Measuring PR success

The good folks at PublicAffairsAsia recently asked me some questions on PR measurement (which has always been a pet topic of mine).  Here's the resulting article. My full responses follow...

How has evaluating PA (public affairs) activity changed in the last five years?

There has been a significant shift in measurement over the past five years, but it is inconsistent across companies. While some are using sophisticated tools like Biz 360 to measure output, many still rely on out dated (and discredited) techniques such as ad value equivalency. In North Asia, many still rely on character counting and the volume of clippings as opposed to more sophisticated action and message or tone oriented metrics. On the positive side, companies are increasingly not just measuring their own output, but also assessing competitors’ performance.

Is there more demand for quantifying PA work and what are the drivers behind it?

Yes. The global recession has forced companies to look very closely at their marketing spends. This means the need to demonstrate return on investment has become significant. Critically, the ability to make a connection between marketing activity and business or organizational change is vital.

The impact of the credit crunch on evaluation.

As above, there is more and more pressure for better evaluation. Ironically, this is coupled with a smaller spend. So evaluation techniques using free web tools are becoming popular. Companies are increasingly compromising holistic measurement, and looking at representative measurement of campaign success.

The role of evaluation in Asia....

Becoming more important as more sophisticated marketers come into management roles. The large global measurement companies are improving their double byte character support and this is making global best practice measurement possible in Asia. This is leading to better analysis and forcing communicators and agencies to demonstrate a better connection between their programs and the business as a whole.

The future trends behind evaluation processes....

The future is more, real-time assessment. Online dashboards will replace monthly clippings books, allowing for campaign decisions to be made in real-time (as opposed to waiting for a monthly or quarterly review). With better data and analysis will come better, more quantifiable results.