Date/Time Date(s) - 22/04/20213:00 pm - 4:00 pm Categories In this case study, we will tell the story of trying to re-think the fundamental purpose of scientific publications and how their success is measured. We will discuss a collaborative project with the publications team of a global pharmaceutical client that aimed to transform ideas around the role of academic articles and how publications strategy is devised, by providing better measurement of real outcomes along the way to real impact. Along the way, we will touch upon many familiar themes in in the evaluation of communications – hard to measure outcomes, data quality challenges, and a lack of counterfactuals – and share with you what we learned in working to overcome them. Broadly based in the ‘realist’ evaluation tradition, we built a bespoke measurement framework that assesses the value of publications by considering an article’s reach, engagement, and impact with different audiences. Before an article can be considered impactful, the right people must access it, need to engage with it and then need to act having read it. This framework helps to articulate this value chain and find things to measure along it. The end outcome of the project was to demonstrate the value of the client’s publications, in and of themselves, and in relation to competitors. Ultimately, this approach has transformed the role of publications managers and has served to redefine how the client thinks about, measures and plans publications. Key learning(s)/take-a-way(s) • Using measurement for behaviour change • How visualisation enables evidence-based decision making • The importance (and difficulty) of measuring what really counts, not just what can be counted. • The value of theories of change in addressing uncertainty. Speakers: Gareth Morrell, Director, Insights, and Intelligence Gareth leads Madano’s insights team, ensuring all our work is evidence-led and measurable. He has 15 years’ experience evaluating the impact of public policy, education, and communication. Darren Fleetwood, Research Director Darren specialises in quantitative and mixed method research. He has over 10 years’ experience in research and evaluation and has led research for some of the world’s largest companies and non-profits.