From AVEs to AIM: Helping the PR industry better measure impact

November 2014 sees the introduction of a new measurement service from NLA media access, which takes PR measurement beyond some of the more limited, traditional evaluation metrics such as AVEs or OTS and moves into publisher data driven insights. 

NLA media access, through its relationship with publishers, is providing media monitoring agencies and their public relations industry clients with valuable and previously unavailable new data from newspaper publishers.  NLA Article Impact Measurement (AIM), the tool delivering this data, was demonstrated to media monitoring organisations, PR agencies, membership bodies and publisher representatives at a roundtable last week.

For the first time publisher data on readership and sharing is being broken down on a per article basis. AIM brings together page views, secondary website republishing counts and social media data for each article, allowing clients to see exactly how different stories compare both in terms of baseline audience and wider viral reach. 

At the roundtable we demonstrated the insights available via AIM using the example of Tesco, a brand which has a huge range of both positive and challenging coverage to sift through recently.  Tesco’s new Hudl 2 product drove the vast majority of Twitter activity through a press mention in the Guardian whilst the adverse coverage relating to its accounting practices was outweighed by another negative story in the Evening Standard about guide dogs, which in fact had the greatest page views. Their attempt to counter this with a charitable donation had very few views.  These insights are unique to the AIM service. 

The service is still in its early stages but we expect it to shortly be available to users via licensed media monitoring organisations such as Gorkana, Precise, Prime and Meltwater. The buzz in and around the PR and evaluation industry has been very positive, with coverage appearing on a number of trade blogs, including these from Hotwire PR, PR Moment and AMEC.

If you are a business or PR agency interested in a trial of the product, please contact me on bjohns@nla.co.uk

Bob Johns, Sales and Client Service Manager, NLA media access

NLA media access introduces new PR measurement tool

NLA Article Impact Measurement

NLA media access, one of the UK’s media licensing agencies, has launched a new PR evaluation product, Article Impact Measurement.  AIM takes measurement of a PR campaign to a new level of sophistication and value -offering the ability to measure the impact of communications campaigns.

Previewed at an industry roundtable today: ‘Realising the Barcelona Principles, the future of PR measurement’ AIM has been developed in consultation with UK media monitoring agencies and will be available under licence from media monitoring and evaluation agencies.

NLA Article Impact Measurement offers PR and communications professionals access to a rich vein of previously unavailable audience data on the coverage generated on UK national newspaper websites.  It brings together publisher page view data and social media statistics at the article level into a single measure of PR impact.

Data captured by NLA Article Impact Measurement includes:

•       The total number of views of an article, provided by 10 national newspaper publisher websites
•       The count of Tweets and Retweets of an article plus total reach (follower count)
•       The number of times an article is republished, and on which third party websites

AIM offers a solution which improves markedly on previous PR industry benchmarks such as Advertising Value Equivalent.  Evaluation of the impact of campaigns and ROI from PR strategy, effective crisis management and identification of influencers will be far easier due to the new data available and ability to identify readership rates at an article by article level. 

David Pugh, Managing Director of NLA media access, commented:

“Coverage in UK newspapers remains critical to PR success and we know it is highly valued by agencies and their clients. AIM marks a big step forward in assessing the real value of individual articles.”

Barry Leggetter, CEO of the International Association for Measurement and Evaluation of Communication (AMEC), the global trade body for communications measurement said:

 “The change we are seeing in major acquisitions in the media intelligence sector is being driven not only by the offer of a global footprint, but by the need to deliver the most advanced and comprehensive range of services to the customer. What NLA media access have developed as a new measurement tool to complement and enhance existing services is consistent with our members aim to offer their customers both new products and innovation.”

ENDS

Notes to editors

About NLA media access

Originally called the Newspaper Licensing Agency, NLA media access was set up by eight national newspaper companies to protect the industry's copyright through collective licensing.  It now represents the rights of over 200 publishers.

NLA media access gives permission for organisations to copy from an extensive range of newspapers, magazines and websites and provides database services to both media monitoring agencies and publishers. In 2013 more than 200,000 organisations relied upon NLA media access annual licences.

Eighty per cent of the company’s revenues are returned to the publishers to be invested back into the industry. In 2013 NLA media access revenues equated to the salaries of 1100 journalists.

NLA infographic

Contact: Andrew May andrew.may@theopen-road.com / 0203 542 1119

Government report on intellectual property education published today

Mike Weatherley, Intellectual Property Adviser to the Prime Minister and the Conservative Member of Parliament for Hove and Portslade, has published his third IP related report entitled ‘Copyright Education and Awareness’, which examines IP education and aims to help reinforce on the public the importance of respecting IP and paying a fair price for content.

To read the report in full, click here.

In his capacity as David Cameron’s Intellectual Property Adviser, Mike has previously published two other internationally acclaimed reports. ‘Follow the Money’, which addresses the detrimental impact of illegal websites profiting from advertising. To read the report, click here. Mike has also published a report entitled ‘Search Engines and Piracy’, which outlines the shortcomings of search engine providers in the fight against online piracy. To read the Search Engines and Piracy report, click here.

Recommendations include: A step up in the coordination of IP awareness programmes, led by the IPO; Greater measurement of IP perceptions and behaviours; Incorporating IP education in the school curriculum; The BBC to create a copyright education programme; Emphasis on better, clearer information on IP education; Making better use of technology; Introduction of an IP/Education coordinator; Emphasis on reporting outcomes across Government.

Commenting, Mike said: “Getting education right on Intellectual Property awareness is paramount if, as a country, we are to property respect the value of the creative industries. I have now submitted three reports to the Prime Minister on various aspects of Intellectual Property and I hope that my education report will help shape the future of both IP education and awareness across the country.”

Commenting, the Rt Hon Sajid Javid MP, Secretary of State for Culture, Media & Sport, said: “Intellectual property underpins our creative industries. It’s what our past success was built on and it’s what our future success depends on. We need to get the message across that if people value creativity – and most do – then it has to be paid for.

“Education plays a vitally important role in changing people’s behaviour. By communicating the vital importance of copyright, not just to the success of our creative industries but to the many jobs these sectors will create, we hope to bring about behavioural change.

“Working with Mike Weatherley MP, the Prime Minister’s adviser on intellectual property, we have made important steps forward in tackling intellectual property theft in recent months but we are not complacent. There is more to do and we are determined to work alongside all parties to build a fair and legal online economy.”

For more information, please contact Mike on mike.weatherley.mp@parliament.uk or 020 7219 7216.

Please see www.mikeweatherleymp.com/photos for press photos.

Using press coverage to boost sales in your business

Press coverage in the form of comment or review remains one of the most important drivers of brand awareness, sales and reputation for any business.

In the internet era such coverage can create longer term benefit. Free publicity generated by the original article is just the first stage in a life cycle of published content.  Articles have a longer shelf life, sitting high up on search rankings, and encouraging sales leads as consumers search for goods or services.  Web links from publishers in articles are equally  valuable, helping to boost the corporate website search rankings of a business and driving traffic via referrals.

It doesn’t stop there.  Some companies want to use positive coverage about their business on their own website, influencing customers thinking about buying their goods or services with an authoritative third-party endorsement from a trusted news brand.  The content can also be shared via social media as an image or as text in online marketing activities. This is where the use of publishers’ copyrighted content falls under copyright law. Businesses should be aware that if they do wish to republish content in this way they need to request permission and pay a small fee; as they are benefiting from it for promotional purposes on their own website, blog or social media channels.

NLA media access has created a simple solution.  Let’s say a business wanted to publish  six pieces of coverage from six newspapers and magazines. Rather than contacting each publisher individually to negotiate a fee, it could contact NLA media access and purchase a blanket licence. The licence NLA media access offers to those looking to make use of published content to promote their business is the Corporate Website Republishing Licence. 

Starting at very affordable rates, as low as £158 for a small business, the licence gives you the permission to post headlines, text extracts and PDF files on yourcompany site without any of the hassle of contacting the individual publishers to gain their approval.

If your business is using publisher content in this way, you can find out more on how to take out a licence and the fees involved here.

IFRRO launches Value of Copyright campaign to improve level of copyright debate

-CopyrightLink.org website unveiled as new online home for information on copyright- 

Frankfurt, Germany, 8 October 2014 - The International Federation of Reproduction Rights Organisations (IFRRO) has announced the launch of The Value of Copyright, a campaign designed to emphasise the importance of copyright and improve information about the protection of literary and artistic works[i], primarily in the text and image-based sectors.

Inaugurating at the Frankfurt Book Fair, the campaign features a website - CopyrightLink.org - as its focal point, which aims to provide a single online access point for international and local information on copyright. The website includes news and events, relevant legislation, useful facts, details on the value of the protection of literary and artistic works, in addition to its usage and importance. It provides information on copyright issues, showcases best practices, hosts a forum for all involved to explain how copyright affects them while giving links to authoritative sources on copyright matters, including legal issues. 

Copyright is a vital source of income for those who create and invest in the content on which the digital economy depends. In addition to the contribution of the exploitation of primary rights through sales and licensing, a survey by PwC in the UK showed that some 25% of authors derive more than 60% of their income from secondary uses of their works, and that UK educational publishers depend on secondary income for some 12% of their earnings, which equates to around 19% of their investment in new works. Information such as this, which effectively highlights the vital role copyright plays in society, is publicly available, and should find its way into the current copyright debate.

Commenting on the launch, Olav Stokkmo, Chief Executive of IFRRO, stated: “We felt there was a need for a resource to allow people to more easily find accurate information on copyright and to help them better understand why it is so important. This is why we decided to launch this campaign and website; to dramatically improve the overall level of the copyright debate and enhance access to relevant and reliable information and resources.”

He continued: “Only through a clear understanding of the facts about copyright and its importance to society at large, can informed decisions be made on how copyright can be set at the heart of a vibrant, growing digital economy, which is responsive to the needs of both creators and users and beneficial to society as a whole.”

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[i] Berne Convention : this covers legislation such as copyright in the Anglo-Saxon countries, droit d’auteur in France …