Programme

Takeaways will include:

• Insight into how Purpose is influencing all businesses
• How a Human based Truth is the key to performance and reputation
• How it shapes corporate culture and leadership
• How telling the story engages key audiences and drives success

A discussion of how research into the representation of women in sports news in New Zealand is contributing to structural change in government policy, and creating an accountable media environment.

This presentation will discuss the wider communications strategy and industry infrastructure in New Zealand that supports the participation of women and girls in sport and active recreation, and the role that research, particularly into media and representation has contributed to government strategy and policy, and is changing the default settings of sports news.

Takeaways will include:
Sometimes a research question can be simple (and obvious) but the impact of evidence is powerful and important.
A clear, sustained, evidence based communication strategy can impact policy decisions and investment in research.
Encouraging and measuring behaviour change in media is crucial to tackling broad issues of representation.

To help the community navigate a once-in-a-generation pandemic, Queensland Health centred insight and actionable communications.

In this presentation, Robert discusses the Queensland Government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. That response included generating significant and ongoing insight that helped inform both the public health response and the communications that supported it. Queensland’s history of dealing with natural disasters meant the state’s politicians and public servants had a strong framework to deal with an ongoing emergency, and that the public was responsive to communications about it.

Understanding key communications priorities, how audiences wanted to receive them, and how they could be adapted during the pandemic response was vital for Queensland Health. Robert discusses key insights, strategies, tactics and results.

Takeaways will include:
How strategic communication and measurement have added value to Queensland citizens during the COVID crisis
Where to start measuring in a global health crisis
What to measure in a global health crisisKeys to successfully embracing a measurement mindset in the public sector

Social Media started with a good intent of increased collaboration and sharing (and perhaps targeted advertising). Over the past decade the increased use of social media and its role in shaping opinions have attracted numerous actors to create influence campaigns over such platforms in particular to achieve political objectives. While influence campaigns have received some attention and platforms such as Facebook and Twitter are proactively trying to counter threat actors, the new frontier is deep fakes. Using AI technology, it is relatively easy to create videos of a person where it appears they are saying or doing something they never said or did. Creating deep fakes of voice is easier and has given rise to a widespread practice of “vishing”. We will discuss what are the potential implications and possible countermeasures.

Takeaways will include:
Discover how easy it is to control the narrative by making a hashtag trending on Twitter in a nation of over 1 Billion

Learn how any podcast, clubhouse talk, or interview of you that is published can be used as a blueprint to create audio of you saying anything

Learn how easily deep fake videos can be produced, what are their current weaknesses, and what are potential future applications

Using Data- and Analytics-Driven Insights to Grow a Campaign from Strength to Strength
The session will talk about building, sustaining and growing a 5-year programme based on actionable insights gained by combining data analytics and human intelligence. It will focus on how analytics can help with scaling up a campaign, making it more ideas and purpose-driven while consistently delivering the right message for the right impact.

Takeaways will include:
• How to layer data analytics with human intelligence to arrive on clear, actionable insights. These insights then help you arrive at the creative ideas.
• How you can strengthen the campaign by using results from one year as data for the next year’s insights
• What you can do to scale up the breadth and depth of the campaign

A look at how asking the right questions helps to architect success. Using the anology of the coaching world, and how each person is able to find success with the help of a coach, only after they define together where they want to go. In coaching parlance, that is the ‘ coaching agreement’ – If a client comes to me staying, I am stuck help me, as much as I want to I don’t know where to begin. IF the same client after one session with me says I am unable to navigate an interview, I have tried for the last three years to get a new job with no success, help me prepare myself better for interviews, with the objective of getting a new job in the next one year, I now know what my objective is. Measurement of that becomes relatively easy.

Takeaways will include:
Power of asking the right questions to start with the “why” and new ways to tackle the same problem

Integration of learnings from Coaching; real life PR advisory experience and Measurement

AMEC and PRCA research findings

Takeaways will include:
What is share of search and how to use it

What share of search tells us (and what it doesn’t)

What other methodologies are there

Beyond Deep Fakes will provide an overview of the most cutting edge technologies in the field of Synthetic Media (AI-generated content) and discuss how these technologies can enable Media and Communications professionals to create hyper-targeted content. .

Key Takeaways will include:
• What’s possible today – and in the near future – with AI Generated Video
• How AI will transform the day-to-day work of Media and Communications Professionals
• What are the ethical implications of using AI Generated Video in media and communications

In 2020 earned media took to the main stage and helped organisations maintain and build trust amongst their audiences during uncertain times. As paid media suffered from decreased exposure opportunities and budget cuts, PR has become a more critical function to organisations. At the same time, data has become a more critical tool for communications leaders, helping them to demonstrate accountability and prove the impact of their teams’ work. As we return to ‘normality’ to what extent will these changes stick against a backdrop of wider macro shifts across the whole media ecosystem? Using insights from Kantar’s new 2021 pan-European Media Navigator study, our presentation will explore the role of data in the communications leaders’ toolbox both now and in the future. We’ll look at wider industry changes including the proliferation of news aggregators and shifts in audience trust towards different content sources. To what extent will these influence communicators’ work? Combining the views of audiences and the communications industry across Western Europe, we will offer a unique perspective into the tools the communications leaders of today and tomorrow require to enable them to design and realise smarter communications strategies.

Takeaways will include:
The changing role of evidence-based communication strategies

How big is the threat from news aggregators to building and maintaining your audience

Where the optimum balance lies between tools and insights in order for leaders to demonstrate accountability and prove the impact of their work

The scale of the Coronavirus crisis has been unprecedented, and like other countries around the globe, the UK Government had to act swiftly to stop the spread of the virus, save lives and protect its health service whilst at the same time supporting businesses and the economy. Communication has been an integral part of this response, with the biggest ever paid-for campaign in history working with announcements, digital and social media and partnerships with the public and private sector to change public behaviour, provide support to businesses and sustain trust and longer-term compliance. Setting up an evaluation programme at speed to measure the impact of activity at this scale and then providing results quickly enough to inform emerging priorities whilst still delivering value for the taxpayer required new approaches to setting KPIs, gathering data and demonstrating impact and ROI. In this session, we cover our evaluation strategy, including our consistent approach to setting KPIs, the innovative approaches that we took to gathering and analysing data and how we were able to link the paid-for campaign and communication to lives saved.

A presentation and live Q&A, launching a new series of member resources all about planning. Find out how the AMEC Integrated Evaluation Framework – our flagship measurement strategy tool – can help you to plan your campaigns, plans and programmes too

The consensus is that life will begin to return to some kind of normal in September this year. 78 Weeks after we were first locked down. We need to start helping company’s prepare for what’s to come. What will life look like for their customers then? What will they carry forward and what will they leave behind? And how should they connect to an adapted culture?

As online polling has become more ubiquitous, Pew Research Center’s methodologists have examined whether variability in methods of recruiting online respondents has consequences for data quality. In this session, Director of Survey Research Courtney Kennedy will discuss the risk to online polls from untrustworthy, or “bogus,” respondents that impact the quality of survey data.

Key takeaways will include:
Not all online polls suffer from this problem. Sourcing affects data quality – online samples fielded with widely used opt-in sources contain small but measurable shares of bogus respondents (about 4% to 7% depending on the source). Critically, these bogus respondents are not just answering at random or “adding noise,” but rather they tend to select positive answer choices introducing a small, systematic bias into estimates like presidential approval.

No method of online polling is perfect, but there are notable differences across approaches with respect to the risks posed by bogus interviews. Crowdsourced and opt-in survey panel respondents were more likely to give bogus data than those recruited offline via random sampling of addresses. To help the public better differentiate trustworthy and untrustworthy polls, it would be helpful if poll methodology statements mentioned what checking, if any, was performed.

Some poll questions are more affected by bogus respondents than others. Questions that allow the respondent to give a positively valanced answer show larger effects than those that do not.

Two of the most common checks to detect low quality online interviews – looking for respondents who answer items too fast or fail an attention check (or ‘trap’) question – are not very effective when it comes to identifying bogus respondents. Some 84% of bogus respondents pass a trap question and 87% pass a check for responding too quickly.

Hard Numbers and research partner CARMA sought to find a direct link between media coverage and cold, hard cash! They researched the impact of PR and media coverage on the fundraising efforts of around 120 businesses in the UK that were raising VC funding. In this presentation Hard Numbers MD and media measurement industry veteran Darryl Sparey will take you through an overview of the results, showing how media coverage correlated between successful fundraising, and what PR and communications professionals can learn from this analysis.

Takeaways will include:
How media coverage correlates to successful fundrasiing for early stage businesses

How you can make the business case for greater investment in PR and communications in your organisation

How to maximise the impact of PR and media coverage, based on case studies from fast-growing businesses like Curve, Crowdcube, HelloDone, Phos and Cytora

When an organization has to pivot in the face of a crisis like Covid-19, that’s where quality measurement really shines – providing vital insights to adjust strategy and reset goals to meet the moment. Kristy and Alison will discuss how the communications team at SAS:

• Pivoted a major annual event with a date-driven strategy
• Measured and reported meaningful results back to the business
• Leveraged their measurement programme around SAS’s Covid response to strengthen relationships with key stakeholders across the business

This presentation will highlight the implications of Polarization on the public relations profession during an unprecedented time in communications history. Representatives from Golin and The Annenberg School at the University of Southern California will preview The Polarization Index, a proprietary tool they have developed in conjunction with Zignal Labs.

Based on an algorithm that analyses how millions of media stories are transmitted through political echo chambers, The Polarization Index will help communications professionals understand and navigate the increasingly complex issues facing their companies and clients. Focusing on the most controversial topics of the day, the Polarization Index will help brands anticipate emerging issues and develop positioning and messaging in real time.

Data has been increasing exponentially and organizations today are facing a rising tide of data. As per predictions, by 2023, 103 trillion gigabytes of new data will be created. And given that, of the 33 trillion gigabytes created in 2018, 86% was replicated data, we will continue to struggle with a lot of duplication. Managing data ineffectively hampers the digital transformation efforts and the overall success of the organization. There is a strong need for solid data governance framework and structure as part of the data strategy. In this presentation, I will cover the framework of data governance and how to establish a data driven culture through robust data governance structure in the organization.

Have you ever spent a lot of time and money on analytics/ research, been impressed by the output, even used immediately used it for a campaign/idea… but, then never reference it again? In this session we discuss how to get more out of your data. What questions do you ask at the beginning to better understand not only what you are hoping the research will answer- but how you can then use the research as a “living” document. This session will focus on showcasing how research should never be a “one -off” expensive project and will bring to life how organizations are turning their research into toolkits for planning, employee engagement, customer retention, content creation and strategy optimization.

Key takeaways include:
How to create research that solves multiple business problems.

How “planning” research can and should be used throughout a program’s life cycle.

What are some real-world examples to bring this to life.

Questions to ask your team to make sure you are getting the most out of your research.

Press events, conferences, product launches and other event experiences continue to transform. Online and virtual events have set a new standard for event-driven data by providing comprehensive insights on audience behavior that are difficult – or even impossible – to track in an in-person event.
As the traditional event format evolves, so too must the ways in which we establish objectives and measure outcomes. In this session you’ll learn to think differently about how to align success metrics to your events, from monetization to media coverage, whether you’re hosting or presenting at a virtual event.

Key takeaways include:
• How to define a ‘pre-during-post’ event strategy against clearly defined set of objectives
• How to measure impact metrics message pull-through, audience penetration, and brand lift
• Why it’s important to think like a marketer and dive deep into event data

Key takeaways include:

• How to align your communication and advocacy work to your mission and organizational goals
• How to build a global communication strategy that inspires, motivates, and rallies communication teams around a shared vision of success and common KPIs – in 190+ countries
• How to measure results from integrated communication, advocacy, and fundraising initiatives
• How to use social listening and audience insights develop more effective content and grow your supporter base