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The following article is an excerpt from "PR News' Guide to Best Practices in PR Measurement (2006 edition)" written by Lori Copple, deputy managing director of Ruder Finn/Chicago.
As the business world evolves and the C-level becomes more attuned to the value of marketing, CMOs are finally starting to get a seat at the table. As this happens, there is increasing pressure on marketing initiatives to impact lead generation, as opposed to simply building a brand.
Nowhere is this being felt more intensely than in the world of public relations. And increasingly, the traditional measurement tools of advertising equivalency and media impressions are falling by the wayside due to a lack of sophistication and inability to truly measure the impact of a PR program beyond the more intangible metrics of message reach and awareness building.
To combat the age-old dilemma of bridging the gap between tangible business impact and public relations, in 2002 Ruder Finn developed a PR measurement model in conjunction with Dr. Frank Mulhorn, associate dean and chairman of Northwestern University's graduate program in Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC).
The model, called Ruder Finn Measurement and Integration Model (or RFMIM), is designed to meet two very important objectives: (1) make PR measurement more relevant to senior management, and (2) use it as a platform to help drive...