Transcript INTRODUCTION TO PUBLIC RELATIONS THEORY AND …

Can PR be measured?
Richard
Bailey
1
Sixty second summary
Managers say ‘if you can’t measure it, you can’t
manage it’.
If you can’t or won’t measure PR, you don’t
deserve a decent budget, a managerial role or
salary.
And PR will never be taken seriously as a
business function.
2
Evaluation of programmes
• Aims of the lecture
Discuss the role of evaluation in PR
programmes
Demonstrate some practical evaluation
techniques
3
What is evaluation?
A form of research that determines the relative
effectiveness of a public relations campaign or
program by measuring program outcomes
(changes in the level of awareness,
understanding, attitudes, opinions and/or
behaviours of a targeted audience or public)
against a predetermined set of objectives that
initially established the level or degree of
change desired.
Stacks (2007)
4
Can PR be measured?
• The problem:
• Objective methods are required that
deliver credible proof of results and
“return on investment” to management,
shareholders and other key stakeholders
• The reality: PR is often poorly evaluated
 low acceptance
“Better no evaluation than bad evaluation”
5
Why is PR not evaluated
properly?
(Watson 1994)
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
lack of time
lack of personnel
lack of budget
cost of evaluation
doubts about usefulness
lack of knowledge
can expose practitioner’s performance to
criticism
• aversion to scientific methodology
6
Problems in evaluation
• Understanding research
• Setting (measurable) objectives
• Understanding what can be achieved,
realistic objectives
• Multi-disciplined nature of public relations
• Multi-step communication process
7
Problems in evaluation
Examples:
• “To attract the attention of people”
• What does “attention” mean?
• What level of awareness currently exists?
• Within what target audience is greater awareness
required?
• “To successfully launch a product or service”
• What comprises a successful launch – and,
therefore, what should be measured?
• “To generate advertiser interest in The Phone
Book”
• What does interest mean? More adverts?
8
AVEs and AVE nots
• ‘Advertising Value Equivalent’ remains a
popular form of media measurement
• It’s quick, easy – and makes PR look very
good (‘we generated £16,000 this month’)
• What’s wrong with AVE?
9
Payment-by-results
• Sounds good for clients – you only pay for
what you get, it will motivate PR
consultants
• But there are significant downsides
(ethical implications)
10
Benefits of evaluation
•
•
•
•
•
Focuses effort
Demonstrates effectiveness
Ensures cost-efficiency
Encourages good management
Facilitates accountability
11
Use of research and
evaluation
• using research to define public relations
problems
• using research to assess public relations
plans and proposals
• using research during programme
implementation
• using research for programme impact
12
Research and evaluation
• Summative: after the programme – the
results
• Formative and summative: before and
after
• Time series: before, during and after
13
What to measure - level of
effects
• Cognitive (‘I hear you’)
• Affective (‘I understand you’)
• Conative (‘Let me follow you’)
14
What to measure - Common
public relations objectives
• Creating awareness (of company, product,
person etc.)
• Informing
• Promoting understanding
• Overcoming misunderstanding, apathy
• Developing knowledge
• Displacing prejudice
• Encouraging belief
• Confirming or adjusting perceptions
• Prompting action
15
Effects of communication
Message Knowledge
Domino Domino
Attitude
Domino
Behaviour
Domino
From Grunig & Hunt (1984)
16
What can be measured?
1. Output: publications, news releases,
event attendance etc
2. Outtake: clippings, readership of
publications, website hits
3. Outcome: awareness, understanding,
behaviour
17
Evaluation model
Research methods
OUTCOME
Change
behaviour
Change
attitudes
Understand messages
OUTTAKE
OUTPUT
Retain messages
Quantitative surveys
Focus groups
Interviews
Response analysis
Messages in the media
Media content analysis
Message presentation
Expert analysis
Message content
Media selection
Feedback
Observations
Source: Macnamara
18
Apple iPhone launch
19
PRE process
Audit: Where
are we now?
1
5
2
Results: How
did we do?
4
Ongoing
measurement: How
are we doing?
3
Setting
objectives:
Where do we
want to be?
Strategy and
plan: How do
we get there?
20
Unified model
INPUT
Planning and preparation
OUTPUT
Messages and targets
IMPACT
Awareness and information
EFFECT
Attitude and motivation
RESULT
Behaviour and action
Watson and Noble, 93
21
Media evaluation system
•
•
•
•
•
•
Influence or tone
Message communicated
Prominence
Audience reached
Consultant/spokesman quoted
Type of article
22
Key questions
• Is the coverage positive or negative?
• Are the media reporting key messages?
• Which journalists/publications are reporting
positively?
• What is the source of the press coverage?
• How are we doing v competitors?
• Is coverage getting better or worse?
• What are the emerging issues affecting our
organisation?
23
Dimensional model
1. Quantitative measures
A.
B.
C.
D.
Number of clippings
Volume of coverage (column centimetres)
Name checks
Key messages
24
Dimensional model
2. Qualitative measures
A. Circulation/readership/viewers
B. Attribution (is whole clipping about
company?)
C. Beneficial / neutral / adverse
D. Impact (headlines, photos, position on
page)
25
Dimensional model
3. Focus axes
A. Source (specific journalist or commentator)
B. Medium (specific publication or programme)
C. Media sector (national, local, trade)
26
Dimensional model
4. Time axes
A.
B.
C.
D.
Historical comparison
Competitive comparison
Objectives comparison
Benchmarking
27
Exam topics
Information covered in class and in your
readings eg:
 Public relations and culture
 PR planning models
 Situational analysis
 Ethics and professional practice
 Situational theory of publics
 Measurement and evaluation
28
Exam practice question
‘The idea of Advertising Value Equivalency (AVE) has
been around for many years… Yet the measure has
many problems and it is important to anyone
considering its use to consider both its strengths and its
weaknesses.’ The Institute for Public Relations, 2003
You have been asked to write a paper for a client, who
is a marketing director, on the strengths and
weaknesses of AVEs as a form of public relations
evaluation. What recommendations will you give on a
suitable system of media evaluation?
29
Sources
• Tom Watson and Paul Noble (2nd ed 2007)
Evaluating Public Relations, CIPR/Kogan Page
• Rudiger Theilmann and Gyorgy Szondi (2006)
Public relations research and evaluation in
Exploring Public Relations
• PR Books: Research and evaluation sources
30