Larry DeGaris’ Post

Is there a gap between academic research and public relations practice? This is one of the questions that Richard Bailey Hon FCIPR and I explored in our research into PR education this year. I've always been interested in academic research and it seems I'm not alone. In a survey with practitioners, 87 per cent of respondents stated that they are interested in learning about how academic research can be applied to practice. The issue is access: less than one third of respondents (31 percent) said that it is “easy to find”. We also looked at the topics that academics are researching and compared that with the research topics that practitioners said would be useful to them. Analysis of 247 articles published in six public relations journals in 2023 revealed the following top three topics of research: 1️⃣ Sustainability and corporate social responsibility 2️⃣ Internal communication 3️⃣ Crisis communication In contrast, the top five topics that practitioners said would be useful are: 1️⃣ Artificial intelligence 2️⃣ Measurement 3️⃣ Employee engagement 4️⃣ Strategic planning 5️⃣ Data and analytics There appears to be some evidence here for academic research lagging practitioner interests and challenges. It's worth also highlighting some of the topics that were rarely researched: 🔹 AI 🔹 Conspiracy theories 🔹 Disinformation 🔹 Measurement and evaluation 🔹 Influencer relations 🔹 Misinformation 🔹 Data and analytics 🔹 Organisational listening Despite this gap, what struck me most about the articles that we reviewed is the way that so many papers are focused on advancing knowledge that can be put into professional practice. ▶ Many of the sustainability and CSR papers emphasise effectiveness, responsibility and stakeholder responses. ▶ Many of the internal communications emphasise impact and understanding. ▶ Many of the crisis communication papers emphasise effects and preparation strategies. It is hard to ignore the possibility that an awful lot of really useful academic research is not reaching practitioners. The link to the full report is in the comments below. #publicrelations #corporatecommunication #strategiccommunication #academicresearch #research #AI #crisiscommunication #internalcommunication #disinformation #measurement #data #analytics #socialmedia #digitalcommunication #organisationlistening #publiccommunication #employeeengagement

Just 21 days until we kick off the 2024 AMEC Global Summit on Measurement with speakers listed to the tag limit, we will welcome many, many more experts and brands sharing #insights #trends and #casestudies with this year's focus on #communication #reputation, #innovation, #implementation, and #strategy. Join us for the latest #pr #ai #data #analytics #communication #measurement #evaluation conversations. Two full conference days included keynote sessions, leading speakers, case studies and panel discussions, plus multiple networking receptions all included in the ticket price, we are able to accept in-person registration and virtual streaming passes now available for those who cannot make the in-person experience but still wish to be part of the conversation: https://lnkd.in/eR3ngyaq Let us know if you are coming along #amecsummit!

Zero Party Data. Spiegel faculty affiliate Kelly Cutler argues that zero party data "offers brands the opportunity to authentically build a dialogue with customers who truly want that connection." Which models do the best job of predicting user preferences and behaviors? Good question. Jebbit OfferFit Unbounce Daasity Salesforce Criteo Adobe Target Optimizely

The Spiegel Center contributed to the IAB's new Retail Media Measurement guidelines. The guidelines will help to establish a common ground for measurement in this rapidly growing business. Spiegel and the Northwestern University Retail Analytics Council are working on a study to implement the guidelines and take a close look at incrementality. Kudos Jeffrey Bustos and the IAB team on great work!