- Experts agree that measurement of PR in Public Affairs and Government is essential
Public Relations and communications professionals have agreed to promote the use of PR measurement tools to governments in order to benchmark information campaigns and PR activities in the public sector.
The recommendation to adopt PR measurement programs in the Public Affairs and Government sector was a result of discussions and debates at the 3
rd PR Measurement Summit, organised by News Group International, the leading provider of business intelligence and media resource services.
“It is imperative that any PR campaign or endeavour has a clear facility for measurement in order to make a systematic assessment of its actual success or failure,” said Mazen Nahawi, President of News Group International. “There are various options available that can be readily accessed by PR professionals and practitioners in order to assist them in the measurement and assessment process of a communication programme.”
The three-day summit, which closed Tuesday, 24
th November 2009, was attended by a large number of professionals from public sector communications practitioners and PR agencies, as well as students of Public Relations.
“The summit was a learning experience for all the participants as industry experts shared their knowledge and experience on the importance of measurement in the PR industry, specifically in the Public Affairs and Government sector,” added Nahawi.
During the discussions, several case studies and examples were given by the speakers, such as the UAE Central Bank and the issue of the dollar-peg of the dirham, the H1N1 virus, KHDA, RTA, as well as the impact of blogging on social networking sites on issues not usually reported on traditional forms of mass media.
Among those who spoke during the event included the who’s who of the PR industry in the UAE, the region and the world. These were: Sandra Macleod, Group CEO of Echo; Barry Legetter, Executive Director of AMEC; Rebecca Hill, Executive Director of MEPRA; Richard Bagnall, Managing Director, Metrica; Dave Robinson, CEO Middle East, Turkey & Africa, Hill & Knowlton; Alexander Mcnabb, Group Account Director, Spot on Public Relations; Sunil John, CEO, ASDA’A Burson-Marsteller; Yousef Tuqan Tuqan, CEO, Flip Media; Michael Vertigans, Director of Public Affairs, Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar; Tim Walmsley, Regional Director, Impact Porter Novelli; Ma’moon Sbeih, Managing Director, JiWin; Hania Tabet, Managing Director, TBWA\RAAD\PR; Hillary Baker, Communication Consultant; David Baker, General Manager, Action Global Communications; and Mazen Nahawi, President, News Group International.
In addition, public affairs professionals and communicators received personal training on measurement best practice, dashboard technology, creation of measurement plans and implementation schedules, in a workshop that was conducted on the first day of the summit.
“The success of this third annual PR Measurement Summit is very encouraging. As such, News Group International is looking forward on hosting the fourth edition in 2010,” concluded Nahawi.
