PR Week’s Proof campaign received a boost this week when the IPR,
the PRCA, the Public Relations Standards Forum (PRSF) and the
Association of Media Evaluation Companies (AMEC) agreed to join forces
to produce definitive best practice guidelines for the use of research
and evaluation within the industry.
At a forum hosted by PR Week to bring together various initiatives
already in existence, it was decided that the campaign’s main objective
should be to show how measurement can improve the value of PR and its
return on investment.
All parties will work together to produce a workbook or ’toolkit’ which
defines legitimate methods of R&E and best practice for a range of
campaigns and budgets.
A working party will next meet on 23 November to approve initial
guidelines.
It has been proposed that a client panel should be formed as part of the
consultation process.
The deadline for the publication of guidelines has been set for May
1999.
They will form the basis for a second initiative by the PRSF to
establish a quality standard or ’Proof’ mark for PR.