Nowadays most managers seek a complete picture when it comes to return on investment and this applies to PR too. Despite this, and the developments in measurement tools for marketing and advertising, PR has lagged behind and different professionals have favoured different models. Ralf Leinemann and Elena Baikaltseva's book brings together the range of models for evaluating PR effectiveness and develops them into a series of appropriate tools for business use. Basic concepts such as balanced scorecards, business fundamentals and planning processes are all covered. The authors also introduce their own theory of PR evaluation and apply it to five different types of activity: interviews, press conferences, generic campaigns, crisis PR and long-term projects. In addition, the book contains many valuable tips and real-life examples throughout. Written for corporate PR practitioners and marketing/communications specialists, this book brings together business objectives and the evaluation of company impact in terms of media, reputation, visibility of the company and its competitors. In total, more than 60 different methods of evaluation are discussed, providing readers with an indispensable toolkit for mapping each PR task or project by selecting the appropriate method from the menu provided.
'This book helps the reader to learn about PR measurements and to make proper use of the collected information.' Laurent Balaine, Chairman and CEO, Telisma. 'This book is designed for PR professionals, and the metrics range from very simple to quite complex. Whilst these are no doubt suitable for full-time professionals. Some of them are too time-consuming for most freelancers, who have to do everything in the business (that's not a criticism of the book in any way). However, the book will be useful to all freelancers who are looking to qualify their PR efforts.' Techscribe, May 2005