The document discusses Westminster City Council's approach to evaluating public relations (PR) effectiveness, which focuses on outcomes over outputs. The council takes a strategic approach to communications planning with clear outcome objectives and audience-based campaigns. Evaluation involves understanding what audiences want and measuring outcomes like changes in behavior, perceptions, and support for the council's goals. The quality of communications is judged by these outcomes rather than the quality of individual outputs.

1. Evaluating PR Effectiveness
21 July 2011, London
Web: www.charitycomms.org.uk
Twitter: @CharityComms

2. Evaluation and Communications
Planning at Westminster City
Council
Neil Wholey
Head of Research and Customer Insight
21 July 2011

3. Evaluation and Communications 21 July 2011
Planning at Westminster City Council @neilwholey
Never mind the quality, what’s the point of
communications?
For some organisations:
• Communications not seen as front-line – what would you
choose - ‘meals on wheels’ or ‘magazine’?
• People are obsessed with defending glossy outputs rather
than explaining how this helps meet the corporate goals of
the organisation
• There is no advocate for communications outside the
comms team
For others organisations (such as Westminster):
• Communications quality is the outcome not the output
• Survival is of those most adaptable to change (not fittest)
• Advocacy of communications among staff and managers is
an important goal in itself (deliver for others not yourself)

4. Evaluation and Communications 21 July 2011
Planning at Westminster City Council @neilwholey
Westminster’s approach
• Consistent pro-active communications:
• Protects and enhances the reputation of the council
• Recruits and retains good staff
• Wins additional resources for the city
• Strong centralised team
• Provides strategy and advice not just outputs
• Media, campaigns, internal communications, web, design,
research, member support, policy and strategy
• Clear understanding that communications can for the public good:
• Change behaviour
• Change perceptions
• Yearly communications plan
• Clear outcome objectives
• Clear audience based campaigns
• Honest evaluation
• What works (and what doesn’t)
• What do our audiences want?

5. Evaluation and Communications 21 July 2011
Planning at Westminster City Council @neilwholey
Building reputation by changing
behaviour
• Campaign
communications
• Planned and
specifically
supporting the
aims of the council
• Measured
outcomes

6. Evaluation and Communications 21 July 2011
Planning at Westminster City Council @neilwholey
Clarity of Story
• Plan where you and your organisation want to be this time next
year, in three years and have a story to go with it – tough choices,
decisions, rebuilding, progress and fresh start

7. Evaluation and Communications 21 July 2011
Planning at Westminster City Council @neilwholey
Leadership by Manchester United
“Control, managing change
and observation. Spotting
everything around you,
analysing what is important.
Seeing dangers and
opportunities that others
don’t see. That comes from
experience and knowledge”
Sir Alex Ferguson

8. Evaluation and Communications 21 July 2011
Planning at Westminster City Council @neilwholey
Understand your audience

9. Evaluation and Communications 21 July 2011
Planning at Westminster City Council @neilwholey
Example Westminster’s audience – Tenants
and lessees (one of 13 audiences)
• Aim: To raise awareness of and win support for Westminster’s
housing policies
• Activities:
• Promote the Housing Renewal Strategy
• Support public relations for local authorities over rents and
housing finance reforms issues
• Update tenants and lessees of any developments or rebuilding
taking place in the council’s corporate property portfolio
• Managing corporate property communications/engagement
• Targets:
• 81% of council tenants satisfied with the council
• 79% of council lessees satisfied with the council
• Reduce delays to building work and the number of complaints
• Key part of the plan is to work closely with our ALMO CityWest Homes

10. Evaluation and Communications 21 July 2011
Planning at Westminster City Council @neilwholey
Understand your audience
35% read the 56% on Facebook
56% have
Metro each week each month (20%
broadband at
(49% of 16-34 year interested in being
home
olds) friends)
9% 70% seen
10% listen to Capital Radio
classed housing
and 10% listen to Radio 4
as ABs organisation’s
publication in
24% visited a housing office in 80% think
last six
last 3 months media
months (only
pos/
19% visited website 62% of 60+)
neutral
Source: Survey of 400 tenants, 100 leaseholders in a London borough (not Westminster), May 2010

11. Evaluation and Communications 21 July 2011
Planning at Westminster City Council @neilwholey
Understand what you want to measure
May 07 May 11
Satisfaction 76 78
Advocacy 49 51
VFM 62 58
Source: c.500 WCC residents 16+ (telephone), May 2007 – May 2011
Informed 58 72

12. Evaluation and Communications 21 July 2011
Planning at Westminster City Council @neilwholey
Awareness of news stories
The council trying to evict protesters in Parliament
Square
Budget cuts at the council
How the council cleaned up the streets after the Royal
wedding
Possible sharing of some services between H&F, RBKC
and Westminster
How the Olympics will affect where you live
The council’s proposed bylaw on soup runs and rough
sleeping
How it offers value for money
Westminster builds first new council homes in 25 years
Possible changes to the council’s parking policy
Possible changes to council services for children and
families
Possible changes to council services for older people
Question: Have you recently seen or heard about any of the following Westminster City Council?
Source: 500 WCC residents, 16+ interviewed by telephone, May 2011

13. Evaluation and Communications 21 July 2011
Planning at Westminster City Council @neilwholey
How do you judge the quality of these?

14. Evaluation and Communications 21 July 2011
Planning at Westminster City Council @neilwholey

15. Evaluation and Communications 21 July 2011
Planning at Westminster City Council @neilwholey
Strategically
important for
us to do? - Yes

16. Evaluation and Communications 21 July 2011
Planning at Westminster City Council @neilwholey

17. Evaluation and Communications 21 July 2011
Planning at Westminster City Council @neilwholey

18. Evaluation and Communications 21 July 2011
Planning at Westminster City Council @neilwholey
What should the metrics be for #swtrains?
To help understand the audience
• Monitor Twitter feed/major hashtags – understand
implications of content not just hits
• Understand who the key influencers are – journalists,
unofficial Twitter accounts
• General survey of rail passengers views
To help understand the possible new strategy
• Number of followers of new SWTrains Twitter account
(and number of key influencers following)
• Number of positive replies to SWTrains responding to
tweeters about specific issues (or just apologising)
• Number of retweets and positive replies to new
SWTrains initiatives – better comms for guards, free Wifi?

19. Evaluation and Communications 21 July 2011
Planning at Westminster City Council @neilwholey
The best way to learn
about social media
evaluation is to do
social media

20. Evaluation and Communications 21 July 2011
Planning at Westminster City Council @neilwholey
If you want to prove the
If you want to prove the
communications
communications
business case you need
business case you need
case studies of what
case studies of what
happened as a result
happened as a result
and tailored evaluation
and tailored evaluation
Daily Mirror, 21st May 1975

21. Evaluation and Communications 21 July 2011
Planning at Westminster City Council @neilwholey
Conclusions
You need to understand:
What is your organisation trying to achieve and why?
Your audiences
How to prove the quality of the outcome of your work not
rely on the quality of the output
Thank you

22. Evaluation and Communications 21 July 2011
Planning at Westminster City Council @neilwholey
Contact me
Neil Wholey
Head of Research and Customer Insight
Communications and Strategy
Westminster City Council
17th Floor
Westminster City Hall
64 Victoria Street
London
SW1E 6QP
Tel: 020 7641 3317
Fax: 020 7641 2958
email: nwholey@westminster.gov.uk
Twitter: @neilwholey
www.westminster.gov.uk