PR industry wants to prove its value with new tool

Simple, consistent and ROI-driven, a new standard for measuring editorial coverage in Canada is promising to shake up, and steady, the public relations industry.

The Canadian Public Relations Society has developed a Media Relations Rating Points (MRP) system that has been endorsed by the International Association of Business Communicators.

The new system is designed to be a cost-effective and easy-to-use tool for the qualitative evaluations of any media relations campaign. It can measure any type of coverage, from print to online to broadcast, covering planned campaigns or unexpected media attention. Metrics can evaluate media coverage, track total reach and cost per contact, and assess editorial tone and article content.

“We can benchmark, have apple-to-apple comparisons, talk in a language comparable to the advertising industry,” says Tracey Bochner, senior vice-president at Apex Public Relations and member of the CPRS measurement committee. “It puts us in a much better position of strength in terms of providing an accurate description of the value we provide when it comes to media relations.”

Key to the success of the MRP system is establishing five criteria to be considered for success–brand mention, key message inclusion, prominence, photo, spokesperson quote and positioning–for a total score. “There’s no question that editorial media coverage has been a significant challenge to the public relations industry, because there are several different methods–some good, some not so good, some current, some extremely out of date,” she says. “This has meant, as an industry, we’re not reporting consistently.”

A 2005 poll by the CPRS found 96% of respondents saw a need for a standard PR measurement and 99% would use a standardized MRP system.

Several marketers have been testing the new system for over a year, including the Bank of Montreal, Cara Operations, Coca-Cola, Jamieson Laboratories and Visa Canada, and the response has been very positive.

“It’s given (marketers)a really clear, concise tool to say, ‘I spent this much on a PR campaign and this is exactly what it got me,’ ” says Rachel Douglas, manager for communications at Cara and a member of the CPRS measurement committee.

“As with some of the metrics, like cost per contact, it legitimizes your PR budget. Marketers can finally understand the value of PR, instead of looking at it from an ad value standpoint, which isn’t accurate.”

To provide consistent measurement, the system is linked to a subscriber-based database that provides up-to-date reach figures for all Canadian media, thanks to media measurement company News Canada and suppliers BBM, Combase/Crop/Stathebdo, NadBank and PMB. The service is found at mrpdata.com for an annual fee of $725.

An online forum on public relations measurement can be found at prmeasurement.ca, where visitors can share best practices, benchmark campaigns and collect feedback for further development. “Moving forward, much of our efforts will be about educating the industry that this service is available, easy to use, accessible and inexpensive,” says Bochner.

– Sarah Dobson