Month: September 2004

Name the buzz book…

Mark Hughes, CEO of Buzz Marketing is eating his own dog food so to speak.

To create some interest (or should that be buzz?) ahead of the launch of his new buzz marketing book, he’s targeting bloggers to get people to vote for their favorite book title.

This post just goes to prove that your author is a sucker for honest pitches even if I’m not a great fan to the buzz word, which has appeared four times in this post…

The confusing world of PR Measurement

Measurement continues to be the single area in Public Relations where there is little or no consensus. The sheer variety of metrics used to measure PR performance from hours spent, to advertising equivalency, audience surveys and web hits provides a lot of confusion on how to best measure Public Relations. 
 
The problem is accentuated by the fact that most PR measurement discussions center on media relations when many programs go far beyond pure media relations.
 
As part of the Measurement Summit to be held on the campus of the University of New Hampshire later this month, a global online survey on PR measurement is being undertaken.  The survey is being conducted by:
  • Donald K. Wright – Professor of Communication, University of South Alabama and President of the International Public Relations Association (IPRA)
  • Richard Gaunt MIPR ï¿½ CEO Benchpoint Ltd, London, England
  • Katie Delahaye Paine � CEO KDPaine and Partners, Durham NH, USA
I’d encourage anyone working in PR to take a few minutes to complete the survey.
 
Footnote:
  • Thanks to Stuart Bruce for the link.
  • In the most recent PR Opinions Survey 70% of respondents said they used a non-standard combination of measurement tools to gauge the success and/or failure or a program.

PR Misc September 14, 2004

I am nowhere near through my backlog but here are some interesting tidbits I’ve spotted in the meantime:

 Steve Rubel points to Brian Foy’s tribulations with a PR person when he tried to get a review copy of their client’s software. It seems to me that this is a case of internal pressure on the PR person to “get” an interview or demo before giving him the software. The sooner our profession realizes that if we don’t object with clients when we know something is wrong then ultimately it’s our reputation that suffers… luckily the pro in question has had their identity hidden.

 Hans Kullin posts a story on astroturfing* and how many practitioners feel it is OK. I’m not sure it fits in with the new bright open model of communications however…

*Astroturfing is where groups/organizations with vested interests form “independent” bodies, associations and groups that try and promote various positions and/or influence public opinions.

 Jeremy Pepper has an interesting post on a recent editorial from Jack O’Dwyer over at O’Dwyer’s PR on PR’s move to marketing communications:

“PR firms must do more than just say, “We do marketing communications, too.” They should identify themselves as marcom agencies right off the bat, eliminating ambiguity. They can’t sit around while ad agencies move into their territory.”

 Mike Manuel links to the Red Herring interview with Joyce Park, the blogger fired by Friendster for her blogging..

 Trevor Cook points to a new survey of Australlian communications professionals.

 Neville Hobson points to a piece from Blogger on promoting your weblog.

Back and kicking…

Well I’ve made it back in one piece. 

I am currently navigating the usual post-vacation swamp of e-mail, spam and reading materials. Usual postings should start again once I’ve managed to get on top of the day job….