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The
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April 30th, 2003 Measurement Maven of the Month
Ward
White, Having just completed a Webinar with Ward, I can tell you that this man is the ultimate accountable PR pro. As head of communications for the nation’s largest provider of individual life insurance, he has a million better things to do than to help me spread the measurement gospel. But there he was, taking several hours out of his busy day to tell some 300 faceless attendees how and why Northwestern Mutual measures its reputation. White's measurement excellence owes a lot to his CEO, who from day one outlined specific priorities for the organization. It was up to White to figure out how to translate those corporate goals into measurable communications objectives. Northwestern Mutual has topped Fortune’s "America's Most Admired Companies" list in its category ever since the list was started in 1983. For some, that might be enough measurement. But White realized that was but a small piece of the measurement pie. Taking the perspective that PR is all about relationships and that you need to measure those relationships, White has set up relationship measurement programs with employees, agents, investors and the media. He conducts ongoing studies in every area. See our article on measuring relationships in this issue. Okay, in the interest of full disclosure, let me confess up front that I sit on the Board of Directors of the IPR, of which Ward is the Co-Chair. Be that as it may, the fact that he hasn't just read the IPR’s paper on Guidelines for Measuring Relationships, but has actually implemented those guidelines and can talk comfortably about the Hon/Grunig model, is impressive and earns him the illustrious award of Measurement Maven of the Month. Measurement
Menace of the Month Joseph
Sun, CEO, e21 is a Silicon Valley-based marketing communications company that has recently published an article on its Web site called “Measuring PR Effectiveness.” At best, it is typical agency blather about why they’re accountable for results and therefore readers should hire them. But at worst, the section under Advertising Value Equivalency is downright misleading and dangerous. It purports to provide “a very clean ROI number.” To whom? The accountants at Enron? There is absolutely no link between return on investment and Advertising Value Equivalency. What Ad Value Equivalency tells you is how many inches of ink you placed in a month and what it might cost you to buy that ink. Period. e21 includes
no definition of return on investment—and apparently they are
confused—so I will refresh their memory:
There is not presently, nor has their ever been, a scientifically proven study that ties ad value to profit, or even sales. There are studies that show that the visibility in the media of your messages or your brand or good news about your company has a direct correlation to loyalty, preference and, in some cases, sales. But the idea that a given ad value leads to a quantifiable return of any sort has the credibility of the Iraqi Information Minister. —KDP |
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