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Archive for October, 2011

Research for Public Relations: Is Transparency Good for Business?

By: Linda Locke on Monday, October 31st, 2011 at 12:02 pm

Does academic research matter to public relations practitioners? Do not be afraid. Come into the light with me, a non-PhD practitioner who finds value in academic research. In the weeks ahead, I will seek out quality academic and other research, drawing insights for communications practitioners. When activists target an organization, typically the corporate communications function is on point for a response. The challenge is to understand the gap between activist demands and corporate culture, navigating between the two to change the trajectory of the issue. All too often, however, corporate leadership reacts to the critics without seeing opportunity for value ...

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Priorities for Public Relations Research, Measurement, and Evaluation: Part 1

By: David Geddes on Thursday, October 20th, 2011 at 10:02 am

The 9th Annual North American Summit on Public Relations Measurement recently concluded. The Summit featured excellent presentations by Yahoo!, Johnson & Johnson, the U.S. Department of the Treasury, and Conagra and Blue Marble Enterprises; panel and discussion sessions on outputs and outcomes and on standards; and pre-conference workshops covering a research and measurement boot camp, social media measurement, standards, budget management, and analytics. InfoTrend was honored as the recipient of the Jack Felton Golden Ruler Award for a predictive mathematical model of media impact on corporate reputation. I took advantage of my acceptance talk for a reflection on priorities (or the ...

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The 10 Percent Rule Is a Myth: Five Smarter Ways to Determine the “Right Amount” for PR Research

By: Mark Weiner on Wednesday, October 12th, 2011 at 12:52 pm

In a reflection of our maturity, research and evaluation are now routinely required by public relations investment underwriters. As a result, the question of “should we measure?” has been supplanted by “how much should we spend to measure?” The conventional wisdom of marketing and communication has long governed that “ten percent for research” is the right number, a number which, by the way,  is several times greater than the average.  But, like so many imperatives, the ten percent rule is a myth. The fact is, the proper allocation depends entirely on your situation. Consider the following scenarios: If you are launching the next ...

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A Dialogue on ROI

By: Tom Watson on Monday, October 3rd, 2011 at 1:39 pm

By: Tom Watson, Ansgar Zerfass and James Grunig Measuring Return on Investment has been a hot topic, as public relations seeks to demonstrate its contribution to building organizational value. How can this managerial concept be applied to public relations? Professors Tom Watson, Ansgar Zerfass, and James Grunig add to the debate. ‘ROI’ IN PUBLIC RELATIONS: A DIALOGUE Since publishing research (Watson & Zerfass 2011) on practitioners’ perceptions of the Return on Investment (ROI), Ansgar Zerfass (Germany) and Tom Watson (UK) have been engaged in an email dialogue with James E. Grunig (USA) about the application of this managerial concept within public relations. With ...

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