Universal Information Services

At 7:00am CT in the United States I participated in a webinar hosted by P+ Measurement in Nigeria, which was 2pm their time. My industry friend, Philip Odiakos had asked if I would co-present with another of their industry friends, Seye Olurotimi , on the topic of “Upscaling the role of Media Monitoring, Measurement and Evaluation in post Covid-19”.

I was pleased to be asked and enjoyed answering the questions posed by their team and participants. Below are the questions the session had prepared for me, along with the notes I prepared in advance of the session.

For those who know me, I have a very difficult time sticking to a script. However, I thought my thoughts might be interesting to those wanting to further their journey on the path of media monitoring and PR measurement. If you would like to share your thoughts, contradict mine, or simply add additional key points related to this topic, please leave a comment.

This event was part of the AMEC Measurement Month for 2020. AMEC is the global trade group responsible for establishing and educating professionals on valid methods for measuring media and public relations results.

1. Please tell us what you do and how you got there? CEO, Universal Information Services. A comprehensive media monitoring and measurement service in the United States. I grew up in this industry, as it was a family business. I purchased the company in 2014.

 

2. What should PR Measurement Experts be doing differently to increase the awareness of the practice amongst Public Relations stakeholders? Take a more active role in counselling their clients on how to better measure their media outcomes. Historically, measurement services have delivered what the client has asked for, even when the client is asking for invalid or unreliable measures. Elevating our work to a more consultative relationship increases the legitimacy of our profession.

 

3. In what ways do you think the media measurement and monitoring industry can gain the needed recognition, especially in post covid19? The next year will show that more clients will focus on data insights, rather than the raw media results. Media monitoring as a stand-alone service will continue to decline unless our services can demonstrate the greater value of measured outcomes and insights. We need to work as an extension of our clients, not just as a vendor for them.

 

4. Kindly tell us your take on the importance of ‘human intelligence’ in media monitoring and measurement for brands. In our service model, human intelligence is what adds the real value to the large amount of data we process. The AI and machine learning is good at organizing and exhibiting trends in the data, but a trained analyst needs to interpret those trends and correlate them to the objectives, or goals, the customer has outlined at the beginning of their effort. Goals can change over time, and therefore the insights delivered by our service must also take those changes into account. Humans are much better at discerning the correlation of information with objectives.

 

5. The Barcelona Principle 3.0 was recently released, in what ways do you think PR and Media Measurement experts can make good use of the guide? 3.0 marks the continued evolution of the science and methods behind reliably media measurement. Like any science, as more is learned the principles must evolve. 3.0 provides even better guidance to those just starting in PR measurement, or looking to check their established methods against the current best practices.
   

 

6. What role does Media Monitoring and Measurement play during a Crisis Management Process? HAND IN HAND, A STRONG COMBINATION. Without monitoring the media, you must rely on the client to provide the data necessary for measurement. In my experience, the client is never as good as we are at finding their media results. Our comprehensive data is critical to a more significant data sample, which generates more reliable results.

 

7. How do you perceive the future of Media Monitoring and Evaluation as a frontier and not an afterthought in the PR Industry? EVALUATION AND INSIGHTS IS THE #1 DRIVER FOR PR IN THE COMING YEAR. Providing insights for the client so they can adjust their campaigns, resources, and measure outcomes from their output is what we do… and it is getting more important.

 

8. From your wealth of experience can you take us through what the greatest challenges of media Monitoring and measurement have been over the years? COUNSELLING CLIENTS ON WHAT MEASURES ARE VALID AND WHAT ARE NOT (AVE AND IMPRESSIONS). Some clients have pressure from their executives to continue the use of metrics that are nearly meaningless. Others want to persist with what they have used in the past. Our job is to explain why the changes need to occur. We must compel them to join us in the advancement of measurement, so they can see more meaningful insights.

 

9. What advice would you give PR professionals who do not Monitor, Measure and Evaluate their brands? GET STARTED, NO MATTER HOW SMALL, TAKE ONE STEP TODAY. It does not have to cost a lot of money, or be overly complicated, in the beginning. But you must migrate from measuring volume of mentions to what those mentions are doing for your brand, service, or objective. You just need to take that first, small step.

Again, please add your comments related to what we can see for media monitoring and measurement in a post Covid-19 economy. Your thoughts are encouraged.