Credit crunch. There, I've said it. I'll try and make it through the rest of this post without using the phrase again.

With everything that's going on in the financial sector at the moment we've seen a marked increase in the amount of red across our reports. Bailouts, bank runs and buyouts aren't topics that inspire confidence in most people, and to judge from recent headlines in Time and the International Herald Tribune, even "respectable" journalists are finding it hard not to get caught up in the mood of panic.

Things are obviously pretty bad at the moment, and I for one am fascinated - in a 'look-at-the-car-crash' kind of way - by daily developments on this subject. But given that confidence is at the very core of the crisis, are the shock headlines and prophecies of doom and gloom really fair on the companies concerned? And do we as measurement experts have a role to play in cutting through the hysteria and presenting a more balanced view of the organisations we work for?

The answer to both questions is yes, although forgive me for perching (gently!) on the fence on the first one. Doom and gloom headlines when banks fail and have to be rescued are fair enough on balance. Less fair is when market speculation, perpetuated by the press, destroys confidence in an organisation and leads to its downfall. Leading UK bank HBoS - a Metrica client- wasn't alone in having problems with its exposure to bad debts, but would it have declined so quickly had confidence in the bank not already been rocked in March 08 by false rumours perpetuated by short-sellers in the market, and reported widely in the press? Even in the midst of this story, as our data shows below, HBoS was securing more neutral or positive coverage (within the green 'favourable' line) than negative, and this wasn't the perception that you got from reading the headlines. 

Which leads us neatly onto the second answer. Yes, in times like these our objective approach to the media, and ability to identify to our clients what is really being said about them, is more important than ever. Too often, sensational headlines distract attention from the more balanced view of the facts immediately underneath- the articles linked above are all examples of that to a greater or lesser extent.

Measurement experts must work with PR experts to help them carve through the bad press, demonstrate where they have been successful, and make recommendations on how that success can be perpetuated. It may seem obvious to us, analysing the coverage on the outside of the storm, but it can be difficult for our clients to get that sense of perspective when they're right in the middle of it. The current economic situation is a great opportunity for the whole evaluation industry to show how valuable it can be in a crisis, which in turn could help our clients to secure their PR budgets and continue their good work.

I'm not promising that we can solve the credit crunch (so close to not mentioning it again! sooo close!) but the work we do can really help our clients find their way through tough times, and that can only improve our fortunes and strengthen our reputation.