Linking Media Coverage to Outcomes

White Paper
Linking Media Coverage
To Outcomes
The Leader in integrated Media Intelligence SolutionsLINKING MEDIA COVERAGE TO OUTCOMES
Summary By:Angela Je?rey, APRVice President Editorial ResearchVMS
INTRODUCTION
The Institute for Public Relations Commission on PR Measurement & Evaluation published white papers in 2006 and2008 that looked deeply into the link between media coverage and business outcomes.1 The authors included AngelaJe?rey, APR, Vice President Editorial Research for VMS; Dr. Donald Stacks of the University of Miami, and Dr. DavidMichaelson, President of Echo Media Research. With permission from the IPR Commission, VMS is now summarizingthese papers along with their "how-to" tips to enable further distribution of the ?ndings.
Please note this summary is not a replacement for the deeper analytical framework through which the original paperswere presented. We highly encourage our readers to obtain copies of, "Exploring the Link between Volume of MediaCoverage and Business Outcomes" and "Exploring the Link between SHARE of Media Coverage and BusinessOutcomes" at www.instituteforpr.org.
METHODOLOGY
Both papers utilize case studies that were executed through an advanced linguistics, arti?cial intelligence tool withhuman-like text analysis capabilities2 that enabled the automated scoring of tone - quality-controlled by humananalysts. Because of this technology, studies that would have normally been cost-prohibitive due to large clipvolumes were done quickly and economically. The goal of these case studies, along with almost 200 others, was todetermine how changes in public discussion (unpaid media) correlated to changes in business outcomes. These casesutilize product sales, prescription volumes, medical procedure codes, customer preference survey results andsales-closing-ratios as examples of desired, and undesired, business results.
1 Two papers published by IPR are available for free at www.instituteforpr.org.2 This analysis tool is part of VMS' PRtrak measurement system; www.vmsinfo.com
The Leader in integrated Media Intelligence Solutions 2VOLUME OF MEDIA COVERAGE
This paper explores the importance of: Tonality and Message, and how they modify the e?ect of pure mediacoverage volume in correlations against outcomes.
CASE STUDIES
Study One: Pure VolumeThe graph below illustrates a study for a healthcare organization that had extensively publicized the importance ofmammograms, but didn't know if the e?ort had achieved its objective of drivingpatients to doctors' o?ces formedical procedures. The campaign was completely dependent upon media coverage.
Correlations between Editorial Coverage forMammography and Corresponding Medical Procedures (CPT Codes)
The ?ve-quarter study analyzed 47,000 articles, all of which carried clear messages of the importance ofmammograms for the early detection of cancer. This was a particularly simple study in that the message itself wasessentially neutral and factual, and therefore resonated well with the media. Also, there were no competitors withdissenting messages. As illustrated above, the correlation between clip counts and mammograms was a very highr=.89, indicating a strong relationship between coverage and business results, since procedures increased as thevolume of press went up, and decreased when it went down.
The Leader in integrated Media Intelligence Solutions 3Study 2: A Closer Look at TonalityThis next study deals with the issue of negative news, which appears to have an inverse correlation to desiredoutcomes. The old adage of, "there's no such thing as bad publicity," is clearly untrue.
On January 6th of 2006, The American College of Chest Physicians released a report saying that cough medicineswere ine?ective: "There is no clinical evidence that over-the-counter cough expectorants or suppressants relieve cough."The articles went on to say that allergy medications WERE e?ective, however, due to their drying e?ects. This news storywas immediately covered by all the major TV broadcasts (World News Tonight, Today, Early Show, Good MorningAmerica) and most of the daily newspapers. There were no changes in any other marketing mix variables during theshort time period during which this news hit and sales dropped.
Negative News on Cough Syrups Coincides with Severe Dropin Cough Segment Sales
The chart above illustrates the immedia... [download for more]