Just finished a few days of PR-related conferencing in the Motor City. Couple of quick thoughts.
- Bringing about 3000 PR peeps to a city with an image problem is simply brilliant
- Attending a PR-specific conference when you spend a lot of time at tech events is a refreshing change of pace (except for the enormous line at the ladies room)
- PR folks across all industries are catching onto social media and the importance of TRANSPARENCY - beyond just the high tech ones
- PR people are eager to share experiences, introduce themselves to strangers, network, ask questions, and speak up in sessions where they disagree with the speaker - all making for a highly interactive conference
- Only about 1% of conference attendees came to sessions with their laptops (I did the first day but soon discovered there was no wifi)
- Many of the proprietary PR internet applications in the expo center only run on IE
- Most of the PR professionals had not heard of Mozilla but were familiar with Firefox
- All of the PR students I met both knew of, used, and evangelized Firefox (hello 2009 intern pool!)
More to come when I've had time to digest my notes.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Mozilla PR Metrics
At Mozilla, we are exploring ways to evaluate public relations programs to determine both short and long term efficacy. How do we know if we’re getting better if there’s no baseline indication of impact? The answer isn’t a pure science. True PR metrics are not just quantitative but qualitative as well. Quantitative analysis explores things like total number of articles, mentions in the press, coverage by country, etc. Qualitative analysis includes message penetration as well as audience and tone analysis. It turns out they are equally important in evaluating the success of Mozilla’s major PR initiatives.
PR is notoriously difficult to quantify. Part of the challenge is developing PR metrics that will be meaningful over time. If PR objectives are constantly shifting, certain programs will undoubtedly get more attention than others. Setting PR metrics is a semi-existential undertaking. Will things that matter today still matter a year from now? Two years? Ten? Fifty?
The first step in setting PR metrics is to look at our overarching PR/Communications goals. From there we can determine a solid methodology for tracking them in the short and long term. The idea is to compare apples to apples.
In the pre-Internet days, every PR professional had a ruler at his or her desk and would simply count newspaper and magazine column inches. If the number of inches increased quarter over quarter or year over year, it was presumed that the PR team was doing a good job. Apples to apples? Yes. Meaningful? Not really. Print inches are great if every story is glowing but not if the content written in those inches says lousy things about the company/product/executive team/etc.
Quantitative Analysis
Quantitative analysis is decidedly less labor intensive than qualitative analysis and can be broken down into a number of subcategories. This is useful for media analysis in countries where we lack native speakers helping with PR. Much of the analysis can be done using structured query language and complex media databases. There are a number of these media database programs, but the people in the US tend to be most familiar with Lexis Nexis because of its prevalence on college campuses. The resulting analysis offers a breadth of insights about where, when, and on which topics we’re getting coverage.
Examples of quantitative reports we can generate based on media tracking systems in place at Mozilla:
• Number of articles*
• Coverage by topic/keyword*
• Coverage by country*
• Coverage by language*
• Coverage by media type*
• Coverage within a specific date range*
• Overlays of active user data
• Competitive coverage
• Analysis of outreach
o Number of reporters contacted v. number of reporters briefed
o Number of reporters briefed v. number who wrote articles
• Apollo tracking – Mozilla mentions compared to other major technology companies (170,000 Web and print technology articles in 13 countries)
• Firefox market share (Xiti for Europe, Net Applications for worldwide)
*Coverage maintained through Meltwater News System (only online coverage)
Use case for quantitative PR analysis:
The number of articles around Firefox during June 2007 looks very different than the number of articles written during June 2008. This is because Firefox 3 launched in 2008 but there was not a comparable launch happening at the same time a year prior. To make these numbers meaningful, we compared coverage for the Firefox 2 launch to the Firefox 3 launch. This gives us a much better sense of our PR reach over time.
The analysis of Firefox 2 v Firefox 3 coverage shows steady media interest throughout the betas followed by a statistically significant spike in launch day coverage. We know the media covering betas are primarily technology press and that more media outlets write articles about Firefox once it reaches general availability (GA). The graph is in keeping with what we expected to see, but it’s very interesting to see it demonstrated visually.
Qualitative Analysis
Qualitative analysis can be very time and labor intensive, but often covers the things ordinary article counts miss. This type of analysis attempts to answer the following questions:
• Who did these articles reach and were they the target audience for our news?
• What key messages are they going to take away from the article?
• Was the tone of the article positive, negative, or neutral?
Qualitative analysis is much more subjective but covers changes in types of coverage, rather than simply volume. Qualitative offers a “depth” counterpart to the “breadth” that quantitative analysis offers. Through qualitative analysis, we learn more about which messages are resonating with specific audiences. From this, we can uncover future targets for PR outreach.
Examples of qualitative reports we can generate based on media tracking systems in place at Mozilla:
• Key message penetration
• Coverage in top publications: tech, business, consumer
• Tone analysis: positive, negative, neutral
Use case for qualitative PR analysis:
For the Firefox 3 launch, there were literally thousands of articles from around the globe. The sheer volume of coverage was impressive but we wanted to focus on getting answers to the qualitative questions above. It would have taken our entire PR team working around the clock for months on end to fully analyze every Firefox 3 article. Instead, we opted to review non-tech coverage to see which messages non-users were most likely to have encountered during the launch. The analysis is available here in PDF format.
Upon review, we found that all of the top non-tech publications had positive to neutral articles about Firefox 3. Key messages were picked up throughout. We did not conduct this type of review for Firefox 2 so we do not have a second data point to contrast the launches.
Conclusion
The qualitative and quantitative analyses from the Firefox 3 launch were Mozilla’s first look at how our PR activities relate to press coverage. We long suspected that the structure put in place for mainstream PR outreach and the increase in spokesperson training across the organization would result in a net positive change in press coverage; only we had no way of demonstrating that numerically. Until now…
This post is meant to kick off a conversation about PR metrics. If we’re not analyzing PR activities, it’s hard to tell if we’re improving. Our goal is to post ongoing analysis of how we’re mapping to Mozilla’s PR objectives from both a quantitative and qualitative standpoint. The program is new and we’re starting with only a few data points. We hope to grow over time and generate better analysis to increase the impact of our PR campaigns.
PR is notoriously difficult to quantify. Part of the challenge is developing PR metrics that will be meaningful over time. If PR objectives are constantly shifting, certain programs will undoubtedly get more attention than others. Setting PR metrics is a semi-existential undertaking. Will things that matter today still matter a year from now? Two years? Ten? Fifty?
The first step in setting PR metrics is to look at our overarching PR/Communications goals. From there we can determine a solid methodology for tracking them in the short and long term. The idea is to compare apples to apples.
In the pre-Internet days, every PR professional had a ruler at his or her desk and would simply count newspaper and magazine column inches. If the number of inches increased quarter over quarter or year over year, it was presumed that the PR team was doing a good job. Apples to apples? Yes. Meaningful? Not really. Print inches are great if every story is glowing but not if the content written in those inches says lousy things about the company/product/executive team/etc.
Quantitative Analysis
Quantitative analysis is decidedly less labor intensive than qualitative analysis and can be broken down into a number of subcategories. This is useful for media analysis in countries where we lack native speakers helping with PR. Much of the analysis can be done using structured query language and complex media databases. There are a number of these media database programs, but the people in the US tend to be most familiar with Lexis Nexis because of its prevalence on college campuses. The resulting analysis offers a breadth of insights about where, when, and on which topics we’re getting coverage.
Examples of quantitative reports we can generate based on media tracking systems in place at Mozilla:
• Number of articles*
• Coverage by topic/keyword*
• Coverage by country*
• Coverage by language*
• Coverage by media type*
• Coverage within a specific date range*
• Overlays of active user data
• Competitive coverage
• Analysis of outreach
o Number of reporters contacted v. number of reporters briefed
o Number of reporters briefed v. number who wrote articles
• Apollo tracking – Mozilla mentions compared to other major technology companies (170,000 Web and print technology articles in 13 countries)
• Firefox market share (Xiti for Europe, Net Applications for worldwide)
*Coverage maintained through Meltwater News System (only online coverage)
Use case for quantitative PR analysis:
The number of articles around Firefox during June 2007 looks very different than the number of articles written during June 2008. This is because Firefox 3 launched in 2008 but there was not a comparable launch happening at the same time a year prior. To make these numbers meaningful, we compared coverage for the Firefox 2 launch to the Firefox 3 launch. This gives us a much better sense of our PR reach over time.
The analysis of Firefox 2 v Firefox 3 coverage shows steady media interest throughout the betas followed by a statistically significant spike in launch day coverage. We know the media covering betas are primarily technology press and that more media outlets write articles about Firefox once it reaches general availability (GA). The graph is in keeping with what we expected to see, but it’s very interesting to see it demonstrated visually.
Qualitative Analysis
Qualitative analysis can be very time and labor intensive, but often covers the things ordinary article counts miss. This type of analysis attempts to answer the following questions:
• Who did these articles reach and were they the target audience for our news?
• What key messages are they going to take away from the article?
• Was the tone of the article positive, negative, or neutral?
Qualitative analysis is much more subjective but covers changes in types of coverage, rather than simply volume. Qualitative offers a “depth” counterpart to the “breadth” that quantitative analysis offers. Through qualitative analysis, we learn more about which messages are resonating with specific audiences. From this, we can uncover future targets for PR outreach.
Examples of qualitative reports we can generate based on media tracking systems in place at Mozilla:
• Key message penetration
• Coverage in top publications: tech, business, consumer
• Tone analysis: positive, negative, neutral
Use case for qualitative PR analysis:
For the Firefox 3 launch, there were literally thousands of articles from around the globe. The sheer volume of coverage was impressive but we wanted to focus on getting answers to the qualitative questions above. It would have taken our entire PR team working around the clock for months on end to fully analyze every Firefox 3 article. Instead, we opted to review non-tech coverage to see which messages non-users were most likely to have encountered during the launch. The analysis is available here in PDF format.
Upon review, we found that all of the top non-tech publications had positive to neutral articles about Firefox 3. Key messages were picked up throughout. We did not conduct this type of review for Firefox 2 so we do not have a second data point to contrast the launches.
Conclusion
The qualitative and quantitative analyses from the Firefox 3 launch were Mozilla’s first look at how our PR activities relate to press coverage. We long suspected that the structure put in place for mainstream PR outreach and the increase in spokesperson training across the organization would result in a net positive change in press coverage; only we had no way of demonstrating that numerically. Until now…
This post is meant to kick off a conversation about PR metrics. If we’re not analyzing PR activities, it’s hard to tell if we’re improving. Our goal is to post ongoing analysis of how we’re mapping to Mozilla’s PR objectives from both a quantitative and qualitative standpoint. The program is new and we’re starting with only a few data points. We hope to grow over time and generate better analysis to increase the impact of our PR campaigns.
Monday, September 29, 2008
BusinessWeek's 25 Most Influential People on the Web
Exciting news - BusinessWeek just published their list of the 25 most influential people on the Web and we have two Mozillians on the list! Mitchell Baker and Joi Ito were both included!
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Also good but from a different angle
Jason's been getting a lot of attention for this one. Figure it's good to repost it in addition to my last repost about PR 101.
PS - the repost is sorta late because I was traveling this summer (sans computer).
Getting your PR right is important in the way the decor of a restaurant is important: folks like a nice-looking restaurant, but they are only going to go to it once if the food sucks. What you put on the plate--your product--is the most important.
PS - the repost is sorta late because I was traveling this summer (sans computer).
PR 101
Came across this great post from Mark Cowlin from Cafepress about how and when to get started with PR. Thought it was worth sharing with others. It's a multi-part post so be sure to click through to the next section when you get to the bottom.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Pre-honeymoon horoscope
From iGoogle:
You are growing stronger day-by-day as you move closer to realizing your goals. But there appears to be so much on your plate now that you wish you accomplished more when you had extra time on your hands. Fortunately, you may be ready to accept a more balanced approach to life. Ease off on the gas pedal just enough to enjoy the ride. You'll still reach your destination on time.
You are growing stronger day-by-day as you move closer to realizing your goals. But there appears to be so much on your plate now that you wish you accomplished more when you had extra time on your hands. Fortunately, you may be ready to accept a more balanced approach to life. Ease off on the gas pedal just enough to enjoy the ride. You'll still reach your destination on time.
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Three days and counting...
Planning a wedding can be extremely stressful. There are brides who take sabbaticals from work in order to plan their weddings. Others hire high-price professional wedding planners to help with the coordination and execution. And others opt to go it alone.
On the night my fiancee and I got engaged, we made the decision to plan our wedding in San Francisco, where we've both lived for many years. We're East Coast transplants so planning the wedding here meant it would be very difficult for our families to support us during location scouting, vendor selection, menu selection, compiling guest lists, selecting gift registries, ketubah and wedding ring selection, dress selection and alterations, music selection, and general coordination of the entire event. We both work pretty intensive full time jobs and wedding planning was going to take a backseat if we didn’t figure out a way to get on top of it.
How do we plan a wedding where nearly everyone except the bride and groom are from out of town? How do we make sure that our moms don’t miss out on the experience of planning the wedding with us? How do we bridge the 3000-mile distance between our guests and us? How do we get the wedding of our dreams without diverting too much attention from our demanding jobs?
I had an idea.
I spend an inordinate amount of time sitting in front of a computer. In fact, outside of Silicon Valley, the amount of time I spend online might be considered a severe illness. Lucky for me, I live in California where this is just par for the course.
I’m three days away from my wedding and the only tool I used was free and under my nose the whole time. Firefox 3. My browser of choice since the first beta came out.
Announcing that I wanted to plan my wedding using a Web browser that hadn't yet been declared "final" made some people very nervous. "You mean you're not only planning your wedding online, you're also planning it with BETA software?!" The moms were sufficiently horrified. What if something crashes? What if you lose everything you've been working on? What if? What if? The moms had an abundance of "what if's," particularly around wedding planning.
There was an opportunity buried in this challenge. I work on public relations for Mozilla. Much of my job involves talking about the importance of the browser, why it matters, why it’s more than a commodity, how it can make you more efficient, more effective, and more organized. So, I decided to “dog food” Firefox 3 and plan my entire wedding on the Web and then share how I did it. Here’s a quick run down of all of the things I’ve used the Web to plan my wedding. After the honeymoon, I’ll let you know how it turned out. :)
Using the Firefox 3 Awesome Bar:
Using Gmail and Google Documents:
On the night my fiancee and I got engaged, we made the decision to plan our wedding in San Francisco, where we've both lived for many years. We're East Coast transplants so planning the wedding here meant it would be very difficult for our families to support us during location scouting, vendor selection, menu selection, compiling guest lists, selecting gift registries, ketubah and wedding ring selection, dress selection and alterations, music selection, and general coordination of the entire event. We both work pretty intensive full time jobs and wedding planning was going to take a backseat if we didn’t figure out a way to get on top of it.
How do we plan a wedding where nearly everyone except the bride and groom are from out of town? How do we make sure that our moms don’t miss out on the experience of planning the wedding with us? How do we bridge the 3000-mile distance between our guests and us? How do we get the wedding of our dreams without diverting too much attention from our demanding jobs?
I had an idea.
I spend an inordinate amount of time sitting in front of a computer. In fact, outside of Silicon Valley, the amount of time I spend online might be considered a severe illness. Lucky for me, I live in California where this is just par for the course.
I’m three days away from my wedding and the only tool I used was free and under my nose the whole time. Firefox 3. My browser of choice since the first beta came out.
Announcing that I wanted to plan my wedding using a Web browser that hadn't yet been declared "final" made some people very nervous. "You mean you're not only planning your wedding online, you're also planning it with BETA software?!" The moms were sufficiently horrified. What if something crashes? What if you lose everything you've been working on? What if? What if? The moms had an abundance of "what if's," particularly around wedding planning.
There was an opportunity buried in this challenge. I work on public relations for Mozilla. Much of my job involves talking about the importance of the browser, why it matters, why it’s more than a commodity, how it can make you more efficient, more effective, and more organized. So, I decided to “dog food” Firefox 3 and plan my entire wedding on the Web and then share how I did it. Here’s a quick run down of all of the things I’ve used the Web to plan my wedding. After the honeymoon, I’ll let you know how it turned out. :)
Using the Firefox 3 Awesome Bar:
- Location scouting
- Vendor selection
- Gift registry
- Ketubah and Wedding Ring Design
- Wedding Dress Selection
Using Gmail and Google Documents:
- Compiling Guest Lists
- Menu Selection
- General Coordination
- Music Selection
- Shared Scheduling/Calendaring
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