The Paine of Measurement

Why Is There So Much Bad Research?
Why do so many agencies insist on giving their clients bad research?

For the past few months we've been looking into why people don't measure. (See this month's installment here.) But what I really want to know is why people don't measure what matters. Why do clients and agencies continue to track advertising equivalencies or other silly and meaningless metrics, when it is just as easy -- and costs not a penny more -- to do measurement right?

Sure, we'd love it if everyone could go out and commission in-depth relationship research, or set up a program to tie market share to share of discussion, but we know that not everyone has the budget. Still, even on a shoestring you can do good solid research and base your decisions on fact rather than fancy. Our Measurement Maven this month is a perfect example. As is our Rennselaer County case study, and as are a dozen other people we've profiled over the years. So why do so many agencies, to whom clients turn for trusted counsel, insist on giving their clients bad research?

And we're not just talking ad value equivalency, thought that is by far and away most egregious and rampant bad practice out there. We constantly see agencies who report their successes without ever looking at the competition, or who alter the data to make their own results look better.

To be fair, there are some great agencies doing good research, (Media Logic and GCI are standouts on this topic) but we field at least a call a week from some poor agency newbie who needs to come up with "a number that shows PR's value relative to advertising."

Where is this stuff coming from? It's not like they're learning this in school. We know that business schools and communications programs that teach PR are teaching good research practices. And, increasingly, clients are demanding better and more rigorous research methodology.

So why do agencies continue to fall back on such bad practices? I believe it's a matter of priorities. Rather than devote time and resources to good research, or to learning new techniques, they fall back on what's been done in the past. What they don't realize is that if you base decisions on poor data, you waste the very resources you think you're protecting.

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