But does that equate with a positive end result? I don’t think so.

If that was the case a true PR strategy would be unimportant and practitioners would simply suggest off-the-wall stunts and antagonistic statements to garner attention.

Recording artist Chris Brown is an example of actions and the resulting publicity souring an image. After his assault of Rihanna, media heavy weights including Oprah weighed in on the controversy and even our grandmothers who may not have known Chris Brown from Chris Columbus suddenly equated the superstar with domestic violence.  Sponsors have withdrawn their money and a Google search of Brown summons news stories of the beating before a link to his official site appears.

Product recalls are another example of unfortunate publicity, which are often times the result of a supplier issue and not of the manufacturer.  Sigg felt the sting recently when it was uncovered that it’s allegedly BPA free bottles actually contained trace amounts in the liner. Apparently an important co-branding partner dropped the company after hearing the news.  Did the increase in mentions result in an increase awareness? Absolutely. Did it boost sales, word-of-mouth endorsement or positive consumer feedback. I doubt it.

We can probably all agree that not all PR is created equal and especially in crisis situations, good PR is an invaluable tool to communicate effectively with audiences and avoid becoming infamous. What do you think? Does the buzz that comes with bad publicity negate any bad messaging? What are some examples of bad PR alienating fans or customers, or instances where bad PR was a blessing in disguise?

Rachel Kay

photo credit: nyki_m

There’s a lot of dialogue about social media strategies and measuring ROI. Any marketing strategy needs to incite Web traffic, sales, donations and other measurable results to justify dollars and efforts spent.

But public relations isn’t just about that direct response. It’s about influencing perception and understanding of a product, service or company.

Perception isn’t quantitative, unless you have thousands of dollars to spend on focus groups and surveys.

A good PR program will drive awareness and communicate brand value which should have a long term impact – something that circulation or sales won’t reflect immediately.

So how do you measure perception? It isn’t a science, but with all of the tools online to monitor your brand, there are a lot of things you can audit prior to campaign start, and then periodically throughout the program. In addition, you shouldn’t just look at your own brand, but your competition as well as the industry as a whole. Some things to look at include:

• Number of conversations – Buzz in the form of conversations is important. If no one is talking about you but are discussing your competitors, that’s an area of opportunity. It says you need to put some steps in place to get your audience talking.

• Location of conversations – Where are the conversations about your brand taking place?  Are people chatting about your product on forums but bloggers seem to be highlighting your competitors? Or are bloggers who focus on a certain topic covering you but there’s radio silence from another set of key journalists? Are tweeters shopping at your store?  This is a great way to target your efforts – where can you enter existing conversations and where should you go to start new ones?

• Tone of mentions – Are the conversations happening online positive, negative or neutral? Is there a general consensus that your food tastes bad, or your customer service needs an overhaul?  Looking for trends can help target efforts across departments and also help you identify key messages.

• Accuracy of information – Today we rely so much on the consumer to deliver our messages, which means the right messaging is more crucial than ever before.  Overall, is dialogue reflecting accurate positioning? Do people understand how your product is differentiated from that of your competitors? Are any health claims being properly communicated?

This data can serve as a jumping off point for strategy and should be detailed out in order to measure a shift in thinking. You can then reevaluate in six months from start to see if you’ve successfully powered a change in overall perception.

What are some other key points to measure to audit the perception and awareness of a company or product?

Rachel Kay

Photo credit: D Sharon Pruitt.