PR

Trailblazers Mabel G. Flanley and Sally Woodward founded the first all-female public relations firm in 1944. The agency was among the earliest to practice targeted marketing communications. Their specialty was female audiences. Flanley and Woodward created a path for women, contributed to the development of professional standards and influenced other practitioners to target women audiences. Their inclusion initiatives paralleled those of other groups based on diversity of race, ethnicity and gender.

How to measure the worth of public relations was a concept David Rockland often considered. With his solid credentials in public relations and analytics, and an international reputation in the evaluation of communications, he hosted a global summit in 2010 in Barcelona to develop just such a framework to gauge PR’s impact. From it emerged the Barcelona Principles, a seven-statement framework of standards. (REUTERS / Alamy Stock Photo)

Measuring the Value of PR

2010

Seeking a return on investment is a bedrock of business. Public relations supports that mission by impacting market share, corporate reputation, employee engagement and other vital business goals. Yet for many years, the PR profession lacked a clear and consistent way to measure its own worth.

That problem vexed David Rockland, who then led Ketchum’s Global Research Network and served as CEO of the PR firm’s change management consulting arm, Ketchum Pleon Change. So, he stepped up to fix it.

With a background in analytics and a global platform as chairman of the U.S. Agency Research Leaders Group for the International Association for Measurement and Evaluation of Communications, he gathered a workgroup and planned a summit. The participants pondered an overriding question: How should the PR industry define its value?

On June 18, 2010, delegates from 33 countries gathered in Barcelona and endorsed the Barcelona Declaration of Research Principles, the first global standard to measure PR. Seven statements provided a framework that emphasized the need for goal setting, measurement of social media and both qualitative and quantitative measures. The principles were updated in 2015 and again in 2020. The Barcelona Principles 3.0 are designed to be useful for a broad scope of communications work — by practitioners with differing platforms, clients and goals:

Setting goals is an absolute prerequisite to communications planning, measurement and evaluation.

Measurement and evaluation should identify outputs, outcomes and potential impact.

Outcomes and impact should be identified for stakeholders, society and the organization.

Communication measurement and evaluation should include both qualitative and quantitative analysis.

Advertising Value Equivalents are not the value of communication.

Holistic communication measurement and evaluation includes all relevant online and offline channels. Communication measurement and evaluation are rooted in integrity and transparency to drive learning and insights.

At the Intersection of Social Justice and Public Relations

CRITICAL MOMENTS, MAJOR MOVEMENTS AND PIVOTAL PEOPLE

MLK Jr.’s March on Washington — And Two Men Who Paved the Way

1963

When Martin Luther King Jr. stepped to the podium at the March on Washington, his words of hope resonated from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial into the future: “So even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream . . .”

Behind the scenes, this pivotal event hinged on the strategy and savvy of Bayard Rustin, an aide to civil rights leader and march organizer A. Philip Randolph. Rustin was not a public relations professional, but he understood the power of peaceful demonstration and the importance of a strong message.

While Martin Luther King Jr. stood before the microphones at the August 1963 March on Washington, its success hinged on the strategy of Bayard Rustin, who understood the importance of a strong message. (Corbis via Getty Images)

Putting words to that message fell in part to speechwriter Clarence B. Jones, who was also King’s personal lawyer and adviser. Jones is credited with composing the first seven paragraphs of the epic speech.

Rustin had traveled to India in 1948, where he studied the Gandhian philosophy of nonviolence. He shared those tenets with King during the Montgomery bus boycott in 1956. Throughout the Civil Rights Movement, marchers were trained in peaceful protest.

During the Children’s Crusade in Birmingham in May 1963, Birmingham police unleashed attack dogs and high-powered water hoses. The images shocked the nation and propelled the planning for a national march.

Rustin coordinated efforts of the nation’s six leading civil rights organizations and helped craft an organizing manual, with an explanation of “Why We March,” including a focus on “jobs and freedom.”

The night before, Rustin and Jones met with King and other advisers to hash out the important points. Jones went back to his hotel room and, in the late-night hours, wrote a draft of the speech. (Rustin died in 1987. Jones is a scholar-in-residence at Stanford University and has received numerous awards for his legal and communications work for the civil rights movement.)

King began by speaking the paragraphs written by Jones, but then gospel singer Mahalia Jackson, seated with other dignitaries behind him, shouted, “Tell them about the dream, Martin!” King slid the remaining speech aside and, like a preacher uplifting a weary congregation, spoke the words that have inspired generations.