Can PR be measured?

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Can PR be measured?

• Richard Bailey

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Sixty second summary

• Managers say if you cant measure it, you cant
  manage it.
• If you cant or wont measure PR, you dont
  deserve a decent budget, a managerial role or
  salary.
• And PR will never be taken seriously as a
  business function.

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Evaluation of programmes

• Aims of the lecture
• Discuss the role of evaluation in PR programmes
• Demonstrate some practical evaluation techniques

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What is evaluation?

• A form of research that determines the relative
  effectiveness of a public relations campaign or
  program by measuring program outcomes (changes in
  the level of awareness, understanding, attitudes,
  opinions and/or behaviours of a targeted audience
  or public) against a predetermined set of
  objectives that initially established the level
  or degree of change desired.
• Stacks (2007)

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Can PR be measured?

• The problem
• Objective methods are required that deliver
  credible proof of results and return on
  investment to management, shareholders and other
  key stakeholders
• The reality PR is often poorly evaluated ? low
  acceptance
• Better no evaluation than bad evaluation

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Why is PR not evaluated properly? (Watson 1994)

• lack of time
• lack of personnel
• lack of budget
• cost of evaluation
• doubts about usefulness
• lack of knowledge
• can expose practitioners performance to
  criticism
• aversion to scientific methodology

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Problems in evaluation

• Understanding research
• Setting (measurable) objectives
• Understanding what can be achieved, realistic
  objectives
• Multi-disciplined nature of public relations
• Multi-step communication process

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Problems in evaluation

• Examples
• To attract the attention of people
• What does attention mean?
• What level of awareness currently exists?
• Within what target audience is greater awareness
  required?
• To successfully launch a product or service
• What comprises a successful launch and,
  therefore, what should be measured?
• To generate advertiser interest in The Phone
  Book
• What does interest mean? More adverts?

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AVEs and AVE nots

• Advertising Value Equivalent remains a popular
  form of media measurement
• Its quick, easy and makes PR look very good
  (we generated 16,000 this month)
• Whats wrong with AVE?

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Payment-by-results

• Sounds good for clients you only pay for what
  you get, it will motivate PR consultants
• But there are significant downsides (ethical
  implications)

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Benefits of evaluation

• Focuses effort
• Demonstrates effectiveness
• Ensures cost-efficiency
• Encourages good management
• Facilitates accountability

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Use of research and evaluation

• using research to define public relations
  problems
• using research to assess public relations plans
  and proposals
• using research during programme implementation
• using research for programme impact

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Research and evaluation

• Summative after the programme the results
• Formative and summative before and after
• Time series before, during and after

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What to measure - level of effects

• Cognitive (I hear you)
• Affective (I understand you)
• Conative (Let me follow you)

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What to measure - Common public relations
objectives

• Creating awareness (of company, product, person
  etc.)
• Informing
• Promoting understanding
• Overcoming misunderstanding, apathy
• Developing knowledge
• Displacing prejudice
• Encouraging belief
• Confirming or adjusting perceptions
• Prompting action

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Effects of communication
From Grunig Hunt (1984)
Message Knowledge Attitude Behaviour Domino
Domino Domino Domino
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What can be measured?

1. Output publications, news releases, event
   attendance etc
2. Outtake clippings, readership of publications,
   website hits
3. Outcome awareness, understanding, behaviour

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Evaluation model
Research methods Quantitative surveys Focus
groups Interviews Response analysis Media
content analysis Expert analysis Feedback Observa
tions
OUTCOME
Changebehaviour Changeattitudes
Understand messages Retain messages Messages in
the media
OUTTAKE
Message presentation Message content Media
selection
OUTPUT
Source Macnamara
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Apple iPhone launch
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PRE process
Audit Where are we now?
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5
Setting objectives Where do we want to be?
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Results How did we do?
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Strategy and plan How do we get there?
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Ongoing measurement How are we doing?
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Unified model
INPUT
Planning and preparation
OUTPUT
Messages and targets
IMPACT
Awareness and information
EFFECT
Attitude and motivation
Watson and Noble, 93
RESULT
Behaviour and action
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Media evaluation system

• Influence or tone
• Message communicated
• Prominence
• Audience reached
• Consultant/spokesman quoted
• Type of article

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Key questions

• Is the coverage positive or negative?
• Are the media reporting key messages?
• Which journalists/publications are reporting
  positively?
• What is the source of the press coverage?
• How are we doing v competitors?
• Is coverage getting better or worse?
• What are the emerging issues affecting our
  organisation?

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Dimensional model

• Quantitative measures
• Number of clippings
• Volume of coverage (column centimetres)
• Name checks
• Key messages

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Dimensional model

• Qualitative measures
• Circulation/readership/viewers
• Attribution (is whole clipping about company?)
• Beneficial / neutral / adverse
• Impact (headlines, photos, position on page)

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Dimensional model

• Focus axes
• Source (specific journalist or commentator)
• Medium (specific publication or programme)
• Media sector (national, local, trade)

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Dimensional model

• Time axes
• Historical comparison
• Competitive comparison
• Objectives comparison
• Benchmarking

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Exam topics

• Information covered in class and in your
  readings eg
• Public relations and culture
• PR planning models
• Situational analysis
• Ethics and professional practice
• Situational theory of publics
• Measurement and evaluation

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Exam practice question

• The idea of Advertising Value Equivalency (AVE)
  has been around for many years Yet the measure
  has many problems and it is important to anyone
  considering its use to consider both its
  strengths and its weaknesses. The Institute for
  Public Relations, 2003
• You have been asked to write a paper for a
  client, who is a marketing director, on the
  strengths and weaknesses of AVEs as a form of
  public relations evaluation. What recommendations
  will you give on a suitable system of media
  evaluation?

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Sources

• Tom Watson and Paul Noble (2nd ed 2007)
  Evaluating Public Relations, CIPR/Kogan Page
• Rudiger Theilmann and Gyorgy Szondi (2006) Public
  relations research and evaluation in Exploring
  Public Relations
• PR Books Research and evaluation sources