Any which way you slice it, money spent on PR efforts is money well spent. That's the upshot of a landmark report that sheds new light on how advertising and media coverage can
influence consumer perceptions.
"This [report] is ammunition for PR executives," proclaims Bruce Jeffries-Fox, executive vice president of InsightFarm, a Burrelle's/VMS company, and author of the research
firm's new study, "Toward an Understanding of How News Coverage and Advertising Impact Consumer Perceptions, Attitudes and Behavior." This research enables PR practitioners to
document, for the first time, just how important news coverage is, Jeffries-Fox says. "Clearly, there are times when news coverage should carry the ball. A PR executive can take
[this evidence] to upper management to argue for a bigger budget. We can [finally] show our contribution over and above advertising."
This is new territory. Because advertising costs money up front, much has been done in the way of quantitative research in order to justify advertising's expense and chart its
returns. But few have applied scientific analysis with equal rigor on the PR side up until now.
Lessons Learned
As director of corporate and PR research for AT&T, Jeffries-Fox conducted research there for over a decade, wrapping up in August 2000. In an effort to understand the
interplay between news coverage and advertising, he measured consumer perception during periods when AT&T was not in the news, when AT&T was getting negative press, and
when the telecom giant was getting positive press. He then correlated that data to AT&T's advertising efforts during those same periods to gauge relative impact of the firm's
diverse outreach efforts. In his report, Jeffries-Fox describes his findings.
Lesson No.1: Media coverage normally strengthens the success of advertising.
According to the data, the two disciplines reinforce each other in a normal
news environment, meaning when there are no extremes. "If you are not getting
a whole lot of negative coverage and you are not getting a whole lot of positive
coverage, [then PR] reinforces advertising," explains Jeffries-Fox.
Lesson No. 2: When press is bad, pull the plug on paid ads. "If you
are in an extremely negative news situation, getting a lot of negative coverage,
we found that advertising does not work as usual. It does not help you at all
and, in fact, can hurt you," he says.
Lesson No. 3 (the biggie for PR execs): Advertising will only take you so
far. "News coverage boosts you to a high level and pretty soon you bump
against the ceiling," observes Jeffries-Fox. "There is no more room to move
and so advertising does not take you any further."
Talk More, Spend Less
Simply put, during a positive news cycle, organizations may devote resources to advertising that would go a lot further if diverted to PR. "News coverage modulates the impact
of advertising and that suggests that these things need to be planned in a coordinated fashion," suggests Jeffries-Fox. "Typically, these departments don't talk to each other but
this data gives very good reasons why things need to be planned together."
PR pros who already work hand-in-glove with their peers in marketing say close communication does in fact help both sides get a bigger bang for their respective buck.
"We have regular meetings," agrees Tom Nutile, PR Vice President at Staples. "If a major marketing initiative is coming up, they will call one of our corporate PR people and
arrange a meeting." Together, the teams will work together to come up with a joint marketing/PR plan.
Such discussions sometimes result in a tug of war. While marketing may identify a key message it wants to communicate, "we will talk about PR as a vehicle," Nutile notes. "We
might say to them that we love this promotion, but if you just changed this one thing it would make it easier for us to get media attention."
The net result of these efforts is a stronger end-product for both teams. "We in PR understand what marketing is about. Because we are so in touch with them, marketing people
listen to us when we tell them something would play out badly in the press," says Nutile.
Although the InsightFarm findings suggest that media coverage can bolster trust when advertising is deemed unreliable and advertising can undermine trust if it appears during a
negative news cycle, Nutile says that Staples does not really contend with these issues as a non-controversial retailer of office supplies. "The media we generate is looked upon
as truthful and trustworthy, and our advertising is looked on the same way. Both are equally credible and effective," he asserts.
While confident that the dynamics he describes in his new report apply to the telecommunications sector, Jeffries-Fox says that his findings may not apply to every industry.
Presently, he is gathering data from a number of undisclosed firms in diverse sectors of the economy to see whether their experiences correlate to the AT&T model. "It is very
much an ongoing investigation," he says.
(Contacts: Bruce Jeffries-Fox, Insight Farm, 800/631-1160; Tom Nutile, Staples,
508/253-1833 )
Editor's Note: Tom Nutile will speak about online media relations at the
upcoming PR NEWS' seminar, Strategic Online Communications, in Boston, on June
15.
Conclusive Summary
A new study from Insight Farm examines the interplay between advertising and media coverage and reveals that:
- In times of "normal" news coverage, news and advertising work together, and incremental advertising has a positive impact on attitudes.
- In times of overtly positive coverage, advertising's impact lessens.
- In times of negative news coverage, advertising does not have a positive impact and may even have a negative effect.
- Overall, news coverage was found to have a substantial impact on consumers, on par with advertising.
To establish the right mix of PR and advertising, remember that:
1) Media relations and advertising execs need to talk. Increase or decrease
the pace of advertising in relation to the current extent and quality of unpaid
news coverage.
2) Media matters. Since news coverage can "substantially impact" the
efficacy of paid advertising, according to the report's author, "expert management
of media relations is of critical importance to protect and leverage this investment."
Source: "Toward an Understanding of How News Coverage and Advertising Impact Consumer Perceptions, Attitudes and Behavior," published by the Institute for Public Relations. (http://www.instituteforpr.com)