From The Silver Anvils to Your PR Campaign: Lessons To Learn From

As a Silver Anvil judge for PRSA over the last four years, I've seen some very good entries that deserved to win our industry's most prestigious award and ones that made me scratch my head. In both cases, there are things that all public relations practitioners can learn from. Over the course of the next couple of blog entries, I will provide some insight on the good, bad and the ugly.

The first topic of discussion is measurable objectives.

The best campaigns are those that state a clear and defined objective that is accountable through a specific measurement. In my view, measurable objectives address behavioral and attitudinal changes with a target audience to clearly demonstrate that the "needle has moved" from preliminary research indicating a need or opportunity. And those who win the Silver Anvil Award clearly state the above.

For instance, to increase positive awareness of a brand by 20 percent within a core audience is a good defined measure. From a baseline study to a study conducted afterward, data can be collected to demonstrate that an action has occurred because of a specific strategic effort. So too are tier 1 objectives such as increasing share of voice, changing perception levels and increasing brand value or equity. Even a tier 2 objective such as driving traffic to a sales channel, such as Web or call center, is good as long as it can be measured.

Yet, in many, many instances, we see generic objectives that have no stated outcome or goal. For instance, we see "increase overall awareness" come across our desk in nearly 75 percent of all entries. Does that mean 1 percent or 1000 percent and how does it impact a specific need. Same with "increase media coverage." These are not a good objectives because there is no measurement to determine overall effectiveness. And the latter, increase media coverage, is a tactic that leads to a attitudinal objective rather than an objective itself.

Simply put, a good objective is one that can be measured through data that clearly demonstrates change or progress within a target audience. If you can't measure what you're trying to do, then why do it?

In later entries, we'll discuss creativity, research, execution and evaluation.