|
When a top advertiser like
Miller begins incorporating PR into its strategic
planning, you know it’s time to take notice. Applying
some new metrics suggesting that PR beats television for
return on investment, the gurus at the brewing company
are beginning to shift more of their budget towards PR.
Media and technology companies should take note, as what
affects a brewing giant can impact them as well.
In an industry that spends
an average of 61 times the money on advertising as it
does on PR, Miller was surprised to find that PR
campaigns generated 1.2 percent of base product sales
and 4 percent of incremental sales. Compared to 5.3
percent and 17.3 percent respectively for TV
advertising, the company found that PR provided a much
bigger bang for the buck.
After analyzing sales data
for two and a half years, Miller determined that it
could determine the effect of PR by assigning a value to
positive impressions generated by PR campaigns. This
allowed the company to take more of an apples-to-apples
approach when comparing advertising and PR results.
This analytical approach to
identifying and quantifying ROI for PR impacts across
all industries. Companies looking to increase market
share and gain new customers should note Miller’s
findings and take another look at their communication
strategies.
Ranjit Choudhary, the
strategic modeling specialist in Miller’s marketing
group, stated that while more research needs to be done,
Miller’s next step may be to shift some resources from
television advertising to public relations efforts.
Marketers are moving toward
more ROI models and away from traditional
reach-and-frequency models when assigning value to ad
and PR campaigns. With this in mind, consider your next
marketing moves in terms of value received for money
spent.
|
