Over at Proving the Value of Public Relations, Don Bartholomew makes some excellent points on the topic of "Reining In The Hype About Relationship Measurement."
He won't be the last to voice these or similar objections. Relationship measurement is a bit unproven as yet; it needs a lot more research and study, and the subject will undoubtably get deeper and more interesting as that happens. And it doesn't directly measure PR's impact on business outcomes, which is what most people want to or wish they could measure.
Don's objections will be proved more or less serious as time goes by and more research and practical relationship measurement efforts are undertaken.
In the meantime, note that relationship measurement, in the form of the Grunig and Hon survey technique, does have immediate practical value, as demonstrated by Forrest Anderson's effective use of it to solve a client's problems. --Bill Paarlberg
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