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KDPaine's PR Measurement Blog

If you've ever wondered how to measure social media, public relations, public affairs, media relations, internal communications or blogs you're in the right spot. In this space I'll be regularly ranting and raving about news, techniques and development in the world of PR research and evaluation. When I'm not here, you can find me and my team at KDPaine & Partners in Berlin, NH, conducting research that measures public relationships, reputation, and brand image.

No longer barnacles, now I'm George SteinbrenerJuly 22

Jack O'Dwyer posted quite a rant against me the other day  that has created quite a stir in Twitterville and other places. Today, Jack took the conversation off line and emailed me the following:

"You and the measurers have fallen off a cliff and should retract this boycott.

Cision, BurrellesLuce and Vocus provide AVEs to any client who wants them.

My take is that the measurers and fans of "clear goals" are putting too much of a burden on both ads and PR. They bring customers to a product but the product must be excellent, well-priced, and competitive.

The burden is on the product. Too much blame is being placed on ad/PR people who don't create the products or price them.

It's hard enough placing stories without demanding sales and other proofs. Good products that are well priced will sell. Does a homerun hitter have to prove that his homeruns are filling the park? Does he have to provide exact numbers of additional fans attracted, prices of seats bought, what the fans are saying about him, etc., etc.?

 

The Blogging Barnacle respondsJuly 20

Veteran PR gadfly Jack O'Dwyer threw down the gauntlet this morning calling the measurement industry  "an uncreative barnacle on the hull of PR." Adding that "it needs to be put in its place."

That is the just the sort of thinking that gets PR budgets slashed and creative types who refuse to be accountable for their results fired.

O'Dwyer believes that "The job of PR and advertising is to bring the attention of target audiences to the product or service. Print and broadcast clips should be virtually the sole measurement."  While it's not surprising that someone who considers measurement a 'barnacle" he doesn't really have his facts straight. According to the latest USC Anneberg GAP study, the majority of communications professionals rank AVE's and counting clips near the bottom of their list of measurement methods. 

So Jack, I appreciate the attention and am delighted that you have entered the fray, but at least get your facts straight when attacking a researcher.

And you thought he just wrote about measurementJuly 15

Many of you have enjoyed the writing and editing of Bill Paarlberg 

during his 20+ years of editing The Measurement Standard.

Some of you have also known his work as an illustrator who has produced our Christmas Cards for the past 20 years. Now' he's got his very own show in Portsmouth this August. And even if you can't get there in person, you should definitley check out his blog which is filled with wonderful stories about how his long lost illustrations are finding their way back home.

Just Say NoJuly 14

There's a reason they say that well behaved women rarely make history. There seems to be a large body of people who think I've been naughty of late with my  previous post and my stand on The Barcelona Principles. So first let me say thank you to all who have joined this debate. So far the Anti-AVE  crowd is winning the battle, with by far the most comments, tweets and retweets expressing support or even surprise that there is even a debate on the topic. Secondly, to the rest of you, I'm sorry you're offended/appalled/or think I'm rude, but I'm trying to save my profession (and yes, maybe make some history.) 

By far the most controversial part of this debate is my suggestion on making the Barcelona Principles real  -- in other words, give them some teeth so finally practices will change.  That means rejecting award entrants that use them, and rejecting companies that provide them. While I apologize to my good friends at all the various clipping agencies and PR firms that think that this false metric is still "necessary" --i.e. they're still making money selling some form of it, or justifying their existances with it,  I will not apologize for calling for action on this topic. For more than two decades my peers ha

The most discouraging news of the week for PRJuly 8

Less than a month after a majority of PR professional oranizations and attendees to the AMEC Summit on Measurement agreed to the Barcelona Prinicples one of the attendees and a speaker at the conference announced to a "a new service which it claims will allow brands to measure their media and PR coverage online and in traditional media and work out its equivalent value in advertising dollars."

This is just more lipstick on the pig of Ad Value Equivalency.

I have two thoughts on how to kill this cancer that continues to invade the body of PR research.

1. Anyone who submits an entry to the Silver Anvil, AMEC Gold Quill or any other industry award that uses AVE, or doesn't tie results to objectives should be rejected outright. Judges, are you listening?

2. If you have signed on to the Barcelona Prinicples you should refuse to do AVEs and boycott any firm that uses AVE.

Here's the beginning of a list. Feel free to add: 

Monitoring Firms who deliver AVES: