In this interview, the Lead Consultant of Nigerian leading and fastest
growing Independent PR measurement and evaluation agency, Philip Odiakose,
spoke on the need and benefit to have a body that regulates the activities of
Independent Media Monitoring and Measurement Agencies in Nigeria.
1. You have been a strong advocator for an Independent
Media Monitoring and Measurement for a year now, what has been the
reaction of the IMC industry at large to your advocacy?
A. As I have always said, independent media measurement is
the future and we are glad that that the IMC industry has started yielding to
our plea. Since we started the campaign for an Independent measurement and
evaluation to better brand experience, acceptance from PR agencies
and communications managers has increased by 20% from 0%. Again, we are not
there yet, but we are taking giant strides to make both PR agencies and clients
understand the value of an independent measurement and evaluation
service.
2. You were recently in Ghana for AMEC Measurement Month,
can you share with us some of the highlights of the event and what can you say
the acceptance of Independent Measurement and Evaluation in the continent
like presently?
A. Yes, we co-hosted the event with Media Monitor in Ghana
for the AMEC Measurement Month. The AMEC Measurement Month initially used to
run within a period of one week, but due to the increasing interest of
practitioners in Measurement and Evaluation, AMEC Measurement Week became
extended to a period of one month. It was a forum that required PR Measurement
consultants around the world to sensitize PR agencies, communications managers
and media practitioners on the importance to integrate measurement and
evaluation into their communications strategy and the importance of the new
AMEC framework.
We were also there to communicate our success rate as there
has been an increase in awareness for brands and communications managers
to see the need to engage an Independent measurement and evaluation
agency for brand health check and performance audit, which is something
that P+ has been pioneering and preaching for the Nigeria market. Brands are
starting to understand that allowing their PR agencies to mark their own
homework is doing a lot of damage to brands.
3. Is the current Advertising Value Equivalent (AVE)
method being used by practitioners good enough for communication/PR evaluation?
A: The fight against the use of AVE has been on for decades,
the use of AVE in this part of the country is still very high as agencies
believe it is the only way to show value for their spend, which the AVE
analysis has been doing a lot of damage than good to brands in their care.
It is important to note that at P+ Measurement Services we use measurement
standards which are acceptable all over the world and we stand with the Barcelona
Principle 2:0 vs 5 which states that AVE is not the
true reflection of value for ROI. Let me make this clear, that the word
ROI is wrongly used in the PR practice, as all eyes tend to look at the
financial figure in PR, neglecting the fact that PR is all about reputation,
image building, crisis management and media relations. So when measuring the
impact of PR on brands, key KPIs like, JRM, SOI, SOV, reach, cyberspace
analysis, spokesperson impact, reputation measurement, journalist/Blogger
loyalty analysis, message sentiment analysis, competitive analysis should be
looked deeply into. Public and Media perception Audit of a brand
should be checked quarterly or bi-annually; which will require the input of an
Independent Measurement and Evaluation agency.
4. Why do you think we should have an Independent
Measurement and Evaluation body in Nigeria? What are the pros and cons?
A: I think the creation of such body is long overdue, we
have a lot of media monitoring and evaluation agencies in Nigeria,
which have been in operation in Nigeria for years under the umbrella of PRCAN
and APCON. I think it is time we own an association and a body that regulate
and creates best practices for media monitoring and evaluation in Nigeria. For example,
South Africa has an Independent Association called SAMMA (South African Media
Monitoring and Measurement Association) governing the Media Monitoring and
Measurement consultant. There are no Independent associations in Nigeria for
the consultant in Nigeria, which is why some of us run to APCON or PRCAN when
an association letter is required to get certain businesses which are very
wrong.
Secondly, the non-availability of an Independent monitoring
and measurement body, gives the reason why PR or advertising agencies can take
Independent monitoring briefs; which is unethical, unhealthy and unprofessional
for an agency to mark their own homework. It is not right for you to be the
accused, the judge and jury of your work
Having an Independent Monitoring and Measurement association
will break such unethical practices and bridge the gap between PR agencies and
independent measurement practitioners.
5. There are rumors that some PR agencies are considering
the establishment of new agencies that will cover communication measurement and
evaluation, do you think it's possible for such agencies to be objective in
their reports?
A: Really, that will be unprofessional for such PR agency,
as well as unhealthy for a brand. I think we need to stop looking at the monthly
PR retainer for a minute and think of the brand health, questions like 'Is it
healthy for me to mark my own homework and still deliver value to the
brand"?
It is still awkward when I hear PR agencies say they do
media monitoring in-house, a known Communications director said and I
quote “PR agencies marking their own homework is just like a
student who writes an exam and also mark his own scripts". I think PR
agencies should start seeing Independnet Measurement and Evaluation agencies as
friends rather than competitors as we are all in the business to create an
unforgettable brand experience.
6. Are brand owners giving encouraging support for your
operations so far?
A: I will say the sensitization is penetrating
gradually and fast, as brands are beginning to separate Media
monitoring and measurement from PR agency briefs. Communications and PR
managers are also turning advocates for the independent measurement as they
have seen the impact and value we have provided with our timely media
intelligence report. Business decisions are made and strategies are created
from our work and we expect more ownership from more communications and brand
managers in the future to be advocates. An example of such is the just
concluded Edo state governorship election, which P+ Measurement Services was
appointed as the Independent Monitoring and Measurement Consultant for one of
the aspirant, our timely delivery and media intelligence report played a major
role in the emergence of the current elected Governor of the state; in which we
worked alongside Tony Usidamen, the CEO of UBURU an Independent communications
agency in Lagos, and Media manager to the Governor during the campaign.
7. How many Independent Monitoring and Measurement agencies do we have presently in Nigeria?
A: You will be shocked to know, we have over 7 known media
monitoring and measurement agencies in Nigeria; that is why it is
imperative to create an Independent Monitoring and Measurement body to regulate
and set best practices for our industry and guiding measurement and
evaluation activities in the right direction..
8. Any on-going plan towards the establishment of a
government recognized body a reality?
A: The plan is already in motion and being implemented as we
speak, but that will not stop members from belonging to the global body
AMEC, which governs the activities of all measurement and evaluation
practitioners in the world. P+ Measurement Services happens to be a
member of AMEC.
9. What else will you like to share with us?
A: The future of the monitoring and measurement industry in
Nigeria is an industry where we are called in during the planning phase to help
determine a scope for how to measure results of campaigns on all media
platforms from the start. Where brands and consumers will enjoy a full brand
experience knowing that the right research and data is given all through each
campaign, where agencies and clients are in unison and I will not stop
preaching the importance of a unified smooth working IMC which includes
independent measurement and evaluation.
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