Charles Arthur’s recent blog ‘Live, PR, live in the 21st century’ mentioned a couple of points relating to the PR’s tried and trusted old friend, the survey.
His first point was that he would rather we didn’t inflict surveys on him in the first place. The other was that if we insist, then we should at least include a link to the original data where he/the journalist can download it and play about with it.
After speaking with some other IT journalists, it’s apparent Charles Arthur isn’t alone in his dislike of the type of surveys our industry is churning out. The feedback the journalists gave on surveys ranged from ‘a survey is what you do when you have no news’ to ’they’re self-serving propaganda’. However, some felt there was a place for them if they were done properly with real insight on industry issues.
I think the time has come for PRs to look harder and assess the real value for money we and our clients are getting from our beloved surveys. And at the same time, it’s clear that we need to find out what our media want before we blindly continue the deluge.
