What is Advertising Value Equivalency? Megan Daley

Advertising Value Equivalency has been stirring debate in the PR world for many years. Many people are attracted to the idea because it appears to put a dollar sign on media coverage. People (especially the boss) like results that they can see. We like to know that what we are doing in the media is being seen by a wide variety of people and also bringing in money for the company. That’s one reason why people like Advertising Value Equivalency. It is a reasonably good measure for the “prominence” of your news coverage. Also, if you calculate AVEs for entire media coverage for a given time period you can compare it to other time periods and say whether your coverage is increasing or decreasing. Although this is a good tool, it’s important to remember there are other ways that to show the value of media relations on your company as well as knowing how to interpret the results correctly. There are many articles out there on how to avoid the “AVE trap” because sometimes people rely on this method too much and should spend more time establishing a benchmark, targeting your audience, and using focus groups and surveys.

 

AVEs are calculated by measuring the column inches or seconds (in broadcast media) and multiplying the figures by the medium’s advertising rates. The number you are left with is what it would have cost to place an advertisement there. By assessing media coverage this way and doing all the calculations you can assign an overall Advertising Value Equivalency to the media coverage within a specific time period.

 

Example:

 

I chose to focus my example on the debate of the value of AVEs. On a website for Cision: Global Analysts, K.C. Brown posted on their online blog on July 27^th 2011. The blog post is titled “The Biggest Lie in PR” and as you can probably see, he believes AVE measurement shouldn’t be a standard measurement practice in PR. He posts about the opposing argument: “In a PR Week UK article on the AVE debate, a snippet arguing for AVEs relied on this formula: ‘Put simply, AVE looks fantastic. Telling a client they have secured coverage with an AVE of £5m makes the PR agency look good. Going back to a board of directors and saying a PR agency secured coverage with an AVE of £5m, on a budget of £5,000, makes the client look good. And being able to compare PR directly and favorably with advertising makes the entire industry look good.’” K.C. Brown’s response is that “..by supplying AVEs, we in the PR services industry provide these practitioners with the illusion of credibility and the false promise of an audit trail.” He makes the point that PR services have motivation to keep AVEs because you can almost manipulate your results by using published ad rates that are higher than anyone actually pays and claim every inch of text or graphic associated with the story mentioning the client regardless of how much actually delivers the message they are trying to send.

 

 

 

Jeffries-Fox, Bruce. Advertising Value Equivalency, Institute for Public Relations, 2003.

Heffler, Maggi, and G. Blane Withers. Advertising Equivalency (AVE), Public Relations Tactics, May 1997.

Brown, K..C. “The Biggest Lie in PR.” AVEs Key to The Biggest Lie in Public Relations. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Oct. 2012. <http://analysts.cision.com/the-biggest-lie-in-pr/&gt;.

The Differences in Messages, Slogans, Themes and Taglines.

During the campaign having different types of messages can be appealing to different types of public’s  According to Wilson and Ogden primary messages are sound bite statements that encompass what you need the public to do and an appeal to the public’s self-interest. Secondary messages on the other had are bulleted details that include facts, testimonials, examples, and all other information or persuasive arguments that support a primary message. They are sometimes used to appeal to a shared or relevant self-interest of the public that you are trying to motivate.

Slogan and themes are short, catchy phrase that brings to mind the public-specific messages sent in other channels. On the other hand, a tag line is a short summarizing theme that appears at the end of an advertisement. The tag lines add emphasis to the advertising message. The main purpose of taglines is to help the organization market its products or services to a certain demographic. It also briefly states what the organization’s goals are for the product.  (Different between Tagline and Slogan). An example would be the Nike campaign. The new tag line is “Game on World” compared to the old one “Just Do It”. In the example below from one of Nike’s advertisement it is clear that their primary message is that Nike can help you succeed. The Theme/Slogan is “Everyone is invited but not everyone shows up”.  The tag line is “Just Do It”.

“Difference Between Tagline and Slogan” The Business Identity Factory. 2009. http://businessidentityfactory.com/articles/the-difference-between-tagline-and-slogan/

Ogden, Joesph. Wilson, Laurie. “Strategic Communications Planning: For Effective Public Relations & Marketing.” Fifth Edition. 2008.

 

Who are Intervening Publics?

Anna M.-  When a message needs to reach the public, that’s when opinion leaders and the media help out. These two groups of people are the influential sources that bring the key messages to stakeholders. They’re the persuasion; they’re the intervening publics. They bring the message to the people that, in the end, need to hear the message (Wilson & Ogden , 2008).

However, it’s important to understand that intervening publics are not key public, unless you actually have to persuade them to help you. Building a bond with your intervening public, though, would make it a key public.

There are examples of intervening public in just about every public relations plan. They have come up in our case studies in class. For instance, take the Legos case study as an example. The blog master for Legos created the blog to reach dads. The dads ultimately influence the children’s decision to play with Legos. Therefore, the dads are the intervening public.

Another example is from Professor Guth at the University of Kansas. Let’s say Kansas University is interested in increasing its state funding. It ultimately wants to influence legislature. How will it do that? The university will influence legislature by  using students as their intervening public. Kansas University then can release the statement, “Write legislators in support of increased funding at KU because it will help keep down the cost of tuition” (Guth, 10).

Wilson, L. J., & Ogden , J. (2008). Strategic communications planning for effective public relations & marketing. Dubuque: Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company.

Guth, D. (10, October 12). Strategic communications planning grid. Retrieved from http://people.ku.edu/~dguth/

What is reputation?

A reputation is an overall quality or character as seen or judged by people in general. I would sum up the meaning of reputation by saying it is the way you are viewed by people or your community. It is also important to note that it is not just the way they view you, it is the thoughts that they have about you. Keeping good reputations with people is an important part of the strategic process. Public relations practitioners help their clients keep a good reputation within the community. Not only that, but public relations specialists must do their job with upmost respect and with careful strategic planning so as to protect the reputation of public relations in general. From my research I found a website that explained how reputation is not only a factor in Public Relations strategic planning, but many companies and agencies publicly assess the reputations of corporations to see where they stand in the market and how they can keep their reputation up.

My example of reputation is how a company assessed the reputations of corporations. Fortune magazine produces a global annual rating called the ‘world’s most admired companies’. The criteria used to rank these companies include innovation, quality of management, financial soundness, social responsibility, service quality, and global competitiveness. In 2011, Apple was ranked number one. Google came in second place. This shows that both these companies have a good reputation with the community because the overall quality that people are assessing is good and they obviously admire these companies overall all other competitors!

 

“Corporate Reputation Definition from Financial Times Lexicon.” Corporate Reputation Definition from Financial Times Lexicon. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Oct. 2012. <http://lexicon.ft.com/Term?term=corporate-reputation&gt;.

“World’s Most Admired Companies 2011.” CNNMoney. Cable News Network, n.d. Web. 06 Oct. 2012. <http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/mostadmired/2011/index.html&gt;.

What is the difference between construed image and reputation?

With an organization construed image is the mental associations that organization members believe others outside the organization hold about the organization, and reputation is the mental associations about the organization actually held by others outside the organization.

Image and reputation are a pair of interrelated constructs, i.e. image is what is projected to others, while reputation is the feedback received from others.

When dealing with stakeholders, it’s what does the organization believes others think about it against what the stakeholders actually think about the organization.

http://arno.uvt.nl/show.cgi?fid=96399

What is Intended Image?

An organization depends upon many factors to become successful.  Of these many factors the connection to their audience may be the most important to their business.  A company does not exist without customers, and a customer is not going to give the time of day to a company that he or she does not care about.  Four viewpoints exist in respect to an organization and its relationship to its audience: “Who we are as an organization”, “What does the organization want others to think about the organization”, “What does the organization believe others think about the organization”, and “What stakeholders actually think about the organization” (Brown, Dacin, et all; 2006).  Of these, the second, what the organization wants others to think about it, is the focus of this article.  Brown, Dacin, et all (2006) call this “Intended Image”.  They go into greater detail by explaining that intended image is a question of which attributes and characteristics the organization wants their publics to associate with the organization.  They make it clear that intended image is specific.  It is not a “complete set of associations “ that managers want certain parts of their audience to have with their organization; that is known as “intended associations”.  Instead it is certain associations with the organization that managers want stakeholders to have (Brown, Dacin, et all; 2006).  Intended Images do not have to be consistent throughout stakeholder groups though.  They are often tailored to each group in order to address each one’s preferences.  Dukeritch and Dutton (1991) have a very similar description of intended image.  They say that it is how an organization wants others to see it.  They explain that image is different than reputation in the sense that reputation is how others actually see an organization.

Dukeritch and Dutton (1991) provide a good example of an organization’s intended image.  They use the example of the New York-New Jersey Port Authority in the late 1980s and their problem with homelessness.  The Port Authority is responsible for operating most of the transportation within a 25 mile radius of the Statue of Liberty.  They are in charge of LaGuardia, JFK, and Newark airports, the Port Authority bus station on 42^nd st, any water related transportation, and many of the tunnels and bridges.  As is the case with many transportation facilities, in the late 1980s the Port Authority had homeless people who would loiter around their hubs.  It began to get worse when the demographics skewed lower and they became “rowdier” which began to negatively affect the customers.  At the height of the issue, many of the employees were beginning to think that there was a problem that they could not fix.  As one Facility Manager said:

“I think with all of the building and fixing and all of those good,

concrete, reassuring things that we  did  and still  do,  and the

feeling, the good feeling that we got from being in control, I think

this has been undermined in a way by the homeless problem. I

think that it said to us, “Look, here is something that you really

can’t control, and you  can’t fix it, and you  can’t caulk it, you

can’t waterproof it, you  can’t dig it, and you  can’t make it go

away.”  (Dukerich, Dutton; 1990)

The Port Authority decided to try and fix the problem by creating “drop-in-centers” which would provide social services for the homeless in addition to updating and refurbishing their facilities.  The Port Authority’s intended image was that they were doing more than just fixing up their old facilities, but were also dealing with a problem their customers had in a socially responsible way.

~Adam Montee

Sources:

Brown, T., Dacin, P., Pratt, M., & Whetten, D. (2006). Identity, intended image, constructed image, and reputation: an interdisciplinary framework and suggested terminoligy. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 34(2), 99-106.

Dukerich, J., &  M.Dutton, J. E. (1991). Keeping an Eye on the Mirror: Image and Identity in Organizational Adaptation. The Academy of Management Journal, 34(3), 517-554.

What is Organizational Identity?

Anna M.- Organizational identity can be considered individuals’ associations have with an organization. It’s created by messages sent to internal and external stakeholders. The messages establish the common ground for how the organization presents itself- its image. The image may not be portrayed the same by all of its members which may make things complicated. Different life experiences, interactions, and much more make up the identities of an organization. It is said that individuals ask, “Who am I in relation to the organization?” to understand how they identify with the chosen organization.  

However, understanding organizational identity is important to know from both sides of the story: individual and organizational. Individuals’ responses to an organization as well as how they see themselves fit within it becomes organizational identification. This identification also serves as the organization’s image, as discussed earlier, and reputation. Albert and Whetten believe organizational identity to have “central, enduring, and distinctive aspects,” also known as CED aspects (Brown, Dacin, Pratt & Whetten, 2006).

An example of organizational identity is that when employees feel more closely linked to an organization, they will likely have more positive thoughts about it. Scholar Sang M. Lee discovered that scientists with a high organizational identification had a more positive outlook on their job. Additionally, these scientists were more effective at their job (more productive and satisfied) than those scientists with a low organizational identification (Lee). 

 

Brown, T. J., Dacin, P. A., Pratt, M. G., & Whetten, D. A. (2006). Identity, intended image, construed image, and reputation: An interdisciplinary framework and suggested terminology. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 34(2), 99-106.

Lee, S. M. (n.d.). An empirical analysis of organizational identification. The Academy of Management.

Construed image

 

Individuals tend to identify prestige and or high status groups therefore an organization has the challenge of creating a positive external image.  A construed image is the mental associations that organizations members believe others outside the organization hold about the organization (Brown, Dacin, Pratt, Whetten).  Members on an organization are swayed by what they believe others think about their organization. If they believe that individuals outside view them in a positive light then they will view themselves positively.  They also try and communicate that applied image back to the public.

 

According to Brown, Dacin, Pratt, and Whetten, when a company bases itself on how others may view it they adapt to that image and look inwardly on how to promote or change it. The external image that they believe that they portray sets the stage for all their communication actions and reactions. An example would be the case study of a post-acquisition insurance company. The case compared the relationship between identity and construed external image. The consistency between identity and external image was only found in the acquiring firm. Researchers concluded that construed image and identity contribute to inter group relations and can be either improved or worsened based on a change in image or identity.  If the company’s external image improves its identity will soon follow and productivity will increase.

Brown, Tom. Dacin, Peter. Pratt, Micheal. Whetten, David. “Identity, Intended Image, Construed Image, and Reputation: An Interdisciplinary Framework and Suggested Terminology”. JOURNAL OF THE ACADEMY OF MARKETING SCIENCE. 2006.

Palma, Patricia. Lopes, Miquel. Soares, Andre. “Relationship among Identity, Image, and Construed External Image: A Missing Link on Acquisitions”. International Business Research. 2012. http://ccsenet.org/journal/index.php/ibr/article/view/20266

What is issue management?

 

Issue management is the strategic planning process that helps organizations detect and respond appropriately to certain “issues.” An issue is a situation that evokes the attention and concern of influential publics and stakeholders. (Heath 2002) Almost all definitions I found from research emphasize the point that issue management is an anticipatory process. Issue management identifies the issue at hand and resolves them before they become a crisis. It is important to think long term when it comes to issue management because there are always new emerging trends in the socio-political environment. Issue management is important in building, maintaining, and repairing relationships with stakeholders. In fact, a 2002 survey by the Foundation for Public Affairs revealed that 44 percent of all companies with an internally recognized public affairs function have staff members working on issues management full-time. (Mahon, Heugens & Lamertz, 2004).

Although my example is from a New York Times article in 1990, it is a great representation of issue management. It may have happened a while ago but that just goes to show that these concepts are being used in our history which is why we must research. As I mentioned my example is from an article, “Packaging and Public Image: McDonald’s Fills a Big Order” on November 2, 1990. McDonald’s moved from plastic to paper packaging because they identified that their main publics and stakeholders did not like that they used plastic bags. McDonalds chose to resolve this issue right away before it became a bigger problem. McDonald’s stakeholders had expectations that McDonald’s should change to paper packaging because it’s better for the environment. McDonald’s noticed that this was an important issue to them so they changed from plastic to paper. This satisfied the stakeholders and kept a strong relationship between the two.

 

Heath, R.L, & Coombs, W.T. (2006). Today’s public relations: An introduction, Sage, Thousand Oaks: CA

Mahon, John F., Pursey P.M.A.R. Heugens, and Kai Lamertz. “Social Networks and Non-market Strategy.” Journal of Public Affairs 4.2 (2004): 170-89.Www.ingentaconnect.com. John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Web

 

Holusha, John. “Packaging and Public Image: McDonald’s Fills a Big Order.” The New York Times. The New York Times, 02 Nov. 1990. Web. 01 Oct. 2012. <http://www.nytimes.com/1990/11/02/business/packaging-and-public-image-mcdonald-s-fills-a-big-order.html&gt;

-Megan Daley

What Is Issue Monitoring?

Issue monitoring is one of the many aspects included in issue management.  Issue monitoring is the act of scanning the environment looking for “what is being said, written, and done by the public, media, interest groups, government, and other opinion leaders.” (Dougall, 2008)  This means scouring news sources for editorials or stories about what issues are being talked about in society.  The internet has become a large source of monitoring issues.  Blogs and social media have become important outlets for opinion leaders to spread their influence, and as such, they are important places to look to judge what issues are becoming more socially relevant.  As Chittipeddi and Lozier (1986) say, these issues may not be department or even business-specific, but “cross organizational boundaries.”  After a practitioner takes note of trends in society, they next must analyze which of those issues could potentially have affect the company’s standing with their publics.

 

Chittipeddi and Lozier (1986) provide a good example of how issue monitoring can be put to use.  In 1984 Penn State University appointed six “assessment committees”, each with their own area of focus.  The committees’ topics were: population trends; economic trends; federal and state policies; societal, technological, and scientific trends; graduate and research markets; and changing higher-education structures and competition (Chittipeddi and Lozier, 1986).  A matrix was then formed with which they could then refine the results to find which areas were more pertinent to their institution.

~Adam Montee

 

Sources:

Dougall, E. (2008). Issues management. from http://www.instituteforpr.org/topics/issues-management/

Lozier, G. G., & Chittipeddi, K. (1986). Issues Management in Strategic Planning. Research in Higher Education, 24(1), 3-14.