A global logistics company needed to assess PR performance against its competitors across a diverse range of geographies within a region including both mature and emerging markets. Each country required a varying competitor set, as well as different messages specific to the individual country. Key metrics required included brand attributes contrasted with competitors, and message performance as well as overall share of ink.

The Solution:

Report International created a nine-country media tracking and analysis program.

This program utilised a consistent methodology across all nine countries, providing genuine like-for-like performance assessment within markets, even where they had varying stages of development. A monthly report for each country provided media metrics relevant to each individual country, plus a roll-up report for the regional team.

In addition to the monthly “push” report, a 24/7 accessible secure dashboard was created , displaying critical key metrics. All authorized PR managers could examine their media performance throughout the month. RI’s client account manager led monthly PR calls to interpret and discuss the results, and to offer guidance and recommendations based on themes, and trends data.

The Benefit:

The regional and local PR managers can easily track and analyze country specific performance by competitor. This allows them to determine how each country is performing against pre-agreed KPI’s. With RI’s unique granular methodology, and ability to drill down into the data, the PR manager could pinpoint journalists and media who were more focused on competitor news stories. The PR manager was also able to flag critical pressure points, which allowed the regional team to prioritize their PR efforts to create maximum impact.

A world leader in silicon innovation and processor technologies was faced with increasing competitive media activity across a number of mature markets. They sought a means to convince senior management of the need for additional investment in PR resources and activities to maintain and enhance brand and thought leadership.

Solution:

Report International created an international media analysis program with highly specific and granular quantitative performance metrics. Among the metrics tracked for the major EMEA markets were performance across all coverage, all product v corporate coverage and movement in coverage of four distinct product areas. Metrics also showed share of voice and sentiment across target product groups within each product area, calculated against client-determined actual, and stretch targets. As management performance bonuses were based upon these metrics, the client needed total reassurance that the data was as accurate, consistent and reliable as possible.

Benefit:

The company’s PR management were able to demonstrate clearly to the Executive Management Board a quantified measure of the scale of the competitive landscape. The quantitative evidence gave the Board the confidence to sanction additional budget funds for the PR team, with the assurance that the media analysis program would also provide quantitative evidence of ongoing future improvement in the PR team’s KPI’s.

The leading global VOIP telecoms service provider knew that although millions of people download their free software to access a free service, only a small percentage of downloaders were actually using the software and service. The company wanted to determine whether media coverage had any role to play in influencing usage patterns.

Solution:

Report International developed a unique metric called “Call to Action” (CTA) which analysed editorial coverage to determine what share of that coverage actively promoted the use of the client’s products and services.

The CTA metric tracked and scored coverage of: product/service awards; coming 1st in comparative reviews, positive editorial purchase endorsements and “buy” statements from authors and users. The metric also included a qualitative assessment of editorial and other comments.

The program covered all key markets across the globe, and was developed in partnership with the client’s in-country PR agencies.

Benefit:

The client was able to see precisely how much, and which sorts of coverage drove buy recommendations, and how that differed by product/service and by region. This data could be plotted against purchase and usage patterns, and was also able to identify which product/service announcements yielded high impact CTA scores.

The findings allowed the PR team to develop stories that would more actively promote less-prominent products and became a quantitative performance metric. the CTA metric is a cousin to the well know advocacy and Net Promoter Scoring data sets

The Corporate Communications function of a major player in beverages worldwide found itself continuously confronted with threatening stories in terms of health, obesity, and environmental issues such as packaging and recycling.

In order to be aware of, and to anticipate such potentially damaging issues and stories, for both external Media Relations and internal communications management, the client identified the need for an international alert/early warning service. This service would report on issues before they reached influential media, or as soon as possible after they appeared.

Solution:

Report International initiated and manages a continuous alert service, focusing on threats and trends by sector that are relevant for the client. Roughly 100,000 mainly online sources are tracked on a daily basis. From these sources, somewhere between 300 and 400 articles are selected for daily analysis. The content-driven analysis generates brief, concise narrative reports that number between one and three per day, depending on the perceived urgency of emerging issues.

Benefit:

The client is able to anticipate and manage emerging issues – e.g. incorrect information in the press can be corrected; sensitive information can be qualified in good time; reactions to media stories can be adequately prepared; and senio management are made aware of issues where appropriate.

The communications department of a global environmental NGO, who has been a Report International client for many years, was confronted with severe budget cuts as a result of the 2009 economic recession. Despite budget constraints, the client does not want to give up its media analysis, which provides them with qualitative and quantitative global feedback on editorial trends and their impact on environmental development. Working within a tight budget, a method needed to be developed to continue to measure trends and deliver constructive feedback.

Solution:

Using electronic databases and sophisticated multilingual search strings, Report International developed an almost completely automated trend analysis system. The system was able to classify coverage of roughly ten different themes, all of which had immediate relevance to the organization. In addition, the system identifies information-rich articles from a small number of key sources, which are analysed qualitatively.

Benefit:

Despite its difficult budgetary limits, the client is still able to follow media trends within key news outlets, and react to them in due time.

A global children’s charity was looking to enhance their worldwide media relations activity especially to make it more professional. The institution sought to strengthen and improve the feedback it received from its complicated worldwide media campaigns. The client wished to collect media data from all regions, including third world countries, within tight budgetary limits and discipline.  The main challenge was to obtain content sourcing of a sufficient quality to allow for robust data insights, while being budget-conscious and efficient.

Solution:

Report International’s approach to the content sourcing was to create a hybrid model, which combined available electronic sources, where available, with in-countryReport International teams sourcing print media where needed. Report International leveraged its experience in balancing electronically available sources and pure print media, which differ greatly from country to country.

Benefit:

Despite having a limited sample size due to budget restrictions, the analysis provided true global feedback. The program enabled the client to evaluate the success of campaigns with recommendations for improving performance as and where needed.

A global communications leader sought a media analysis program to track the launch of a new mobile handset.  The communications strategy to support the product launch was specifically designed to transform the brand’s positioning in the market from its heritage as engineering-driven into a sector-leading design-driven brand. Media coverage was critical in creating enhanced consumer awareness and perception – media analysis was required to measure the shift in journalist presentation of the brand from prior to the launch to post-launch.

Solution:

Report International devised a media analysis program to track and quantify editorial coverage that focused specifically on the bundle of brand attributes that would drive the brand transformation. The program tracked coverage across a number of different regions; determined whether the desired brand attribute maintained a requisite level of coverage after the launch; and provided an analysis of which journalists remained skeptical about the brand change and which endorsed it.

Benefit:

The communications client was able to demonstrate clearly to a wider marketing audience how far PR had effected a change in the image of the brand through editorial media coverage. The detailed journalist analysis enabled the PR team to exploit and maintain positive coverage of the brand transformation, by targeting resources at those journalists with maximum impact, and to identify skeptical journalists for additional outreach.

A critical additional insight from the media analysis indicated that the product was presented negatively for its performance and for certain technical elements. These concerns became more visible over time, and whilst the product had a successful sell-in to distributors, end-user sales were significantly lower than anticipated.