2007 Predictions

While the groundhog only tries to predict the next few weeks weather we have tried to offer some views on the future for PR and measurement in the year ahead and beyond. As these are only our personal views it comes with a big health warning!

While people appreciate data and your interpretation of it, what unquestionably they like are predictions.

If you are in the game of picking shares, your choices can come back and haunt you. If you work in the area of communications, (well…the research side) making predictions can be just as fraught.

The following is a selection of ideas which are more fully expanded upon in a PDF document on our website. We would welcome comments, including criticisms where you think we have got it wrong.

Our predictions were helped following a recent event at the CIPR where Larry Weber, formally of Weber Shandwick, spoke about the tipping point that will come in about 18 months time. At that point online media will overtake traditional media. He spoke about what is often referred to as Web 2.0 and the reinvention of the role of communications.

There are massive implications for media research, which has traditionally measured media output. We believe this could result in the marginalisation of OTS and AVE metrics and their replacement with a new set of media out take measures, moving PR one crucial step closer to public outcome.

New possibilities abound in the guise of automated media favourability and message usage programs, although we believe they are nowhere near accurate enough to use.

Finally, we offer some thoughts on the new rules of the online media game and specifically astroturfing and ghosting.

Take a look at the full report here.