Public Relations Needs Independent Measurement To Evaluate Its Work.

In this interview with the Independent Newspaper, lead consultant of P+ Measurement Services, Philip Odiakose speaks on the relevance of media monitoring and measurement in evaluation of public relations among other issues:

Tell us about what P+ measurement service is all about?

We provide insights for brands as well as data to enable them to make quick management decisions and see what is working and what is not working in the PR program.

How would you evaluate the business of PR vis-a-vis Nigerian economy?

The Public relations industry is an industry that has been there for long globally. But I would say that here in Nigeria the industry is still evolving. For Nigeria, we still have a long way to go in the area of PR because the industry currently lacks standard. As an industry, when you don’t follow the standard, there is a possibility that you may be revolving around a circle. Take for example, many PR agencies today still hold on to Advertising Value Equivalent (AVE) as a means of measuring their works.

Meanwhile, in developed climes, AVE is long dead. Here in Nigeria, the PR industry refuse to let go of the archaic standard because they believe that is the only way PR can be measured. However, I believe it is important for practitioners to know that PR is not advertising. The core business of PR includes media relations, media reputation, brand building, crisis management and so on. But in our case, most agencies believe that they must provide figures to justify their earning even when the specialty of the work in question does not demand so. Now still talking about AVE, there are many downsides to it.

Having avail myself of AVE in the past, I have realized that it is meant to shortchange the profession. If you take a look at the method itself, you will see that it can be manipulated, time-consuming, inconsistent and does not speak directly to PR.So, if we are concerned about the industry, it is important for practitioners to create its own metrics and leave AVE which would be more suited to advertising.

Now, as someone who is quite familiar with measurement, what would you then suggest for the industry to adopt that will prevent them from relying on AVE?

I think the industry has much to do in fashioning out a standard metric. But however, what is key in arriving at that revolves around the objective of the campaign being pushed for the brand. Take for instance, a brand that wants to drive awareness; the key metrics to look out for include sentiment analysis, independent competitive analysis, placement analysis, message penetration and publication analysis.

So, in that case, whatever report that is provided is then analysed based on those metrics. So in a nutshell, I would suggest that the industry take a general look at the brand first to understand what identity metric fits in.

Over time, one thing that has been found lacking in the PR industry is the absence of research institute. Realising the importance that research plays in contemporary PR practice, don’t you think it is high time that NIPR and PRCAN get their acts together to have a body or institute tasked with such responsibilities?.

Thank you for asking this question. In recent time, we have had agencies lamenting on shrinking budget, I would like to say that absence of research remains a contributing factor to this decline. Nigerian agencies must invest heavily on research to earn respect from their clients. Agencies cannot continue to agonise over shrinking budget when they fail to do what is right. We need to invest heavily in research if we must earn the deserved respect from our clients or else, the budget will continue to shrink.

What is the difference between media monitoring and media measurement?

For you to measure, you must monitor. But I would like to point out that media monitoring is not a PR agency business. This is because it is not the responsibility of the agency to mark their homework. You cannot be the judge, the accused and the jury. The reason for this is not far-fetched. If an agency is allowed to measure it works, it gives room for manipulation. But I am glad that some agencies are beginning to realize that fact.

As we speak, some of them have been engaging the service of independent measurement agency. And this is earning them more respect and pay. With an independent assessor, it guarantees more pay and more value for the agency. In reality, there is little difference between media monitoring and media measurement. While Pr measurement gives the brand the entire view of their performance, media monitoring tells more about what happened to the clients on a daily basis. Overall, it gives a brand what is working and what is not.

It is often said that to achieve trust, organizations must shift their focus from measuring reputation to measuring relationship, to what extent has building relationship helped in enhancing trust for brands?

I think those keywords are very vital and helpful to one another. There is no way you want to build a reputation without establishing good relations. The same thing goes for building relations, you must have good reputations. It is like a catch-22 situation. Both are interwoven. You cannot separate the two.