Ask Dr. Paine
Your measurement questions answered.
Email yours to Katharine Delahaye Paine.

This month:
“Does PR Count
If It's Not Exactly What They Wanted?”

Question:

From: C. P.
Sent: Friday, June 14, 2002 2:02 PM
To: 'kdpaine@kdpaine.com'
Subject: Publicity Assessment

Hello - I am a member of the marketing team at _____, a business advisory firm in ______. We have a client that is a PR firm and is trying to provide discussion or proof of "viable" publicity/PR. Their client has very specific goals they would like to reach with their PR efforts and feel that some of the publicity they are receiving is not helping because it mentions a competitor in a better light or because press photos do not represent their products adequately. Our client is trying to demonstrate that although this press is not ideal, it is still of some value to the company. I have researched trade and business publications and have also discussed this with the Council of PR Firms but have been unable to find any useful information and was wondering if you might have any suggestions. Any information would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you for your time.

Answer:

From: Katharine D. Paine [mailto:kdpaine@kdpaine.com]
Sent: Friday, June 14, 2002 3:31 PM
To: C.P.
Subject: RE: Publicity Assessment

You need to define what "adequately" is in terms of press coverage. Do you mean "with sufficient visibility to get noticed?" There is some evidence that photos do increase the degree to which a brand or company is remembered and obviously if an article mentions your brand in a neutral or balanced way (which is the case in about 75% of all press coverage anyway) it still counts as exposure. I might recommend having their press coverage read by a representative panel of their target audience to see if the articles are in fact as "negative" as they seem to be. I define negative as leaving a reader (from their target audience) LESS likey to do business with a company, positive is MORE likely to do business with a company, and neutral is essentially just that -- balanced, leaving a reader not swayed either way.

Depending on what the ultimate goal is, you can then track coverage over time and compare it to whatever goals you are trying to achieve, e.g., look at attitude changes over time vs. positive coverage vs. negative coverage. Or look at the number or volume of customer transactions over time compared to positive or negative coverage.

Reading between the lines of your question, I sense maybe some conflict between the client and agency, and perhaps even some unrealistic expectations for the PR program. If this client has such very specific communication goals, maybe advertising is a vehicle more suited to their needs. If they really can't stand to see themselves mentioned alongside the competition, then they should go ahead and buy the advertising and the control that comes with it. The point here is that it is up to the agency to pick the right tool for the job: Even the most accurate measurement is not going to rescue an ill-conceived program. Good luck, KDP.