Integrated Communications...a philosophy
Welcome to An Integrated Perspective, a forum for all aspects of integrated marketing and communications.
My personal focus has been on correlating the impact of news and editorial coverage on business outcomes. Since late 1999, I have been developing tools and metrics and the concept of Share of Discussion, which has shown significant relevance in correlating earned media / PR with business outcomes such as sales, preference, loyalty, awareness, etc. There are two white papers that do a good job of explaining most of these findings on the Institute for Public Relations website. They are also attached below.
We have been able to prove that news coverage drives outcomes, but we have had less success in demonstrating the same types of correlations for paid advertising. We believe an advertising effectiveness metric is needed and are actively working to incorporate one into our research and analysis.
While we have specific beliefs on what is needed, how paid and unpaid media intersect and support one another, or the impact of one form of communications over another, our core belief is that an integrated approach, combining all forms of media communications, is key.
Having worked on both the PR firm and client side of the business as a marketing and PR executive, I can attest to the value of this model. Success accountability for media and PR spending is now the rule not the exception and there is a need to show the direct and indirect correllation of all consumer communication touch points to business outcomes. All advertisers need to know what external media influences are affecting sales, profit, reputation and other important metrics. "C Suite" executives need to embrace integration of all their communications.