From the Desk of Katie Paine
I’ve just returned from a whirlwind tour of Europe, speaking at three measurement conferences in 10 days: Brussels, Bucharest, and Vienna. Everywhere I went there was sincere interest in adopting the Barcelona Principles, moving toward more goal- and outcome-focused measurement, and discarding silly metrics like AVEs (which everyone pronounces “Avah”). In one case, I even got to see the completed results (see our Measurement Mavens of the Month.)
My impression is that Europe, if not ahead of the U.S. in its acceptance of best practices in measurement, is at least on par with much of the best thinkers, brands, and agencies anywhere in the world.:
- In Bucharest, the first ever PR Measurement Conference, sponsored by GMP PR was not only sold out, but the entire event had to be moved to a larger room to accommodate demand.
- A measurement conference at NATO SHAPE (Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe) moved their communications measurement ahead by light years. They brought together multiple countries, along with headquarters and SHAPE (Public Affairs Officers (PAOs) , to compare notes, share resources, and move toward a more standard measure of quality, rather than just quantity, of PR.
- In Vienna the local public relations association, PRVA, was stunned that it broke all prior attendance records with a conference focused on measurement.
The really interesting conversations happened, of course, after the conferences, when we shared what was really going on. Again and again I heard complaints about “U.S.-based demands” for AVEs and other silly metrics such as Facebook likes. Agency and Measurement firms in Europe would love to leave these outdated metrics behind, but U.S. corporations continue to insist that they deliver them. (See our Measurement Menaces of the Month.)
As with their U.S. colleagues, there is a sense of frustration with social media and how to translate all the various metrics from numerous platforms into something meaningful. When I suggested they focus on two or three key metrics and ignore the rest, I got universal head nodding and thumbs up.
A study by AMEC was released concurrently with my trip, and it supports my conclusions. It found that 59% were using web analytics and another 69% were using Twitter analysis tools, far more than the 31% of respondents who admitted to still using AVE. While the study also showed that the number one output metrics were volume and reach, a refreshing amount were using business metrics such as web analytics, transactions, brand perceptions, and customer satisfaction. Even more encouraging were the majority want to use attribution modeling, predictive analytics, and other outcomes or business impacts when reporting results.
The most discouraging news out of the AMEC study was that 65% of respondents continue to cling to the completely unrealistic notion that there needs to be a simple single metric for PR effectioniveness. We truly would love for this misguided 65% to find their unicorns. Who knows, maybe Google Analytics is the one thing we can all agree on as an outcome, but I’m guessing its more likely that the Knights of the Round Table will return and establish Camelot in Europe.
There were also several conversations about the consolidation that Cision and others in the industry are driving. The general conclusion, and one with which I agree, is that standardization around a single platform and methodology is a good idea in theory, but simply won’t fly when rolled out in numerous countries with numerous cultural and societal differences. Put another way, the local monitoring and measurement companies in Austria, Romania, and other countries aren’t feeling nearly as threatened by the prospect of Cision’s global domination that their counterparts in the U.S. are.
So my conclusion is that the messages about good measurement are being heard and acted upon in Europe, even if their U.S. counterparts remain the backwoods yokels they’ve always thought we are anyway.
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Thanks to Wanderlust for the image.
