When I was starting out in the public relations business, the way you showed your worth to your boss was to drop the clip report on his desk from about six inches up. The louder the thud, the better the results.
I have volumes of clip books containing thousands of pages of articles with the client’s name or photo in boldfaced type. They weigh a ton. The more times the exact same story appeared from a wire release the better. Every clip counted. The rule of thumb was to measure the size of the article in column inches, the radio and TV exposure by air time, and then calculate the value as if you had bought an ad of the same size. As those of us in the PR business all know, the value of an article is worth three times as much as the value of an ad because of the credibility of the Fourth Estate. After all, the reporter is not on your payroll, so if he or she says something good about your company it’s worth its weight in gold. And, if it’s on the front page, or is the lead story on the evening news, it’s platinum.
Today, however, this old-school grading system comes up short.
The first reason is obvious: traditional media are important, but they have become a very small part of how people get their news and information. In many cases, the web sites of newspapers and television stations get more eyeballs than their traditional counterparts. Add bloggers, podcasters, Facebookers, Twitterers and others, and you have more media outlets than a Google search can find. And, if one of them says something either good or bad about your company or your product it can be heard by thousands, if not millions of people around the world in a matter of minutes.
With all the traffic and chatter online at any given time, how should companies allocate resources to media monitoring and tracking? And, equally important, how should they measure their return on investment in media relations?
We developed the Landau Impact Report™ to answer these questions and we developed it by listening to our clients. Giant Eagle, the nationally respected regional supermarket and convenience store chain blazed the trail for us.
When Rob Borella arrived at Giant Eagle seven years ago, he had a vision to measure media coverage differently. He examined existing models from the pedigreed measurement organizations and decided that although they were more sophisticated than traditional clip reports, they still fell short of his needs. Rob didn’t want to measure a defined campaign or a hot button issue. He wanted a 360-degree view of his multi-faceted, 350 store chain, and he wanted to see it in near real time.
Working over time, Rob developed a process to report and measure print and broadcast coverage daily, quarterly and annually, tied specifically to Giant Eagle’s strategic priorities. He felt strongly that this type of detailed analysis had to be built in-house and draw from multiple monitoring and evaluation tools.
Rob’s insight formed the basis for The Landau Impact Report™ which we currently handle for Giant Eagle and for other clients designed for their individual needs.
The report takes the heavy volume of news coverage about a company and organizes it into categories that line up with its business goals. In so-doing, the heads of different divisions -- such as the meat department, the prepared foods department or GetGo fuel stations, for example -- are able to quickly analyze and compare coverage that is specific to them.
The report is distributed daily to top executives in the organization. Although it does monitor tonnage, it uses a graphic dashboard to provide a quick snapshot of the day’s or quarter’s news. Its simplicity is its strength. Colorful pie charts and graphs provide an executive summary of what’s being said. If someone wants to see a particular article, blog post, Tweet or TV story, they just click a link. And, the customizable nature of the report allows us to quickly and easily change what we evaluate based on breaking news, special promotions or client requests.
Stories that mention the company are monitored for accuracy and responded to as appropriate. Each is dealt with on a case by case basis with some being ignored and others receiving an immediate response. We monitor competitors too, gauging how Giant Eagle is being treated in comparison to them. We also look at trend stories and issues that are on people’s minds as determined by monitoring their responses to various news stories and posts.
Not every company needs a daily report in the same way a retailer does or for the same reasons. And, not every company has the resources to devote to such a customized, ongoing analysis. But if you’re not watching every day you’re missing the point. Just one hastily posted negative comment from a dissatisfied customer or recently laid-off employee can have a devastating impact on your company’s reputation. Monitoring and measuring in this kind of environment is not a luxury. It’s a necessity, and should be a priority for all companies going forward.
