Delahaye Medialink - Proving The Bottom Line Impact of Media Relations (2001)

A Report by Kelle Campbell

Delahaye Medialink, a leader in communications research, was kind enough to allow me to feature one of their presentations on media relations measurement. If you are interested in finding out more about their communications research and measurement services, contact them at info@delahayemedialink.com. Also, read their newsletter The Gauge and enjoy informative and entertaining articles.

View the entire presentation here or read the summary below.

Measuring the value of public relations is currently one of the industry's hot topics. For example, how do you measure the return on investment for media coverage beyond the usual press clippings and column inches?

On April 19, 2001, Mark Weiner then executive vice president of Delahaye Medialink (now CEO), addressed this issue in a PRSA seminar, "Proving The Bottom Line Impact of Media Relations." According to Weiner, public relations' ROI within the marketing mix is quantifiable.

Weiner stated that measurements have progressed from volumetric (amount of media coverage) to directional  (realization of objectives/delivery of messages to target audiences). The future holds the promise of an increased use of scientific methods that determine public relations' impact on sales and customer loyalty.

One current PR measurement tool is the analysis of traditional and new media content. Practitioners look beyond volume to whether the news is positive or negative. Quality measurements are combined with reach measurements to determine the effect of media relations.

What are the quality measurements? Delahaye Medialink has a list of impact score factors for media coverage. These are the attributes that affect recall and awareness:

• Front Page/Cover - Is the story mentioned on the front?

• Prominence - Is the company name in the headline or subheading?

• Initial Mention - Is the company mentioned in the first few paragraphs?

• Dominance - How extensively is the company mentioned throughout the article?

• Visuals - Are there visual aids?

• Tone - Is the coverage positive or negative? (This factor affects the others.)

Another common PR tool is the survey, used not only to evaluate results but also to assess baseline conditions as well as strategies and objectives.

Additionally, the communication type determines what needs to be evaluated. Controlled communications (advertising, direct marketing, Web sites) directly manage message exposure, so you only need to evaluate awareness/ understanding, attitudes and behavior. With semi-controlled (publicity, event sponsorships, word of mouth) and uncontrolled communications (news coverage, news groups and competitors' messages), message exposure needs to be added to the assessment set.

In order to illustrate how media relations analysis can explain public reactions and optimize the overall marketing mix, Weiner presented case studies of media content analysis that Delahaye Medialink conducted for a telecommunications company. The subject of analysis was the effect of two news stories upon customer loyalty.

In the first case, loyalty attitudes had dipped below expected levels despite marketing efforts. The cause was a peak in unfavorable news coverage regarding the telecommunication company's pricing plan.  Conversely, an unpredicted rise in customer loyalty (despite low advertising expenditure) corresponded to a peak in positive news coverage of the company's volunteerism.

Delahaye Medialink then went on to measure the effect of advertising on consumer attitudes in the face of news stories about slamming -- the practice of switching a consumers long-distance provider without permission. The advertising worked as expected on individuals who were unaware of the coverage but had an extremely adverse effect on those who had been following the stories. Each time members of the latter group saw the ads, they were reminded of the slamming coverage.

The conclusions derived from the studies were as follows:

• Positive news stories reinforce positive public perceptions regarding the price and value of the company's offering (the subject of the story doesn't matter as much as the positive tone).

• Ads will work on light news consumers during times of heavy positive coverage.

• Advertising has less impact on heavy news consumers when positive coverage is up.

• In normal times, advertising and news coverage reinforce each other.

• In times of extremely positive and widespread news coverage, advertising doesn't help that much.

• In times of extremely negative and widespread news coverage, advertising doesn't help and may hurt.

Additionally, the telecommunications company found that advertising and news coverage were responsible for the same number of customer acquisitions, but while advertising cost $95 per acquisition, the public relations cost was calculated at $15 per acquisition, an excellent return on investment.

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