percent of Fortune 500 are Vocus clients.
Top Segments	Computers, telecommunications, pharmaceuticals.	High-tech, financial services, professional services.	Investor relations, government affairs, issues and brand management.	PR firms, major corporations, trade and professional associations, government agencies.
Expertise	Only international firm doing global media analysis. Experience in public relations and research.	Management team has an extensive background in analytics, marketing and public relations.	Management team is grounded in public relations, advertising and marketing.	Management team has extensive experience in both technology and PR. CEO Rick Rudman received High Tech Council's Entrepreneur of the Year award.