Media Relations Measurement: Determining the Value of PR to Your Company's Success

Nowadays most managers seek a complete picture when it comes to return on investment and this applies to PR too. Despite this, and the developments in measurement tools for marketing and advertising, PR has lagged behind and different professionals have favoured different models. Ralf Leinemann and Elena Baikaltseva's book brings together the range of models for evaluating PR effectiveness and develops them into a series of appropriate tools for business use. Basic concepts such as balanced scorecards, business fundamentals and planning processes are all covered. The authors also introduce their own theory of PR evaluation and apply it to five different types of activity: interviews, press conferences, generic campaigns, crisis PR and long-term projects. In addition, the book contains many valuable tips and real-life examples throughout. Written for corporate PR practitioners and marketing/communications specialists, this book brings together business objectives and the evaluation of company impact in terms of media, reputation, visibility of the company and its competitors. In total, more than 60 different methods of evaluation are discussed, providing readers with an indispensable toolkit for mapping each PR task or project by selecting the appropriate method from the menu provided.

Dr Ralf Leinemann has more than 15 years of experience working in international PR, marketing and business development departments in the high-tech industry. He is currently the Communication Manager for Hewlett-Packard's Imaging and Printing Group in Europe, the Middle East and Africa with a focus on the consumer space. In 2003, he was selected to enter the Who's Who of Professionals. Elena Baikaltseva has been Public Relations and Marketing Communications Manager for Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) in the representative office in Moscow since the end of 2001. She has eight years of experience in communications functions working for the international high-tech corporations Hewlett-Packard and AMD, and collaborating with PR agencies. Her responsibilities today include PR for AMD in Russia and the CIS countries with a focus on consumer and corporate markets.