From Cave men to Katie paine !

From Cave men to Katie paine !
- Measuring PR effectiveness

Excuse me for borrowing this phrase from David Rockland, of Ketchum – but this more or less sums up the spirit of the PR Measurement summit, which was inaugurated at the Habtoor Grand Resort today. For those who do not know, Katie Paine is a “Guru” of PR measurement based in the USA. ( Check out her blog http://kdpaine.blogs.com/ for more). The phrase of the title means how PR measurement has evolved from a very basic ( AVE Measure) to highly evolved statistical methods and also value based measuring systems.
What I will attempt to do is give a few key highlights of what each of the speakers spoke – and hopefully you, the reader will be able to glean the information that is relevant to you.


Inauguration speech – Mazen Hahawi, President, Media Watch.
PR measurement is a moral obligation in many ways and it also has operational obligations. While the global role of companies in the Arab World is growing, it is also important that their role is measured and documented using PR. The interconnectivity that social networks and Internet offer is chaning the Arab world in more ways than one.

- The Ethical foundation for PR comes in because of accountability. It is all about managing the company’s assets as PR professionals. Also, measurement offers us a transparent evaluation of PR’s performance
- PR Measurement also solves the issue of staff retention. Measurement will help PR get the attention it deserves. Measurement also produces specialization. Measurement also brings in focus to the communications process.
- Some examples to showcase how the Arab world is moving into the centre stage of world business
o Petra Seven wonders campaign - http://www.new7wonders.com/classic/en/about_us/
o Aramco buys GE plastics - http://www.portfolio.com/news-markets/top-5/2007/05/18/Sabic-In-Talks-to-Buy-GE-Plastics
o DP world purchases P&O
o ADIA invests in Citibank - http://www.ameinfo.com/139989.html

A sense of accountability will not squander the limited resources available, and also ensure success.
Why is PR Important ?
- Interactivity is gaining dominance
- 45 million Arabs are online
- Freedom of press is becoming a reality in the region
- Reputations and relationships are being built in record time
- If you are a Danish company, you do not want to be in the Arab world now !
Some trends in the region – in PR Measurement
- More people are measuring than before
o Media Watch is used by 400 % more clients
o Government usage of PR measurement has gone up

- Ad values are in retreat
- Spotlight on bloggers
- Field studies approach is going up too

What is the future of PR Measurement ?
- Will become mandatory in pitches
- Creation of a global measurement commission
- Increased use of field studies
- Death of AVE
- Increase in measurement spending
- Creating of new PR opportunities through measurement
- Shift from retainer based billing to measurement linked planning and performance