The Monthly Measurement Maven and Menace

The Measurement Maven:

The Integrators

There's a saying you'll hear a lot around here:"You're never wrong, you're just early" – and it is never more true than when it comes to integrated communications. And in particular, integrated communications measurement. Since neither employees nor customers live in hermetically sealed bubbles, we've been pushing the integration of external and internal communications for decades. For the past year or so, we've been talking more and more about the need to integrate internal and external communications measurement for the same reasons. And now, we're seeing more and more communications teams doing the same thing.

Alicia Klosowski (last month's maven) at American Express Business Travel, for one, plus the communications teams at Washington Mutual, Aetna, Kamehameha School and 3M are all in the process of figuring out how to integrate their internal and external measurement systems. The good news is that it's not that difficult. Like all measurement systems it just takes discipline and a good system for capturing data. We can't wait to write up their case histories. -KDP

The Measurement Menace:

The Justifiers

Too many communications professionals are still looking at measurement as a way to justify their existence. They are quick to show off the good articles and equally adept at burying the bad news. They produce glowing reports on a regular basis that ignore the most basic research principles and are carefully edited to rationalize away any negatives.

PR agencies are the worst offenders. In the past two decades of monitoring measurement, we've seen them fudge numbers, stack the deck in the clients' favor, and intentionally manipulate data to promote their own agendas. And with bogus multipliers and AVEs to sandbag results, the behavior of their clients is not any better.

What they are really and truly guilty of is missing the point! Research and measurement isn't supposed to be about earning a gold star. It's about doing your job better, making better decisions, using data and logic rather than gut to decide which programs live and die. The good news is that in today's business climate, the justifiers won't get away with it for long. Whether the scrutiny and skepticism comes their bosses, from the auditors, or from the new guy they just hired, it will inevitably come. -KDP

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