Topics Education

New Paper Explores ROI Of Public Affairs

May 11, 2005

CHARLOTTE, NC – Topics Education today released a white paper entitled “The ROI of Public Affairs,” the first in a three-part series of original papers on public affairs and its impact on business. This white paper focuses on demonstrating the value of public affairs and establishing universal understanding of that value within the practitioner’s organization. Topics Education is publishing the series in partnership with the Cable Television Public Affairs Association (CTPAA).

“This white paper answers a critical question in public affairs: how can you demonstrate the value of a function that provides such intangible results?” stated Brett Pawlowski, vice president of strategic services for Topics Education. “Public affairs can be leveraged to achieve business goals; however, the question of demonstrating value remains an important one, and this paper provides solid evidence of that value along with an approach to gaining management buy-in and measuring progress.”

This white paper, “The ROI of Public Affairs,” highlights existing research pointing to the value of the public affairs function and argues for an approach to shared understanding and measurement. Some of the major points of the paper include:

Public affairs has a clear impact on an organization’s reputation in the eyes of customers, members of the organization, and the community at large, and this reputation leads to measurable advantages in a number of areas.

While there is no hard data demonstrating a direct cause-and-effect model between reputation and stock price, there is a clear correlation between the two.

96% of CEOs recognize that corporate reputation is critical to achieving strategic business objectives; further, evidence indicates that an executive team that understands the role of the public affairs department and invests in it will see real benefits from that commitment.

If upper management does not see the value in public affairs, practitioners must work to educate them by focusing on the function’s strategic value drivers as they relate to the business.

Measurement should never be used in an attempt to validate the function; if there is a common understanding of the strategic value of public affairs, then measurement has a vital role in benchmarking and improvement.

This paper uses existing surveys, data and industry research combined with public affairs expertise to present a guide to review, assess and evaluate the impact of public affairs for decision makers.

For a complete copy of this survey, visit the Topics Education Web site at www.topicseducation.com.

About Topics Education

Topics Education offers strategic planning and support services to organizations interested in understanding and communicating with the world of education. The company designs and implements customized education outreach initiatives that drive learning in schools, homes and communities, thereby reinforcing brand identity and building goodwill for its clients. Topics Education offers a complete range of services including: market analysis, public affairs strategy, project architecture, partnership development, instructional design, creative services, marketing and outreach, and evaluation and measurement. Topics Education’s customer base includes The Weather Channel, Court TV, The SCI FI Channel, USA Network, Junior Achievement, Citigroup, the US Environmental Protection Agency and Save the Children. Topics Education is headquartered in Charlotte, NC and was founded in 1995.