Mrs. Nkiru Olumide-Ojo, Head, Marketing & Corporate Communications at Stanbic IBTC, |
Mrs. Nkiru Olumide-Ojo, Head, Marketing & Corporate
Communications at Stanbic IBTC, has challenged Public Relations
consultants in Nigeria to adopt available technology in the measurement
of impact of PR activities on their clients’ business.
Olumide-Ojo, who was the guest speaker at the 5th Public Relations
Consultants Association of Nigeria (PRCAN) Monthly Breakfast Meeting
held in Ikeja, Lagos last week Thursday, dismissed the widely held
notion that PR could not be measured, explaining that there are
available technology that can help with measurement.
In her presentation on ‘Public Relations Agency-Client
Relationship: A view from both sides’, Olumide-Ojo said that, for
example, Word Mapping could be done using Google and other available
tools that would determine how many times key messages were mentioned
and their impact.
According to Olumide-Ojo, who started out her career on the Agency
side of PR practice, “we deny ourselves more credibility if we do not
mark our own work,” adding that PR measurement agencies were springing
up now. “It is important that we patronise them. We don’t have to wait
for annual brand health checks before we see how well we have fared,”
she added.
Speaking on client’s expectations of PR agencies, Olumide-Ojo
advised PR consultants to be more proactive in attending to clients’
needs. She advised that PR agencies must anticipate challenges and offer
PR solutions to deal with them.
She admonished: “Clients want their PR agencies to take up the role
of a consultant. They want an agency that would look at a situation and
give professional advice. They feel more comfortable with an agency
that is able to do that. It is the easiest way for agencies to earn
respect and trust as they would see you as a strong partner rather than a
messenger.”
She stressed the need for PR consultants to understand the client’s
business. According to her, clients get impatient with consultants that
find it difficult to understand terminologies of their industry. “When
clients know that you speak their language, they are more comfortable
with you,” she said.
Olumide-Ojo said that PR in Nigeria has really grown in the last 15
years. “Prior to the fast-paced growth of the practice post-2000, PR
practitioners were perceived largely as glorified pressmen as practice
was almost limited to press releases distribution,” which was why
veteran journalists drifted seamlessly between PR and media professions.
In her words: “After year 2000, a lot of things happened. PR
practice was removed from the appendage of the creative industry.
Technology and increasing sophistication of practitioners helped to
change perception. Now we have more PR practitioners who understand
their clients and are ready to learn.”
PRCAN President, John Ehiguese, in his remarks, admitted the
importance of measurement but said clients were not always willing to
pay for research. He however encouraged PR agencies to invest on
research and evaluation in order to reap the full benefits of
measurement.
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