Diversity in PR: An International Perspective

DIVERSITY IN PR
An International Perspective
Priority Issues
in Public Relations
Jim Macnamara
BA, MA, FPRIA, AFAMI, CPM
1st floor, 87-97 Regent St

Chippendale, NSW, 2008
Australia
Fax: 61 2 9698 1032
Tel: 61 2 9698 1033
E-mail: info@masscom.com.au Incorporating:  CARMA International (Asia Pacific) Pty Limited  MASS Software  MASS Communication Consulting
 The pillar of our societies

Australia
Fax: 61 2 9698 1032
Tel: 61 2 9698 1033
Communication
 The pillar of our societies

Australia
Fax: 61 2 9698 1032
Tel: 61 2 9698 1033
Communication
 Easier said than done

Australia
Fax: 61 2 9698 1032
Tel: 61 2 9698 1033
PR Industry Priorities
 In 1992, measurement was not on the PR
industry’s radar
 Views were:
 “PR is intangible”
 “PR can’t be measured”
 “PR is about image”
 “PR is ‘feel good’”
 “PR is publicity”

Australia
Fax: 61 2 9698 1032
Tel: 61 2 9698 1033
PR Industry Priorities

Australia
Fax: 61 2 9698 1032
Tel: 61 2 9698 1033
PR Industry Accountability
Any publicity
is good
publicity
Trust me.
I’m a
communicato
r.

Australia
Fax: 61 2 9698 1032
Tel: 61 2 9698 1033
PR Research & Evaluation
 International Public Relations Association
(IPRA) study 1994 found:
 Only 14-18% on average do evaluation
Research Finding USA Australia South IPRA

Africa members
Evaluation recognised as 75.9% 90% 89.1% 89.8%

necessary
Frequently undertake 16% 14% 25.4% 18.6%

research aimed at evaluating

Australia
Fax: 61 2 9698 1032
Tel: 61 2 9698 1033
PR Research & Evaluation
Less than 25% use

surveys or focus
groups
Press clips & ‘gut

feel’ most used
tools for planning &
evaluation

Australia 2001 Media Relations Reality Check,
Fax: 61 2 9698 1032 Internet survey of 4,200 members of PRSA, USA
Tel: 61 2 9698 1033
Reasons for Lack of Research
WHY PR PRACTITIONERS DON'T DO RESEARCH
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Too expensive Not wanted Too time Don't know Concerned
intensive how about results
Media Relations Reality Check
Australia
Internet survey of 4,200 members of PRSA,
Fax: 61 2 9698 1032 USA, 2001
Tel: 61 2 9698 1033
Reasons for Lack of Research
58%
45%
43% 43%
27%
6%
Lack of Lack of Lack of Lack of Client/Org Other

money demand time knowledge constraint

Australia Survey by Institute of Public Relations
Fax: 61 2 9698 1032 & PR Consultants Association, UK, 2001
Tel: 61 2 9698 1033
Do clients want it?

Australia
Fax: 61 2 9698 1032
Tel: 61 2 9698 1033
Do clients want it?
 “Measure results” was equal fastest growing
criteria listed by clients as important in PR
 Up 9% in two years
 Listed as a top criteria by more than one-third of PR users
Important in PR 2000 1998 % Change
Overall quality of work 72% 73% -1%

Quality of account team 69% 65 +4%
Client service 68% 64% +4%
Meets deadlines, keeps promises 66% 68% -2%
Attention to detail 53% 51% +2%
Creativity 53% 44% +9%
Honest accurate billing 52% 48% +4%
Quality of writing 49% 46% +3%
Knowledge of my industry 46% 43% +3%
Media placement 45% 42% +2%
Chemistry 44% 38% +6%
Strategic counsel 40% 42% -2%
Measures results 35% 26% +9%
Harris/Impulse Public Relations Clients Survey
Australia of 4,200 Fortune 500 marcoms managers, USA, 2000
Fax: 61 2 9698 1032
Tel: 61 2 9698 1033
2001 US Clients Survey
PR Firm Performance in Key Areas
(All Firms Combined) 2001 2000 % Change
Accessibility of account team 86% 84% 2%
Chemistry 75% 74% 1%
Client service 72% 73% -1%
Quality of my account team 70% 73% -3%
Quality of management 68% 69% -1%
Overall quality of their work 67% 70% -3%
Full service capabilities 66% 65% 1%
Practice areas match our needs 66% 66% 0%
Meets deadlines, keeps promises 65% 66% -1%
Knowledge of my industry 64% 63% 1%
Involve senior management in my account 63% 67% -4%
Fast turnaround on deliverables 60% 62% -2%
Access to influential people 59% 53% 6%
Stability of staff 59% 54% 5%
Strategic counsel 59% 57% 2%
Thorough/attention to detail 58% 58% 0%
Honest, accurate billing 55% 58% -3%
Quality of writing 52% 49% 3%
Specialized services we need 51% 46% 5%
Creativity 51% 50% 1%
1st floor, 87-97 Regent St Media placement 45% 50% -5%
Research capabilities 44% 37% 7%
Chippendale, NSW, 2008 Fair and equitable compensation 37% 42% -5%
Australia Measures results 35% 39% -4%
Fax: 61 2 9698 1032 International capabilities 33%
Harris/Impulse Public Relations 30%
Clients Survey 3%
Internet capabilities 33% 31% 2%
of 3,452 Fortune 500 marcoms managers, USA, 2001
Tel: 61 2 9698 1033
2000 UK Marketing Survey
 Significant dissatisfaction with PR reporting
and evaluation
% SATISFIED WITH EVALUATION
(Marketing Directors, UK, Dec 2000)
Advertising 67%
Sales Promotion 68%
Direct Marketing 65%
Public Relations 28%
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Survey of Marketing Directors,

Test Research, UK, 2000
Australia
Fax: 61 2 9698 1032
Tel: 61 2 9698 1033
2002 Company CEO Views
 42% of company directors said they would
spend more on PR if they could be more
confident of its effectiveness
Consensus Research International,

telephone survey of 109 company directors incl. 50 CEO
(UK) August, 2002

Australia
Fax: 61 2 9698 1032
Tel: 61 2 9698 1033
A Few Truisms
 It is an age of accountability
 Best Practice
 Benchmarking
 KPIs & KRAs
 Balanced Score Card
 Management are bottom-line focussed &

numeric
 The ‘Language of the Dominant Coalition’ is numbers
 Demand for measurement is growing in the
wake of:
 Recession
 Enron, Worldcom, etc

 Increasing regulation
Chippendale, NSW, 2008  Consumer cynicism
Australia
Fax: 61 2 9698 1032
Tel: 61 2 9698 1033
Communication =
Message Media Receipt Understand Retain ImpACT
  ? ? ? ?
 “Taking responsibility for how your

messages are received”
 Research answers these questions …

Australia
Fax: 61 2 9698 1032
Tel: 61 2 9698 1033
Other Barriers – or Excuses?
 Too expensive?
 Too time intensive?
 Too hard?

Australia
Fax: 61 2 9698 1032
Tel: 61 2 9698 1033
Cutlip’s PII Model
Social and Cultural Change
Number who repeat behaviour
Number who behave as desired
IMPACT Number who change attitudes
Number who change opinions
Number who learn message content

Number who attend to messages and activities
Number who receive messages and activities
IMPLEMENTATION
Number of messages placed and activities implemented
Number of messages sent to media and activities designed

Quality of messages and activity presentation
PREPARATION Appropriateness of message and activity content

Adequacy of background information base for designing program
PII Model of Evaluation by Cutlip, Center & Broom, 1993

Lindenmann’s ‘Yardstick’ Model
ADVANCED
Measuring:
LEVEL 3 Behaviour change
Attitude change
Opinion change
INTERMEDIATE
Measuring:
Retention
LEVEL 2 Comprehension
Awareness
Reception
OUTPUT
Measuring:
Target audience
LEVEL 1 reach
Impressions
Media placement
Watson’s Continuing Model
Dr Tom Watson, 1999

Watson/Noble ‘Unified Model’
INPUT STAGE
1. Planning & Preparation
OUTPUT STAGE
2. Messages & Targets
3. IMPACT STAGE
Awareness & Information
4.
EFFECT STAGE
Motivation & Behaviour
Tactical feedback
Management feedback
IPR PRE Process
Audit Setting
Where are
we now? objectives
Where do we
want to be?
the PRE
Results &
evaluation
How did
process
we do? Strategy
& plan
How do we
get there?
Ongoing
measurement
Are we
getting there?
UK Institute of Public Relations (IPR) Research & Evaluation Toolkit, 2001

‘Pyramid Model’ of PR Research
‘Pyramid Model’ of PR Research
Applicable Methodologies:
Number who . change ..…..……………………………………………….. Quantitative surveys (large scale structured)

OUTCOMES behaviour …...…………………………………………….. Sales; Voting results; Adoption rates; Observation
(Functional & Number who ….. change
organisational attitudes ……….…………………………………………… Focus groups; Surveys (targeted) (eg Customer, Employee
evaluation) or Shareholder Satisfaction); Reputation studies
Number who understand messages..……………………………… Focus groups; Interviews; Complaint decline; Experiments
Number who retain messages …….………………………………… Interviews; Focus groups; Mini-surveys; Experiments
Number who consider messages ……....….. ………………………… Response mechanisms (1800, coupons); Inquiries
OUTPUTS Number & type of messages reaching target audience ……………………… Media Content Analysis; Communication Audits
(Process & program Number of messages in the media ……………..….`…………………… Media Monitoring (clippings, tapes, transcripts)
evaluation) Number who received messages ………………...……………………….. Circulations; Event attendances; Web visits & downloads
Number of messages sent …………………………………..……………….. Distribution statistics; Web pages posted
Quality of message presentation …………………………………………………. Expert analysis; Peer review; Feedback; Awards
Appropriateness of message content …………………………………….………….. Feedback; Readability tests (eg. Fog, Flesch); Pre-testing
INPUTS Appropriateness of the medium selected ………………………………………….…….. Case studies; Feedback; Interviews; Pre-testing (eg. PDFs)
(Formative
research) How does target audience prefer to receive information? …………….…………..……… Academic papers; Feedback; Interviews; Focus groups
What does target audience know, think, feel? What do they need/want? ………………… Observations; Secondary data; Advisory groups; Chat rooms
& online forums; Databases (eg. Customer complaints)
 Copyright Jim R. Macnamara 1992 & 2001

‘Top 10’ PR Research Tools
(A) Behaviour changed
(B) Attitude changed
‘TOP 10’ RESEARCH
(C) Awareness increased METHODOLOGIES:
 Surveys
(A)
OUTCOMES (B)
 Interviews (self administered)
 Feedback forms/mini surveys (eg.
(C)
at events, in publications)
 Media Content Analysis (incl. DIY

EXAMPLES:
software programs)
OUTPUTS - Newsletter printed
 Web analysis of visits & info
- Publicity gained
- Event held downloads
- Web site posted  Response mechanisms (1800
numbers; competitions, etc)
EXAMPLES:
 Pre-testing (eg focus gps, PDFs)
- Story list & copy for newsletter
INPUTS - Information for news release  Case studies
- Speaker list & program for event  Consultative or advisory groups
- Design & contents for Web site  Secondary data (existing research)
No cost Low cost  Copyright Jim R. Macnamara

Vas
t qu
ava of res antitie
ilab e s
le o arch
- of n
ten the W
FRE eb
E

Australia
Fax: 61 2 9698 1032
Tel: 61 2 9698 1033
Australia
Fax: 61 2 9698 1032
Tel: 61 2 9698 1033
Australia
Fax: 61 2 9698 1032
Tel: 61 2 9698 1033
Case Studies
 Award winning
campaigns
 Often documented in
detail as examples of
Best Practice
 Can provide
important planning
info on strategies
that work
 Eg. product recall
strategies, crisis
communication, etc
Australia
Fax: 61 2 9698 1032
Tel: 61 2 9698 1033
Cas
all t e stu
ype dies
on s are of
th e f
We ree
b

Australia
Fax: 61 2 9698 1032
Tel: 61 2 9698 1033
Consultancy & Advisory Groups
 Utilise existing groups; or
 Establish groups for dialogue
 They provide a forum for identifying information needs,
media preferences, etc
 Also provide direct feedback at little or no cost

Australia
Fax: 61 2 9698 1032
Tel: 61 2 9698 1033
P
bro RE-T
etc chure ESTIN
can s G
be , news of
don l
e w etters
ith ,
PD
Fs

Australia
Fax: 61 2 9698 1032
Tel: 61 2 9698 1033
Response Mechanisms
 1800 numbers
 Coupons, fax-back forms
 Competitions for reader or viewer entry
 Quizzes

Australia
Fax: 61 2 9698 1032
Tel: 61 2 9698 1033
Con
sid
UR er spe
Ls
for cific
Web Analysis PR
to track inquiries,
info downloads, etc
Increases in
visits &
downloads
of info can
be tracked
Dates

Australia
Fax: 61 2 9698 1032
Tel: 61 2 9698 1033
Media Content Analysis

Australia
Fax: 61 2 9698 1032
Tel: 61 2 9698 1033
Media Analysis?
 Clippings are quantitative, not qualitative:
 Include neutral & negative coverage
 Include competitor & opposition coverage
 Sometimes in unimportant or irrelevant media, etc
 What impacts your target audiences are:

 Leading/dominant positive & negatives messages
 ‘Share of voice’ compared with competitors & opponents
 Total audience reached (‘Impressions’ / ‘Opportunities to
See’)
 Reaching specific targets (audiences or markets)
 Trends over time (ie. repetition and consistency)

Australia
Fax: 61 2 9698 1032
Tel: 61 2 9698 1033
US$495
US$495
Jim R. Macnamara
once
onceonly
only
UK199499-8797-01 price
price
Part of a specialist suite of PR &

Windows 95, 98, NT, 2000, XP
communication research tools …
®
Version 2.0 COMaudit
xxx

Australia
Fax: 61 2 9698 1032
Tel: 61 2 9698 1033
Interviews & Surveys
 Interviews can be low-cost DIY
 Surveys can measure:
 Awareness
 Attitudes
 Needs
• What do they want to know?
 Preferences
• How do they want to receive it?
 Changes in awareness or attitude
• Before & after for benchmarking
 Events, publications, employee
communication, etc
 Available at low cost –
Windows 95, 98, NT, 2000, XP
 10 PROforma survey questionnaires

on MASS COMaudit®)
Australia
®
Fax: 61 2 9698 1032 Version 2.0 COMaudit
Tel: 61 2 9698 1033
Even
publ FREE
surv ic domai
eys a n
vaila
ble

Australia
Fax: 61 2 9698 1032
Tel: 61 2 9698 1033
Shared & Omnibus Surveys
 Include PR questions in market, brand &
customer research
 Q. What sources of information do you rely on for
information? Rank
• Ads, editorial articles, Web, etc
 Q. What messages do you recall about the brand
• Ad imagery, facts, testimonials, experiences such as
events, etc

Australia
Fax: 61 2 9698 1032
Tel: 61 2 9698 1033
PR Research
 Is possible at low cost & even no cost
 And takes little time for basic planning and evaluation

Australia
Fax: 61 2 9698 1032
Tel: 61 2 9698 1033
The Real Barriers to Measurement
 PR has been/is process & outputs focussed;

lack of strategic commitment to outcomes
 Information dissemination
 Focus on quantitative measures – eg. clippings
 Using ‘bad science’ measures such as AVEs
 Lack of SMART objectives

 Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Timely
 Lack of knowledge of research
 Lack of a research culture in PR
 Reliance on experience & ‘gut feel’

Australia
Fax: 61 2 9698 1032
Tel: 61 2 9698 1033
To NOT do measurement …
 Is not communicating
 As there is no evidence of impact or outcomes
 Is irresponsible
 Investors’ and taxpayers’ funds are spent without
accountability
 Is possibly unethical?

Australia
Fax: 61 2 9698 1032
Tel: 61 2 9698 1033
The Key to the Future
 Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)?
 Corporate Citizenship?
 Reputation management?
 These also are
processes and outputs
 Not an end in themselves
 What is the OUTCOME
all companies &
organisations seek

Australia
?
Fax: 61 2 9698 1032
Tel: 61 2 9698 1033
Australia
Fax: 61 2 9698 1032
Tel: 61 2 9698 1033
Sustainability
 Corporate sustainability
 Organisational sustainability
 Government sustainability
 National sustainability
 Economic sustainability
 Environmental sustainability
 Human sustainability

Australia
Fax: 61 2 9698 1032
Tel: 61 2 9698 1033
Public Relations
 Builds mutual understanding with communities
 Enhances relationships
 Maintains ‘permission to operate’
 These are valuable & indispensible contributions to
businesses, organisations & governments

Australia
Fax: 61 2 9698 1032
Tel: 61 2 9698 1033
PR Measurement
RESTRUCTURE COMMUNICATION 2000-2001
100
90
80
70
60
50 2000
2001
1st floor, 87-97 Regent St 40
30
Chippendale, NSW, 2008 20
10
Australia
0
Fax: 61 2 9698 1032 Awareness of
restructure
Support
restructure
Prefer new
structure to old
Tel: 61 2 9698 1033
Conclusions – Call to Action
 International intellectual leadership by IPRA
 National PR bodies should make research &
evaluation a top priority in training
 Educators should increase focus on
research in PR & communication courses
 Practitioners need to rise to the challenge
 To be COMMUNICATORS
 Achieving demonstrable OUTCOMES

Australia
Fax: 61 2 9698 1032
Tel: 61 2 9698 1033
FREE info & paper
www.masscom.com.au

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DIVERSITY IN PR

1st floor, 87-97 Regent St

1st floor, 87-97 Regent St

1st floor, 87-97 Regent St

1st floor, 87-97 Regent St

1st floor, 87-97 Regent St

1st floor, 87-97 Regent St

1st floor, 87-97 Regent St

Research Finding USA Australia South IPRA

Evaluation recognised as 75.9% 90% 89.1% 89.8%

Frequently undertake 16% 14% 25.4% 18.6%

1st floor, 87-97 Regent St

Less than 25% use

Press clips & ‘gut

1st floor, 87-97 Regent St

WHY PR PRACTITIONERS DON'T DO RESEARCH

Lack of Lack of Lack of Lack of Client/Org Other

1st floor, 87-97 Regent St

1st floor, 87-97 Regent St

Important in PR 2000 1998 % Change

Overall quality of work 72% 73% -1%

Survey of Marketing Directors,

Consensus Research International,

1st floor, 87-97 Regent St

 Management are bottom-line focussed &

1st floor, 87-97 Regent St

Message Media Receipt Understand Retain ImpACT

 “Taking responsibility for how your

1st floor, 87-97 Regent St

1st floor, 87-97 Regent St

Number who learn message content

Number of messages sent to media and activities designed

PREPARATION Appropriateness of message and activity content

PII Model of Evaluation by Cutlip, Center & Broom, 1993

Dr Tom Watson, 1999

UK Institute of Public Relations (IPR) Research & Evaluation Toolkit, 2001

Number who . change ..…..……………………………………………….. Quantitative surveys (large scale structured)

 Copyright Jim R. Macnamara 1992 & 2001

 Media Content Analysis (incl. DIY

No cost Low cost  Copyright Jim R. Macnamara

1st floor, 87-97 Regent St

1st floor, 87-97 Regent St

1st floor, 87-97 Regent St

1st floor, 87-97 Regent St

1st floor, 87-97 Regent St

1st floor, 87-97 Regent St

1st floor, 87-97 Regent St

 What impacts your target audiences are:

1st floor, 87-97 Regent St

Part of a specialist suite of PR &

communication research tools …

1st floor, 87-97 Regent St

 10 PROforma survey questionnaires

1st floor, 87-97 Regent St

1st floor, 87-97 Regent St

1st floor, 87-97 Regent St

 PR has been/is process & outputs focussed;

 Lack of SMART objectives

1st floor, 87-97 Regent St

1st floor, 87-97 Regent St

1st floor, 87-97 Regent St

1st floor, 87-97 Regent St