| Articles
in this column do not require a subscription.
Can This Reputation
Be Saved?
The Medical Research Industry
A
review
was released recently showing that a third of major medical research
studies of a drug or treatment published since 1990 have been subsequently
found to have incorrect or exaggerated results. It really makes you wonder:
If we can't trust medical research, then what research can we
trust? One major solution would be greater transparency about who is funding
research. This
article points out the insidious relationship between drug manufacturers,
researchers and the media. The reputation problem that the medical industry,
and pharmaceutical manufacturers in particular, have is that public skepticism
grows with every Vioxx crisis and every Sepracor scenario.
Proceedings of the 8th Annual International Public Relations Conference,
3/10-13, 2005 are now available.
Just click here to download this 591 page .pdf file that includes all
77 papers. Yep, it's really big.
With A Bullet:
Last Month's Top Five Most Popular Articles:
(If these articles were subscriber-only in last month's issue, you will
still need a subscription to read them.)
#1:
How
To Pick a Media Measurement Company That Fits Your Budget, Part 2
#2: Brainshark:
PRtrak's Secret Marketing Tool
#3:
Can
You Estimate Opportunities To See For Wire Stories?
#4:
How Effective Measurement Brought Home the Gold Quill
#5:
"So,
Do You Take Out Your Own Gall Bladder Too?"
Local News:
Up here in northern New England it's not all high tech PR measurement:
Weekly
Reader Fires Editor Over Sex Charge
Man
Arrested in Women's Outhouse tank
Local
Under-Skirt Photography Activity
Trivia:
Average calories burned daily by sled dogs running in Alaska's annual
Iditarod race: 10,000.
You're
just as likely to die by falling out of bed as you are to get struck by
lightning; each is a 1 in 2,000,000 chance.
Napoleon
had a Bureau of Public Opinion, its function to create political trends
according to the dictator's will.
Chinese
is the oldest living language, dating back more than 4,000 years. 800
million people speak Chinese, more than any other language, and more than
double the number speaking English.
sources:
corsinet.com
and trivia-library.com
|
|
The
articles below require a subscription.
Now save with this limited-time offer:
Receive
a free video of the 2004 Measurement Summit with every new
annual subscription!
FEATURE ARTICLE
 The
Seven Early Warning Signs
of Bad Measurement
Beware
these common measurement pitfalls.
Not
all measurement is good measurement. We've all seen bad research, even
by those who ought to know better (just take a look at Can
This Reputation Be Saved in this issue). But the smart accountable
communicator knows how to catch common measurement flaws early in the
process, before they're fatal to one's results -- or future employment.
Like, for instance, cases in which what is being measured is irrelevant
to those at the top, or when enough thought hasn't gone into the design
of the measurement program. So here we offer seven critical warning signs
to help you avoid a measurement system gone bad...
(Want to read more?
A single
issue subscription is only $19.95!)
MEASUREMENT TOOLS
 Hello?
Hello? Is This Thing On?
Four easy ways to measure
the effectiveness of speaker programs.
We've
had a number of inquiries lately on how to measure the effectiveness of
speaker programs. I myself give at least a speech a month, and so this
is a topic quite near and dear to my heart. There's nothing like standing
barefoot at a security checkpoint to make you question the value of traveling
for hours in order to speak for 20 minutes, costarring with a lovely meal
of cardboard chicken and cheesecake. In order to prove my worth to myself
(and my clients), we've developed several metrics that can help provide
an answer... (Want to read more?
A single
issue subscription is only $19.95!)
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
 The
Stages of Measurement Wisdom
What's your progress on the path
to measurement enlightenment?
All
types of communicators
travel the road to measurement wisdom, from dewey-eyed newbies to scholar
gurus. Whether we're running errands for our boss or we're running to
teach a research class, we're all making some kind of progress on the
path to greater measurement knowledge. The Measurement Maven and the Measurement
Menace (see below) are just two extremes on a spectrum of experience and
responsibility. Where do you stand in our "Seven Stages of Measurement
Mavitude?" (Want to read
more? A
single issue subscription is only $19.95!)
ASK THE EXPERTS
Who Handles The Measurement?
What department within an organization
is best equipped to manage the measurement function?
If
you were a new CEO coming into a company, who would you put in charge
of PR measurement? Strategic Planning? Research? Corporate Communications?
PR? The Agency? Marketing? We asked the experts...
(Want to read
more? A
single issue subscription is only $19.95!)
BOOK REVIEW
 A
Short History of Modern Delusions
How
some of the most popular myths of our times have grown from obscure concept
to absolute truth.
Francis
Wheen's book, "How Mumbo-Jumbo Conquered the World," could just
as easily have been called, "Never Underestimate The Power Of PR."
While it's not really about PR, the scenarios it describes are the ultimate
PR case studies. Wheen gives a wonderful account of how some of the most
popular myths of our times have grown from obscure concept to absolute
truth in a few short years. Wheen's investigations scrutinize everyone
from Margaret Thatcher to Jerry Falwell. He delves deep into history to
find the patterns that created the willingness to believe these myths
and shows us just how gullible we humans really are...
(Want to read more? A
single issue subscription is only $19.95!)
JIM MACNAMARA'S MEASURING UP
 The
Future of Measurement
Eliminated?
Automated? Educated?
A
few issues back, our publisher and measurement guru, Katie Paine, along
with a number of leading experts, speculated
on the future of PR measurement. And they haven't been alone; almost
every discussion of measurement (of which there are many) has some theory
on when, why and how this important function will finally come of age.
The gist of arguments about the future of measurement seems to be that
it will fall into one of several scenarios...
(Want to read more? A
single issue subscription is only $19.95!)
THE MEASUREMENT MAVEN AND MENACE
The
Maven:
The
Center for Media and Democracy
If
we all paid attention to what these folks are recommending, the tattered
reputation of public relations might actually be cured. On a daily basis
they point up the conflicts of interest, lies and other flaws in societal
institutions ranging from the pharmaceutical industry to the White House.
Any news junkie worth his or her salt should be reading www.prwatch.com
regularly...
(Want to read more? A
single issue subscription is only $19.95!)
The
Menaces:
PR
Firms That Neglect to Check
the Research Behind their Campaigns
A
lot of PR programs promote new products or services based on STARTLING
NEW research findings about those products or services. Unfortunately,
many PR firms and people are more excited about doing the promotion than
about making sure they really have something solid to promote in the first
place. Doing
good research is difficult, and even those that are supposed to be the
best at it often make mistakes (see "Can
This Reputation Be Saved" in this month's issue). But that is
all the more reason for PR people to double- and triple-check their research
and make sure that they are not basing an entire campaign on a flawed
study... (Want
to read more? A
single issue subscription is only $19.95!)
MEASUREMENT INDUSTRY NEWS
Benchmarks
Including a brief review of PR
Newswire's new MediaSense.
Also,
CyberAlert
launches CyberAlert 2/1,
Medialink Announces Mediavision Searchable Video and Audio Service, and
LexisNexis is perhaps in the measurement business...
(Want to read more? A
single issue subscription is only $19.95!)
"CARTOONS DRAWN ON THE BACK OF BUSINESS CARDS"
by hugh macleod
gapingvoid.com
|
|
Articles
in this column do not require a subscription.
The Paine of Measurement
 Memo
to Congress: Stay Out of My Bedroom, Stay Out of My Business
The New Hampshire state
motto is "Live Free or Die" and we've always been a bit more
independent up here. Not that we're all libertarians mind you, we just
don't think the government should play that big a role in our lives. So
it was particularly annoying to read that Fox lobbyists and Republican
legislators are pushing a bill that would begin to regulate media research.
The bill would require Nielsen ratings to check with an industry group
before it made any changes in its technology or methodology. What are
the long term implications? Will there come a day when Congress investigates
our methodology because Lockheed or Exxon doesn't like the research report
that we provide?...
Measurement Quote
of the Month:
"Facts are meaningless. You could use facts to prove anything that's
even remotely true!"
--Homer J. Simpson
 The
Institute for Public Relations Forums presents the 3rd Annual
Summit on Measurement, a meeting of the best and brightest minds
in public relations measurement, evaluation and research Sept
28-30, 2005 at the University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH.
Click
here for a brochure and registration form.
New!
A State-of-the Art
PR Dashboard
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.
The Measurement Mall
Just
can't get enough measurement? The
Measurement Mall
is the place to shop for all the books, Buyers' Guides, Complete Handbooks
and reference material you can use right now to improve your
effectiveness.
|
