Review: Third European Summit on Measurement
Two themes shape industry conference – Summit sets top measurement priorities
by Robert Fekl
Media monitoring agencies, analysis firms and PR experts gathered together for the third time at the European AMEC Summit on Measurement. Following on the heels of previous conferences in Berlin and Barcelona, this year’s three-day congress began on June 8th, 2011 in Lisbon, gathering together some 200 participants from 33 different nations. Using as a basis for discussion the seven principles for PR evaluation (Barcelona Principles) formulated last year, the attendees participated in eight workshops led by high-ranking experts such as PR authorities from large companies, representatives from publishing houses, researchers and PR consultants, and leading specialists in media analysis. The chief themes for this year’s conference had already crystallized by the end of the first day: the most popular panels concerned themselves with, respectively, the measurement of Return of Investment (ROI) in PR, and the question of defining global standards for the evaluation of social media.
- Keen interest at the 3rd European Summit on Measurement / Photo © David Clifford
The first day: Spotlight on Social Media
- Spontaneous stenographer in the debate over global measuring criteria for social media: Katie Delahaye Paine (CEO, KD Paine and Partners) / Photo © David Clifford
The first day of the summit concluded with a lively debate regarding universal measuring standards for social media. The questions posed by Tom Marklein (Practice Leader, Technology & Analytics, WCG and Co-chair Council of PR Firms Measurement Committee), Katie Delahaye Paine (CEO, KD Paine & Partners) and Richard Bagnall (Managing Director, Metrica) regarding the definition and measurement of engagement, influence, and sentiment led Katie Delahaye Paine to spontaneously draw up a comprehensive bulletin of points. She did not, however, use Twitter or a blog to compose her catalogue, opting rather for an old-fashioned whiteboard in the lecture room—whose contents were twittered afterward. The social media experts hailing from the USA emphasized the importance of an Influence Index to reflect the impact of conversations conducted within the social web. In their opinions, this could serve as a future rubric (Advertising Value Equivalence) for measuring social media. According to the workshop participants, this index should derive its definition chiefly from those topics that serve to alter attitudes. Already by the end of the first day, the attendees had enjoyed the opportunity to encounter a great deal of experiences from the field.
The second day: Varied examples from the field – Facebook over the telephone – Determination of an industry agenda for 2020
- Alberte González Patiño (Managing Director, Branding & Reputation, BBVA) / Photo © David Clifford
Thursday yielded a great deal of information—at times, profound—provided by high-ranking speakers. Alberte González Patiño (Managing Director, Branding & Reputation, BBVA) outlined the communicative strategy of the globally active Spanish bank BBVA from 2006 until now. Five years ago, they realized that traditional communications and marketing tools were no longer sufficient or effective. Those responsible at BBVA believe that, more than the classic exhortations of articles and commercials, customers desire to be entertained. Using a number of sponsoring activities as examples, Patiño showed his branch’s development from being a simple supporter of sponsorships to becoming a producer of content and catalyst of viral strategies in social media, offering insights into how PR success can be quantified. Claire Hutchings (Global Advisor - Monitoring, Evaluation & Learning, Oxfam) then demonstrated how Oxfam, being a non-governmental organization, addresses the problem of monitoring and evaluation by swiftly switching between campaigns. The assembly was quite interested by the strategic approach to analysis achieved by comparing the impact of public opinion with original campaign goals.
For the first time in public, Jorge Portugal (Advisor on Innovation for the President of the Portuguese Republic) presented the campaign strategy for this year’s Portuguese presidential election, a campaign that was marked by pronounced involvement with social media. In helping bring about Aníbal Cavaco Silva’s successful re-election, the team avoided traditional billboards, opting instead to increase the online campaign budget from 3 percent in 2006 to 10.5 percent this time around. It was a success: despite negative prognoses, the middle-class president managed to win the vote. Jeremy Moakes (Head of Media Relations Division, Directorate of Communication, Council of Europe) focused on the difficulties of conducting an international communication strategy while trying to find a uniform standard of evaluation that can be universally applied. As a multinational organization, his 31-person team of communicators, media monitors, photographers, online news editors and web-portal translators has to maintain an overview of 47 nationalities in 35 different languages, while playing an active role in important Europe-wide issues. A film produced by his team illustrated a facet of their daily work with reference to the theme of data security.
As the assembly eagerly awaited the postponed presentation of Kathy Dykeman (Head of Measurement & Insights, EMEA, Facebook), delayed since the morning due to issues with her arrival, Barry Leggetter (Executive Director, Amec) bore the bad news around noon that Kathy Dykeman was still in Milan and would, consequently, not be able to join us. However, thanks to technical support, the presentation took place via teleconference, followed by a round of questions. Dykeman too singled out the complications involved in developing criteria of measurement, following which she presented some findings developed together with Nielsen. The chief focus of her presentation, however, lay with her research into questions relevant to promotion, such as, for example, measuring effectiveness of advertisements. The participants were particularly surprised by the juxtaposition of results in polls conducted by gallup, Rasmussen and Facebook—in answer to the question of how satisfied respondents were with the work of US president Barack Obama, results showed practically no difference between the polls.
The early afternoon was marked by three communicators from global firms. André Manning (VP, Global Head External Communications and Acting Head Global Marketing & Communications, Royal Philips Electronics) presented the communications control system drawn up by his team last year and implemented globally by commissioned service providers. The system focuses on the preparation of a so-called Net Promoter Score (NPS), which divides reportage into either critical, neutral, or recommendable categories on the basis of a very restricted media panel. In her very engaging presentation, Cindy Corner (Manager of Reputation Research and Trends, FedEx) addressed the difficulty faced by FedEX in reconciling those branches charged with communication with the numbers-oriented agents in other branches of the business. Her conclusion: without measurable results, a company cannot implement communications goals. She demonstrated to attendees the Reputation Scorecard developed to handle this problem, which assigns various attributes to certain groups of stakeholders. Looking toward 2020, her priority is, besides developing an evaluative standard for social media, to create a mixed marketing model for brand equity. Meenu Handa (Director Corporate Communication, Microsoft India) put forward the surprising notion that every single media activity of her company is broken down and analyzed. She also confessed a degree of insecurity when it comes to measuring criteria for social media. Listening to and monitoring social media presents no problem—rather, the problem is that, as of now, there is no uniform approach to measuring social media.
- From left to right: Meenu Handa (Director Corporate Communication, Microsoft India), André Manning (VP, Global Head External Communications and Acting Head Global Marketing & Communications, Royal Philips Electronics,) Cindy Corner (Manager of Reputation Research and Trends, FedEx) / Photo © David Clifford
Late in the afternoon, the almost 200 delegates from 33 different lands were again asked for their opinions. After last year’s vote for a global standard for communications measuring, the so-called “Barcelona Declaration of Research Principles,” the question is now: what themes will dominate the industry over the course of the next year? Or, formulated more pointedly: how should the Measurement Agenda 2020 look? After pursuing some of the calls for the top issue designation laid out in the run-up to the conference, there now lay a choice of 10 issues, or ‘priorities,’ supplemented by two additional priorities drawn up on site. After a presentation of the issues, the summit attendees picked out those most important:
1. How to measure the return on investment (ROI) of public relations (89%)
2. Create and adopt global standards for social media measurement (83%)
3. Measurement of PR campaigns and programmes needs to become an intrinsic part of the PR toolkit (73%)
4. Institute a client education program such that clients insist on measurement of outputs, outcomes and business results from PR programs (61%)
As stated by David B. Rockland (Partner/CEO Ketchum Pleon Change and Global Research), the results of the poll are not chiselled in stone. Next, the results of the agenda vote will go to the delegates, who will give their thoughts and commentary until the end of July. Only in the middle of August, 2011, then, can the final Measurement Agenda 2020 for the media evaluation industry be expected.
The AMEC brought together five global organizations to debate the industry’s 2020 agenda: The Global Alliance, IPR Measurement Commission, AMEC, PRSA und ICCO.
- From left to right: David B. Rockland (Partner/CEO Ketchum Pleon Change and Global Research), Tim Marklein (Practice Leader, Technology & Analytics, WCG and Co-chair Council of PR Firms Measurement Committee), Mike Daniels (Chairman AMEC), Prof. Donald K. Wright (President IPRA), Richard Houghton (President, ICCO; Managing Director London & Partner), Ben Levine (represented PRSA, Senior Project Manager Ketchum Global Research Network) / Photo © David Clifford
Wrapped up nicely: Social media discussions and ROI finish the picture
- The future: social media or classic media? From left to right: Marcus Gault (Managing Director, Insight und Social Media, Precise), Peter Granat (President & COO, Cision North America), Johna Burke (Senior Vice President, BurrellesLuce), Ingrid Moorkens (Director Products and Innovation, Ausschnitt Medienbeobachtung), Giselle Bodie (COO Europe, Kantar Media) und Giles Palmer (CEO Brandwatch) / Photo © David Clifford
The third day was once again dominated by the chief themes of this year’s summit. The group moderated by David B. Rockland included Tom Watson (Professor of Public Relations, Bournemouth University, UK), Liney Arnorsdottir (Associate, Ketchum), Cindy Conner (Manager of Reputation Research and Trends, FedEx), Natasha Fogel (Executive Vice President, Global Research & Measurement, StrategyOne), and Tim Marklein (Practice Leader, Technology & Analytics, WCG) and addressed the issue of definitions and processes of change in the measurement of Return of Investment (ROI) in PR work.
The other panel sought to address the question of whether classic or digital media would have more influence and dominance in the future. For the panel’s moderator, Giselle Bodie (COO Europe, Kantar Media), as well as the experts on the podium, it quickly became clear that the question needed to be reformulated. The question is not the dominance of classic media over social media or vice versa, but rather a focus on the specific canals to disseminate information and the preferred ways of consumption that develop thereby.
Interview with Barry Leggetter
- Barry Leggetter (Executive Director, AMEC and Summit Direktor) / Photo © David Clifford
After three days, Barry Leggetter (Executive Director AMEC) offered a positive summary of the third European summit in Lisbon. More information about the summit follows in the interview I conducted with him.
About AMEC
AMEC, the International Association for Measurement and Evaluation of Communication has grown to become a global trade body for agencies and practitioners who provide media evaluation and communication research. AMEC’s purpose is to define and develop the industry on an international scale with better professional standards for both companies and individuals.
About the Institute for Public Relations
The Institute for Public Relations is a global, independent non-profit foundation headquartered at the University of Florida. It bridges the academic and professional communities supporting public relations research and mainstreaming this knowledge into practice.
