Media Monitoring: No Laughing Matter

The first time we met, my Managing Director made sure I understood the importance of media clippings to our business. "I've come down very hard on interns, employees, who miss clippings," he warned. There was once someone missed a clipping on our client and he instantly demanded to know who it was.

Media clippings, quite simply, is the Return On Investment (ROI) of PR. It is how we demonstrate to our clients that we have done our jobs. Just as advertisements are the product of advertising agencies, media clippings are the "products" and the "results" of PR. This is because the information that led to these clippings usually originate from press releases produced by PR agencies.

But more importantly, media clippings allow us to track and understand how the press responds to our PR activities. If the press release is dull, for example, or if our press conference was not well attended by the media, we can only expect that press coverage will be minimal (and clients will be screaming!). At the end of the day, it is the clippings report that our clients will refer to when evaluating our performance.

It isn't surprising then that media monitoring is our first task in the morning when we arrive at work. There will be a stack of papers waiting for us, and each person has to grab at least two on the way to his or her workstation. Certain clients expect their clippings report in by 11am everyday, so we can't take our own sweet time.

The relevant articles will be cut out and pasted on a clippings template containing several details such as publication, page, date, and section. In addition, there is a specific way to quantify media coverage, called the advertising value equivalency (AVE) and PR value:

AVE = Height (cm) X Column size X Advertising rate + Colour surcharge (if article is in colour)

PR Value = AVE X 3

The reason why PR Value is three times that of AVE is because PR professionals believe that news articles are more credible than advertisements and thus worth more for the same amount of space. It should be noted, however, that AVE is a controversial measurement. We were taught in class that it is not a suitable formula for evaluating PR, and the US Institute for Public Relations (IPR) has formally rejected it.

AVE is deemed unethical as there is no scientific evidence to prove that news articles are more effective that advertising. If you have the time, click here to read the IPR's informative discussion of the various issues concerning AVE.

Nonetheless, there is no denying that AVE puts a dollar value on media clippings, not to mention that some clients actually demand it as proof of an agency's work.

Cheers,
John.