It's official - PR is more powerful than advertising in building brand value

From my employer Text 100 and our analytics arm, Context Analytics, a new study demonstrating the value PR plays versus advertising. Full study is here. Key findings...

• Companies must closely manage what is perhaps their most valuable asset – their brand – and this study helps executives quantify the impact public relations has on their brand value
• Findings reinforce that PR and communications are important and cost-effective tools that deliver real business value – often at fractions of the cost of advertising
• The Media Prominence Study brand value based on Interbrand’s 2008 Best Global Brands report, show that on average 27 percent of brand value is tied to how often the brand name appears in the press
• In industries that involve more research before purchases are made, public relations can account for nearly half of brand value. For example, in the computing industry, media prominence accounted for 47 percent of brand value, or 16 times that of the personal care industry.
• The more complex a product is to a buyer, the more likely they are to research the product category and to look for information they can trust – from editorial content rather than advertisements.
  

Interesting (and very timely) stuff...

- Jeremy