Communicate magazine's October 2009 issue carried a story about PR measurement where a competitor made the prediction 90% of his clients will not use AVE's (from the current claimed 60%). My reaction was: huh?! It's one thing to inflate figures -- something the region is notoriously known for -- but to even make predictions based on made-up figures? Having been an integral part of the measurement industry in the Middle East, I would have to admit that these figures are nothing short of an impressive science fiction movie.

It is no surprise that Emaar continues to top the list of the most talked about company in the Real Estate sector in UAE dailies. It looks like the transition from Dubai to Abu Dhabi in the real estate sector is moving ahead.

After years of being in the media monitoring and evaluation business, I still find it difficult to understand why PR agencies insist on selling their 'analytical' services. I cannot stress how absurd this is: does your accounting department perform an audit?

We have been involved in a marathon of a pitch process for a client in a rather specialized industry. While it is a 3-way pitch, our fiercest competition comes from a PR agency! The fact that the client is even considering a PR agency (oh they call themselves whatever they want, marketing communication, public affairs, bla bla bla.. -- at the end of the day, as far as actual work needed for this client, it's mostly media relations with a bit of advertorials) is rather curious.

While one can understand that clients don't fully appreciate the difference between a communication evaluation agency and a public relations shop, it is harder to forgive when a client demonstrates a thorough understanding of what the evaluation reports should include and exclude.

No one in the industry here seems to see anything wrong with this picture and I am beginning to wonder if it's just me who feels that way.

Let us ask this differently then. If media evaluation companies were to start competing with PR agencies for PR briefs, would the client even notice?

The results are in: Microsoft takes the lead as the most talked about brand in the IT and Electronics segment in UAE dailies.

Now that 2008 is behind us, we had a look at how UAE government organizations and departments faired in the media, GCC-wide. While the bulk of the content came from local publications, there was a sizable regional interest in covering UAE governmental activities.

Topics were broken down as follows:

• Education
• Environment
• Economy
• Transportation
• Tourism
• Social Services
• Infrastructure
• Judicial and Legal
• Municipalities
• General

Education took the lead with 24% share of voice. Economy trailed closely behind. It is also interesting to see that while dailies covered a lot of topics on education, magazines appeared to be more interested in tourism.

I like reading Alex McNabb's column in Campaign.  I enjoyed his regular column in Campaign (back when it was with ITP and now with Motivate). His column this time talks about how he strongly disagrees about PR being naturally in growth mode in 2009 since it is a cheaper marketing alternative to advertising.

I couldn't agree more. In fact, I am not sure who in their right mind would say something so uninformed. As I have said before and continue to say, as long as PR is not measured, it will be the first to go. The fact that PR costs less than advertising does not make it more likely to be on the 2009 budget. In fact, it is most likely to shrink before they even start looking at the advertising budget.

"What is this? Press release? No no.. have the secretary draft it, I'll sign it and send it off to the journalists we know.. fire the agency.."

"But, it means we will not be able to influence public perception to position our.."

"What are you talking about? All I see is press releases.. we can do it in 10 minutes, I am not sure why we're paying $10k a month for this. Let's not waste any more money, these are trying times.."

And so goes the conversation in a lot of offices. If you think someone is saying, let's spend more on something we can't quantify, you must be out of your mind.

I do agree with McNabb in that brands who have the courage to try new approaches will prosper and grow better than those who will opt to play it safe. I just don't think it's an issue of new as in experimental. Companies who measure their marketing activities scientifically are the ones will do better. 

My father has a theory about weight loss fads: If it really works, how come there are so many fat people out there? The answer is simple: there are too many fads out there and people like shortcuts. The PR industry is not so different today. The truth of the matter is, if you don't invest in research you are continuing to shoot in the dark. If you are not going to lead an active life and eat healthy, you will gain weight. In a global meltdown, I think it's best if people stopped trusting their gut completely and back it up with facts and figures.

Disclaimer: I have never met Alex, nor have I done business with him.

Measured PR is a popular media communications & PR blog delving into the broader world of media, marketing communications and social media and providing PR resources, discussions, tools, evaluation and analysis of the PR practice, industry developments, trends, issues and latest developments through timely insights and interesting discussions. It aims to stimulate healthy debates with the goal of raising the bar on the media industry and media management and PR and marketing communications in the Middle East.

Measured PR includes a regular commentary and opinion from experts on communication management consulting, media communications and PR in the Middle East and beyond.

The blog wishes to engage with like-minded communication practitioners, companies, journalists, industry analysts, business bloggers and other influencers. It tries to explore the interwoven relationship between the media and public relations and where evaluation fits in this relationship.