Judging from the presentations at the 48th FIBEP World Media Intelligence Congress in Washington, D.C., last fall, the measurement world has seen a seismic shift in the last few years: away from activity metrics and towards true outcome measurements. Presentation after presentation described research programs that showed the contribution of PR to business goals. FIBEP is an international alliance of monitoring and PR measurement companies representing 120 firms from over 60 countries. While in the past its members were primarily clipping agencies, in recent years many have evolved into news and information providers as well as major players in the media intelligence space.
Kasper Hülsen, Chief Market & Business Development Officer, Infomedia, provided the most unforgettable example. He told the story of how his firm helped the organizers of Denmark’s giant Roskilde, a music festival that raises money for children, refugees, and others in need. Organizers knew that attendee experience would be critical. So, well before tickets even went on sale, they set up a social listening platform to tune in to the opinions, needs, and comments of attendees and potential attendees.
From that data they were able to better plan for the crowds, and to better manage them when they arrived. And by establishing relationships with the attendees on social media, they were able to correspond with them later. So when chatter about long lines began to surface, they were able to use their (I’m not making this up) “Toilet Tracker” to redirect people to the rest rooms and food stands that had shorter lines, as well as redeploying staff to where they were needed most urgently. The impact was measured in overall attendee satisfaction as well as ticket and food sales.
Other organizations talked about tying media data to brand loyalty, revenue, and brand recognition. Despite the fact that a number of attendees and FIBEP members still offer AVE to clients, it was clear that the rancorous debate over this discredited measurement technique was over. The attendees had moved on to bigger things. (Sadly not all their clients and potential clients apparently agree, judging from the comments of our correspondents.) ∞
