Public Relations Industry Sets Top Four Measurement Priorities

LISBON, Portugal, June 14, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Developing global standards for social media measurement, further education of the PR profession, and new work on public relations' ROI emerged as the top priorities by delegates at the Third European Summit on Measurement in Lisbon last week.

Measurement professionals, PR agencies and clients from 33 countries attended the Lisbon Summit to chart a course for the future of public relations research, measurement and evaluation in a session led by Dr. David Rockland, partner and managing director of Ketchum's Global Research Network.  

Nearly 200 delegates created the Measurement Agenda 2020, a series of action steps to build upon the outcome of the Measurement Summit one year ago in Barcelona, where a similar international group of delegates created the Barcelona Principles of Measurement. Both campaigns are led by summit organizers AMEC, the International Association for Measurement and Evaluation of Communications, and the Institute for Public Relations.  

Rockland, who led both the Barcelona Principles and Lisbon Measurement Agenda sessions, said, "In Barcelona, we created immutable principles about how you evaluate PR. Now, in Lisbon, we have set a course for the future and where this field needs to head in the next several years."

Delegates voted from among 12 issues and priorities as to what is most important to focus on in the years ahead. The top ranking priorities were as follows:

1. Determining how best to measure public relations' ROI (89 percent)
2. Creating and adopting global standards for social media measurement (83 percent)
3. Solidifying campaign and program measurement's role as an intrinsic part of the PR toolkit (73 percent)
4. Instituting client education programs such that clients insist on measurement of outputs, outcomes and business results from public relations programs (61 percent).

AMEC Chairman Mike Daniels said: "The Summit identified some significant challenges for the PR profession to address by 2020. However, what we also accomplished in Lisbon, beyond setting the priorities, was to harness the commitment and energy of the industry to agree on what we need to do together."

Five industry organizations took part in the Measurement Agenda 2020 debate in Lisbon: the Public Relations Society of America, the International Communications Consultancy Organization, the Institute for Public Relations Commission on Measurement and Evaluation, the International Association for Measurement and Evaluation of Communications, and the Council of PR Firms. They were joined by speakers from top global corporations, including FedEx, Microsoft and Philips.

About AMEC

AMEC, the International Association for Measurement and Evaluation of Communication, has grown to become a global trade body for agencies and practitioners who provide media evaluation and communication research. AMEC's purpose is to define and develop the industry on an international scale with better professional standards for both companies and individuals.

About the Lisbon European Summit: The three-day conference, June 8-10, 2011, was designed for communications and public relations professionals and academics to share the latest thinking about measurement and evaluation of public relations programming. The European Association of Communication Directors and the Portuguese Association for Corporate Communication (APCE) were the official supporters of the Summit. Manchete was the event's Portuguese national partner.

About the Institute for Public Relations

The Institute for Public Relations is a global, independent non-profit foundation headquartered at the University of Florida. It bridges the academic and professional communities supporting public relations research and mainstreaming this knowledge into practice. Further information is available at www.instituteforpr.org.

About Ketchum

Ketchum is a leading global communications firm with operations in more than 70 countries across six continents. Named 2010 Large PR Firm of the Year (Holmes Report and PR News) and the winner of an unprecedented three consecutive PRWeek Campaign of the Year Awards, Ketchum partners with clients to deliver strategic programming, game-changing creative and measurable results that build brands and reputations. For more information on Ketchum, a unit of Omnicom Group Inc. (NYSE: OMC), visit www.ketchum.com.

SOURCE Ketchum