By Jeffrey Sandman
A recent internal study conducted by Procter & Gamble, the world's largest consumer-products group, found a much higher return on investment from their public
relations expenditures than their advertisements. As a result, they have announced that they plan to dramatically ramp up a PR effort that currently occupies only one percent of
their total marketing budget.
This is big news that warranted a full page article in The Economist. While experienced PR professionals have believed and stated this for years, the P&G study
provides empirical support. Procter & Gamble is not alone in realizing the promise of public relations. PR spending in America is expected to grow at nearly double-digit
rates in the coming years, far higher than predicted growth rates for advertising and marketing.
The PR Difference
Unlike placing an advertisement, public relations is not a sure-thing. Without a compelling story to tell or an issue to advocate, a PR effort will generally fail irrespective
of the amount paid by the client. Further, the final product is often difficult to quantify. (While there are many new metrics on how to measure and evaluate PR results, there
is still no widespread agreement on their value.) Clients tend to fall back on the quantity of impressions as a measure of success.
If a car company wants to be featured for 30 seconds during the Super Bowl, it knows that it will spend $2.5 million for the airtime and be viewed by nearly 140 million
Americans. With public relations, results are generally more subtle. You may get a front page story in USA Today, but it may be more important to the client to have their
product reviewed favorably on CNET.com and have the message spread by word-of-mouth. Establishing credibility, whether for a product, a corporation or an issue, can translate
into far more reaching impact than can be summed up in a clippings report.
The best ways to show your clients the value of public relations is to communicate with them. Find out what their overall goals are and help devise ways to accurately measure
how your efforts impact them. A few simple ideas:
- Don't give in to the temptation of equating column-inches, air-time or other placements with "ad equivalency." Public relations exposure often offers a far greater return
for the investment than advertising and adds to credibility. Explain to your clients how much more valuable it is to have an article about them, rather than an advertisement by
them.
- Set strategic benchmarks during the planning stage of a campaign. Ideally, we would all be able to invest in evaluations prior to, during and at the conclusion of a
campaign. When budget is tight, devise secondary markers to determine if your voice is being heard and what the impact is.
- Use public relations to control the message. Establish what the client wants the public to hear/know about them, and make sure you have evidence that the coverage conveyed
the message.
- Be up-to-the-minute on the role and availability of different media. The information marketplace is more fragmented by the day, offering tremendous opportunities to target
audiences and to fill the "content void" with your message. Find innovative new means of reaching people.
Public Relations: The "New" Marketing
The ascendancy of PR is related to a number of factors. Consumers in today's market have access to more information streams than ever before, and at the same time have a
greater ability to filter out unwanted content. Television is a prime example. According to the consulting firm Accenture, 8% of US households have personal video
recorders (PVRs), such as TiVo, and as a result, 2% of television advertisements are skipped. By 2009, the firm predicts these numbers to skyrocket to 40% of households
having PVRs and 22% of all ads being skipped.
This trend, being mirrored by the growth of commercial-free satellite radio, Internet browsing pop-up advertisement blockers, and the like, puts an increased premium on
communicating outside of traditional marketing. As a shift occurs to PR, there is a realization that public relations work is valuable for another reason: Information is more
effective when the source is perceived as more impartial.
In some ways, public relations is in danger of being tripped-up by its own success. With more dollars being spent on PR, we as practitioners will face more competition for
story placement and higher expectations from clients. As practitioners, we can capitalize on this momentum by explaining the tremendous value of our work, and following through
with superior results.
Contact: Jeffrey Sandman is the CEO of Hyde Park Communications. He can be reached at 202.872.4860 ex. 290 or [email protected].