March 28, 2003

Measurement Moves and Shakeouts

Of Pandas and Pie Charts

Measurement Moves and Shakeouts reports on accounts, people and news in the communications research industry. Send press releases and news to editor@themeasurementstandard.com.

Measurement Accounts

• Of Pandas and Pie Charts
  The WWF (the panda people, not the wrestlers) has teamed up with Echo Research, who will provide a monthly evaluation of WWF’s media coverage on a pro bono basis. WWF’s Anita Neville, Head of Advocacy, conducted a review of suppliers at the end of 2002 and selected Echo last week. WWF will also buy quarterly, more detailed evaluation from Echo, and potentially other research services as well.
• HP and MBP
  HP’s agency review won our kudos for forcing all pitching agencies to include measurement in their proposals. (We were worried, however, about potential conflicts of interest; it’s not smart to have the fox guarding the henhouse.) While HP brought most of their program in house, for at least one of its divisions the measurement program has been awarded to Millward Brown Precis.
• Dell Picks An Unknown
  A relatively unknown agency, KWHR out of Brighton, England, recently won the massive Dell Computer measurement program, beating out Delahaye, Carma International and Biz360. Since they don’t market themselves and lack even a basic Web site, it’s hard to know exactly what KWHR has to offer. According to sources, KWHR was started by a group of high-tech writers that use their own expertise to produce reports on the high-tech industry. They have been operating in Europe for a year or two.
• Other Account Wins...
  Cymfony was selected by Cognos, while former Cognos PR chief Roberta Carlton (our Measurement Maven for this month, see this article), now at PTC, chose Biz360.

Measurement People

• Bill Adams Remembered
  It was with great sadness that we learned that William C. Adams, APR, Fellow PRSA, died Friday, March 14, 2003, at his home in Plantation, Florida. Bill was a professor of public relations at Florida International University. During more than 25 years in corporate public relations he was active in many professional organizations, including the Page Society, PRSA and AEJMC. He had been author of the “Ask the Professor” column in the PRSA publication Tactics since it began.
• Delahaye Hires David Cappuccio
  Delahaye, the communications research division of Medialink Worldwide Incorporated (Nasdaq: MDLK), announced today that former Gartner Group executive David Cappuccio has been hired as Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer.

Measurement News

• Measuring Trust
  At the recent IPR Measurement Commission meeting, held last week in Miami, the IPR voted to recommend to the PR Coalition that standard guidelines for measuring trust be adopted, but no single trust measurement methodology was endorsed. The Commission considered several methodologies and concluded that some were preferable for measuring trust among external audiences, while others might be better for measuring internal trust. The Commission felt that given the wide range of industries and applications, it would be impossible to select a single perfect methodology that would apply to all situations.

This issue is on us!
In celebration of our first birthday, all articles in this issue are free of charge! Here is what is new this month:

Army Intelligence:
Army Public Affairs Gets It Right this Time

Four Tips on Measurement When Your News Is Just Not Getting Out

Five Crisis Management Firms

Seven Experts on Accounting for Extraordinary External Events in Your Ongoing Measurement Programs

Bach to Basics: The Symphony Searches for a New Audience

Report from the Miami IIPRRC conference

Moves and Shakeouts

Can Charlotte Beers’ Reputation be Saved?

...And Found Lacking

The Monthly Measurement Menace and Maven

The PR Weather Report

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