We’ve recently had the pleasure of adding James Farquharson to the Porter Novelli technology team, and as befits a long-standing blogger he’s written a few words introducing himself and how he sees his new role. See – and hear – what he has to say below.

Well, this has been a fast few days. In something just over a flash, I am embedded here at Porter Novelli, in the thick of it again working with a great team.

This is the most abridged version of my background I can manage: my 16 year technology career first started in sales, followed by five years marketing for a global software company, this segued into online community management and through that into PR. I’ve represented technology companies both big and small, each bringing their own challenges and rewards. 

I was recruited by Porter Novelli to add strength to the tech practice in London. We have a great portfolio of technology clients. Their businesses span consumer and enterprise markets in services, hardware and software. Each has a great corporate story and is well-placed to use interest in the cloud, consumerisation and mobility to further their corporate goals. I’ll make sure we deliver excellent results for them and through that work help build our UK technology business.

In addition, I joined to support the development of the Porter Novelli technology practice globally. Porter Novelli acquired Voce Communications, a leading West Coast tech agency, last year. This has given Porter Novelli a significant boost in terms of technology sector skills and resources, as well as business opportunities for the entire network. The UK is typically a vital market for US companies in Europe, so it is incredibly important to our global proposition that London’s technology practice is as strong as it can be.

I’m a firm believer that PR must be relentless in its support of a client’s business objectives. It’s the surest route to job satisfaction for the team and the best way to gain the respect and loyalty of the client.  Porter Novelli’s culture is in perfect sync with this so I’m confident that together we have a great future.   

If you are interested to hear what a member of the Dorset diaspora sounds like, please do watch the short video above.

So the European Summit on Measurement in Barcelona has agreed seven principles for measuring PR, which are:

• Goal setting and measurement are fundamental aspects of any PR programmes.
• Media measurement requires quantity and quality: cuttings in themselves are not enough.
• Advertising Value Equivalents (AVEs) do not measure the value of PR and do not inform future activity.
• Social media can and should be measured.
• Measuring outcomes is preferred to measuring media results.
• Business results can and should be measured where possible.
• Transparency and replicability are paramount to sound measurement.

I’m sure that the industry’s pleased that some agreement has been made, but which client doesn’t insist on targets? PR agencies that can’t show they’ve improved the business in some way – sending customers to the site, changing perceptions of the brand, growing the customer base etc – won’t last very long with their clients, especially in this climate.

The move away from AVE is a good thing. These days a direct comparison to advertising is too damaging; PR should be learning to be judged on its own merits, not as a ‘cheaper’ advertising option. The emphasis now is much more on who we’re reaching and how, measured in changes of perception, attitude and behaviour, rather than eyeballs in total.

Social media measurement is a work in progress. Many clients are still distrustful of social media because it seems like such a lot of effort for so little return.

This isn’t really the fault of measurement; it’s more often to do with the difficulty of turning social media to a brand’s advantage. People engaged in their own conversations in their own world are much more difficult to tune into and attract then traditional audiences, and it does take continuous effort over a long period of time. Small bursts of social media activity rarely get the results desired. However, social media can be done and it can be done well with commitment and as more examples emerge, clients will begin to have faith.

Porter Novelli’s measurement nirvana:

• The ultimate business goal should be contained with the brief
• The incremental goals that will help us get there should be agreed as soon as the campaign or strategy has been formulated
• Coverage should be measured in terms of behaviour change as well as reach (this will encourage agencies to be much more rigorous in trying to seed a call to action within coverage)
• Coverage ROI should be justified in terms of reaching the target audience, not huge numbers of of possibly irrelevant people
• Building up advocacy over time isn’t something that lends itself to big, impressive stats and shouldn’t be judged in this way. Social media work usually falls into this category. It’s a long game, not a quick burst of activity. While stats such as blog posts, Twitter followers or Facebook fans are useful, they need to show they have contributed to the overall business goal
• There aren’t very many campaigns that operate via only one channel these days. Measurement of the success of integration should be built into any programme – eg did the ad drive people to the microsite? What did they say about it on Twitter? Has that piece of coverage provoked a blog debate? What path did users take through the channels and what was the typical outcome?
• Measure each campaign on its own terms. Sometimes capturing the attention of 12 individuals means more to an organisation than a piece of coverage that reaches 12,000 members of the public and that should be respected