The video below is a great (and short) interview from the excellent MyRagan (an online PR community generated by Ragan Communications, a US based PR consultancy). It features Adam Brown, Coca-Cola's Group Director of Digital Communications, discussing the PR strategy and benefits of 'Expedition 206' - Coke sending three of their brand advocates to all 206 countries in the world where their product is for sale. Watch it in the video clip below, or if you are reading this update via email, then head over to MyRagan's website directly to view.

It doesn't discuss the PR measurement side of the activity in much detail however. That's where maybe the PR community and I can help tomorrow (Tuesday). I will be the guest of Shonali Burke answering questions on all things relevant to PR measurement in both the traditional and new media. Fittingly I will be doing this via a Twitter chat. Shonali's #measurepr has grown to be a tremendous success with regular chats on alternate Tuesdays. Previous guests have included the excellent Sean Williams of CommAmmo and the indomitable Katie Paine of KDPaine and Partners.  

Shonali's 'Measure PR' twitter chats are always entertaining and well attended. The event should attract many leading lights from social media PR from across the globe so if you're looking for an international perspective on the latest PR measurement issues and trends, why not join us on Twitter at 5-6pm GMT (12-1pm Eastern Time, 9-10am Pacific Time).  Be sure to follow along in realtime either in MyMetrica, Tweetdeck or Tweetgrid and don't be shy, join the conversation  

Finally, if you would like to direct message me, please be sure to follow me first - find me on twitter at @richardbagnall.

I hope to see you there.

A recent PR Week piece entitled, "Recruitment consultants find digital skills in short supply within PR industry," has highlighted again the percieved disconnect between traditional PR and the digital skills needed to operate in the 'new' social world. 

The clients we work with in social media absolutely buck this supposed trend so it seems that it is just taking a while to filter through the whole industry.  The piece is good feedback, however, on the areas that are lacking. 

Metrica will be at the Social Media World Forum talking about these very things.  Be great to see some of you there. 

After Metrica's exciting news last week regarding our acquisition by Durrants, it’s back to business as usual on the blog.  So, on with our introductory post from Metrica Insights...  

With solid PR objectives sorted, the next thing to think about is how they will be measured.  Do you need to do pre and post research?  Do you need to feed into a marketing mix model that the advertisers are running?  Do you need to measure your media output? A wise man once said, “not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts.”  One of the biggest barriers to doing the right measurement is often cited as money.  Gravitating towards the quick ROI win helps.  Piggy back on the advertising department’s econometric model.  Add an evaluation question to your newshook research.

A worrying 12% of respondents don’t measure the results of PR.  It brings to mind a couple of business maxims that still ring true: what gets measured is what gets done; you can’t manage what you don’t measure.  Clichéd, yes, but oh so true.

So how are people using measurement? Overall, the trend shows the growing importance of media evaluation.  Which is great.   

What looks worrying however is the decreased use of PR measurement for planning since we last asked in 2006.  Only when measurement is used for tactical readjustments as well as strategic planning and refinement does it truly show its value.

For the first time we also asked if measurement is used to track and respond to social media.  68% said yes.  Now, I don’t know about you but I can only imagine this increasing overtime.  Tracking effectively is the first step.  Chris Brogan, an internet sensation known for his sagely advice says, “grow bigger ears”.  Listen first and listen hard (or get your media measurement agency to do it for you).  Then you can decide what action to take.

PR measurement can wear many hats.  It can be a benchmarking or campaign measurement tool, it can be used for audience targeting and media planning, it can justify additional PR budget and resources and it can be used for agency or staff performance.  Ideally measurement should serve all these purposes, and more; the list’s by no means exhaustive.  By increasing the uses you put your measurement to, you increase the value you get from it.

Before we say goodbye, here are some practical tips to take away right this minute:

• Check your objectives match those of the organisation, are measurable and have timeframes
• Ask around your organisation about existing marketing mix modelling / econometrics and market research.  If it's happening, get involved.
• Have a good think about how measurement is currently being used.  Have you got an actionable tool that helps you tweak tactics, set strategies and communicate your success to the business?  Or do you just flick through your lengthy report and contemplate its usefulness as a doorstop? Make your measurement work hard for its money.

Speaking of money, our next instalment is all about money.  Everybody loves a £ / $ / € sign.  We’ll be looking at how much people spend on measurement.  Is there a right amount?  How have other PRO’s budgets been affected this year?  What’s the outlook for 2010?  Until then…

Every two years, Metrica runs a survey of in-house PR practitioners.  The in-depth interviews give tremendous insight into the UK PR industry’s measurement, planning and research activity.  This research, stretching back to 1998, uniquely documents the changing attitudes towards PR measurement over the past ten years.  As the social transformation of media impacts on the way we all work, Metrica Insights 2009 shows the reality of measurement for PR practitioners today.

Every fortnight until the end of 2009, we’ll be releasing an insight from this study via MeasurementMatters.  We’re hoping these snippets will allow you to benchmark your activity against a representative sample of peers, learn from the intelligence Metrica wraps around the results and plan for the ROI-focused, social wonderland that will be 2010. Exciting times.

The first post covers the basics of planning, research and evaluation and will be posted next week.  Make sure you subscribe to take advantage of all the updates.

Incredibly a year has passed since I attended the last IPR Summit on PR Measurement. This week will see me heading off to New Hampshire once again to meet many of my industry peers to discuss best practice in public relations measurement and evaluation. New Hampshire at this time of year is incredibly beautiful as shown in this great photo by taken by Katie Paine.

2009 has yet another jam packed programme mixing work shops, case studies, panel discussions, the latest from academia / thought leaders, the Jack Fenton Golden Ruler Awards and of course a significant focus on social media measurement. The full Summit programme is available here.

I have been asked to represent Metrica's views in a panel discussion entitled "An In-Depth Look at the Strengths and Weaknesses of Advertising Value Equivalency". On the panel, I will be joined by Dr David Rockland, Partner and MD of Ketchum, Dr David Michaelson, President of Echo Research and Angela Jeffrey, Vice President Editorial Research at VMS.  Our panel will be moderated by Dr Donald K. Wright, Professor of Public Relations from Boston University.

David will be giving a short presentation on the subject in advance which I am sure will be as good as his excellent talk on the subject back at AMEC's First European Summit on Measuring Public Relations back in June this year.

I know what I shall be saying about Metrica's views on AVE's of course already but can't spoil the event by saying too much in advance.  But what about you? What would you say about AVE's if you were in my shoes?  I'd love to hear your thoughts and would welcome all of your views in the comments section below.

Finally, it's not too late to book your ticket and join in the debate on the metrics most appropriate to media evaluation. Will we see you there?