Why business executives see PR Teams as cost centre —Expert

A Public Relations Monitoring and Measurement expert, Philip Odiakose has identified the inability of chief executives to connect with reports from PR teams as a key reason such teams are seen as fund-guzzling centre.

Odiakose, who gave this explanation in a paper, tagged: “Why Your PR Report Must Include CEO Metrics—Or Risk Losing Their Interest Entirely,” argued that for a PR report to get the buy-in of company’s chief executives, it must incorporate the role of such chief executives in PR performance report being written.

The Chief Media Analyst at P+ Measurement Services, believes executives struggle to sign off on measurement budgets because of their inability to neither relate nor connect with the report.

He noted that even while a PR report has successfully raised brand awareness, and met all other PR performance indexes, it remains incomplete without speaking directly to the leadership role in such performance.

Odiakose argued that though PR may seem intangible to some business executives, it however remains the only business function working daily to maintain the public reputation of the brand the CEO leads.

He, however, believed that despite the value PR teams bring to the table, they are often discarded by CEOs, since their reports are always silent on the performance of such CEO.

You’ll be surprised how fast a CEO’s interest sparks when they see their name with a performance score next to their competitors. It is about relatability. One of the major reasons why some executives see PR teams as a cost centre,  and why they struggle to sign off on measurement budgets  is because they simply can’t connect with the report.

“Yes, the brand got 500+ mentions. Yes, the sentiment was 80% positive. Yes, you landed an exclusive in a top-tier publication. Yes, you have raised brand awareness. But guess what? If nothing in that report speaks directly to the leadership role, you are missing a critical link,” the P+ Measurement Services boss argued.

Odiakose advised that PR should not only be about brand exposure and reputation, but should also be made to accommodate brand leadership visibility.

“When a report is full of brand numbers but doesn’t show how the leadership contributed or is being perceived, it loses the executive audience quickly,” he stated.

The P+Measurement explained that the decision of the PR monitoring agency’s decision to develop a proprietary framework (P+MCA), stemmed from the need to capture CEO-specific performance metrics.

This, he added, is not just to capture the presence of the CEOs’ names in headlines, but how they rank in sentiment, thought leadership, share of voice and positioning versus competitive CEOs.