PR Society drives shift to outcomebased success metrics
The Public Relations (PR) paradigm shift sweeping through Europe and the United States has finally arrived in the country as the Public Relations Society of the Philippines (PRSP) champions a new set of PR measurement.
Most local PR agencies use Advertisement Value Estimate (AVE) to measure the success of a PR campaign, forced by clients’ demand to quantify potential return on investment. Industry experts assert, however, that the current approach neither measures the true impact of a PR campaign nor exhibits the true value of communication professionals.
Communication experts note that as the industry shifts to impact-based communication initiatives, PR agencies should measure outcomes to gauge a campaign’s success.
“AVE is for measuring ads which is paid while PR, although unpaid, certainly draws upon relationships for its results,” said Ana Pista, PR veteran and chairwoman of PR congress.
“PR is about two-way communications expressed in responses, attitudes and conversations that are not quantified in pixels, column inches, views or impressions. Behavior, either altered or reinforced, is the true measure of a successful PR drive.” Pista added.
In fact, PR professionals have been pushing industry leaders to formulate an approach that best measures the impact of a PR campaign. Taking cue from this call, PRSP is set to mount this year’s congress as the perfect venue to open the discussion about measurement.
Following the global lead
The call to adopt an outcome-based measurement is a movement initiated by AMEC, a UK-based global trade association for companies that offer social media and traditional media measurement, evaluation and communication research. The proposed approach aims to measure the impact of a PR campaign i.e. whether or not it builds the brand or organization’s reputation, solidifies audience affinity and loyalty, and whether or not it influences the community the brand serves.
With a growing number of international organizations veering from AVE, PRSP sees the congress as the ideal platform for opening the discourse about an outcomebased measurement. “Through the congress, practitioners can discuss and bounce back ideas about this crucial topic. As for brands and organizations, more knowledge on this will hopefully show them the value of communication professionals’ contribution to their business and secure their support for a clearer way of evaluating PR initiatives,” Pista said.
Andy Saracho, APR, PRSP president, further explains that the discussion will not seek to impose the proposed change on PR agencies and organizations. PRSP has tapped leading media intelligence and monitoring groups in the world such as AMEC, Meltwater, ISentia, Talkwalker and CARMA to lead a balanced conversation at the congress. “The expertise of these groups will certainly give congress delegates balanced view points on the future of PR measurement in the country,” added Saracho.