The weight of measurement - which is undergoing a metamorphosis as experts prod and poke at its worth - will be based on setting parameters long before a PR campaign or program gets off the ground.
At the recent PRSA annual conference, measurement was one of the buzz words; it was referred to in handouts; resurrected in debates about where PR and marketing converge; and generally seen as one of the more cerebral (and less emotional) applications of PR in today's business environment. And for many PR executives, including Ketchum PR Senior VP and Director of Public Relations Walter Lindenmann, measurement represents more than the mantra of the moment.
At PRSA, Lindemann pointed out that PR professionals have traditionally relied on two forms of measurement research:
- Measuring PR outputs, often based on an overview of press coverage and exposure; and
- Measuring PR outcomes, a more in-depth dissection that seeks to uncover whether PR efforts actually changed attitudes, and possibly, behavior.
It's the latter that PR practitioners will be increasingly reliant upon, he says. Measuring outcomes has historically been the foundation of public affairs, a communications discipline that gained momentum in the 1960s when the U.S. was a hotbed of public-perception passions.
However, in recent years, it's gained momentum because execs realize that media analysis, a craze of the 1990s, isn't "the entire answer."
The Way It's Applied
Measurement might seem like something that's done after the fact, once the carpet's rolled up and the clips gathered. But for progressive corporations and agencies, it should be an inherent part of how business is conducted long before the finishing touches come together.
Take, for instance, Applied Communications Corp., a Burlingame, Calif.-based PR firm whose clients include seven divisions of Oracle and other technology companies specializing in network computing.
Measurement - what Applied execs have coined in their business culture as communications research (CR) - is infused in all of the work they perform for clients.
Eichberg says that clients can spend as much as $5,000-$10,000 per month to make sure that measurement is integrated into their PR efforts.
And some rely on it when they're planning a product launch by looking at composites that chart everything from consumer trends to market saturation.
Applied also relies on aggregate impact indexes - which are based on assigning values to headline, lead paragraph and article mentions - and provide a visual of press coverage in comparison to industry competitors.
"What we believe is that PR can operate as a competitive tool," says David Eichberg, manager of communications research for Applied. "[Based on measurement], we even use PR to defuse competitors' messages."
The firm relies on analysis that's connected to what it refers to as the 3 Cs:
1. Coverage - a look at how widely messages are picked up, not only by publications but in research, white papers and analysts' reports;
2. Content - a wrap-up about what's being repeated back to corporate execs and their PR reps. (Of late, there couldn't be a more appropriate example of that than the "write-once-run-everywhere" phrase that Sun Microsystems had business people touting for the debut of Java Enterprise Computing); and
3. Competitive - an analysis that includes juxtaposing company perception and impact in relationship to competitors.
The Group Mentality
Strangely, measurement seems to be based on a kind of pack mentality - in other words, having more than PR pros as advocates: you need to make CEOs and business-unit heads knowledgeable about measurement-based PR.
Execs at Weyerhaeuser Co., a forest product company with annual sales exceeding $11 billion, view measurement as "very important because of the emphasis it places on conveying shareholder value," says Ken Miller, planning director of corporate affairs for the Tacoma, Wash., company.
For Weyerhaeuser, measurement is entrenched in how the business is run. The company's done everything from convening task forces to agree on strategic messages to creating matrix charts to be a pioneer in this rink.
"Ever since we were founded 100 years ago, our relationships with our publics has been tied to our business endeavors," Miller says. "We know that PR has bottomline implications and we use measurement to continually improve our performance. We're not beyond having to prove ourselves but we've also learned that we have a responsibility to demonstrate our value."
Miller says for Weyerhaeuser's in-house, 40-person communications team, measurement has been what's helped them close the gap between their business units and the company's public affairs practices.
From early 1996 to late summer of this year, seven senior managers, including the CEO - under the direction of eight public affairs executives and with occasional input from a 60-person guidance team of business leaders - met to reach a consensus.
They sought to find a common framework on what kinds of messages they want to convey to employees, communities, customers, shareholders, analysts, policy makers and the press.
That process has resulted in the company establishing five key initiatives, from devising incentive programs that reward exceptional environmental behavior to becoming involved in international trade issues.(Ketchum, 212/448-4213; Applied Communications,650/375-8881; Weyerhaeuser, 253/924-6764)
Standards for Measuring PR Outcomes
Awareness and Comprehension Measurements: This is based on determining whether target audience groups received messages; paid attention to them; and understood them. Keep in mind that qualitative research (focus groups, one-on-one interviews) usually relies on non-random samples and is "rarely projectable" to larger audiences; while quantitative research (telephone, fax and e-mail polls) is usually projectable to larger audiences;
Recall and Retention Measurements: When conducting these, it's crucial that those heading the project differentiate between messages disseminated via PR techniques and those disseminated via paid advertising or marketing/promotional efforts.
Attitude and Preference Measurements: Attitude research gauges not only what people say about something but also what they know and think (their predispositions); what they feel; and how they're apt to act.
Behavior Measurements: Measuring this - the pinnacle of testing PR effectiveness - calls for a broad range of data collection, tools and methodologies: before-and-after surveys, observation, participation, role playing, research and studies.
Source: Guidelines And Standards for Measuring and Evaluating PR Effectiveness, The Institute for Public Relations Research & Education; 352/392-0280