ABSTRACT
Audiences today assist with the marketing of products in a variety of ways, ranging from producing commercials to engaging in online word-of-mouth endorsements, to integrating brand messages into their own communication platforms. A strategic approach can garner positive publicity, deflect negative coverage, and inform, educate or motivate behaviour via the best media channels. In advertising and marketing communication, sales figures provide a simple measurement of success. In Public relations (PR) and communication management, despite aiming for SMART objectives, measurement can be more difficult; media engagement can be harder to put a price on, it is often more subtle, and can sometimes occur over lengthy periods of time—for example, changing behaviours of water consumption or eating caged eggs or adopting renewable energy. Macnamara points to a lack of evaluation in the PR and communication industries, but nevertheless encourages it, noting that effective evaluation can be achieved via a range of measurement tools.
