NIPR boss decries dearth of data metrics on PR spend

The Chairman, Lagos State Chapter of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR), Olusegun McMedal has decried what he termed the dearth of data metrics on public relations, a development he said renders it impossible to attain accurate measures on overall Public Relation expenditures in Nigeria.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with MARKETING EDGE in Lagos, the Institute boss noted that determining returns on investment of every PR spend remains a major challenge and industry practitioners needs to rise up to the demand and find lasting solutions to the data problem.

According to him, PR spend for the industry was determined in the past by relying on advertising value equivalency which, in turn, was dependent on calculating space allotments in newspapers. He added, however, that the process could not deliver exact measures because advertising values were in themselves inaccurate.

“We do know that the PR spend is growing. But, unfortunately, we can’t tell you authoritatively how much it is because there is also the challenge of data. It is a tough call for the practice. In fact, it is easier to measure advertising spend. And what you get is not even the profile for advertising because the ones you see are just the ones that pass through the agencies and it’s not the overall,” he explained.

He added that part of the challenges of the industry included among other things, inadequate education especially in areas of the new media, explaining that the trend had resulted overtime in the loss of major PR businesses to online practitioners.

The PR veteran, meanwhile, pointed out that things were beginning to take positive turns for the industry considering that “we now have scientific metric that can actually determine the returns on investments”.

According to him, practitioners were now smarting up in their efficiency levels by flagging off on data PR and manning it with younger generation of practitioners who could effectively manage business in that space.