To return to the current issue's contents page, click here.

To return to the contents page of the issue that this article appeared in, click here.

Comments Please!
Send us your thoughts on this article and we will post them in our Comments section.

Ten Measurement Visions, Predictions and Prophecies for 2007

by Katie Delahaye Paine

Okay, I know you're all sick of every blogger and professional communicator going on about predictions for 2007, but, hey, it's the season (and I've been doing these columns every year since 1991), so here goes...

1. We will focus on being there when people are looking for what we have to offer.
One day in therapy a couple of decades ago, I realized that, rather than trying to please everyone, I could just be who I was and see who was pleased. Originally I thought of the concept as a dating strategy, but I now realize that it's really the ultimate 21st Century marketing concept. With the death of scream marketing and the rise of search, we have learned that we need to be there -- visible and available -- when people are looking for what we have to offer. Whether you're promoting a car, a computer, a candidate or a tourist attraction, you need to get in front of people when they're trying to decide what to buy or where to go. But more importantly, in this new era of transparency you can't pretend to be something you're not. One lie, one false statement, and sooner or later you will be outed by the blogosphere. So being real, being authentic, being "who you are" becomes the ultimate in USPs.

2. PR people will figure out that transparency is all that matters.
This is a corollary to the first prediction. As Time magazine so accurately pointed out, the inmates are now in charge of the asylum. The consumers are now the media, and PR is only wasting its time thinking it can spin its way out of a crisis, or into the hearts and minds of the consumers. If you're spinning, lying or covering up, it won't be for long. Spin is dead, long live the Person of the Year.

3. Creativity will flourish.
A year from now, advances in technology will make today's hottest YouTube videos and Second Life avatars seem as antiquated as Barney and Wilma. Combined with the various new media options that will invariably crop up, creativity will flourish. Look out old fogies: the new generation is about to eat your lunch.

4. We will finally give up on measuring the media.
Eyeballs are just moving too fast. Consumers are increasingly getting their information on the move and at some point we'll realize that measuring eyeballs is a waste of time. We'll be forced, finally, to measure awareness, perception, preference and outcomes.

Okay, so maybe that's a bit too much to happen in one year. But I bet we see a lot more emphasis on web analytics and a lot less focus on "How many eyeballs did we reach?"

5. PR practitioners will become business managers, not just media managers.
Thanks to increased pressure from marketing managers, and the new wave of marketing mix modeling and emphasis on marketing ROI, PR people will be forced to think in terms of their impact on the business, not just on the media or the message. They'll have to think (and measure) competitively. And if they're smart, they'll read Alan Kelly's book The Elements of Influence (see the book review in this issue) and learn how.

6. Who you are matters, where you are does not.
Two decades ago, my friend and colleague Josh Meyrowitz, Professor of Communications at UNH, wrote a fascinating book called No Sense of Place. It describes the impact of television on society, how it takes away local sensibilities and makes us see things nationally, and now internationally.

I argue that the Internet has stripped us of our last vestiges of place. It no longer matters where you are. As long as you have an Internet connection, you can blog, you can call, you can conference. Virtual teams are the norm in most organizations. Whether you're calling for technical help or ordering a hamburger, you may well be dialing into a call center thousands of miles away.

People are realizing that they no longer have to remain in traffic-clogged urban and suburban centers. Increasingly, we're finding that the best and the brightest are taking their brains and moving to the boonies -- Northern New Hampshire, downeast North Carolina, the Rockies, wherever the mood suits them. What is important is who you are, what your own personal brand represents, how easy is it to find you on the Web, and what the Web says about you.

7. Being Employer of Choice will be the key to success.
My father, who successfully managed writers as diverse as Archibald McLeish, David Bell and John Kenneth Galbraith, would always tell me, "the key to success is to hire talent and keep talent." And never has that been more true than today. As the economy grows and the job market tightens, the best and the brightest will go to those organizations that are making a difference and managing in a 21st Century style.

8. We will become obsessed by carbon footprints and "going green."
As inconvenient as it may be for some organizations, consumers will increasingly base their buying decisions on the impact that that decision will have on the health of the planet.

As a result, more and more corporate messages will revolve around "going green" and reducing carbon footprints. By the end of 2007 we may be sick of hearing about global warming, but at least we'll be doing something about it.

9. Video will be the new black and white.
Soon we will be watching more video on our laptops than on our televisions. The new media-intensive PCs, combined with cheaper storage and faster Internet connections, means that YouTube and Internet video will replace Tivo. Netflix will offer movies by download rather than snailmail.

What does this mean for PR folks? It means that you'll need to include video as part of your digital press kits. It means that keeping an eye on YouTube will be just as important as monitoring The New York Times. It means that if everything can be videoed and broadcast to the world, you will need to watch your visuals more closely than ever.

For a great example, watch this great little tutorial movie from The Ronin Marketeer on how RSS feeds are making banner ads obsolete.

10. Barak Obama and John McCain will win the New Hampshire primary.
Okay, so I couldn't resist getting in a presidential prognostication. But if McCain loses, it will be because he traded in his plain-talking realspeak for prepackaged spin. In 2000, McCain heralded in an era where the electorate clearly voiced its preference for plain-talking truth-sayers. Sadly, some of those they elected were not nearly as truthful as advertised, but the pubic won't be fooled again.

My advice to those of you managing thought leader campaigns and trying to position your CEO or candidate as some sort of a guru: Stop listening to polls, let him/her be who they are, and let the electorate decide if they're pleased.

(And Obama? What can you say about someone who confesses up front that he inhaled? I love this man.)

You know you need to measure your results, but chances are there’s never been enough money in your budget for evaluation. Until now.
KDPaine & Partners’ new Do-It-Yourself Dashboard system combines a Web-based application with professional consulting to enable PR professionals to customize their own PR dashboards. Look here for more information.

1. You’ll learn how to use hard numbers to prove the results of your PR efforts. (Plus, it's free.)

2. You’ll learn which are the right vendors for your measurement projects. (Yes, it's free.)

3. You’ll learn how to design your program right from the start to be easily measureable. (Plus, yes, it's free.)

Click here to
get your free
subscription now!

51c Durham Point Road, Durham, NH 03824
603-868-1550 fax: 603-868-3346 www.measuresofsuccess.com