The challenges of PR. Part 1: Evaluation

Yesterday I had an interesting talk with some lovely ladies at éclat Marketing that inspired me to write a blog series about the challenges of PR. What I will discuss will be my opinion of the general difficulties PR is facing in modern times.

Today's topic is a bit like PR's Nemesis: evaluation.

Public Relations is often seen as a part discipline of marketing/journalism/advertising. This, however, neglects the fact that PR is a standalone discipline within the communication network with different requirements and focuses.

The CIPR defines PR as follows:

'Public Relations is about reputation - the result of what you do, what you say and what others say about you. Public Relations is the discipline which looks after reputation, with the aim of earning understanding and support and influencing opinion and behaviour. It is the planned and sustained effort to establish and maintain goodwill and mutual understanding between an organisation and its publics.'

Admittedly, it does sound fairly intangible. Intangibles are usually difficult to measure. Still, evaluation is often one of the top priorities for PR practitioners, but it is still being compared to ’the search for the Holy Grail’ (Noble, 1999, p. 14). The problem that a lot of practitioners face and probably fear is the high amount of research that comes along with evaluation.

On the basis of this necessity Noble has established the following ‘seven principles of evaluation’ (1999, p. 19):
Evaluation…
1) …is research.
2) …looks both ways.
3) …is user- and situation-dependent.
4) …is short term.
5) …is long term.
6) …is comparative.
7) …is multi-faceted.

These seven principles show that evaluation is definitely multi-faceted and not so easy to grasp. However, for PR you just need research and statistical skills. Evaluation is crucial for the professionalisation of our job (more about this in Part 2). You can't manage what you can't measure!

Source: Padmanegara, 2010

Macnamara's Pyramid Model highlights one crucial factor of PR evaluation: the distinction between Output and Outcome. The output such as readership or circulation is a crucial factor, but it is important to recognise that it is not the ultimate objective. The outcome, however, is the desired goal of evaluation.

In 2010, the second European Summit on Measurement agreed on a global evaluation standard for the first time, the Valid Metrics Matrix (VMM). This framework ‘integrates measurement and evaluation into a planning framework as well as focusing on the contribution of communications to the achievement of business […] results’ (Watson & Noble, 2014, p. 170). The VMM moves the focus from ‘measuring outputs to measuring outcomes’ (Jeffrey, 2013). It helps identify ‘metrics [that are] […] linked to the business objective of the program’ and apply them to the communication activities (Jeffrey, 2013).

Source: Slideshare.net

Due to its relatively young age, there is not much literature about the VMM. Time will have to tell whether it is a tool applicable to practical work or if there is something better coming up the way, but I can tell you, it's not the AVE.


Sources:

Jeffrey, A., 2013. AMEC’s Valid Metrics Framework: Magic Measurement Bullet?. [Online]
Available here

Noble, P., 1999. Towards an inclusive evaluation methodology. Corporate Communications, 4(1), pp. 14-23.

Padmanegara, P., 2010. Pyramid Model of PR Research. [Online]
Available here

Watson, T. & Noble, P., 2014. Evaluating Public Relations. A guide to planning, research and measurement. 3. ed. London: Kogan Page Limited.

Why you should never work for free

I am a bit sad while writing this post. I am sad that we have to talk about this. But I keep seeing job ads (mostly for PR interns) that don't pay you anything. And every time I am just thinking 'Really?'.

Ok, this is a charity. STILL!

This is even worse: a permanent unpaid position. Really?

Another charity. Not very charitable to not pay your interns...

These are just three examples. I'm sure that I'd find many more if I dug a bit...

You may have found yourself considering to do an unpaid internship because, clearly, you need the experience and you can't get anything paid. Don't! Let me explain why you should NEVER work for free:

1. Money

The most obvious one. You do work and therefore deserve to get paid. It's as easy as it gets. Everything else would be slavery. This article hits the spot by saying that unpaid internships are 'a worrying form of modern slavery accepted both on the left and right of politics, journalism, fashion and big business.'

You simply can't live on love and air alone. Oh, so you can afford living and working in London without a single penny of income for a couple of weeks or months? Then let me get to the next point:

2. Equality

Unpaid internships (or work in general) - especially in urban areas like London - limit the chances for everyone to gain experience, as only the upper class can afford to do this. It also means that this practice decreases the diversity in a work place.

3. Profession

You've probably heard that PR has a professional issue. No? Then read THIS. So, we are apparently not (yet) a profession. PR is often undervalued, as we also have measuring issues (but this is another topic) so we're making it hard for us to prove the value of our work. Do you really think working for free would contribute anything positive to this image? Then think again.

We are damaging our profession if we do unpaid work. People go like 'hey, she's working for free, then PR can't be that valuable/important.' Might have exaggerated a bit, but it proves the point.

To all students/graduates/interns out there: Don't ever work for free! Don't let someone exploit you!

To all employers out there: Go and pay your interns! If I hear one more excuse that you can't 'afford' to pay them, then don't hire them!

Work deserves pay!

Rant over.

PS. Ok, I'm going to make one exception to this, but only a small one: If you choose to volunteer for a charity for the good cause. Like, proper volunteering and not this bullsh*t internship disguised as volunteering like in the examples.

PPS. If you want to read more: Unpaid PR Internships and the Law